Category Archives: Aviation

Vistara has launched self-service kiosk check-in at Delhi’s Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Mumbai’s Terminal 2, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Vistara is set to launch the same service across 17 other airports that it operates from by the end of June 2017. Customers will now be able to check-in, select preferred seats and print their boarding passes for their flights at the self-service kiosks without having to queue up at check-in desks. Customers with check-in baggage can simply print their boarding passes using the kiosks and drop off their baggage at the check-in desks before proceeding to security check. The self-service kiosk check-in is also available for Singapore Airlines and SilkAir customers who are flying on Vistara-operated aircraft under code-share tickets. Vistara will soon also extend the functionality of the service to offer greater convenience of opting for ancillary products/services on the self-service check-in kiosks to its customers. Vistara continues to grow and gain accolades as it redefines air travel in India by challenging the status-quo in the Indian aviation sector by offering seamless and personalized services to its customers. In a short span of a little over two years, Vistara has grown to expand its network to 19 destinations with over 530 weekly flights and a fleet of 13 aircraft, having flown close more than 4 million happy customers already.

Air India has deployed its state-of-the-art B777 aircraft on the Delhi-Chennai-Delhi sector. Effective from May 8, the flight will fulfill the increasing demand of passengers travelling on this sector. Air India flight AI-439 departed from Delhi at 0605 hours and reached Chennai at 0845 hours. On its return leg, the AI-430 took off from Chennai at 0955 hours and reached Delhi at 1255 hours. In evening service, AI 042 will leave Delhi at 1720 hours and reach Chennai at 2005 hours. At night, AI 043 will leave Chennai at 2110 hours and will reach at 2355 hours. The 342 seater wide body aircraft offers a three-class configuration, comprising of 4 first class, 35 business class and 303 economy class seats. The aircraft is offering more capacity to meet increase in demand of holiday travellers. It will be a boon to travellers from south India who visits hill stations of north in summer season. The aircraft offers an increased space for cargo, baggage and more seating capacity for the passengers travelling on this sector.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister for Civil Aviation, and Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, have informed that they are revising the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on ‘Handling of unruly/disruptive passengers’. They said that the CAR is being worked on to enhance the safety and security  of passengers, crew as well as airlines. R.N. Choubey, Secretary for Civil Aviation, gave details of the draft CAR and revealed that CAR defines three levels of unruly behaviours viz. Level 1 – disruptive behaviour, Level 2 – physically abusive behaviour and Level 3 – Life- threatening behaviour. Under CAR, the Airlines will maintain a database of such passengers which will form a National  No-fly List of unruly/disruptive passengers.  Individuals identified by MHA as national security threats will also form part of the National No-Fly List. Such names will be forwarded to the individuals by the airlines indicating the reasons for inclusion of their names in the National NO-Fly List.  For passengers indicated in the National No-Fly List, airlines will have option to bar the unruly passenger from taking flights to/form/within India for a period ranging from 03 months to a maximum of two years depending upon level of unruly behaviour.  For every subsequent offence, the person will be banned for twice the period of previous ban. He also informed that CAR provides for two tiers of complaint handling mechanism in such cases, viz. initial inquiry at airlines level by an internal committee headed by a retired District & Sessions Judge and an appeal at Govt. headed by Retired Judge of a High Court of India.  The Secretary informed that other airlines as well as international airlines were free to take cognisance of No …

Air India has finally disclosed the final Scandinavian destination for its new flight from Delhi—Stockholm. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, revealed, “As of now, it’s quite possible that we will be flying to Stockholm. Most probably, the operations for the same will start from August 15. However, there is little work left on the same, and hopefully we would be able to make an official statement for the same in the next one week.”

Etihad Airways has launched a fourth daily non-stop service between Kozhikode in Kerala and its Abu Dhabi hub offering convenient onward connections to cities worldwide. The airline is celebrating 10 years of flying to the southern Indian state with the introduction of additional flights to the destination. The extra capacity takes to 63 the total number of weekly services between Abu Dhabi and its three Kerala gateways of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. This represents over 30 per cent of Etihad Airways’ frequencies from across 11 Indian cities it serves. In addition, strategic Indian partner Jet Airways operates seven flights a week from Kochi to Abu Dhabi. The services largely cater to the huge expatriate population from all three Kerala cities and the surrounding areas, living and working in the Gulf region. Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways Vice President Indian Subcontinent, said: “With our multi-frequency scheduled flights to and from Kerala, Etihad Airways has demonstrated a commitment to this vibrant state by offering convenient global access and boosting the domestic tourism industry. We have been able to bring the world closer to this beautiful state and connect the people of Kerala to destinations in the Gulf, including our Abu Dhabi home, which has also been the base for thriving ventures by Kerala business houses. Reaching a 10-year milestone is fitting tribute to the support Etihad Airways has received from the state government of Kerala in making our operations a success.” Dr Venu Vasudevan, Principal Secretary Kerala Tourism, said: “Kerala Tourism is delighted to learn of the extra flights launched by Etihad Airways, which adds more connectivity to Kerala. We congratulate Etihad Airways on a decade of flying to Kerala and look forward to conducting …

