Category Archives: Aviation

Airbus Group has taken yet another step in the direction to realise its ‘Make in India’ plans, appointing Ashish Saraf as Vice-President – Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets. Saraf will head of the helicopter division of Airbus India. He will also drive the Group’s existing ‘Make in India’ initiatives and conceive new ones for all the businesses of Airbus Group India with the aim to increase their industrial footprint here. The move comes close on the heels of Airbus Group uniting its Divisions in India under a single company. “Ashish is a dynamic Indian executive with experience in leading industrialisation initiatives in the aerospace and defence sector. Having him as a part of our India management team with the mandate to expand our local industrial partnerships is a shot in the arm for our ‘Make in India’ plans,” said Pierre de Bausset, President, Airbus Group India. “Airbus Group’s ambition is to be a benchmark setting company when it comes to realising the ‘Make in India’ vision of the Indian government. I look forward to supporting the Group fulfil its ambition while helping my country meet its indigenisation goals. I feel privileged to be in this role at a company which has put ‘Make in India’ front and centre of its India strategy,” said Saraf. Prior to joining Airbus Group, Saraf was the India head of the Tata Sikorsky joint venture since 2010 and led Sikorsky’s industrialisation and strategic partnerships in India. An industry veteran with an extensive experience in offsets, industrial relations, greenfield start-up development and strategic partnerships, Saraf started his career with Dassault Systems and Deloitte Consulting.      

Bird ExecuJet Airport Services, a joint venture between Bird Group and ExecuJet Aviation Group, has been appointed an authorised service facility in India for Textron Aviation to offer service and support for Citation XLS and Hawker 750/800/850/900-series business jets and King Air 90-series turboprops. Anurag Srivastava, Chief Executive Officer,  Bird ExecuJet Airport Services, said, “Our agreement with Textron Aviation will enhance our portfolio to service and support its iconic brands in India. This new appointment will go a long way in achieving Bird Group’s long-term goal and vision of becoming a preferred choice of our customers. With this appointment, we will offer a truly versatile and comprehensive business and general aviation product portfolio.” Bird ExecuJet is developing a world class FBO and MRO facilities at Indira Gandhi International Airport and currently offers maintenance services from two exclusive hangars. The existing facility offers excellent logistics and operational readiness for its clients within India and supports international clients.

Air China and Shandong Airlines has recently organised a summer/autumn product seminar and agency awards ceremony to celebrate partnership with its agents. Highlighting the growth and performance of both the carriers, the event felicitated the airlines’ partners for commendable business output. Talking about stable flight frequency and increased connectivity, Xia Baohui, General Manager-Delhi, Air China said that the company has experienced handsome growth in India while Wang Shuai, General Representative-India, Shandong Airlines briefed about the new routes of the airlines. After the seminar, Air China’s travel partners like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Riya Travels, Akbar Travels and others were awarded for their outstanding performance.

Vistara has announced placing orders for a total of 19 Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth USD 3.1 billion (approx Rs 21,344 crore). The letter of intent signed with Airbus comprises 13 A320neo and A321neo aircraft, as well as options for seven more aircraft from the A320neo family. In addition, Vistara will lease another 37 new A320neo-family aircraft from leasing companies. Together, Vistara will be adding a total of 50 A320neo-family aircraft into its existing fleet. Vistara has selected the LEAP 1-A engines from CFM International to power the A320neo and A321neo aircraft, which will be due for delivery between 2019 and 2023. Vistara will use these aircraft to densify its domestic network and to support its international operations planned for later this year. Leslie Thng, CEO, Vistara said, “India’s position as the world’s fastest growing domestic aviation market and its impressive growth in air passenger traffic that has more than doubled over the last decade, makes us confident of our aggressive plans for domestic expansion and international foray. These orders are a landmark step in Vistara’s journey and demonstrate our deep-rooted commitment to contributing to the rise of the Indian aviation industry and to offering more choices to our customers.”

