Category Archives: Aviation

Tata Sons has entered into an agreement with Air Asia (India), Telestra Tradeplace and two of the directors of the Company, being S. Ramadorai (Chairman) and R. Venkataramanan, under which Tata Sons proposes to increase its stake in the company to 49 per cent from its existing stake of 41.06 per cent, by acquiring 7.94 per cent equity stake from Telestra. S. Ramadorai and R. Venkataramanan, in their individual capacity, propose to acquire 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent shareholding respectively of Telestra’s remaining 2 per cent equity stake in the Company. AirAsia Investment Ltd. will continue to hold its 49 per cent stake in the Company. The agreement was entered into on March 14, 2016, and the transaction is proposed to be completed in April, 2016, subject to completion of the relevant corporate approvals and processes.

The first aircraft of Jet Airways landed on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Effective March 27, India’s premier international airline will operate three daily non-stop flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto. The airline offers all inclusive return fare (Tickets purchased on or after Mar 1, 2016) on Delhi – Amsterdam – Delhi of Rs 1,50,001 (Première) and Rs 49,822 (Economy) and on the Mumbai – Amsterdam – Mumbai sector all inclusive return fare in Première Rs 2,41,697 and in Economy Rs 54,323. For Première, travel must commence on or after Mar 27, 2016, and Economy, travel must commence between Mar 27, 2016 and Apr 8, 2016. Before the first departure of Jet Airways flight 9W 233 to Delhi, a traditional prayer ritual was performed. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will be the new European gateway of Jet Airways. Together with codeshare partners KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways will offer one stop codeshare access between India and 30 destinations across Europe and 11 destinations in the United States and Canada. Customers flying via Mumbai and Delhi will also be able to access Jet Airways’ network of 48 destinations within India as well as destinations in the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways states, “Finally, we have arrived in the Netherlands. Today marks the start of our new service connecting three continents, together with our codeshare partners KLM and Delta Air Lines. We are thrilled to operate daily flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto and thereby facilitate trade and co-operation between India and the Netherlands”.

Jet Airways has said that its passengers in Brussels have been accommodated at four locations by the local authorities and its staff has been positioned in all these locations for any help, a statement issued by the airline said. Brussels airport continues to be closed for operations but Jet Airways is co-ordinating with the Belgian authorities to make alternate travel plans for its guests and crew in Brussels. It is also working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the India Embassy in Brussels to facilitate the passage of its staff and guests.

SpiceJet continues to record highest passenger load factor among Indian carriers with 92.3 per cent for the month of February 2016, according to statistics released by DGCA. SpiceJet has achieved above 90 per cent passenger load factor (PLF) for 10 successive months. The airline has also bettered its On-time Performance (OTP) for the month of February 2016 with 77.7 per cent as compared to 74.7 per cent during January 2016. OTP has been computed for its operations across the four metro airports of Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. SpiceJet operated 293 daily flights and carried 9.76 lakh passengers during the month thereby registering a market share of 13.1 per cent. Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP, Commercial, SpiceJet, said, “This achievement is recognition of the faith and confidence our customers have reposed on us and at the same time reflects the commitment and persistent effort of entire SpiceJet staff.” Flight cancellations have also declined steadily over the past few months for the airline, with the cancellation rate for February 2016 being just 0.35 per cent.

Bengaluru International Airport greeted its 100 millionth passenger at the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (KIAB) reaching a historic milestone in less than eight years of operations. The 100 millionth passenger, Vinay Kulkarni arriving from Mumbai on Jet Airways 9w394 was greeted by the airport’s management. G.V. Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, Bengaluru International Airport, says, “This is a very special moment for all of us. The achievement comes within eight years of operations and is a testimony of our ability to meet the rapid demand and growth of the domestic and international air traffic. This recognition would not have been possible without the collective showcase of passion and perseverance of the KIAB workforce to create an unparalleled experiences for our passengers.” Bengaluru International Airport determined the 100 millionth passenger after it created an algorithm that was based on actual passenger numbers from the start of airport operations in May 2008 to March 2016. KIAB, is India’s third busiest airport with the highest passenger traffic in South India. Surpassing the 100 millionth passenger milestone is a validation of the airport’s reputation as being the region’s largest hub. In March 2015 KIAB was classified as a mid-sized airport when it clocked 15 million passengers. The airport further experienced a positive growth in 2015 with 18.1 million passengers transiting through the airport at the end of the calendar year. On an average approximately 52,000 passengers transit through KIAB every day

