Category Archives: Aviation

With a fleet of about 50 aircraft globally, Oman Air is growing by 21-22 per cent Year-on-Year. “In India we have just increased our capacity by 6000 seats which includes for metropolis and Calicut in Kerala. And in Goa, the moment we see we are ready, the connectivity will be tweaked. We have a split schedule in Goa as some flights leave at night while others leave early morning,” says Ihab A Sorial, Global Senior Vice President, International Sales, Oman Air. Very soon, in about a month’s time, Oman Air will be opening up in Manchester too. Only last month they made their presence felt at Nairobi in Kenya. Sorial was in Goa to attend a conference which Oman Air conducts every quarter for India. This conference is to discuss the business strategy and how to maximise the revenue, sales and stress on the focus points. “India is very big for Oman Air and it is the third biggest point of sale in terms of revenue,” added Sorial. On a question why they not fly for USA and Australia, Mr Sorial felt that the strategy is to focus on what they have. “We do not want to stretch ourselves thinly on all the points. The Board and the senior management is of the view that to consolidate first on what we have. Then after that may be will look at other sectors. Our business is very competitive and margin of profit is very limited. We have to do careful expenditure,” said Sorial.

Jet Airways has announced the launch of two new flights directly connecting Chennai with Paris and Bengaluru with Amsterdam. The launch of these new routes will enable guests to travel to destinations in Europe and North America with its codeshare partners Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Jet Airways will operate a daily service between Bengaluru-Amsterdam, while the flight between Chennai-Paris will be operated five days a week. These new flights will complement the airline’s existing direct operations from Delhi & Mumbai to Amsterdam and onwards to Toronto as well as direct flights from Mumbai to Paris. Flights are available for sale from 20th April 2017. Commencing October 29, 2017, Jet Airways 9W 236 will depart from Bengaluru at 02:25 hrs (LT) and arrive at Amsterdam at 08:35 hrs (LT). On the return leg, Jet Airways 9W 235 will depart from Amsterdam at 10:50 hrs (LT) and arrive at Bengaluru at 00:40 hrs (LT). These flights will be operated in conjunction with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, with each airline placing their respective codes on the service. On the same day, Jet Airways 9W 128 will depart from Chennai at 01:45 hrs (LT) and will arrive into Paris at 08:10 hrs (LT). Departing from Paris at 10:10 hrs (LT), Jet Airways 9W 127 will return to Chennai at 00:15 hrs (LT). Both Air France and Delta Air Lines will be codeshare partners on these flights. Gaurang Shetty, Whole time Director, Jet Airways, said, “Providing guests with a greater choice of travel destinations and connectivity options is an important differentiating factor which sets us apart from our competition. Demand for enhanced connectivity to global …

Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic have announced a further expansion of their codeshare agreement between India and the United States, which will make it even easier for guests to tailor their trip by combining flights from Jet Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines in a single booking. From April 19, 2017, Jet Airways guests travelling between India and the United States can connect through London Heathrow on to nine US destinations operated by Virgin Atlantic; Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington (IAD), New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. This expansion builds on the existing agreement between Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic in place since 2009 – enabling Virgin Atlantic guests to travel on Jet Airways operated services between Mumbai and London Heathrow in addition to the airline’s own direct Delhi to London service. In 2015, this codeshare was extended on to Jet Airways domestic services allowing Virgin Atlantic guests to travel between London Heathrow and five destinations across India via Delhi or Mumbai. Gaurang Shetty, Whole-time Director, Jet Airways, said, “Offering greater choice and connectivity to our guests has always been a hallmark of our network strategy. The new codeshares build on the success of our ongoing cooperation with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic over London Heathrow and will provide our guests with more connectivity to and within the United States. Further, our loyalty program partnership will also enable the frequent flyers of both carriers to accrue and redeem their miles across each other’s entire network.”

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional subsidiary SilkAir have signed a codeshare agreement with Air France-KLM, which would come into effect from April 27, 2017. According to an official statement, under the agreement, Singapore Airlines will add its ‘SQ’ designator code to Air France-operated flights beyond Paris to 10 destinations – Aberdeen, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Newcastle, Nice and Toulouse. On the other hand, Air France will add its ‘AF’ designator code to Singapore Airlines-operated flights beyond Singapore to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, as well as on SilkAir-operated flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand. Both the airlines would later discuss opportunities to expand the code-share to other airlines within their respective groups. The agreement is intended to provide customers more options and seamless connectivity when travelling between Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe. The airlines will also explore the possibility for Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer and Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue members to earn and redeem miles when travelling on the code-share flight segments

