Category Archives: Aviation

More than four out of five airline bookings in 2022 are expected to be mobile-influenced, while nearly two out of five are expected to be Facebook-influenced, suggests ‘FB Travel Report’ compiled recently by KPMG, Facebook and Nielsen. The influencing factors iinclude awareness, consideration, intent, average influence and sales opportunity. Mobile internet users in India are expected to increase to 677 million by 2022 from 420 million users in 2017, the report further reveals. This growth is expected to be driven on the backdrop of organic penetration of the internet, digitally-savvy travellers, connectivity through social media and digital technologies over the next 5 years. Brands, therefore, have a revenue opportunity worth USD19 billion to re-look at their marketing strategies and adapt to the fast-evolving mobile-first internet economy of India.

India’s passenger traffic grew at 16.52 per cent year on year to reach 308.75 million. According to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), it grew at a CAGR of 12.72 per cent during FY06-FY18.  The report reveals that by 2036, India is estimated to have 480 million flyers, which will be more than that of Japan (just under 225 million) and Germany (just over 200 million) together. India has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to overtake the UK to become the third largest air passenger market by 2025.

In a landmark decision, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is set to introduce an air cargo policy in January 2019. In a video message to the winners at India Cargo Awards, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu said, “We are currently working on a comprehensive strategy to create logistics hubs. I have already talked to several countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman as well as far away countries like Russia for creating the integrated corridor for transportation along with finding out ways of exporting certain niche products. All of this is going to bring about a huge change in the way we do logistics in India.” Prabhu further said, “Logistics as a subject has been put, for the first time, in the Ministry by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and we are working on it to create an integrated strategy to make it happen. We hope to have a seamless, cost-effective and efficient cargo movement soon which will bring in more economic benefits to the country as a whole.”

IndiGo has launched two weekly direct services from Vijayawada to Singapore jointly with the Andhra Pradesh government. Ajay Jain, IAS Principal Secretary – Energy, Infrastructure & Investment Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said, “We feel excited to engage with IndiGo to connect state capital Vijayawada to Singapore. This will fulfil the dreams of Telugu Diaspora in Singapore and is a great convenience for our investors and business community”. Virender Singh, CEO- APADCL, said, “This is just a beginning to add more such flights to many more destinations”. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “We feel absolutely privileged to be the first domestic airline to launch international services from Vijayawada in association with the Government of Andhra Pradesh. These twice weekly non-stop flight services between Vijayawada and Singapore will further augment our regional connectivity that we provide across domestically and internationally. At IndiGo, we will continue to provide an on-time, courteous and hassle-free service and affordable fares to our customers, as always.”

Hahn Air Systems has launched chatbot ‘Heidi’, increasing its digital servicing channels to now include passengers. It will initially be available on Facebook with plans to expand it further in the future. Developed in cooperation with Spain-based technology company Caravelo, Heidi was launched to support passengers travelling on one of over 80 Hahn Air Systems’ partner airlines. By visiting Heidi on Facebook, travellers will now able to chat privately via Facebook Messenger and receive immediate assistance with matters relating to the provider’s H1-Air solution and the respective partner carriers’ services. They can thus enquire about their booking details, baggage allowance for their flights, itineraries as well as obtain support for web check-ins. In the initial phase, Heidi will communicate with passengers in English, other languages will follow. Alexander Proschka, Head, Hahn Air Systems, said, “Although Hahn Air Systems is a purely business-to-business solutions provider, we wanted to give the growing number of travellers who travel with one of our H1-Air carriers, the possibility to access instantaneous, round-the-clock support. We will be continuously developing Heidi and expand her bank of frequently-asked questions to cater to the growing needs of passengers.”

Thai AirAsia is introducing three new routes to Gaya, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam from December 3, 6 and 7, respectively. The airline will operate four direct flights a week from Bangkok to Gaya on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. From Bhubaneswar to Bangkok, direct flights will operate thrice a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Besides, flights from Vizag to Bangkok will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The return flights would be available on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

In its endeavour to recognise the fast growth of the aviation sector, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), has announced the Global Aviation Summit, with an overarching theme of ‘Flying for all – especially for the next 6 billion’. Supported by ICAO, IATA, ACI and CANSO, the Summit will be held on January 15 and 16, 2019 at The Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. It aims to focus on the celebration of ‘Flying for All’ and to provide a platform to the aviation fraternity to highlight the challenges of the sector in the newly-developing growth spots. The Summit provides a platform to the stakeholders to brainstorm over the future of the aviation industry and identify the growth areas. Speaking at the announcement of the Global Aviation Summit, Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation and Commerce & Industry said, “The reason behind hosting the Global Aviation Summit here is because India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. This Summit will provide a platform to the global aviation fraternity to display the challenges of the sector in the newly-developing growth spots and understand how technology-driven innovation will shape the air travel industry in India.” More than 1,000 delegates, 80 plus speakers, 50 plus CEOs of airports and airlines, 30 plus exhibitors, transport ministers from 35 countries and 35 regulators (DGCAs/Civil aviation authorities from different countries) from the global aviation fraternity are going to participate.

IndiGo has introduced direct daily flights between Bhopal-Hyderabad and Jabalpur-Hyderabad. In Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal and Jabalpur will be the second and third cities the airline will be flying to, after Indore. Additionally, the airline will also operate its fourth daily return flight between Hyderabad-Tirupati. All new services will commence effective January 2019. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to announce Bhopal and Jabalpur as our 65th and 66th destination effective January 2019. We will operate daily flights from Bhopal and Jabalpur to connect these cities with Hyderabad. We will also be introducing a fourth daily return flight between Hyderabad and Tirupati.” Boulter further added, “IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travellers wherever they demand it. It is our constant endeavour to provide more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and an affordable flying experience always.” The introduction of these flights will bring Bhopal and Jabalpur closer to other cities of India with all-inclusive fares starting from Rs 1999.

SpiceJet has launched a daily non-stop flight between Delhi and Hong Kong effective November 22, 2018. Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said, “SpiceJet is delighted to announce the launch of our daily non-stop service from Delhi to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is SpiceJet’s eighth international destination and we are the only Indian budget carrier offering direct connectivity between India’s national capital and Hong Kong. “We are confident that the flight will be a big success with both business and leisure travellers as well as the Indian diaspora and student community in Hong Kong. Our convenient flight timings will ensure that our guests will have multiple options for connecting flights both in Delhi on SpiceJet’s vast domestic network and Hong Kong thus offering them a seamless connectivity.” The airline’s flight SG 31 will depart from Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport at 10.45 pm (all local times) and will arrive in Hong Kong at 6:40 am the following day and the return flight SG 32 will depart at 7:40 am and reach Delhi at 10:50 am.

Passengers travelling via Indigo and SpiceJet will now have to pay for web check-in. According to a statement released by IndiGo, the pricing is for advanced selection of seats and that airport check-in will remain free. It added, “Advance seat for a small fee helps consumer reserve the seat of their choice on the flight.” The minimum charge for Indigo web check-in is Rs 100, for the middle seat in the last row, and the maximum is Rs 800, for a seat in the first row. SpiceJet’s lowest seat fee is Rs 99. Indigo further said that those passengers who do not have any particular preference for seats can check-in online for any free seats available. The airline had revised its policy on November 14. After the decision by both the airlines was criticised by many Twitteratis, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) also took to the social networking site saying, “MoCA has noted that airlines are now charging for web check-in for all seats. We are reviewing these fees to see whether they fall within the unbundled pricing framework.”