Category Archives: Aviation

Delhi International Airport, a subsidiary of GMR Group, launched India’s first airport e-Shopping platform – www.shopflydel.in  – to improve the experience of airport shopping among the domestic travellers. Domestic travellers now can pre-order wide range of products of their choice online from India’s largest airport retail offering from the comfort of their whereabouts. Through this online shopping portal, now travellers have access to over 20 categories of products such as Beauty, Confectionary, Fashion, Souvenirs, Pens etc. sold across Terminal 3 and Terminal 1 domestic outlets. Products can be searched and chosen from menu listed under terminal, category, sub category or outlet. Travellers can collect their pre-ordered items from respective outlets by making the payment through cash or card. With this unique facility in place, one can book product(s) of his choice from 30 days upto 12 hours before his flight in three simple steps – Click-Pick-Fly.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, inaugurated the first ever airport in Bathinda at Virk Kalan village. Addressing the gathering on the inaugural function, Raju said, “In India there are 31 domestic airports, which are functional at the moment and now with the inclusion of Bhatinda Airport, it will rise to 32.” He also said that the government will construct another 10 airports in Punjab by April 10, 2017, including in Ludhiana, Pathankot and Aadampur, where the foundation stone would be laid very soon. Among other dignitaries who were present on the occasion are AAI chairman Guru Prasad Mohapatra, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and many BJP leaders.

In an attempt to simplify and smoothen functioning at Indian airports, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that they could be done away with stamped hand baggage tags at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports from December 15. “We recently issued orders to do away with stamping of hand baggage tags at the time of security screening. The practice will be introduced on a pilot basis at five airports and if successful, may be expanded to other airports across the country. This will save passengers’ time while boarding and will not be a security hassle in any manner,” said R.N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil aAviation, in an interview to The Hindu. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which looks after security at airports, is likely to implement the move within a week, informed Choubey.

Jet Airways has announced the appointment of Aldrin Kenneth as Country Manager – Thailand & Indo-China. An industry veteran with over 17 years of experience with leading global airlines, Kenneth joined Jet Airways as the Area Manager for Dubai/ Sharjah & Northern Emirates in 2008 and helped establish and strengthen the airline’s footprint in the United Arab Emirates. In his new role, he will be responsible for Jet Airways’ performance in the region including its commercial aspects and overall operations. He will leverage his vast airline experience to not only use innovative means to grow the business but also take steps to engage with key consumer communities to strengthen the airline’s brand story and value propositions in the rapidly growing, fast-paced travel market between Thailand and India.

Jet Airways has announced the launch of a daily direct flight from Bengaluru to Colombo with effect from January 05, 2017. With this new connection, Bengaluru will be the second Indian city after Mumbai to be linked to Colombo and Jet Airways’ third daily service to the Sri Lankan capital. Jet Airways flight 9W 278 will depart Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 0040 hrs and arrive in Colombo at 0210 hrs (Local Time). The flight 9W 277 will leave Colombo at 0310 hrs (LT) to arrive in Bengaluru at 0435 hrs (LT). Jet will offer added connection for travelers between South Indian cities and Colombo via Bengaluru. Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is delighted to launch a direct service between Bengaluru and Colombo. With increasing economic activity between India and Sri Lanka, Jet Airways realized the gap in the connectivity and plugged it with this direct connection. Guests between these two destinations will be offered the best in-flight product and service excellence.”

GoAir has announced the pre-booking of seats starting at Rs 99. Passengers can now pre-book the seats of their choice across all sectors offered by GoAir across various blocks. GoAir is currently the only airline to initiate this affordable seat selection offer. Passengers can avail this offer on the airline’s website.

Kamal Hingorani, Sr. Vice President & Head of Inflight Services and Customer Experience, SpiceJet, has taken over the additional responsibility of Corporate Communications vertical at the airline. At SpiceJet, Hingorani has been associated for almost a decade now managing multiple roles such as SVP & Head Ground and Airport Services , SVP & Head Global Sales and VP Marketing & Planning. A management graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Hingorani did his Post-Graduation in Business Management and is a Science Honors graduate from Delhi University.

Air Asia India plans to increase its flight connectivity between Bengaluru, Pune and Goa. The low-cost carrier will now operate two flights from Bengaluru to Pune, adding to the frequency to its current one daily flight between these cities. Also, the airline will operate its fourth daily connection between Bengaluru and Goa, starting December 18. “Our flights from Bengaluru to Pune are doing extremely well, so are our three existing connections to Goa. We see immense demand in this sector. We are confident that this new connection is going to be well received by our guests,” said Amar Abrol, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Air Asia India. The Bengaluru-based budget carrier currently flies to 11 destinations with its two hubs in Bengaluru and New Delhi covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad.

According to IATA, India has topped the domestic growth chart for the 11th consecutive month with a 22.7 per cent year-on-year traffic growth in October, supported by significant growth in real consumer spending and increases in the number of airport pairs served. Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic rose 7 per cent in October compared to the year-ago period. Capacity rose 7.1 per cent and load factor dipped 0.1 percentage point to 76.9 per cent. The strong upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic has slowed in recent months, although it is too soon to determine whether this is an actual weakening or just a brief pause. On the other hand, the Asia-to-Europe market, which is highly sensitive to shock events, is continuing to recover.

In an attempt to boost regional connectivity, Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India will connect Delhi and Bhatinda from December 11. The flights will be operated three times a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 70-seater ATR-72 aircraft would be utilised for the services. The flight will depart from Delhi at 12.15 pm and reach Bathinda at 1.45 pm. The return flight will fly out from Bathinda at 2.15 pm and reach Delhi at 3.45 pm. Alliance Air, which flies to tier-II and tier-III cities, has a fleet of eight ATR-72 and two ATR-42 aircraft. Currently, it operates flights to 33 destinations, including Allahabad, Bengaluru, Bhavnagar, Dharamshala, Gorakhpur, Shillong and Silchar.