Category Archives: Aviation

Commemorating 18 years of successful journey in India, Virgin Atlantic hosted a celebratory evening in Jalandhar for its major trade partners and travel agents. The evening witnessed the presence of Virgin Atlantic’s senior management including David Hodges, Country Manager, Virgin Atlantic India, Sameer Duggal, Commercial Manager and Inderpal S Anand, Sales Manager, Punjab. The evening began with company’s product update and latest offerings such as the new SME programme called Flying Co, which offers unique and differentiated reward opportunities. It offers members the chance to earn and spend miles across a range of product and services of Virgin Atlantic and its partners. A grand dinner and cocktails followed the product presentation. Hodges said, “The evening highlighted our fantastic new SME programme – Flying Co and our codeshare partnership with Jet Airways. These initiatives are a part of our commitment to give more rewards and a seamless service to the Punjab market. We want everyone to have the opportunity to fly the best service in the skies and look forward to our continued partnership with the Punjab travel market.” Virgin Atlantic with its active focus on India market is working round-the-clock to offer best in-class services such as three new ways to fly economy and its recent campaign ‘Depart the everyday’ which extends to the LGBT community in India.  

Jet Airways is set to commence daily non-stop services from Pune to Singapore starting December 1, 2018. The new service will make Jet Airways the first airline to connect Pune directly with Singapore. The flight from Pune to Singapore, 9W 22 will depart Pune at 05:10 hrs (IST) and arrive in Singapore at 13:15 hrs (LT). On the return leg, flight 9W 21 will depart from Singapore at 21:00 hrs (LT) and arrive in Pune at 00:05 hrs (IST). To celebrate the launch of the new flight, Jet Airways has announced special ‘introductory’ return Economy fares from Pune, starting at Rs 23,999 only, as also a Premiere fare of INR 66,999. Guests can book tickets and enjoy attractive savings with these special fares, with the sale from October 24-31, 2018. These inaugural fares are applicable for journeys commencing from December 1, 2018 onwards. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice President–Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways will be the first Indian airline to provide direct connectivity between Pune and Singapore. Singapore has seen over 36,000 visitor arrivals from Pune in 2017, which is the highest for an Indian city without a direct flight. The launch of this new non-stop, daily service will benefit both leisure and business travellers, as Singapore is one of the most popular destinations for tourists from Pune.” The new frequency will offer guests from Pune convenient connections to Auckland, Bangkok, Brisbane, Jakarta, Denpasar-Bali, Hanoi, Phuket, Jinjiang, Medan, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Manila, Nadi, Penang, Perth, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Surabaya and Sydney through two-way flights operated by codeshare partners, via Singapore.  

The Tourism Minister of Western Australia, Paul Papalia, was in Mumbai recently, to announce Tourism WA’s commitment to the India market in terms of funds, and has appointed a dedicated marketing representative based in Mumbai. The Minister also held key meetings with, and delivered business cases to six Indian airlines in a bid to attract a direct service between India and Perth. Papalia said, “The State Government is serious about growing WA’s tourism industry and entering a new market such as India, with the potential to deliver thousand more visitors. We are working with Perth Airport to secure a direct air link between Perth and India, and this marketing activity will help promote WA and create even greater demand for these flights once they begin. Our extraordinary state has much to offer to Indian travellers, whether they’re visiting for business, education or leisure. Perth boasts the best hotels in Australia, with more than 3,000 new rooms opening in the past few years. It is also the perfect launching pad to visit our spectacular regions. Western Australia is also an attractive option for Indians looking to study overseas, with the Premier recently announcing he will give high-achieving education graduates – PhD, Masters, Honours and other higher degree graduates – a pathway to skilled migration.”

WOW air has announced flights to Vancouver from New Delhi that will operate thrice-a-week (Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) commencing from June 2019. The airline has introduced inaugural fares for the sector with WOW basic fares starting from Rs 21,999 and WOW premium starting from Rs 63,160. The offer will be valid on select flights only when booked on a round trip. The airline will also be offering convenient connecting flights to and from Vancouver for passengers travelling between New Delhi and Iceland. Also, the flight from Vancouver will have the lay-over in Iceland for 3 hrs 20 minutes and flight to Vancouver will have lay-over of 2 hrs 25 minutes. Announcing the new destination, Skúli Mogensen, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, WOW air, said, “We are happy to announce the new flight to Vancouver from New Delhi. The feedback we have received from the Indian consumers is remarkable and this new addition will definitely give a boost to the response from the Indian market. We are waiting for the operations to begin from New Delhi in December.” The airlines is serving number of destinations from New Delhi including Iceland, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles and Orlando. WOW will begin service from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi (DEL) on December 7, 2018 with three weekly flights connecting passengers to North America and Europe over their hub in Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF). In January, the airline will be flying five weekly flights.

