Category Archives: Aviation

Jeffrey Goh has been appointed as Star Alliance’s Chief Executive, effective January 1, 2017, to succeed Mark Schwab, who will retire at the end of the year. Jeffrey Goh (47) will head Star Alliances Services GmbH, the Germany-based brand and project management company which coordinates the activities of the world’s largest and most experienced airline alliance. Jeffrey Goh is currently Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Star Alliance, with responsibilities including strategy and membership development, human resources, joint sourcing and fuel-related projects, as well as legal, finance and project Management. Jeffrey Goh joined Star Alliance in 2007 from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and prior to that taught and practised law. He holds a doctorate in the principles and policies of regulating airline competition and regulation. “This early decision lays the groundwork for a smooth leadership transition at the top of the Alliance’s management company”, said Calin Rovinescu, Chairman of the Chief Executive Board. “Mark Schwab led the Alliance through an important period. After more than a decade of adding new member airlines in significant and strategic markets around the globe, the focus of the Alliance has shifted to a closer integration of customer-facing services, systems and processes. With Jeffrey, we have selected an experienced aviation professional who is well-known and respected by our member airliners and will be able to lead our Alliance organisation through the fast-moving developments in this highly competitive global aviation environment in the coming years,” he added. “I am truly honoured,” said Jeffrey Goh.” I would like to thank the Chief Executive Board for their confidence in me. It is critical that we not only deliver greater value to our member airlines but also strive …

Commencing on June 28, the new service will depart the Chinese city’s Xiaoshan International Airport at 1905, arriving at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 0210 the next day. The return service will then leave Kolkata at 0300 and arrives back in Hangzhou at 0955.China Eastern will deploy a single-aisle Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.The new route will make a stop in Kunming, southwest China, in both directions. This marks an extension of the existing Kunming-Kolkata route which China Eastern first launched in 2007.

Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman and CEO of Air France-KLM, will succeed Tony Tyler as IATA’s Director General and CEO effective from September 1, 2016. De Juniac will be the seventh person to lead IATA as its Director General. “I thank my industry colleagues for their confidence in confirming me as IATA’s next Director General and CEO. Aviation is a vitally important industry—connecting economies, facilitating business, creating jobs and linking people. My aim is to help airlines to be even more successful businesses creating even greater economic and social value. I want all of our members to have a future that is even safer, more efficient, sustainable and increasingly profitable,” said de Juniac. De Juniac will join IATA from Air France-KLM where has served as Chairman and CEO since 2013. Prior to that, he was the Chairman and CEO of Air France (2011-2013). From 1995 to 2009 de Juniac held various leadership positions in Thales and has also held positions in the French government. IATA’s next AGM and World Transport Summit will be hosted by Aeromexico in Cancun, Mexico from 4-6 June 2017.

Vistara announces additional frequency between Delhi and Guwahati. Effective June 18, 2016, Vistara will operate double daily on the Delhi-Guwahati route. Introductory one-way fare starting Rs 2,700 in Economy Class, Rs. 5,000 in Premium Economy and Rs. 15,000 in Business Class. Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in Assam and serves as the starting point for most north eastern itineraries.  With the addition of the new frequency, Vistara will now offer convenient connections to Guwahati from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Srinagar, and from Guwahati to Bagdogra, and to Mumbai and Ahmedabad via Delhi.

The rate of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been raised by a steep 9.2 per cent after petrol price was hiked by Rs 2.58 per litre and diesel price was raised by Rs 2.26 per litre. ATF price in Delhi has increased by Rs 3,945.47 per kilolitre to Rs 46,729.48 per kilolitre. ATF prices in Kolkata increased from Rs 47561.18 to Rs 51492.43. In Mumbai, fuel prices increased from Rs 41,756.16 to Rs 45,700.55 and in Chennai jet fuel prices hiked to Rs 49404.76 from Rs 45,346.82. The hike is the fourth one this year with the last one on May 1 that saw a 1.5 per cent increase. On April 1, there was a steep 8.7 per cent hike and prior to that, rates were hiked by 12 per cent on March 1.

IndiGo introduces its first direct and daily flight on the Kolkata-Lucknow route, while adding additional daily non-stop flights connecting the cities of Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Goa, Delhi-Kochi, Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Chennai-Kolkata, Chennai-Pune, with effect from June 01, 2016. Effective June 2, 2016, IndiGo will add additional flights between Ahmedabad-Hyderabad, Chennai-Hyderabad, Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram (operating on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday). The return fare for the first daily Kolkata-Lucknow flight  is Rs 7663.

Air India will restart its daily services from Delhi to Surat from June 2, almost five months after the operations were curtailed due to lack of aircraft. The one way flight from Delhi-Surat costs around Rs. 4216. Currently, Air India operates five times a week with its regional jet, CRJ-700. According to the airline, the move came in a bid to enhance connectivity and was driven by growing air travel demand on the route. Until now, the flight operated five days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Starting June 2, it will operate on Thursday and Sunday, revealed a statement by Air India. The new addition will provide seamless connectivity between two business cities besides offering convenient connections to other international flights from/to Delhi. The flight will depart on Thursday and Sunday from Delhi at 0525 hours and will arrive in Surat at 0745 hours. The return flight will leave Surat at 0825 hours and touchdown in Delhi at 1110 hours.

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) based low-cost airline, Air Manas, formerly operating as Pegasus Asia, is all set to start its third flight on the Delhi-Bishkek route from June 14. The airline already has two flights a week to-and-fro from Delhi to Bishkek. The return fare for the Delhi-Bishkek route is around $249.99. The airline just conducted a roadshow in Delhi along with the Kyrgyzstan Embassy. Sharad C. Goel, MD, Lark Logistics, GSA of Air Manas in India, said, “Air Manas has been operating in India for the last one year. We will be starting the third flight between the two countries from June 14, 2016. The demand from India has been increasing for Kyrgyzstan, which is only about three hours from Delhi. In fact we provide further connections to Moscow and Istanbul from Bishkek, which works to our advantage.”

India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8 per cent, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month it has led the domestic markets. Growth is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as by substantial increases in service frequencies, according to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global passenger traffic data for April. Demand for domestic travel climbed 4.1 per cent in April compared to April 2015, while capacity increased 3.8 per cent, causing load factor to rise 0.3 percentage points to 81.4 per cent. All markets reported demand increases with the exception of Brazil, which showed a 12.1 per cent decline, reflecting the country’s ongoing economic recession and political turmoil.  

Singapore-based budget carrier Tigerair has announced a special ‘Fly to Singapore for free’ offer for Indian travellers on booking a round-trip fare that allows flyers to fly out of India to Singapore at discounted rates. The special round-trip fares have been announced for five Indian routes: Bengaluru (Rs 10999), Kochi (Rs 8,999), Hyderabad (Rs 9,999), Tiruchirappalli (Rs 9,999) and Lucknow (Rs 10,999). The offer is valid from 30 May, 2016 till 8 June, 2016. The applicable travel period for the offer is from 11 July, 2016 to 30 September, 2016. Commenting on the offer Leslie Thng, Chief Commercial Officer, Tigerair and Scoot said, “We are pleased to add on to the monsoon cheers in India and host our passengers. This offer is an example of how we strive to provide an added value for money to passengers through such promotions which makes their international trips more affordable. It reaffirms Tigerair as the most valuable airline of choice to fly to Singapore and across our vast network.”