Category Archives: Aviation

The Terminal 2 of Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, will now be open to public only in February. The new terminal was to be made operational on January 1 to decongest the domestic Terminal 1D. The delay is reportedly because two of the airlines have refused to move out of 1D, which recently underwent refurbishment and a security survey. The new terminal is part of the expansion plan of 1D.

Flyeasy, the Bengaluru based regional carrier, has acquired 74 per cent stake in grounded carrier Air Pegasus. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the two and the promoters plan to resume Air Pegasus services with two ATR-72 aircraft from March 1. The airline will induct 24 planes in four years, including six this year. “We are making an initial investment of Rs 26 crore in Air Pegasus for 74 per cent stake and this will be used to clear dues and resume operations. In the later phase, we will invest Rs 60 crore in the airline,” said Rajesh Ebrahim, Managing Director, Flyeasy. He further informed that his company is pursuing plans to secure permit for Flyeasy, and is in talks with lessors for Airbus A319 aircraft. “Our plan is to create a nationwide network, one with ATRs on Tier-II and Tier-III routes in the south (Air Pegasus) and with Airbus aircraft for long-thin traffic routes,” he added. Air Pegasus began operations in April 2015 with ATR aircraft and flew to eight destinations from Bengaluru, but was forced to suspend operations last July following a cash crunch. (Source: Business Standard)

Air India has launched a new flight from Delhi to Kochi to Dubai, which would be starting from February 1, 2017, revealed Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India. Talking at an informal meeting, he said, “The Delhi-Kochi sector is an important an busy sector and hence the new flight has been started. This would further offer connection to Dubai, allowing people from Kochi to go to Dubai, which too is a popular route.” Other than that he revealed that in the international sector Air India will be starting a total of 6 routes and around 22 flights in the regional sector, which would eventually come under the government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme.

Air India is allowing up to 40kg and 50kg of free check-in baggage for economy and business class passengers respectively on Boeing 747 Delhi- Mumbai service. Passengers flying on Delhi-Mumbai route will have an opportunity to experience flying the airlines’ legendary ‘Queen of the Skies’ and can avail this facility from January 7, 2017. Presently, Air India allows 25kg in economy class and 35kg in business class of free check-in baggage on its flights as compared to 15kg offered by other airlines. Air India is the only carrier to operate the 423 seater, four engine jumbo jet wide body aircraft called, B747 on the busiest route of India. Air India is also offering attractive fares starting from Rs.15000 onwards for travel in First class till January 15, 2017, a service that is being offered only by the flag carrier.

As part of its two year celebration, Vistara has increased its frequency between Delhi and Pune, starting January 9, 2017, to twice a day. The airline now offers a daily morning and evening departure from Delhi, except on Saturdays. The rapidly growing airline connects 20 destinations across India and a fleet of 13 A320s, serving more than 500 flights a week at present. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said, “We complete two years today and we are still as excited as we were on the day Vistara was born! It is extremely heartening to see that we have carved a niche for ourselves in the Indian aviation industry with our extraordinary products and services. Together with my entire team, I say a big ‘thank you’ to each and every customer and trade partner of ours, who has believed in us and helped us become stronger and more confident. It has been a challenging, yet extremely satisfying journey so far, and we promise to continue offering a seamless, world-class flying experience to our customers.” As part of the second anniversary celebrations, Vistara, in association with the NGO, Round Table India, took off with a group of less-privileged children and enabled a ‘Flight of Fantasy’ for them to Ahmedabad, where they had a day packed with fun-filled and educational activities, including visit to the Gandhi Ashram, play-acting the professions of their dreams at Kankaria Kids City and a boat ride to have the time of their lives. To celebrate the momentous milestone with its customers, Vistara has curated an exclusive menu of delectable desserts like Banana & Praline Bavarois and Toasted Almond & Chocolate Parfait, which is being served on especially designed …

