Category Archives: Aviation

At three events held simultaneously across Canada in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Air Canada unveiled for its customers and employees, a bold new livery inspired by Canada for its entire fleet, new uniforms for its employees, and a taste of some of the new onboard menu offerings that its customers can look forward to. “Air Canada’s new livery signals a pivotal inflection point in our 80-year history,” said  Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines. On the occasion of Canada’s 150th anniversary year, with our new livery, new uniforms for our employees, the award-winning international cabin standard introduced with the launch of our Boeing 787 aircraft, and enhanced onboard offerings, the future Air Canada represents the strength of our nation and the future-looking spirit of our airline.” Air Canada’s fleet of 300 mainline and regional aircraft are being repainted in a bold black and white design that highlights its iconic red maple leaf encircled ensign, or “rondelle,” that returns to the tail of the flag carrier’s fleet after an absence of 24 years.  The new look reflects Canada’s vastness and contrasting seasons, with references to its wildlife and First Nations heritage. With the new livery providing a sleek, contemporary backdrop, Air Canada premiered elegant charcoal grey and black employee uniforms with red accents and accessories by Canadian designer Christopher Bates. Air Canada will receive its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at the end of 2017, marking the start of its narrow body fleet renewal program, to be followed in 2019 with the delivery of its first Bombardier C Series aircraft.

Singapore Airlines has announced the launch of its fourth weekly flight from Ahmedabad to Singapore, starting March 26, 2017. All flights will be operated by the Airbus A330-300 wide-body aircraft. David Lim, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines, commented, “Travel to and from Ahmedabad has steadily increased over the years. Singapore Airlines is pleased to offer an additional frequency to meet the growing market demand. The new service will provide travellers a much sought after weekend departure window, to travel to Singapore and to onward destinations.” Furthermore, travellers from India can redeem a complimentary S$20 Changi Dollar Voucher for use at all participating shops, restaurants and lounges when they transit at Singapore Changi Airport. Indian nationals can also avail of one-way, Visa Free Transit Facility for up to 96 hours in Singapore with a valid onward ticket and a valid visa from selected countries. The transit facility will be provided at the discretion of the immigration authorities.

Air India has become the latest A320neo operator after taking delivery of the first of 14 aircraft leased from Kuwait headquartered ALAFCO Aviation Lease And Finance Company, becoming the first CFM powered NEO operator in India. The delivery is also the first NEO for ALAFCO from an order for 85 A320neo Family. The A320neo will join Air India’s existing fleet of 66 A320 Family aircraft. Through a network of over 45 Indian suppliers, more than 6,000 professionals in India contribute directly and indirectly to all Airbus programmes and every aircraft produced today is partly made in India. The A320neo Family incorporates latest technologies including new generation engines and wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 percent in fuel savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020. The A320neo Family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with over 5,000 orders from 92 customers since its launch in 2010 capturing almost 60 percent share of the market. Thanks to their widest cabin, all members of the A320neo Family offer unmatched comfort in all classes and Airbus’ 18” wide seats in economy as standard. To date over 70 A320neo have been delivered to 18 customers.

Lufthansa has started commercial services of the A350-900 on its Munich (MUC) to Delhi (DEL) route and the aircraft landed in Delhi on February 11 from Munich. The arrival was greeted with the celebratory water canon salute at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The city of Delhi becomes the first destination worldwide to welcome Lufthansa’s most modern and environmentally friendly long haul aircraft, the A350-900. “The launch of Lufthansa A350 services in Delhi marks an important milestone in our growing partnership with India. This game-changing aircraft reflects the values of the new global Indian, and reaffirms our commitment to this important market by introducing the very best and latest in air travel,” said Wolfgang Will, Senior Director South Asia, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines.