Oman Air recently organised a networking evening in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai to introduce its new Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Starrs, to its top agent partners. Starrs re-joined the airline three months ago after a gap of five years. Speaking at the event in Mumbai, Starrs said, “We have been seeing strong growth from the India market and my focus is to double our efforts in promoting the products here.” Delegates from TAAI and TAFI were also present at the event and presented him with a memento. TAFI also extended to Starrs an honorary membership. He also spoke briefly about the new flight that Oman Air is starting to Moscow in October to be served by Oman Air’s Boeing 737-800. “While we don’t expect too many numbers from India for the Moscow flight in the winter, we hope it will make up for it in the summer season. The direct flight will be operated daily non-stop between Oman and Russia.” Flights to Istanbul and Casablanca were launched in June and in July 2018 respectively.

Vietnam Airlines has withdrawn its IATA commission for travel agents applicable for all tickets issued in India, effective July 15, 2018. According to a statement released by the airline, the commission will be reduced from the existing 3 per cent to 0 per cent. Earlier, Oman Air, Jet Airways and Etihad have also have withdrawn IATA commission for agents.

Cathay Dragon has recently celebrated 10 years of passenger flight operations between Bengaluru and Hong Kong. Since the launch of these flights in 2008, more than 800,000 passengers have travelled from Bengaluru and approximately 32,000 tons of cargo have been carried. In celebration of the 10th anniversary, the airline’s check-in counters wore a festive look and passengers travelling from Bengaluru were given commemorative gifts. The airline has also launched a special offer – 10 per cent discount on fares from Bengaluru to destinations such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, Seoul, Narita, Taipei and Hong Kong. This discount is applicable on tickets booked on the airline’s website for travel right until the end of the year. Rajesh Menon, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager – South Asia, Cathay Pacific says,” We have always been very confident of the potential that Bengaluru holds, which is why we launched services in 2008 with daily flights. Karnataka’s GDP growth at 7 per cent is in line with the national average. From South India, the highest traffic to countries like North America, Japan and Australia comes from Bengaluru. At Cathay Dragon we are perfectly positioned to cater to this traffic with excellent connections to these key destinations with our differentiated product and service”.

Raising a toast to 18 years of flying to India, Virgin Atlantic hosted an evening of fun and frolic in New Delhi. Industry partners were recognised at this event, further cementing their relationship with the airline. Virgin Atlantic took the opportunity to thank its Indian partners with a promise to continue to give more to the Indian market. The airline has some new and exciting initiatives in the pipeline.

GVK Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the company that administers the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has introduced another initiative to enhance passenger experience at the airport premises. Passengers can now use extended check-in facility that will be available at the hotels in Mumbai. This facility is presently introduced at hotels like Sahara Star, Hyatt Regency, Taj Santacruz, ITC Maratha, Hilton Mumbai International Airport and LaLiT so far. This facility can be used by anyone who has the access to these hotels. By the use of this facility, passengers will be able to save on time and have a stress-free experience at the airport. GVK Mumbai Airport also has equipped Terminals with various self-service check-in facilities. CSIA is the pioneer to introduce facilities like check-in kiosks, generating boarding pass through CUSS, generating Baggage tag through CUSS, and use of self bag drop facility for a faster check-in experience. All the airlines operating out of Terminal 1 of CSIA are now on SBD (self-bag drop facility) making Terminal 1 the only terminal in the country to have a fully automated check in system. The integration of new technology allows the processing of a significant number of passengers to be decentralised from the airport and allows for better use of airport resources.

IndiGo is set to operate flights to and from Surat from August 16, 2018, connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur. After a successful launch of seven domestic and two international destinations since January 2018, the airline has announced Surat as its 56th destination. Bookings are open with immediate effect with fares starting from Rs 1999. To provide more enhanced connectivity across India, IndiGo will operate three new routes, including Jaipur-Varanasi, Jaipur-Guwahati and Mumbai-Bagdogra. All new services start in August 2018. The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options. Customers who wish to plan their travel can book tickets via the official website. William Boulter, Chief Strategy Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to fly out of Surat starting August 2018. Surat, undoubtedly holds immense potential for IndiGo, and launching operations to and from the diamond city is in line with our growth strategy for the India market. We are also launching three other new routes which includes Jaipur-Varanasi, Jaipur-Guwahati, and Mumbai-Bagdogra.  With these new services, we are providing more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on time, courteous and hassle-free service and an always affordable flying experience.”