Category Archives: Aviation

To mark the occasion of India’s 70th Independence Day, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines made every passenger feel special by extending an Indian reception at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. On August 15, 2016, Lufthansa passengers were greeted by ground staff donned traditional attire and tri-colour decorations. In addition, passengers were gifted sweets as well as an Indian tri-colour upon check-in. With this initiative, Lufthansa once again demonstrated that it is an airline with a “Soul of Germany and a Heart of India”.

Etihad Airways has launched its annual global sales campaign, targeted at business and economy class guests, with fares available on a wide range of destinations served across the world and fares available for travel until June 2017. Guests can make the most of this offer over seven days, by booking via its local travel agent or its website between now and 4 September, 2016. The sale will offer up to 40 per cent off fares from 11 gateway cities that Etihad Airways operates to in India to some of the world’s most popular destinations across Europe, and the Americas. In addition, members of the airline’s loyalty programme, Etihad Guest, will continue to earn miles on all fares in the sale. The sale will cover a wider range of cities including those served by the Etihad Airways Partners that include airberlin, Alitalia, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI. Daniel Barranger, Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Etihad Airways, said: “We have continued to expand our global network this year and add further aircraft to the fleet, ensuring we have a high quality product throughout our aircraft and available to the millions of guests who choose to fly with us each year. By including our partner airlines in our new offer, we are providing access to a larger list of destinations and a combined fleet of over 700 aircraft, ensuring we can meet every guest’s personal requirements.”

Effective October 30, 2016, Air China will fly four weekly non-stop flights between Mumbai and Beijing. The airline will operate Airbus A330-300 on this route. The flight CA890 from Mumbai will depart at 0230 hours and arrive in Beijing at 1130 hours four times a weeks. While CA889 will depart from Beijing at 1940 hours and arrive in Mumbai at 0100 hours.

Garuda Indonesia, the national carrier for Indonesia, has partnered with Sabre AirCentre Enterprise Operations portfolio, making Sabre Corporation its primary airline operations technology provider. Sabre technology will power connect airline operations, improving airline profitability and customer experience as Garuda pushes international expansion. Sabre Airline Solutions’ Operations and Crew Technology Platform will enhance Garuda’s aircraft tracking, disruption control and prevention, and crew management operations. “Southeast Asia’s airlines operate in an environment of resource-constrained infrastructure and volatile weather conditions. We are working with carriers in the region to create a more connected airline that can optimise operations regardless of these regional challenges. Using more flexible, reliable and scalable technology, Garuda will improve crew and fleet utilisation and safety, drive operational efficiencies and introduce quicker schedule recovery –ensuring a better and more consistent traveller experience,” says Dasha Kuksenko, Vice President and Regional General Manager, Sabre Airline Solutions, Asia Pacific. Garuda recorded a 13.4 percent increase in available seat kilometers (ASK) in first quarter of 2016. Benny Butarbutar, Vice President-Corporate Communications, Garuda Indonesia, added that Sabre’s technology will support the airlines’ growth plans. “Sabre’s enterprise operations solutions will give us a far more sophisticated approach to managing our operations, crew and the impact of disruptions. This in turn will help us improve profitability and drive customer loyalty. As we pursue further international network growth, which is critical to our long-term strategy, the platform will also help us streamline operations across multiple geographies,” said Benny.

A new civilian terminal is expected to come up at the Kheria Air Force Station in Agra to provide international facilities to passengers visiting the Taj city, revealed Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, Government of India. The Kheria airport is currently under the control of Indian Air Force which allows one of its air strips to be used for civilian flights. Post discussions with the district officials, Sharma informed, Rs. 100 crore has already been sanctioned for upgrading the Kheria airport and construction of the civilian terminal, for which about 50 acres of land has already been acquired. Sharma further informed that the proposed Jewar International Airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar is expected to cater to the aviation needs of the national capital region (NCR), while the Agra airport will primarily cater to the tourists visiting the Taj Mahal. (Source: Business Standard)  

Vistara has announced the launch of a suite of ancillary products and services including electronic coupon books, class upgrades, lounge pass, excess baggage. All of these products and services can be purchased online during the booking process, or added post-booking through the ‘Manage My Booking’ function. Customers who provide their email addresses or mobile phone numbers at the time of booking will also receive an email or SMS with a ‘hot link’ prior to their flight to enable them to directly access their booking and purchase the ancillary products of their choice. Commenting on the launch, Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Vistara, said “We are pleased to launch this suite of ancillary products and services that are designed to offer customers more choices at attractive rates, and that can be purchased with the click of a button. This is the first wave of several more ancillary products and services that are in the pipeline, to be launched in the coming weeks to offer customers even more options to enhance their experience as they Fly the New Feeling.”

