Category Archives: Aviation

Club Vistara (CV), the airline’s frequent flyer program has undergone a revamp and now offers faster earning points, redemption and elite tier upgrades. The program has also introduced a Platinum membership as its highest tier, in addition to the existing CV Gold and CV Silver membership tiers, and has launched a two-track scheme for elite tier qualification based on points accrued or flights flown. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said, “In response to the evolving needs of our frequent flyers, we have enhanced our program and introduced new features that are relevant and important to them.” Elaborating on the revamp, Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, “When we set out to redesign Club Vistara, we started by asking frequent flyers of Vistara and other airlines what they would want to see in their ideal program. We asked them what they valued most, and also what were their key pain points across different loyalty programs. We then designed the program to reflect what we heard. Not only is it now the fastest rewarding loyalty program, it is also the most generous. Importantly, Elite level benefits can be enjoyed by customers regardless of class of travel or fare paid. It is truly a program by frequent flyers, for frequent flyers.” For existing members, Club Vistara’s new tier qualification criteria will be applied retrospectively which will result in automatic tier level upgrades for many members. With major expansion plans in pipeline, Port Blair, the airline’s 18th destination in India will be launched on September 30th while its fleet is expected to grow to thirteen aircrafts over the next four weeks.

Oman Air will reportedly connect Indian cities like Kolkata and Ahmedabad in 2017. “Oman Air is waiting for traffic rights to be finalised to start its operation to Kolkata and Ahmedabad in India,” an Oman Air spokesperson said. Oman Air currently operates 126 weekly flights from Muscat to 11 destinations in the Indian market, which totals to 21,147 seats. In 2015, the airline started operating flights to Goa, its 11th destination in India. To woo the tourists from India, Oman’s tourism ministry recently conducting roadshows in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune. The road show started at the Park Hyatt in Hyderabad on September 19. Later, it moved to Kolkata on September 21, Ahmedabad on September 23 and will end at JW Marriott, Pune on September 26. The road shows have been organised to meet Omani tourism representatives, including hotels, DMCs and national carrier Oman Air, with the members of Indian travel trade in four cities. Events will include pre-arranged meetings between the Omani delegates and Indian travel agents. According to statistics, Oman received 299,022 Indian nationals last year, reflecting a 17 per cent growth in 2015 from 2014. This year, the Ministry of Tourism has identified Kolkata as a new market for Oman.

Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA), part of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm for the Kingdom of Bahrain, has entered the Indian market through an agreement with domestic aviation training institute, SpeedJet Aviation. The new partnership between GAA and SpeedJet Aviation offers Indian students a competitive advantage in the aviation industry that is at par with international norms. GAA is a key component of Bahrain’s aviation sector and enjoys a stronghold in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. This move is a first-of-its-kind for GAA in the Asian market to offer a comprehensive range of structured training programs for all aviation personnel including pilots, cabin crew, engineers and ground staff with training sessions in GAA’s training facility at Bahrain. Announcing the partnership, Capt. Dharamraj Shukla, Director SpeedJet Aviation said, “The aviation industry is on a high-growth trajectory with India likely to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020. As of now, Indian airlines are reporting increased profitability, low-cost carriers have placed heavy orders for new aircraft, there are multitude of new airports coming up and FDI flows into domestic airlines have surged. All these factors combined will lead to a sharp spike in demand for trained aviation personnel. We are confident that with GAA’s brand and credibility, we will be able to attract and hone the best talent for the industry”. “India being one of the largest and fastest growing air travel market provides great opportunities for individuals to pursue a career in the aviation sector”, said Capt. Dhaffer Al Abbasi, CEO, GAA. “Our state-of-the-art course equipment enables us to offer a comprehensive and modern aviation training infrastructure and set new standards in aviation training. Students also get …

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and Singapore Airlines have come together to provide members of Golden Circle and KrisFlyer enhanced benefits. Named ‘Infinite Journeys’, the two much-loved and globally recognized travel brands now offer travellers around the world greater recognition and rewards, with the promise of new experiences for every journey with Shangri-La and Singapore Airlines. The partnership offers double rewards for Golden Circle and KrisFlyer members when they stay at Shangri-La,as well as enhanced benefits and recognition for elite members in both programmes when they fly with Singapore Airlines or stay with Shangri-La. Golden Circle Diamond and Jade members will enjoy an accelerated upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold which gives complimentary access to Singapore Airlines’ airport lounges worldwide. PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will enjoy an accelerated upgrade to Golden Circle Jade membership. With Jade status, members can benefit from complimentary room upgrades to a choice of welcome amenities and more.

Destination Canada along with Air Canada conducted an ‘Experience Canada Workshop’ for their travel trade partners in Mumbai today that was attended by more than 150 agents and operators. Also present at the event were Canada suppliers including Tekla Maira, ‎Director, Global Sales India, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts; and Mernoz Shastri, Director, Mazda Travel. The event was also attended by a representative from the High Commission of Canada in Delhi who gave a presentation on the visa process for Indians and took questions from the audience.

Jayaraj Shanmugam takes over as the new Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways. Since joining Jet Airways’ in mid-2015 and as Sr. Vice President of Products & Services, Shanmugam has been instrumental in sharpening the organization’s focus towards delivering superior guest engagement experience together with a host of outstanding, innovative initiatives. He will now be responsible for leading Jet Airways’ commercial teams to maximize revenue streams and use its market reach, people capabilities and brand appeal to accelerate the airline’s reputation for service excellence and efficiency. Specifically, his responsibilities will cover areas of product enhancement, guest services, passenger and cargo sales, marketing as well as corporate communications. He will also oversee other critical functions such as airport and in-flight services, catering, revenue management, cabin crew and e-commerce.

Both runways at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will not be available for landing and take-off from October 31 to November 28, 2016 on Mondays and Thursdays from 1200 to 1700 hours due to runway maintenance work. Hence, flights schedules to and fro Mumbai will be affected during this period. All passengers flying during that time are requested to check their respective flight status online during this period.

SpiceJet will start its direct flight between Delhi and Jodhpur from October 30, 2016. In Rajasthan, SpiceJet is already operating daily flights to Jaipur and Udaipur. Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP, Commercial, SpiceJet, said, “Regional connectivity has always played an important role in strengthening our network strategy. In our endeavour to continuously reach out to underserved destinations we are excited to initiate our services to Jodhpur. The new flight will present passengers with more travel options especially during the peak season.” Jodhpur is a popular tourist destination and with introduction of this flight it will be connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Air India’s direct New Delhi to Madrid flight will launch from either December end or first week of January, reveals Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India. The national carrier’s direct New Delhi to San Francisco flight was introduced last December, following which two other international destinations – Delhi-Austria and Ahmedabad-London-New York – were connected by the airline. These flights are being operated using Air India’s two-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Lohani revealed this on the sidelines of the 32nd IATO Convention in Chennai.

IndiGo has announced that it will continue to waive off cancellation and change fees for all its passengers flying to and fro from Srinagar till September 30, 2016, due to the ongoing unrest in the city. Despite the current situation, IndiGo is operating five flights to and fro Srinagar. It has requested all passengers to check their respective flight status online before flying.