Amsterdam is the new European hub for Jet Airways with the airline launching daily non-stop flights from India to the Netherlands capital. Starting March 27, Jet Airways will operate two daily non-stop flights from Mumbai and Delhi, to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Jet Airways will also operate a daily flight connecting Amsterdam to Toronto. The move would in turn offer seamless connections between India and Toronto via Amsterdam. The airline has also entered a code share agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Airlines. Gaurang Shetty, Wholetime Director, Jet Airways, said, “The main agenda behind this move was to offer greater choice and better connections for our guests. The partnership with KLM and Delta would enable us to offer seamless connections from India to key destinations in Europe and North America.” Jos Vranken, Managing Director, NBTC, Holland Marketing, said, “India has been a very promising source market in our portfolio of international guests, and we are confident that with the increase in connectivity through Jet Airways and its partners- KLM and Delta, there will be acceleration of growth from the Indian market to the Netherlands.”

Ethiopian Airlines has announced an additional daily flight from Delhi–Addis Ababa. The new flight coincides with the Africa-based airline’s 70th anniversary celebration as well as the completion of their 30 years of operations from Delhi. Ethiopian made its maiden flight to New Delhi on July 6, 2016. Tadesse Tilahun, Regional Director, India Subcontinent, Ethiopian Airlines, said, “With the addition of the new flight, the number of flights ex-India has increased from 14 to 28, which means double expansion for us.” Ethiopian is offering a 15 per cent discount as well as a ‘buy one get one free’ offer on the new flight to select destinations, which is valid for travel between March 27, 2016 to May 31, 2016. The tickets are priced at Rs 22,953 for economy class.

The inaugural day of the India Aviation 2016 saw Air India sign an agreement with ALAFCO, a Kuwait based leasing company for leasing 14 Airbus A320neo aircraft. The delivery of aircraft is likely to start from early next year. The historic agreement was signed between Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani and the Vice Chairman and CEO of ALAFCO Ahmad Al Zabin in the presence of CEO of CFM Paul Abanga and Philippe Combet Vice President Sales and his team from Airbus. This induction will augment Air India’s capacity in domestic market. Air India already has strong infrastructure maintenance facilities for the Airbus A320 family. The partnership between Air India and Airbus dates back to 1989 when the erstwhile Indian Airlines became the launch customer to induct the Airbus A320. Speaking on the momentous occasion Ashwani Lohani CMD Air India said, “This is a very important partnership for Air India. The A320 aircraft will add strength to our existing fleet and enhance our role as a major player in the domestic market.” These A320neo aircraft will come fitted with the new generation CFM leap engines which will reduce noise and emissions, enhance the operational efficiency and reduce fuel consumption by at least 15% while offering the passengers the best in class comfort. Air India and CFM enjoy a long standing partnership as CFM engines are fitted on the existing A320 family aircraft.”

The FICCI-KPMG ‘India Aviation Report 2016’, launched at the civil aviation exposition in Hyderabad, reveals that with 81 million trips, India’s domestic aviation market grew at over 20.3% during January to December 2015-the highest growth rate recorded in the world. It further said that India is well on its way to become the third largest aviation market by 2020, owing to increasing disposable incomes, fall in prices of Aircraft Turbine Fuel (ATF), increase in tourism, visa reforms, etc. have placed India in a unique position. This is bringing the country closer to achieving its vision of becoming the largest aviation market by 2030. The report highlights that the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016) is likely to provide a significant fillip to the industry. The various fiscal and monetary incentives, liberal policies focused on ‘ease of doing business’ and enhanced push for regional and global connectivity are extremely positive. Steps taken to revive and operationalise around 160 airports in India, if chosen carefully, will improve air connectivity to regional and remote areas. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the sector will get substantial support from the state in terms of financing, concessional land allotment, tax holidays and other incentives. The report strongly suggests that in order to ensure high-geared growth, it is imperative to broaden the base of domestic flyers through greater air connectivity in Tier 2/3 cities. Many Indian states have taken positive initiatives, largely in the field of development of airports, reduction in sales tax rates on ATF and direct subsidy to airlines for improvement of connectivity. The government and industry are engaged closely in addressing the various opportunities and challenges in the aviation sector; and that’s a welcome sign. …

GoAir has relocated its arrival operations from Terminal 1A to Terminal 1B at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai. In essence, GoAir’s complete operations, both departures and arrivals at Mumbai, shall now operate from Terminal 1B. Effective March 15, GoAir will be able to offer customers convenient flight transfers and under a single roof in Terminal 1B at Mumbai. The last GoAir flight arriving at Terminal 1A was Delhi-Bombay flight, G8 342, at 23.55hrs while the first GoAir flight that arrived at Terminal 1B was G8 364 Ahmedabad-Bombay at 1.00hrs