Category Archives: Aviation

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, has advised passengers not to carry models of 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops that Apple deemed a safety risk due to overheating batteries. Affected units were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 and product eligibility is determined by the product serial number. Apple has determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

In a bid to cater to the demand of Indian diaspora and foreign tourists to visit various destinations, Air India has introduced ‘Discover India’ scheme valid for sale and travel up to March 31, 2020. Under the scheme, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Foreign nationals will now be able to buy five domestic Air India economy class tickets for Rs. 40,000 which will be valid for travel within 15 days of the first leg of travel. According to a statement, “Ten domestic economy class tickets are also on offer for Rs 75,000 with a validity period of 30 days both on firm basis. The passenger will be allowed to travel to any destination of their choice within India and are also permitted to reroute their journey as per their requirement.” The scheme allows re-booking, which is permitted without penalty till 4 hours prior to scheduled departure. The passenger can also change the date of the journey without any charge. “Air India offers unique benefits to passengers like 25 Kilograms free baggage allowance to all adult and child passengers and also 10 kgs free baggage allowance to infants. Besides, comfortable seats, range of inflight cuisine in plush new aircraft,” revealed the statement by Air India.

The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) for scheduled domestic carriers in the month of July 2019 has shown declining trend compared to previous month primarily due to the end of tourist season, according to DGCA. Overall, SpiceJet came out on top in terms of PLF amongst all other domestic carriers, with a PLF of 92.4%, while GoAir was a close second with 90.4%. Air Asia was at the third place with a PLF of 89.5%, followed by IndiGo at 86.2%, while Vistara recorded a PLF of 86.2 per cent. Air India recorded a PLF of 79.7 per cent.

SpiceJet and IndiGo would shift their flight operations to T3 terminal from September 5 due to expansion works at T2. Where SpiceJet has moved its entire operations to T3 from T2, IndiGo's flight numbers from 6E 5000 to 6E 5999 will operate from Terminal 3. Post completion of infrastructure enhancement at T2, the terminal will be able to handle 18 million passengers yearly, up from current 15 million, the DIAL said. GoAir will continue its domestic operations from T2 terminal.

Hahn Air, unveiled its new NDC platform and is extending its suite of products for partner airlines and travel agencies with a solution powered by IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. To mark the occasion, the German airline and ticketing expert welcomed the first passengers holding NDC-enabled Hahn Air tickets on one of its scheduled flights from Luxembourg to Dusseldorf on 16th August 2019. “As Hahn Air today supports travel agencies in 190 markets and airlines of any size and business model, we carefully developed a scalable solution that meets the needs of all our current and future partners in a changing airline industry”, says Christopher Allison, Head of NDC at Hahn Air. “We are leveraging on the expertise we have acquired during our 20 years of being the leader in airline distribution solutions, as well as our involvement in the IATA activities driving and developing the NDC standard from the very beginning. We have been actively participating in several IATA committees and are currently holding the chair position of the NDC Orders Group, as well as a seat on the Shop-Order Board and the Architecture and Technology Strategy Board.” Hahn Air’s NDC platform will bring the following benefits to partner airlines: Airlines, irrespective if they are already NDC capable or not, can add an additional distribution channel and thereby extend their global customer base. In addition, airlines can join the world of NDC by using Hahn Air’s NDC platform without having to develop their own solution. Thereby they save time, money and resources and don’t have to deal with the complexity of the new standard.   Travel agents will benefit as follows: All travel agents, regardless of which system …

IGI Airport, Delhi has rolled out ‘Express security check-in’ facility at Terminal 2 for all the domestic passengers with handbags as luggage. This facility will enable them to head towards a separate express lane with X-Ray machines for their luggage and CISF security personnel. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), in a statement said, “This facility will significantly reduce the load on the main security check-in area by diverting passengers carrying only hand baggage towards express lane. It will ensure fast and seamless flow of the domestic passengers travelling without any check-in baggage.” The Delhi airport has introduced the facility in collaboration with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Terminal 2 handles about 45,000 domestic passengers daily of which, more than 13,000 passengers (30 per cent) travel without any check-in baggage. The service is soon expected to be extended to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 as well. (Inputs from PTI)

According to The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the domestic India market has proven resilient with the closure of Jet Airways earlier this year. Growth in domestic RPKs (revenue passenger kilometers) have recovered strongly, lifting to a 7.9% year-on-year pace in June, as the remaining carriers moved quickly to fill the gap created by the loss of a competitor and to meet the customer demand.

Out of the 28 Indian cities from where international passengers Embark/ Disembark, Delhi accounts for highest international passenger traffic with a share of 26.6% in quarter one (Q1) of 2019. Five Indian cities accounted for most (approximately 70%) of the international passenger traffic, and after Delhi it was Mumbai (20.4 per cent share) and Chennai (8.8% share). After that was Bengaluru (7.0 %) and Kochi (6.6%). Domestic and foreign carriers connect India to 54 countries through 346 Routes. Out of these routes top 10 Routes accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the total international passenger traffic during the first quarter of the year 2019. Maximum international passengers were carried on the Dubai-Mumbai sector followed by Dubai-Delhi.

The average return fare in 2018 was 60% lower than in 1998, before taxes and surcharges, while the cost of air freight ($/Kg) was down 61% over the same period, stated Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, International Air Transport Association (IATA), in the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (2019 WATS), where they released performance figures for 2018 . He added that aviation is good for local economies too— $843 billion in tourism spending was made possible by air travel last year, while governments collected $129 billion in tax revenues from airlines and air travel.

In a bid to improve India’s airport structure, Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to invest about Rs 19,000 crore over the next three years, especially in small cities. According to a report, AAI official said the investment is being made in improving runway capacity as well as building terminal capacity. AAI is also working on plans to build new airports in Gujarat’s Rajkot, Jharkhand’s Dhalbhumgarh and in Hollongi and Halwara in the Northeast. “We are seeking funds from market through debt and other modes to fund these projects. Some of the funding will also come from our profits,” said an AAI official. Source: ET