Vistara has announced the addition of Amritsar and Leh to its network, starting March 1, 2017, and March 25, 2017, respectively. Vistara will fly direct flights from Delhi to the holy city of Amritsar from March 1, 2017, and from Mumbai, starting March 8, 2017. The airline will operate direct flights between Delhi and Leh on weekends from March 25, 2017 and thereafter, increase the frequency to daily flights starting May 10, 2017 onwards. Tickets are available for booking, starting Jan 6. Flights to Amritsar will initially operate 6 days a week from both Delhi and Mumbai (daily except Mondays), and will increase to daily flights in the summer. Leh flights will also increase from weekends only to daily flights in the summer. Commenting on the network expansion, Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said “We are very excited to begin the New Year with the addition of two new destinations to our growing network. The expansion further cements Vistara’s position in the domestic market as a committed player in the Indian aviation sector. An enormous number of pilgrims and tourists visit Amritsar throughout the year to pray at the Golden Temple and the city also draws visitors from across the globe for its rich culture and cuisine. Amritsar being among the 27 new smart cities to be developed by the Ministry of Urban Development, the city will also attract business travelers in time to come. Leh is another special tourist destination that has emerged to be a favorite amongst millions of Indians. Its Buddhist sites, nearby trekking areas and amazing landscapes are increasingly finding place in the bucket lists of global and local travelers. Both these destinations fit perfectly into …

Vistara now allows check-in services at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to international passengers through partnerships with Air France, KLM and Japan Airlines. The Singapore Airlines’ Indian carrier aims to streamline international connections and improve convenience as passengers who avail this service will receive their boarding passes for all sectors of their journey and baggage will also be checked through to the final destination. “The through check-in facility will offer great convenience to customers connecting from domestic routes on Vistara to our foreign airline partners, while allowing inbound passengers to seamlessly,” said Sanjiv Kapoor, Vistara’s chief strategy & commercial officer. “We are delighted to partner with leading global airlines, Air France, KLM and Japan Airlines, in addition to our existing partnership with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir, and look forward to working together in providing a hassle-free air travel experience to our joint customers.”

Air India will connect Pune to Chandigarh for the first time with a direct flight from January 16, 2017. This new flight is yet another move to promote regional connectivity by the national carrier. The flight, AI 813 will take off from Chandigarh at 1050 hrs and arrive in Pune at 1320 hrs. The return flight AI 814 from Pune will depart at 1400 hrs and land in Chandigarh at 1630 hrs on all days except Saturday and Sunday. The non-stop flight will operate with an Airbus A-320 aircraft on the Pune-Chandigarh-Pune route. It will provide a much needed connectivity between the two cities and will help to promote industrial development and at the same time also give a fillip to tourism as passengers can avail of good connectivity to holiday destinations such as Kulu, Shimla and Manali in the north and Lonavala and Shirdi near Pune.

With expansion and consolidation as prime areas of focus, Air India plans to add 35 new planes this year, as well as more number of international as well as domestic routes, its CEO & MD Ashwani Lohani has said. “I expect almost 35 new planes to join the Air India family during 2017 and all of us need to be in full readiness to receive them, fill them and fly them,” he said in a New Year message to the employees. With the addition of new aircrafts, the group would have a fleet of more than 170 planes. Currently, the group has around 140 aircraft. While Air India has 106 planes, its low cost international arm Air India Express has 23 aircrafts. Besides, there are around 10 planed with Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the national carrier that operates in regional routes. “We are going to fly to many new international destinations and also connect new domestic destinations as part of the regional connectivity thrust of the government,” Lohani said, adding that fill more and fly more is the motto.

Mumbai airport’s domestic Terminal 1B has been renamed as Terminal 1 (T1), effective from January 9. Terminal 1B handled low-cost airline flights which will now be operated from T1. The Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), which runs the airport, informed that this decision was taken to help in easy identification of the terminal and to ensure hassle-free transit for air travellers. At present, SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir operate from this terminal. Vistara, Air India and Jet Airways operate from Terminal 2 (T2), which also caters to all international flights. MIAL further added that the shifting of Air India and Jet Airways to T2 has helped make transit between international and domestic flights convenient for transfer passengers, thereby saving time. (Source: Times of India)