Garuda Indonesia recently hosted an Open House for the travel trade in Mumbai in association with Visit Indonesia Tourism Office. The airline has appointed Bird Travels as its GSA that has eight offices across India. The purpose of the event was to create awareness about the airline’s new office in Mumbai and informing the trade about the various opportunities available to promote Indonesia as a destination. Garuda Indonesia recently inaugurated its office in Mumbai. Product presentation was given to the travel fraternity to update them more on Garuda Indonesia Services and to promote Indonesian destinations beyond Bali. To enable passengers to take advantage of the summer holiday season, Garuda Indonesia is running a special return promotional fare valid for travel until April 26, 2017. Mumbai to Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali) all-inclusive Economy class return fares starts from Rs. 22,000 and Business class from Rs. 58,000. (T&C apply) The fares are available for purchase from the Garuda Indonesia, Mumbai sales office and the appointed travel agents. Garuda Indonesia’s Jakarta-bound service operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and is operated by Garuda’s state-of-the-art 162-seater, Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

After recent incidents of unruly behaviour with its employees on board, Air India might put in place new rules, which might have steep fines up to Rs. 15 lakhs. The airline, reportedly is planning to impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh for delaying a flight up to an hour; Rs 10 lakh for delay of 1-2 hours and as much as Rs 15 lakh for delay over two hours. According to official, a plan to curb such behaviour has been drafted and awaiting approval from Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India.

Jet Airways’ passengers can now buy tickets online using the industry’s latest payment mechanism – Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The new system allows funds to be transferred instantaneously between any two bank accounts, using a smartphone. UPI becomes the airline’s 21st digital payment option and Jet becomes the only Indian airline to offer this payment solution. “We are continuously exploring ways to embed technology by way of smarter solutions to provide value to the connected traveller. Our latest payment interface – Unified Payments Interface (UPI), backed by leading banks – is yet another smart solution that is simple, convenient and secure,” said Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways. Guests booking via Jet’s website or mobile apps can now opt for the ‘UPI payment option’ during the booking process, in order to transact via a Virtual Payment Address linked to their bank account. This means that customers don’t need to enter their bank details online.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) witnessed the fly-in of the Airbus A350-900 XWB by Lufthansa German Airline, making it the only airport in India to handle daily operations of two Airbus A350-900 XWB, the world’s most advanced premium passenger aircraft. The newest addition to the Lufthansa fleet will embark on daily 8-hour flights to Munich, which is also one of the airline’s hub location. With a maximum seating capacity of 293 passengers, the cabin has 48 passengers in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class. The luxury aircraft ensures a spacious atmosphere with its wide seating and high ceilings, and provides a quiet, well-lit cabin, with a relaxing environment and the best of in-flight amenities, in all classes. The aircraft is fitted with state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment with a Wi-Fi adaptive cabin that offers passengers access to movies on demand and mobile phone connectivity, letting them keep themselves updated with work, news or even browse social media and play games online. The Airbus A350-900 XWB marks a generational shift in long haul aircrafts, emphasizing passenger comfort and environment-friendly operations as much as flight range and load capacity. With increasing number of passenger travelling to international destinations, CSIA, Mumbai, one of the busiest airports in the world with single runway system, has through the development of its state-of-the-art infrastructure, actively encouraged airlines to operate on new foreign routes with wide bodied aircrafts so as to meet the rising passenger demand, despite constraints. With over 46 international airlines operating to/from Mumbai, handling more than 12.4 million international passengers in a year, the airport is a key gateway into India, connecting it to key European and other global …

Reinforcing its commitment to the south India market, IndiGo has announced Mangalore as its new destination. Effective May 1, 2017, IndiGo will operate daily non-stop flights from Mangalore to Bengaluru and Mumbai at fares starting Rs 1,499. Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo said, “Mangalore, an important seaport and a major commercial centre in Karnataka with the state’s second busiest airport, is fast gaining prominence as a business hub and a tourist gateway. We have been getting requests to connect the city of Mangalore for years. I am now delighted to announce the launch of IndiGo flights from Mangalore. With the inaugural flights attractively priced at Rs. 1499 onwards, we are hopeful that these routes will prove to be immensely popular amongst our flyers.” He further added, “Adding new flights and frequencies on our network is aligned with our commitment to expand affordable air travel in India. The new flights not only strengthen domestic network but also help us better serve increased demand in growing markets.”

Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways, both members of Star Alliance, have entered into an expanded codeshare agreement, inked on October 01, 2016 and projected to be effective as of 2017 summer season. The revamped codeshare agreement is anticipated to further enhance the cooperation among the two carriers and avail a range of additional destinations for customers to travel to. Girma Shiferaw, A/Vice President Strategic Planning and Alliances, Ethiopian, remarked, “As a successful Pan-African carrier, we have an unshakable stance to work in collaboration with all African carriers. Therefore, revamping the already existing codeshare agreement with our partner, South African Airways, emanates from our common ambition and joint effort to expand our footprint to different destinations and better serve our esteemed customers globally. The expanded codeshare agreement between the two carriers enables our customers enjoy the best possible connectivity options to multiple destinations and also plays a significant role in enabling greater people-to-people, investment, trade and tourism ties within Africa as well as with the rest of the World.” Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways signed the first codeshare agreement on 17, September 2003 and extended codeshare agreement on October 01, 2016 on destinations such as Cape Town, Durban and Toronto. More codeshare destinations will be added in the near future.