Category Archives: Aviation

Cathay Pacific Airways conducted a series of sales blitz and workshops in Ahmedabad, Pune and Mumbai to mark the reintroduction of its Premium Economy Class and the increase in capacity on flights from Mumbai. Cathay Pacific used to operate Premium Economy until October 2015. The airline has introduced the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the Mumbai–Hong Kong route from October 30. Rajesh Menon, Regional Sales & Marketing Manager-South Asia, Cathay Pacific, said, “We are thrilled to share these new developments in Cathay Pacific with our key trade and corporate partners. It is their support that has encouraged us to increase capacity on this route and reintroduce our Premium Economy cabin, which will provide even greater convenience and give our customers another reason for choosing Cathay Pacific.” Workshops were held for the travel trade fraternity in Mumbai which consisted of interactive sessions and covered a range of topics that include Cathay Pacific’s product and service, network and connections, loyalty programme, destination guides etc. This was followed by a week-long sales blitz that included a competition for the travel agents to upload their most fun picture on Cathay Pacific’s Facebook page. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will operate on the daily CX 660 service from Mumbai to Hong Kong and CX 663 flight from Hong Kong to Mumbai. This will mark a 21% increase in passenger capacity and 67% increase in cargo capacity out of Mumbai on Cathay Pacific flights.

GoAir has announced its first daily flight between Jammu and Leh. As part of its new winter schedule, the airline launched 15 new flights including additional flights from Mumbai to Patna; and Delhi to Chandigarh, amongst other sectors. This comes in line with the growing demand from the corporate travellers and upcoming holidays for leisure travellers. With the introduction of the winter schedule, the airline will increase its operations by 26 per cent to 1544 flights per week.

United Airlines is marking 10 years of its daily non-stop service between Mumbai Airport and its New York/Newark hub, Newark Liberty International Airport. Since it was launched in October 2007, the service has carried over 1.6 million customers on over 7,000 flights. Celebrating this milestone, VIP guests, United employees and customers from across the travel industry joined Marcel Fuchs – United Vice president Atlantic and Pacific Sales, Thorsten Lettnin – United Managing Director Continental Europe and India, Sales, Harvinder Singh – United Country Manager India and the Commercial Consul for the US Embassy in India, Gregory Taevs, for a gala dinner in Mumbai. “We are extremely proud to mark a decade of this successful route and thank our valued customers and the travel trade community across India for choosing United,” said Harvinder Singh, United Country Manager India. “Our Mumbai service also offers a comprehensive network of onward connections from our New York/Newark hub to points all across the Americas.” United has served India since 2005. “United offers daily non-stop services from Mumbai and Delhi to New York/Newark. Flights are conveniently timed to connect at our New York hub with an extensive network of destinations throughout the Americas. United flight UA49 departs Mumbai daily at 11:10 pm, arriving at New York/Newark at 5:55 a.m. the next day. The return flight, UA48, departs New York/Newark daily at 8:20 pm, arriving in Mumbai at 8:40 p.m. the following day (all times local and subject to change). The Mumbai-New York/Newark flight is operated by Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with a total of 267 seats – 50 flat-bed seats in United Polaris business class and 217 seats in United Economy, including 72 Economy Plus seats.”

The 2nd Aero Expo organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry got off to an excellent start at New Delhi. The four-day event will also feature India’s first Heli Expo on November 4 and 5. Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the mega event, which will deliberate on the key focus areas for Indian aviation to sustain and grow itself in the coming years. Also gracing the event was Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of India, among other industry stalwarts and key stakeholders. Speaking about the future prospect of the country’s aviation network, the Vice President of India exclaimed, “Apart from playing a key role in promoting connectivity between various regions and creating jobs, the civil aviation sector is one of the key drivers of the economy. As such, a continued introspection of the current policies, norms and infrastructure needs to be done to ensure the sectors contribution towards the economy.” Jayant Sinha also met with the leading CEOs and CMD of the industry to discuss the future of civil aviation. With 200 million passenger trips per year currently and growing at a rate of 12 per cent, the Indian industry is looking at one billion passenger trips from across the various airports around the country and the 2nd Aero expo highlighted the investment requirements for the same.

Etihad Airways has announced the suspension of its Abu Dhabi-Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) route effective March 25, 2018, as it will become commercially unsustainable following American Airlines’ unilateral decision to terminate its codeshare agreement with the airline. Peter Baumgartner, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways, said, “The unfortunate decision by American Airlines to terminate a commercial relationship that benefited both carriers has left Etihad with no choice but to suspend flights between our Abu Dhabi home and Dallas/Fort Worth. “We are open to American Airlines reversing its decision to cancel our codeshare agreement so that Etihad Airways can continue the route and together protect and support American national interests and global connectivity while driving commercial value for both airlines.” Etihad Airways has invested heavily in the DFW route since its launch in December 2014. The route commenced with three flights a week and was upgraded to a daily service in February 2017, providing travellers in the US and across the airline’s network with access to more US cities through American Airlines’ primary hub. More than 235,000 travellers have flown on the route since its launch. Almost half of Etihad Airways’ DFW customers connect on US codeshare flights operated by American Airlines. Baumgartner added, “The cancellation of the Dallas route is one of several adjustments that we are making to our US network in 2018 in order to improve system profitability. Further changes are possible as we monitor the full impact of the American Airlines codeshare cancellation on summer 2018 bookings. Etihad Airways currently operates 42 non-stop flights a week to five US gateways – Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Additionally, Etihad Cargo operates twice weekly Boeing 777F freighter …

