Category Archives: Aviation

The Finance Ministry is gearing up to come up with a fresh proposal for the sale of national carrier, Air India incorporating issues like crude oil prices and currency exchange rate volatility. The government had failed in its attempts to sale the assets of the airline last year. The proposal to be placed before Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) will also include option of selling either 100 per cent stake in the airline or government’s 76 per cent stake in Air India. The AISAM, which is basically a Group of Ministers, generally constitutes the Finance Minister, Civil Aviation Minister and the Transport Minister. After the government failed to find any buyer for the debt-ridden carrier last year, it decided to infuse more funds into the airline and take steps to lower debt of Air India by selling its subsidiaries and non-core assets. The government has already asked Air India to finalise its accounts for 2018-19 by June 30.

Agartala airport will soon become the third international airport in Northeast India, post completion of a Rs 438 crore project to upgrade it to international standards. The project is said to be completed by 2019-end or early 2020, with plans in place to begin flights between Agartala and Dhaka, as well as other Bangladesh cities. The state government has already provided 72 acres of land to AAI for construction of the new terminal building, runway, and other necessary infrastructure. Agartala airport is the second busiest in the northeast after Guwahati’s Bordoloi International, and handles, on an average, 900,000 passengers per year according to AAI officials.

According to statistics released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), domestic air passenger traffic increased by 2.96 per cent in May as compared to last year, after a significant slump in April, owing to Jet Airways ceasing its operations. In April, domestic air passenger traffic dropped by 4.5 per cent over the same period last year. The domestic air traffic in May this year recorded 12.20 million passengers as compared to 11.85 million passengers in the same month last year, which translated into an increase of 2.96 per cent. IndiGo led with 49 per cent share of the domestic passenger market in May, followed by SpiceJet recording 14.8 per cent market share. The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara were 13.5 per cent, 11.1 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively.

United Airlines has announced it has entered into a new alliance agreement with New Delhi-based airline, Vistara. The agreement, effective in Fall 2019, further expands United’s global route network to more than 20 destinations throughout India. United currently operates more nonstop service to India than any other U.S. carrier. In addition to convenient, one-stop connections to more than 20 destinations from Mumbai and New Delhi, the new United/Vistara alliance agreement enables United customers traveling from the United States with a seamless travel experience including: • Connecting flight opportunities from Mumbai and New Delhi further enhances United’s network offering from its U.S. hubs in New York/Newark and San Francisco. • Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits – United MileagePlus members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara routes and Vistara’s Club Vistara members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara and United routes. • United will place its UA* marketing code on more than 20 flights operated by Vistara (subject to government approval). • Coordinated United and Vistara customer service. “United Airlines has served India from our New York/Newark hub for more than 14 years and in December of this year will begin operating new nonstop service between San Francisco and New Delhi,” said John Gebo, United’s senior vice presiden4t of Alliances. “We are pleased to enter into this new alliance agreement with Vistara to offer our customers traveling between the United States and India seamless access to more destinations throughout India.”

Vistara has announced a significant network expansion with the addition of 62 new flights to and from Mumbai and Delhi. These new flights represent an over 50% increase in the size of the airline’s network, with 170 flights a day across 24 destinations operated by a fleet of 23 Airbus A320 and 6 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft. With the addition of 62 new flights, Vistara will now operate direct flights from Mumbai to 10 cities, adding Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai and Varanasi to the six other cities it already flies to from Mumbai, namely Amritsar, Bengaluru, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Additionally, Vistara has increased its daily frequency on the Mumbai – Kolkata sector from 1x to 3x; Mumbai – Goa from 1x to 2x; Mumbai – Bengaluru from 5x to 6x; Mumbai – Hyderabad from 1x to 3x; Delhi – Chandigarh from 2x to 4x; Delhi – Guwahati from 1x to 2x; Delhi – Amritsar from 1x to 2x; Delhi – Kolkata from 3x to 4x; and Delhi – Bengaluru from 5x to 6x daily.

The Cochin International Airport will suspend daytime operations starting November 6, 2019 to March 28, 2020, owing to maintenance works and recarpeting. There would no flight services from 10 am till 6 pm during the five-month period at the airport. Right now, around 31 domestic services and seven international flights take off from Kochi in these hours, and the same number of flights land in Kochi during the daytime. Otherwise The runway would however would carry on operations as usual from 6pm till the next day morning. The airline companies have been asked to change the flight timings accordingly.

Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) has appointed InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT) as its General Sales Agent (GSA) for the territory of India, revealed Sunil Talreja, Vice President- International Passenger Sales, InterGlobe Air Transport. IGAT will be supporting MAB at their town office to facilitate customer flight bookings and other reservation matters. MAB operates 60 weekly flights from India with online operations from Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

The Jammu & Kashmir government has said that the Kargil Airport will be developed into a full-fledged airport for commercial flight operations. According to an official spokesperson, BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir government held a meeting in New Delhi with Union Secretary, Civil Aviation and other Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials including Member Planning, AAI for development of existing Kargil Airport for full operation of commercial flights including Boeing, Airbus, etc. The MoU with AAI is expected to be signed by July, 15. The foundation stone for the extension of the runway is expected to be laid by the end of August, which will kick start commencement of other works. Governor’s Administration is keen to develop Kargil Airport into a full-fledged Commercial Airport for transforming Kargil into a tourist hub on the analogy of Leh, thereby, expanding opportunities for gainful employment of the youth of Ladakh region. It will also ensure assured air connectivity to the region during the winter months when passes to Ladakh region remain cut off from the rest of the State/country due to heavy snowfall and inclement weather. (Source: UNI)

Air France, the French flag carrier, will welcome the revamped travel cabins on board Airbus A330 on the Bengaluru – Paris route effective June 18 and effective June 28, on the Delhi–Paris route. The aircraft is equipped with 36 seats in Business, 21 seats in Premium Economy and 167 seats in the Economy cabin. Customers will be able to experience the comfort of these cabins on flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle from Bengaluru and Delhi until end of October 2019. Speaking about this enhancement, Mr. Jean – Noel Rault, General Manager, Air France – KLM, Indian Sub-Continent said, “This latest revamped offering from Air France is a testament of our commitment to provide best in class products and services to our customers in India. The new long-haul travel cabins are refreshing and will provide our valued customers with improved amenities making their travel experience more comfortable and satisfying.”

With an aim to provide world-class facilities to the passengers keeping in mind their needs, MIAL has launched an additional relax and dining facility – Oasis Lounge at its domestic terminal, T1-B, Departures. Managed and operated by Lite Bite Foods (LBF), the lounge is specially designed for stopover fliers waiting for their connecting or delayed flights, and is available for passengers travelling throughout the day. The airport reaches out to 52 domestic destinations in India, thus, realizing the needs of the passengers, the decision to launch the lounge was after an internal study conducted by the airport officials after witnessing a CAGR 7.1% domestic passenger growth in the 2018-19. Understanding that travel can be overwhelming for many, the lounge provides a perfect getaway for passengers looking to relax, unwind and yet experience luxurious dining at a reasonable price. In alignment with the detailing at the international airport, the lounge at Terminal 1-B is designed in a beautifully soft, yet rich multihued interior, with spacious couches, and intricate design. The lounge has a capacity to accommodate 45 patrons at one given point, but it is also efficient to accommodate 200 travellers during peak hours.