Category Archives: Aviation

After adding 100th aircraft to its fleet recently, Spice Jet is planning to add eight more Boeing planes in the next two weeks that were withdrawn from grounded Jet Airways’s fleet by lessors. “In the next fortnight, we expect to add another eight Boeing 737 (Next Generation) NG which were being operated by Jet Airways. We didn’t incur any additional capex on these aircraft,” said Kiran Koteshwar, CFO, SpiceJet in an interview to Mint. The 30 Boeing 737 NG planes that were earlier operated by Jet Airways are being added to SpiceJet’s fleet on short-term leases, with a maximum lease tenure of 24 months, added Koteshwar. The airline’s current fleet consists of 68 Boeing 737 (including 13 Boeing 737 Max planes), 30 Bombardier Q-400s and two B737 freighters.

Air India, which is running in losses currently, may reportedly join hands with the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) for a working partnership overseas, under which tourist offices at around eight overseas destinations would shift to Air India offices. Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and MOT are in discussions for the partnership, as part of the cost restructuring by the MOT, under which it will require to shut offices at prime tourist destinations, like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto, Tokyo, Sydney and Milan. As part of the arrangement, India Tourism will pay rent to Air India along with a nominal amount for the service rendered by the Air India staff. Last year, MOT, which had 15 overseas offices, was asked by the government to reduce the number of offices in two-three years and shift operations to the embassies in those cities. Th shifting to embassies part has been in debate owing to security concerns and scepticism over manpower.

Pakistan on Wednesday extended the ban on use of its airspace from May 30 to June 15. Air India is witnessing a daily loss of Rs 5-7 crore as its flights towards Europe and U.S. are forced to take a longer route as well as make a stop en route for refuelling. The earlier NOTAM issued by Pakistan’s civil aviation authority was until 3.30 p. m. on May 30 and this has been pushed to 5.30 a.m. on June 15, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed. Source: The Hindu

According to IATA, agents and advisors booking flights for clients through the association’s Passenger Agency Program must ask travelers if they want their contact information shared with airlines in the case of operational disruptions. Agents and advisors will be required to enter the passenger contact information when booking flights beginning June 1. Carriers will be able to use the information to advise passengers of irregular flight operations and disruptions. “In the event the passenger exercises his or her right not to provide contact details it is incumbent on the Agent to indicate that the passenger has declined to provide such details, and to enter the refusal in the PNR to limit any statutory liability,” the IATA rule now reads. “In such a case, the Agent must actively advise the passenger that they may not receive information from the airline relating to flight cancellation or schedule changes (including delay in departure).” For travelers who decline to share their phone number and/or email address, agents and advisors will have to report the client refused to provide the information. While the rule has been in place since 2013, it is now a requirement instead of a recommendation As for how the information will be used, IATA officials said it would not be utilized for marketing or sales purposes, but instead will be for flight cancellations, schedule changes and other related operational notifications. The IATA Passenger Agency Program provides a system for the accreditation of travel agents that meet specific industry standards and financial criteria. Currently there are some 56,261 IATA accredited travel agents operating in 207 countries and territories. (Source: Travel Pulse)

Lounge and transit hotel facilities at the Bengaluru airport will remain partially shut between June this year and March 2021, owing to the refurbishment work which commences from the next month, BIAL said in a statement. The refurbishment project will be executed in two phases spanning 18-20 months, Bengalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said in the release. “Starting June 1, parts of the domestic and international lounges and transit hotel would be closed,” BIAL said. Billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Group-promoted Bengaluru airport currently has four lounges — two in international security hold area (SHA) and the other two in the domestic SHA. “Our vision is to improve lounge facilities to enhance the on-ground travel experience of our passengers. The new lounge concept is aimed at providing the ultimate hospitality experience,” said Kenneth R, chief commercial officer, BIAL. The refurbishment work will be executed in two phases spanning 18-20 months, a BIAL spokesperson said adding the AGL (above-ground level)lounge in domestic and international SHA will remain close from June 1 till April 31, 2020. The Plaza premium lounges in the international and domestic SHAs will not be available for services between April 1 and March 31, 2021, he said. The new lounge operator, a joint venture between Gate Group and Travel & Food Service (TFS) India, will take over operations of the facilities, BIAL said adding that all the four lounges will resume operations in a phased manner. Once the refurbishment of the facilities is completed, the users will have a new and exclusive lounge and transit hotel experience, the release said

Kuwaiti airline, Jazeera Airways will start flying from Ahmedabad to Bodrum, Turkey via Kuwait starting June 20. The inaugural flight will depart from Ahmedabad every Thursday at 5:35 am (IST) and will return to Ahmedabad every Monday. Economy class on the flight will cost around 18,700 INR.

The late night flights from Bengaluru to Kochi and Ahmedabad on Air India have been a great success and the airline is now all set to start this service to New Delhi. This service will begin from June 5 and will take-off from Bengaluru at 11 pm and will reach Delhi at 1:30 am, the next day. The fare of Red Eye flight will be cheaper than the day-flights and is expected to attract lot of flyers. (Source: New Indian Express)

SpiceJet will launch 20 new domestic flights from next week, mainly focusing on its Mumbai base. New services include flights to Tirupati, Vijaywada and Thiruvananthapuram from Mumbai and will be launched between May 26 and May 30. The airline has stepped into the slots vacated by Jet airways for all the latest launches out of Mumbai and so the flights will depart from Terminal 2 of the airport. The tickets are also available to purchase. SpiceJet in a statement said that out of 20 flights, 18 of them are connecting Mumbai with cities like Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Kanpur, Patna with additional frequencies. All new flights will be operated daily on Boeing 737-NG aircraft expect the Mumbai-Kolkata flight, which will not be operational on Wednesday and Sunday.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is all set fly from Bengaluru to Amsterdam, starting October 28, 2019. The launch of this new flight comes in line with the suspension of Jet Airways’ service to the route. The frequency of the flight will be thrice a week on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a configuration of 30 seats in business class, 45 seats in the economy comfort class and 219 seats in economy. It was in 2017 that Jet Airways made Amsterdam its hub and launched its flight on the route in cooperation with Air France-KLM and the latter’s US partner, Delta Air Lines. KLM has reportedly said that Jet’s suspension of international flights in April, the carrier has decided to increase its capacity to India in order to be able to offer “alternatives to our customers and to continue to meet market demand.

Domestic passengers will account for around 63 per cent of the total growth by 2037, or 228 million additional passengers, as per a recent ‘Project Rupee Raftaar’ report by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Foreign passengers will contribute less to overall growth, representing 37 per cent of the total market growth, equal to 131 million additional passengers. Of the 6.1 per cent average annual growth in Indian air passenger demand over the next 20 years, improvements in living standards (via higher incomes) are expected to contribute the major share, at 5.1 percentage points. Favourable population and demographic factors are forecast to contribute 0.6 percentage points to annual growth. Other factors, mainly future technological gains, will contribute 0.8 percentage points per year.