GoAir will make Phuket as its Thailand hub and fly to the beach island from eight more Indian cities by the end of next year. The carrier currently flies to Phuket and Male in Maldives from Mumbai and New Delhi as part of its overseas route network. It had commenced its international operations on October 11 with flight services to Phuket from New Delhi.

Singapore Changi Airport has announced the launch of its 16th city link to India with the introduction of a new non-stop service between Guwahati and Singapore, operated by Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines. This new route marks the first direct connection between Northeast India and Singapore. The introduction of this new service is expected to reduce travel time for almost 10 hours, including transfers to 4 hours 30 minutes. Drukair commenced twice weekly flights from Guwahati to Singapore from September 29. The new link is expected to strengthen not only cultural and socio-political ties between the countries but also facilitate opportunities to enhance travel and trade practices. Lim Ching Kiat, Managing Director—Air Hub Development, Changi Airport Group said, “We are pleased to launch the first non-stop service between Northeast India and Singapore with our valued partner Drukair. India is the third largest tourism source market for Singapore and one of Changi Airport’s key growth markets. This new route further enhances connectivity between Singapore and India, bringing the city links to a total of 16. We look forward to welcoming more travellers from Guwahati, who can tap Changi’s extensive network to destinations in Asia such as Australia, China, Indonesia and Japan.” India is Changi’s sixth largest market, registering more than 4.5 million passenger movements in the past 12 months, growing at 14 per cent year-on-year. Last month, IndiGo launched daily services from Kolkata and Tiruchirapalli, operating the airline’s first services from the two cities to Singapore.

IndiGo has announced a daily non-stop flight between Hong Kong and Bengaluru effective December 11, 2018. As part of its international expansion, the airline also operates daily non-stop flights between India and Colombo, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur, Male and Phuket. The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers from these cities, who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options. Customers who would like to plan their travel can book tickets through www.goindigo.in. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “We are delighted to announce Hong Kong as the 15th destination in our international portfolio. One of the world’s biggest financial hubs, Hong Kong constitutes a strategic market for us. Hong Kong also caters to all kinds of travellers, be it family or a group of friends, and we see huge tourism potential in future from India.”

Sabre Corporation has announced a renewed, full content distribution agreement with Jet Airways effective April 2019. Sabre’s extended agreement with Jet Airways provides Sabre-connected agents across India and the world a path to access the full content of Jet Airways into year 2024. With over 100 million passengers choosing Indian carriers for their travel since the beginning of the year and domestic air travel growing by 21.2 per cent over the same period, in less than 10 years the World Travel & Tourism Council expects India to become the world’s fourth-largest travel and tourism economy behind China, the United States and Germany. Rakesh Narayanan, Vice President, Air Line of Business, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific, said, “As a long-term technology partner to Jet Airways, providing the airline with unmatched solutions that enable superior passenger services, Sabre is well positioned to support the carrier’s growth objectives. Today, we are pleased to provide Jet Airways with the ability to share their content through Sabre’s leading global travel marketplace, which will in turn contribute to their ongoing business success.”

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) has launched South India’s first Airport Radio under its signature “#PassengerIsPrime” programme at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Mirchi Airport Radio is a 24×7 custom-produced, exclusive airport radio, creating a melodious theme to the travel experience for the passengers at the airport, as per a press release by GHIAL. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “It is our continuous endeavor to enhance the passenger experience at the airport and the ‘Airport Radio’ concept is one of our many #PassengerIsPrime initiatives. We hope that the passengers would enjoy this welcoming and melodious feature that the airport offers during their journey.” The airport handles over 55,000 passengers on a daily basis. Typically a passenger stays at the airport from 15 minutes to three hours depending on his/her travel. Airport radio – Mirchi Hyd will offer the passengers a musical treat across the 1.2 lakh square metre expanse of the terminal building and delight them, the press release mentioned. Source: PTI

Lufthansa will offer five weekly flights from Frankfurt Airport to Austin – Bergstrom International Airport commencing on May 3, 2019. The airline will operate the Airbus A330-300 in a three-class cabin configuration offering customers business class (42), premium economy (28) and economy class (185) seats. Flights will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Optimally timed, flights arriving from India will connect perfectly to  LH468 departing from Frankfurt at 10:05 am and arriving in Austin at 2:20 pm. On the return, LH469 leaves Austin at 4:05 pm and arrives in Frankfurt at 9:10 on the following day thus comfortably reaching all departures to India. Paurus Nekoo, General Manager – Sales, India, Lufthansa Group, said, “With more and more Indians displaying a growing zeal for exploring the world, the launch of the new Frankfurt-Austin flight brings the world closer to Indians within the country as well as the Indian diaspora in Texas and Europe.”