Category Archives: Aviation

India has signed open skies agreement with six countries namely Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka, at the International Civil Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) 2016. The open skies agreement as per NCAP 2016 allows unlimited number of flights to six metro airports namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation revealed that the conference saw in attendance 106 countries out of ICAO membership of 191 countries. India held negotiations with 17 countries and ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ was signed with 12 countries. India resolved major issues at these negotiations as per the directions in National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016). Firstly, India renegotiated traffic rights with Oman increasing the entitlements with 6,258 seats effective from Summer 2017 as the existing entitlements were nearly exhausted. The points of call remained unchanged. India agreed with Saudi Arabia to increase the capacity by 8000 seats per week from IATA season when Indian carrier’s utilisation reaches 80 per cent. This was in response to the needs of increasing traffic between the two countries where Indian carriers have been utilising open sky in Damman to mount more flights than the Saudi Arabian side. Indian also agreed with Ghana to increase the present allocation of 2 frequencies to 7 frequencies per week to encourage connectivity between the two countries. ICAN was held recently in Nassau from December 5-9, 2016 The new arrangement will encourage connectivity and passenger travel between India and these countries. There were new Air Service Agreements signed with Jamaica and Guyana. In the present scenario code shares provide seamless connectivity to the travelling passengers and make possible connectivity between far off destinations not served by direct flights.  As …

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of CPSEs including Pawan Hans Limited based on the recommendations of the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment. CCEA has approved the recommendation for disinvestment of 100 per cent shareholding of Government of India to strategic buyer identified through two-stage auction process in the CPSEs including Pawan Hans Limited (PHL). This was revealed by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, in a reply in Lok Sabha.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued directions to the respective car parking licensees across all AAI controlled airports for evolving a mechanism of e-payment transactions in the form of debit/credit cards, digital wallets (PayTM, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Reliance Jio etc.). This was revealed by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, in Lok Sabha, AAI has also keep sufficient change of currency in small denomination of Rs.10, 20, 50 & 100 to smoothen the process of parking at all airports. Besides Car Parking Licensees, AAI is evolving a mechanism so that digital payment alternatives through various modes is available at all concessions providing passenger facilitation services at airports (such as Food & Beverage Outlets, General Retails, Car Rentals, Pre-paid Taxi Services etc.

Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has launched flights between Jakarta and Mumbai via Bangkok. The thrice weekly service is the first direct link between the two countries. Speaking on the occasion M Arif Wibowo, President and CEO, Garuda Indonesia, said, “We see India as a potential market and we see good traffic coming from Mumbai region. India to Indonesia market size is more than 3,00,000 travellers to Indonesia and around one-third of this traffic comes from Mumbai which is 1,00,000 and gets divided into two destinations 45 per cent to Bali and 55 per cent to Jakarta. At this stage we have started the flight from Jakarta to Mumbai keeping Bangkok as transit point and would consider having a direct flight as the market grows or even a direct flight from Bali to Mumbai. We may also look to start operations from Delhi and Chennai later, currently we will observe the growth pattern from Mumbai for the first three months and if we see an increase in demand we may increase the flight frequency from Mumbai to Jakarta.” The flight from Jakarta-Mumbai route via Bangkok will be flying every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The flight service will be operated by Garuda’s Boeing 738 aircraft with a two-class cabin configuration featuring its business class service concept and its best economy class. The aircraft is capable of carrying 156 passengers (12 Business Class seats and 144 Economy Class seats). The opening of Garuda Indonesia’s flight to Mumbai is part of its international network development program, especially in the South Asia region, as well as the manifestation of the airline’s commitment to continuously support the Indonesian government’s program to double the number of …

Delhi International Airport, a subsidiary of GMR Group, launched India’s first airport e-Shopping platform – www.shopflydel.in  – to improve the experience of airport shopping among the domestic travellers. Domestic travellers now can pre-order wide range of products of their choice online from India’s largest airport retail offering from the comfort of their whereabouts. Through this online shopping portal, now travellers have access to over 20 categories of products such as Beauty, Confectionary, Fashion, Souvenirs, Pens etc. sold across Terminal 3 and Terminal 1 domestic outlets. Products can be searched and chosen from menu listed under terminal, category, sub category or outlet. Travellers can collect their pre-ordered items from respective outlets by making the payment through cash or card. With this unique facility in place, one can book product(s) of his choice from 30 days upto 12 hours before his flight in three simple steps – Click-Pick-Fly.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, inaugurated the first ever airport in Bathinda at Virk Kalan village. Addressing the gathering on the inaugural function, Raju said, “In India there are 31 domestic airports, which are functional at the moment and now with the inclusion of Bhatinda Airport, it will rise to 32.” He also said that the government will construct another 10 airports in Punjab by April 10, 2017, including in Ludhiana, Pathankot and Aadampur, where the foundation stone would be laid very soon. Among other dignitaries who were present on the occasion are AAI chairman Guru Prasad Mohapatra, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and many BJP leaders.

In an attempt to simplify and smoothen functioning at Indian airports, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that they could be done away with stamped hand baggage tags at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports from December 15. “We recently issued orders to do away with stamping of hand baggage tags at the time of security screening. The practice will be introduced on a pilot basis at five airports and if successful, may be expanded to other airports across the country. This will save passengers’ time while boarding and will not be a security hassle in any manner,” said R.N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil aAviation, in an interview to The Hindu. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which looks after security at airports, is likely to implement the move within a week, informed Choubey.

Jet Airways has announced the appointment of Aldrin Kenneth as Country Manager – Thailand & Indo-China. An industry veteran with over 17 years of experience with leading global airlines, Kenneth joined Jet Airways as the Area Manager for Dubai/ Sharjah & Northern Emirates in 2008 and helped establish and strengthen the airline’s footprint in the United Arab Emirates. In his new role, he will be responsible for Jet Airways’ performance in the region including its commercial aspects and overall operations. He will leverage his vast airline experience to not only use innovative means to grow the business but also take steps to engage with key consumer communities to strengthen the airline’s brand story and value propositions in the rapidly growing, fast-paced travel market between Thailand and India.

Jet Airways has announced the launch of a daily direct flight from Bengaluru to Colombo with effect from January 05, 2017. With this new connection, Bengaluru will be the second Indian city after Mumbai to be linked to Colombo and Jet Airways’ third daily service to the Sri Lankan capital. Jet Airways flight 9W 278 will depart Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 0040 hrs and arrive in Colombo at 0210 hrs (Local Time). The flight 9W 277 will leave Colombo at 0310 hrs (LT) to arrive in Bengaluru at 0435 hrs (LT). Jet will offer added connection for travelers between South Indian cities and Colombo via Bengaluru. Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is delighted to launch a direct service between Bengaluru and Colombo. With increasing economic activity between India and Sri Lanka, Jet Airways realized the gap in the connectivity and plugged it with this direct connection. Guests between these two destinations will be offered the best in-flight product and service excellence.”

GoAir has announced the pre-booking of seats starting at Rs 99. Passengers can now pre-book the seats of their choice across all sectors offered by GoAir across various blocks. GoAir is currently the only airline to initiate this affordable seat selection offer. Passengers can avail this offer on the airline’s website.