Jet Airways has expanded the scope of its popular eduJetter programme for upcoming 2017-18 academic year. The revised program will make it easier for Indian students and those from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal – holding confirmed admissions for studying at universities/ institutions in Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the USA, to commence their new academic journey. Effective this year, privileges include special baggage allowance of up to 69 kg, free SIM cards (with exclusive calling rates), and through baggage check-in up to the final destination. Participating students also receive a free ISIC Forex Card  that offers easy and safe access to foreign exchange besides enjoying a five per cent discount on JetEscapes Holidays. Jet Airways has also simplified the entire process of eduJetter application and booking, as part of widening the appeal of the programme. The new, automatic application process is user-friendly and allows students to apply in three steps – book a flight ticket, visit the EduJetter page on the Jet Airways website to fill an online request form. The student then receives  an updated ticket from the airline with applicable eduJetter benefits within 72 hours. Commenting on the programme and its enhancements, Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways said, “Jet Airways  has always endeavored to provide exceptional value to guests by way of special programmes and partnerships. EduJetter is one such initiative that offers tremendous value to the student community travelling abroad for higher education from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, in the form of a bouquet of services that have been specially created by anticipating their needs at this significant moment in their life.”

Indians planning to travel to the UK on Virgin Atlantic this summer can now make use of the new campaign by the airline, called Brexit Calculator campaign. With an exchange rate of Re. 1 to 0.012 British Pound, the campaign focuses on the bright side of Brexit and emphasises that there has never been a better time to book a trip to the UK. Virgin Atlantic offers a daily flight between Delhi and London Heathrow with return fares from Rs. 45,845. With the new campaign, Virgin Atlantic has introduced a fun ‘Brexit calculator’ application to help holidaymakers in India work out how much they could save on a trip to the UK. The calculator will compute the savings based on the pre-and post-Brexit prices and show how popular tourist attractions have become a bargain. With those savings, customers can save so much on popular tourist activities in London that it’ll cover the cost of their flight. Nick Parker, Head of India and Middle East, Virgin Atlantic Airways said, “Clearly there has never been a better time to travel to the UK. The Indian Rupee is at a record high against the Pound which means you’ll save on literally everything when you visit the UK. Britain is emerging as an increasingly popular destination for Indians traveling for their holidays, adventures, and business trips. The Brexit calculator is a fun way to explore quintessential British tourist activities, and work out how much you could save in the UK at the same time.”

Kempegowda International Airport Limited (KIAL) is going to undo the restrictions it had imposed on flight operations. For about two and a half months from mid-February, the airport was closed to flights during the day due to Aero India  2017 and later for upgradation of its sole runway. Growing traffic at the airport necessitated the expansion. Airport operations president Hari Marar said the runway upgradation, which will increase aircraft handling capacity, was completed on April 30. Travellers and airlines had to reschedule or cancel some of their trips as flights took off before 10.30 am and after 5 pm. “Approximately 80 flights were cancelled per day due to runway closure,” a KIAL official reportedly said. in 2012, the runway was entirely closed for a month for resurfacing work. The Bengaluru airport clocked 178,117 air traffic movements (ATMs) in the past financial year, which translates to around 500 ATMs a day. Ranked third busiest in India, the KIA registered 22.88 million travellers during this period. This comes to around 62,000 passengers a day. (Source: Economic Times)

SpiceJet will reportedly offer Dubai visa services to Indian passengers in association with Cozmo Travel World. It will offer services for both 14 and 30-day tourist visa based on the passengers’ requirement. “The service is available to all Indian passport holders who fulfil the eligibility conditions prescribed by the UAE Visa authorities,” the airline said in a statement. “This facility can be availed by any person visiting Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and holding valid round trip tickets of the company. The visa service is available at a competitive rate starting from Rs 5,412 per passenger.” The airline said the facility is only for ‘single entry visa’, which stands valid for 59 days from the date of issue with a stay period of 13 days (14 days’ visa) or stay period of 29 days (30 days’ visa) from the date of entry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched UDAN – the Regional Connectivity Scheme for civil aviation, from Shimla Airport. Under this scheme, flights have begun today from Shimla, Nanded and Kadapa airports. The Shimla-Delhi flight will be operated by Air India, which opened the bookings for the same on Tuesday with all-inclusive fares starting at Rs 2,036. The Prime Minister addressed the gathering at Shimla Airport, and also at Nanded and Kadapa via video link. He said that with this launch dreams of middle class will take flight. “The lives of the middle class are being transformed and their aspirations are increasing. Earlier, aviation was considered to be the domain of a select few. That has changed now,” he said.