Ethiopian Airlines is all set to launch Africa’s first and the airline’s youngest and modern operating fleet B787-9 Dreamliner operation in to Mumbai. The aircraft made its debut flight to India’s capital city of Delhi on October 28, 2017. The Dreamliner fleet which is an integration of design and technology with unique features of biggest windows in the sky, high ceiling, less noise, distinctive lighting, and higher air humidity, has further redefined passengers’ travel experience on board Ethiopian. Tadesse Tilahun, Regional Director, Indian Sub-continent, Ethiopian Airlines, remarked, “Ethiopian was the first airline to introduce Dreamliner 787-8 to India in 2012 and Airbus A350 -900 XWB in April 2017. Once again, we are proud to celebrate yet another first with the introduction of the cutting-edge Africa’s first 787-9 into Indian market. India is a strategic market for Ethiopian that has been served for more than 46 years and in line with our expansion strategy in Indian market, we are pleased to deploy our latest fleet and adding capacity on the existing route to better serve our esteemed customers and to further strengthen the growing trade and commercial ties between the booming economies of India and Africa.”

SriLankan Airlines extended its route network with the launch of daily non-stop services to Melbourne on October 29, 2017. Ajith Dias, Chairman of Sri Lanka’s national carrier, said: “We at SriLankan Airlines are delighted to launch this new service, which we have no doubt would be of great convenience to all segments of travelers, including the large number of Sri Lankans domiciled in Australia, the many Australians who love to travel overseas and people throughout Asia who visit Down Under.” Sri Lankan expatriates and students form a large and significant community in Australia, and frequently travel back to their native land. Many of them reside in Melbourne, and other cities in the state of Victoria and neighbouring New South Wales, with smaller numbers throughout the rest of Australia and New Zealand. Captain Suren Ratwatte, CEO of SriLankan Airlines, said: “We have been extending our route network in a systematic manner throughout Asia – from the Middle East to the Far East – and can now provide Australian travelers excellent options in connectivity, with one-stop journeys to the most popular destinations via Colombo.” A member of the prestigious oneworld global airline alliance, SriLankan offers convenient connections to 14 cities throughout India, nine in the Middle East and other destinations such as Male and Gan Island in the Maldives, and Seychelles. SriLankan also operates one-stop twice-daily services between Sri Lanka and Australia with its codeshare partners Qantas and Malaysia Airlines. Passengers will enjoy the comforts of the airline’s modern Airbus A330 aircraft between Melbourne and Colombo, with flatbeds in Business Class, sophisticated in-flight entertainment and world class service provided by SriLankan’s award winning cabin crew.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) signed an MoA with a strategic vision to promote tourism from the catchment area of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad to Malaysia. This tri-partite MoA involves collaborative market research, strategy development, promotional campaigns and marketing efforts with an aim to enhance the visibility of ‘Destination Malaysia’ in Hyderabad. The trend shows that over 100,000 passengers travel between Hyderabad and Malaysia every year; and this traffic has grown by 28 per cent CAGR in the last five years. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “We are happy to sign this first of its kind MoA between airport operators – GHIAL and MAHB and Malaysia Tourism. This is a strategic initiative, which we have taken up to enhance the outbound tourism from our catchment region to key international destinations to enhance RGIA’s International connectivity and traffic growth.” Datuk Mohd Badlisham Ghazali, Managing Director, MAHB, said, “We are delighted to partner MTPB and GHIAL in this unique endeavour. This mutually beneficial three-way partnership will enhance the visibility of Malaysia’s tourism attractions in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.”  

In a move to enhance air connectivity, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) welcomed Dutch Carrier, KLM’s Mumbai and Amsterdam services on October 30. The airline will be operating 294-seater Boeing 787-9 aircraft with 30 World Business Class, 45 Economy Comfort Class And 219 Economy Class. The flights will operate thrice a week. Earlier, Mumbai-Amsterdam route was served with daily services offered by Jet Airways. Along with KLM, the route will be served with a total of ten services per week. Last week, CSIA welcomed Thai Smile’s maiden flight on the Mumbai-Bangkok route, the second airline after Thai Lion to start services on the sector within a month.

Vistara recorded an excellent performance on several key parameters in September 2017, as per the DGCA monthly report. The airline topped on-time performance (OTP) and passenger load factor (PLF) amongst full service carriers, as well as in consistently maintaining the lowest cancellations and customer complaint rates amongst all pan-India carriers while having zero denied boarding. Vistara’s PLF stood at 84.1 per cent and continued to be the highest amongst all full-service carriers in India for the seventh consecutive month. The airline registered a year-on-year growth of 60 per cent in weekly flights from July-September 2017, operating close to 100 daily flights across 19 destinations. Though its fleet in the period increased just 23 per cent, Vistara had flown 1.1m passengers, compared to 0.6m in the same period the previous year, demonstrating 83 per cent growth and resulting in a 12pp increase in its average load factor. The improved performance was driven by higher utilisation of aircraft compared to the same period last year.