Category Archives: Aviation

Lufthansa Group has announced that it will deploy its latest long haul aircraft, Airbus A350-900, to Mumbai during the summer schedule of 2017. From April 16 onwards, Mumbai becomes the third destination worldwide to welcome the state-of-the-art aircraft. Flying on Lufthansa’s Munich (MUC) to Mumbai (MUM) route, the A350-900 will offer Mumbai area residents travel choices and better connections to Lufthansa’s vast global network. Earlier this month, Lufthansa Group marked a key milestone in Indian aviation by starting the first commercial operations of A350-900 to Delhi.

Jet Airways and Hong Kong Airlines have entered into a codeshare partnership in a move that will help them significantly enhance connectivity between India and the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the reciprocal agreement, Jet Airways will place its marketing code ‘9W’ on Hong Kong Airlines’ flights operating between Hong Kong and Okinawa and Tokyo in Japan; Denpasar in Indonesia; Hanoi in Vietnam; Bangkok in Thailand; and Auckland in New Zealand. Hong Kong Airlines in turn, will place its marketing code “HX” on Jet Airways’ flights between Hong Kong and Mumbai as well as Delhi in India. The agreement will allow Hong Kong Airlines to offer its guests a daily service connecting the key business cities of Hong Kong, Mumbai and Delhi. The codeshare will provide opportunities for both airlines to expand their reach and cater to guests across the region. It will also enhance connectivity for Jet Airways guests from Mumbai and Delhi via Hong Kong to multiple destinations in the Asia-Pacific region including to first time codeshare destinations – Okinawa in Japan and Auckland in New Zealand thus enhancing the proposition for travelers who are increasingly seeking newer and more varied travel experiences. Guest can also enjoy the multi-gateway travel flexibility of travelling to/from India to Hong Kong in one direction and via Bangkok in the other direction. Additionally, Jet Airways’ Jet Privilege members will also be able to earn frequent flyer miles when they travel on Jet Airways marketed flights on these codeshare routes, which will not only be available for redemption but also count towards their tier status in the programme.

Hahn Air is expanding its network of over 300 air, rail and shuttle partners with high-speed rail operator Eurostar (9F). The UK-based train services are now available to travel agents worldwide for ticketing on Hahn Air’s HR-169 document with the exception of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. To issue tickets for Eurostar, travel agents can use the standard ticketing process in all major GDSs. “Eurostar is our third rail partner and the first to use our HR-169 product through an interline agreement”, said Steve Knackstedt, Vice President of Airline Business Group at Hahn Air. “We believe that we can support them in reaching new markets and unlocking new business opportunities. They can therefore position themselves towards travel agents worldwide as a means of transportation on par with air travel in Western Europe.” Eurostar is the only high-speed railway service connecting London with mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel. Services operate between London St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille and the French Alps. With a change in Brussels, passengers can also connect to any domestic Belgian station. Its trains reach a maximum speed of 300km per hour (186 miles per hour). Their new e320 trains feature more spacious carriages, free Wi-Fi and over 300 hours of entertainment which can be streamed to phones, tablets or laptops. Established in 1994, the company has to date carried over 170 million passengers between London and the continent.

Vistara has announced the launch of two new routes to cater to growing customer demand. Starting March 26, 2017, Vistara will fly direct daily between Kolkata and Pune, and starting April 15, 2017, will also fly direct between Delhi and Port Blair (Andamans) on Saturdays and Sundays during the upcoming summer season. These new flights are in addition to Vistara’s recently announced service to Amritsar from both Delhi and Mumbai, and to Leh (Ladakh) from Delhi, both starting in March. Vistara’s Kolkata-Pune flight will serve business professionals as well as a large population in Pune that hails from Kolkata. The Delhi-Port Blair flight will cater not only the people residing in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands who visit the national capital, but also attract businesspeople and tourists from northern India to discover the history, beauty and trade potential of the Andaman Islands. Bookings for these flights are now open. Customers can book their flights on Vistara’s official website (www.airvistara.com), on its iOS and Android mobile apps, and through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and other travel agents. Vistara’s GDS partners including Amadeus and Travelport allow customers to book via all major channels worldwide, including through our global interline airline partners.

Jet Airways has announced another new initiative, which possibly indicates an attempt to get more and more customers on to its website and reduce its distribution cost. Under its new ‘Billion Miles Festival’ the airline will offer its customers assured bonus on JetPrivilege Miles on its every flight – domestic and international. This frequent flyer reward promotion is valid from February 21 to March 31, 2017. The assured bonus miles on Economy Class is 1,500 JP Miles, on Premier Class is 5,000 and on First Class is 10,000. This is available for existing as well as new members. The airlines assures quick one-minute enrolment under its JP program on its website. The bonus miles are available only on booking tickets through its website or mobile application.