The Union Cabinet has approved leasing out of Airports Authority of India (AAI) land measuring 4050 sq. mtrs. to Assam Industrial Development Corporation for Centre for Perishable Cargo at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati. This will be utilised for setting up of Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) and its future expansion at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI Airport), Guwahati. The land is to be leased by AAI on a token licence fee of Rs.1/- per annum for a period of seven years subject to signing of Lease Agreement. After expiry of initial period of seven years, the future lease period will be made afresh as per AAI policy in-vogue. North Eastern Region (NER) in India is rich in flora and fauna. Revenue from export of agriculture and horticulture items will improve economic conditions of NER. There is a need for promotions of perishable cargo export from this region, which will generate employment opportunities directly or indirectly. Facilities for air upliftment of perishable cargo from Guwahati are required to be more effective. Therefore, it has been decided to lease land measuring 4050 sq. Mtrs. to AIDC, by AAI for setting up of CPC and its future expansion at LGBI Airport, Guwahati.

GMR Airports, the company that runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports, has won the bid to develop and operate a new airport in North Goa. “GMR Airports, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure has won the international competitive bid for development and operation of Mopa Greenfield Airport in North Goa,” as per BSE release. The company is going to built this airport on BOT (Build Operate Transfer) model and the concession period for the said project will be 40 years with a possible extension of another 20 years through a bid process. The letter of award is expected to be issued within 60 days, while signing of concession agreement will be done within 45 days from the date of issuance of award letter.

Air India Express will connect Sharjah with Chandigarh and Tiruchirapalli (in Tamil Nadu) from September. The airline will introduce three non-stop flights per week each from Chandigarh (IXC) and Tiruchirapalli (TRZ), to add Sharjah International Airport, bringing the total number of its routes between Sharjah and Indian destinations up to seven. India is one of the United Arab Emirates’ leading trade partners, accounting for some 9.8 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade, buying 14.9 percent of the Emirates’ exports and 8.7 percent of its re-exports. The total volume of bilateral trade between India and the UAE is expected to increase from $60 billion in 2014 to $100 billion by the year 2020. India is also the largest single origin of investors for Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone and Sharjah International Airport Free Zone (SAIF Zone). Air India Express has been expanding its services to destinations in the UAE, including daily Mumbai-Dubai, Mumbai-Sharjah, New Delhi-Dubai and New Delhi-Abu Dhabi routes, which it added earlier this year. According to the airline, the number of its weekly flights between India and the UAE increased from 107 flights to 146 flights per week before the summer. The low-cost airline currently operates five routes with a total of 15 weekly flights to Sharjah International Airport. Air India Express now flies direct to Sharjah from Kochi (COK), Kozhikode (CCJ), Mumbai (SAHAR), New Delhi (DEL), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and Varanasi (VNS. India is well connected to Sharjah, with Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia operating flights between Sharjah and 13 Indian destinations. Jet Airways, India’s second largest airline, operates direct daily flights on Sharjah-Kochi and Sharjah-Mangaluru (IXE) routes.

The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) and Sky Chopper Logistics signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to introduce helicopter tourism in the city from Dasara festival this year. Ganta Srinivasa Rao, HRD Minister of State, Government of Andhra Pradesh, informed that the company would be allotted 1.95 acres at VUDA park for construction of helipad and three rooms to operate the services on payment of Rs. 50,000 a month to the VUDA. There are two packages on offer which will cover Kailasagiri to Bheemunipatnam and another will cover the areas of Araku and Lammasingi. The fares will also be announced soon. The passengers will get an insurance cover of Rs. 10 lakh. (Source: The Hindu)