IndiGo has added 20 new flights to cities with high demand and expanding potential. The airline has added flights to Jammu and Srinagar from Delhi only for February 13 and 14. The airline has unveiled additional to and fro flights connecting Hyderabad and Chandigarh; Chennai and Chandigarh; Chennai and Hyderabad; and Chennai and Kochi, starting February 20. Targeting the business and leisure travellers, the airline will also add a second daily flight on its Chennai-Singapore route beginning March 05 2017. In East India, IndiGo will enhance operations from Delhi and Kolkata to Bagdogra with 4 additional flights to strengthen connectivity between metro cities and remote routes. With a total of 883 flights connecting 41 destinations, these new flights will further consolidate IndiGo’s position as the fastest growing airline in India. It recently launched two new non-stop daily flights to Sharjah and additional flight to Muscat in a bid to consolidate its position in the Middle East market. It now offers a total of 903 flights connecting 41 destinations.

Zoom Air became the 10th scheduled carrier in India with its inaugural flight from Delhi to Durgapur. It is the only airline that flies to Durgapur. The daily operations will ply on the Delhi-Kolkata-Durgapur sector. The service would further be extended to Amritsar in the afternoon followed by an evening service between Delhi-Surat-Bhavnagar-Delhi. The CRG 200LR aircraft is 50 seater with 2X2 complete premium economy seater.  

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Indian and the UK to ease restrictions on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries. Limits on flights from key Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped, allowing for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India. The agreement also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights, and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements. According to Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation, said “The increase in number of flights between the UK and India is encouraging news for our businesses and tourists. We already enjoy strong ties with the UK and we welcome such continued association which in the long run will not only encourage business activity, but also people-to-people contact. I am sure that this agreement will bring direct and indirect benefits to many sectors of the economies of our two countries.” Tourism from India makes an important contribution to the UK economy. In 2015, there were 422,000 visits from India to the UK, bringing more than £433 million to the economy. Lord Ahmad, Aviation Minister of the United Kingdom, said, “India is one of our closest allies and key trading partners and this new agreement will only serve to strengthen this crucial relationship. We are unlocking new trade and tourism opportunities which will boost our economies, create new jobs and open up new business links. This is great news for both the UK and India and is yet another sign that …

IndiGo will double the frequency of its Delhi-Bagdogra service from daily to twice daily flights, as well as increase its Kolkata-Bagdogra route from twice to three times per day from February 16, 2017. IndiGo will add a series of flights, including a brand new daily service from Hyderabad to Chandigarh, an eighth daily service between Hyderabad and Chennai, a fifth daily flight between Kochi and Chennai, and a fourth daily flight between Kochi and Hyderabad. The following month will witness the LCC will boost one of its key international routes with the launch of a second daily flight between Chennai and Singapore, effective March 5, 2017. IndiGo operates all its routes using a fleet of modern, all-economy class Airbus A320 aircraft.

IndiGo launched its first #FitToFly gym under a one-of-its-kind initiative #FitToFly programme at Sanganer police station near Jaipur International Airport, in order to promote fitness. Rolled out in December 2016, #FitToFly is aimed at providing means and inspiring people to pursue their fitness goals. Especially designed for police personnel, #FitToFly gyms are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and machinery. Sanjay Aggarwal,  Commissioner of Police, Jaipur inaugurated the first #FitToFly gym in the presence of Kumar Rastradeep, Deputy Commissioner of Police; Summi Sharma, Vice President, ifly IndiGo; and Ajay Jasra, Director, Corporate Communications, IndiGo. Also present at the event were J S Balhara, Airport Director Jaipur; CISF Commandant R. K. Singh, and members of IndiGo team.    

India’s national carrier Air India is looking to add new routes between India and North America. Speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2017 in Mumbai, Pankaj Srivastava, Director Commercial, Air India, revealed, “We want to expand in North America and are exploring new routes like Houston and Dallas. We currently cut down travel time between the two continents by at least 10 hours.” He added, “There will also be a tenth destination in Europe soon. We are thinking of Scandinavia, and looking at either Glasgow or Copenhagen as options. We are also looking at increasing our flights into Australia and intend to take it to five flights into Sydney and five into Melbourne.”