Cathay Pacific Group has partnered with HDFC Bank India for a limited period discount offer. Cathay Pacific customers making flight bookings through the Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon website can also enjoy up to five per cent discount on transactions made through all HDFC credit or debit cards. This discount is applicable on select Business and Economy classes. This offer is applicable exclusively for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights to Hong Kong as per the booking period Feb 16 to March 15, 2017 and travel period of March 1 – August 31, 2017. Rajesh Menon, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager – South Asia at Cathay Pacific Airways, said, “HDFC being the largest credit card issuer India, this partnership brings to us the opportunity to reach out to our shared pool of high net worth individuals. Our synergies meet at the junction of our quality and premium customer service, thereby amplifying the level of ease experienced in making transactions. With upcoming holidays and events lined up, Hong Kong is a great choice for a getaway.”

Passengers carried by Indian domestic airlines during January 2017 were 95.79 lakh as against 76.55 lakh during the corresponding period of 2016 thereby registering a growth of 25.13 per cent, informs the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). According to the data released by DGCA, domestic air passenger traffic had increased by 23.91 per cent during December to 95.52 lakh from 77.09 lakh during the corresponding month last year. SpiceJet recorded the highest passenger load factor (PLF) during January 2017 at 93.6 per cent followed by GoAir at 90.8 per cent and IndiGo at 90 per cent. SpiceJet also recorded the highest punctuality rate at 71.6 per cent at four major airports of Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai followed by IndiGo (71.2), GoAir (60.6), Jet Airways and JetLite (59.4), Air India (56.8) and Vistara (53). “SpiceJet has excelled on all operational parameters yet again and emerged as the country’s most punctual airline for the fourth successive month. We have had the best on-time performance in tough weather conditions and will continuously strive to better ourselves,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. IndiGo recorded the highest market share of 39.8 per cent followed by Jet Airways (15.5), Air India (14.1), SpiceJet (12.8) and GoAir (8.2), Vistara (3.2), AirAsia India (3), JetLite (2.5), Air Costa (0.5), TruJet (0.3) and Air Carnival (0.1).

India’s first heliport, built by state-owned Pawan Hans, is set to become functional next week. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju will inaugurate the new facility on February 28, which has come up at an investment of Rs 100 crore, Pawan Hans Ltd Chairman and Managing Director B.P. Sharma reportedly said. The heliport, set up at Rohini area of North Delhi, consists of a terminal building having capacity of 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays. Besides, it has a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility also for the upkeep of Pawan Hans fleet as well as for third-party maintenance work. “Rohini facility is India’s first integrated facility for rotor wing aircraft including their landing and takeoff. It has a terminal building that can cater to 150 passengers per day besides separate air traffic control (ATC), fire and fuelling services,” Sharma said. Pawan Hans had successfully carried out trial sorties from the heliport in February last year and had planned to go for full scale chopper operations from May. The commencement of services from here is also expected to reduce congestion at the Delhi Airport, which currently handles about 40-50 helicopter arrivals and departures on an average per day besides the large-scale fixed-wing operations, Sharma said. Source: PTI

Scoot and Tigerair have announced the #YaadeinBanao campaign for travellers across their India network with attractive all-in one way fares starting from as low as Rs. 5,099. The offer period begins from February 20, 2017, and lasts until March 02, 2017. The applicable travel period for this offer is from March 01, 2017 to October 28, 2017. Passengers from all 8 destinations from India namely Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Jaipur, Amritsar, Lucknow, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) can enjoy exclusive fares on Scoot and Tigerair’s network such as Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bali, Manila, Cebu and many more. Speaking on the roll-out of this offer, Leslie Thng, Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair said, “Summer is the most preferred holiday period for Indians to plan their annual family getaways. It is an apt opportunity to bond with loved ones and make memories that will last for a life time. We are confident that this specifically curated value for money offering will provide Indian families enough time to plan comfortably by choosing from our wide network of international destinations.” Tickets can be booked through Scoot and Tigerair’s official websites – www.tigerair.com and www.flyscoot.com or from Scoot and Tigerair’s mobile app for supported devices. Scoot and Tigerair together operate a total of 50 weekly flights to Singapore from eight Indian destinations – Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow and Tiruchirappalli.

AirAsia’s first flight to Srinagar was received with great enthusiasm at Srinagar Airport by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, flanked by state’s Secretary of Tourism and Floriculture Farooq A Shah, Director Tourism Kashmir Mehmood A Shah, and the top management of Air Asia India operations. The tourism secretary termed it one of the big leaps in connecting Kashmir through this affordable budgeted international airline and hoped that this will increase seat capacity as well as the flying options to for the potential visitors to the valley and should result in the reduced airfare. He further added that Tourism Department is aggressively promoting Jammu Kashmir and doing everything possible to make it a round the year destination.