Category Archives: Aviation

Effective September 26, 2016, IndiGo (6E) will operate its new daily non-stop flight between Chandigarh and Dubai at an all-inclusive return fare of Rs. 10,000. The airline also announced additional daily non-stop flight between Chandigarh and Delhi.Speaking on the launch to Dubai, Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo said, “We are very excited about the introduction of new launch from Chandigarh to Dubai. Chandigarh has been promising for us at IndiGo. We are excited to provide an international connection from Chandigarh which has been a long standing request from the people of city. The new service connecting Chandigarh with Dubai will reinforce our commitment to the State of Punjab & Haryana. This will also provide increased convenience for customers travelling from Himachal Pradesh & other adjoining cities of Punjab & Haryana.”

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-June, 2016, were 475.79 lakhs as against 388.33 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 22.52 per cent, according to the statistics released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). SpiceJet ruled with the highest Passenger Load Factor (PLF) of 93 per cent. However, overall the PLF in the month of June 2016 has slightly decreased compared to previous month primarily due to the end of tourist season. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of June 2016 has been 0.96 per cent. During June 2016, a total of 788 passenger related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines. In terms of On Time Performance (OTP), Vistara emerged as a clear winner with a score of 86.5 per cent.

In a bid to offer convenience to its passengers, Air India has set-up two specialised check-in counters at the New-Delhi metro station of airport express line. The counters that will provide enhanced facility to the passengers were inaugurated by Air India CMD, Ashwani Lohani and became functional on July 27, 2016 at 1600 hours. The newly introduced counters shall allow the Air India passengers flying on international and domestic routes to book tickets, get desired flight information and also check-in the extra luggage. The flight check-in facility shall close two hours before the departure of the scheduled flight. With the inception of this facility the airport passengers can obtain their boarding pass, check-in at the city check-in counter and can enjoy sightseeing in the national capital. These counters shall remain open from 4am in the morning to 11:30pm in the night. Lohani, said, “We are pleased to extend the facility of city check-in on both the domestic and international flights operated by Air India. Earlier, city check-in was available only for domestic sector flights and on a few gulf countries only. But to supplement the efforts, we have set up this Air India flight information cum excess baggage cum ticketing counter at each of the two stations. The objective of this is to enhance the overall travel experience and make it less hassling for passengers.”

Effective August 15, 2016, Air India’s existing Ahmedabad-London service will be extended across the Atlantic to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. With the new schedule, the national carrier’s flights from Ahmedabad to London Heathrow will continue to Newark every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The flight will depart Ahmedabad at 0530 and arrive in London at 1015 and then it will take off again at 1230 and arrive in Newark at 1500. The returning flight will leave from Newark at 2230 every Monday and Friday and land at Heathrow at 1015 the next morning and then it will again depart London at 1230 and reach back in Ahmedabad at 0200 the following morning. However, on Thursdays, the return flights will leave Newark at 0200 and arrive in Ahmedabad at 0330 the next morning, including the stop in London. The flights are now available for booking, and will be operated using Air India’s two-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The two terminals of Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi, T3 and 1D, will soon be connected through metro. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is planning a link between the two terminals under its Phase IV of construction. As per the plan, the Tughlakabad-Aerocity corridor will be extended till the domestic airport, providing connectivity between the Airport Express link and 1D. The alignment originally proposed in Phase IV started from Tughlakabad and terminated at Aerocity. At present, passengers moving between the two terminals have to take a shuttle service, provided by airlines as well as Delhi Transport Corporation.

Singapore Airlines is planning to launch an additional weekly flight to Kolkata by the end of this year. This would mean that starting  December 2016, the airline’s existing thrice weekly direct service between Singapore and Kolkata will increase to four flights per week. There will be an additional Wednesday flight adding to the Monday, Friday and Saturday departures from Kolkata. SIA’s Kolkata flights depart Singapore’s Changi Airport at 2055 and arrive in the West Bengal city at 2240. The return flights then leave Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 2355 and arrive back in Singapore at 0640. Flights are operated using a twin-aisle Airbus A330 aircraft and complement SilkAir’s service on the same route.

In the wake of the 3-month state emergency, Turkish Airlines has announced that all its operations and flights function uninterrupted and will continue to do so. A statement released by the airline reads, “Turkey’s flag carrier that serves 290 destinations in 116 nations across the globe, Turkish Airlines will continue to make the world closer for all its passengers around the world with its exceptional flight experience. The airline stands united with the people and thanks the authorities for the precautious actions to protect the nation from all possible threats.”

Boeing forecasts a demand for 1,850 new airplanes in India, valued at $265 billion, over the next 20 years. Dinesh Keskar, senior VP, Asia Pacific and India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes released the company’s annual Current Market Outlook (CMO) for India in Mumbai, and said, “With the new aviation policy in place, we see even greater opportunities and remain confident in the market and the airlines in India. India continues to have a strong commercial aerospace market and the highest domestic traffic growth in the world.”  According to Boeing’s CMO, single-aisle airplanes such as the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX will continue to account for the largest share of new deliveries, with airlines in India needing approximately 1,560 airplanes. These new airplanes will continue to support the growth of low-cost carriers and replace older, less-efficient airplanes. The report also says that traffic growth in India remains the highest in the world at 8.6 per cent and that domestic passenger traffic increased 21 per cent from 2015. It also mentions that low-cost carriers account for more than 60 per cent of all flights in India.

The Union Cabinet has approved signing of the Air Services Agreement between India and Mozambique. Presently there is no Air Services Agreement between India and Mozambique. To promote the air connectivity between the two countries, the two sides initiated the process of consultation in 2011 to finalize the text of Air Services Agreement. The draft text of the Air Services Agreement (ASA) has been finalised in consultation with Ministry of Finance (Deptt. of Revenue/Deptt. of Economic Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Law & Justice (Deptt. of Legal Affairs). The major features of the Agreement include multiple designation of airlines by each party. The designated airline of each party can enter into cooperative marketing arrangements with the designated carriers of same party, other party and that of a third party. This agreement allows designated airlines of either countries to establish offices in the territory of other country for the promotion and sale of air services. The designated airlines of the two countries shall have fair and equal opportunity to operate the agreed services on specified routes. Apart from the above, the ASA also has the provisions relating to revocation or suspension of operating authorisation, principles governing operations of agreed services, commercial opportunities, safety and security related clause etc. that were incorporated in the line of Indian model ASA.

Turkish Airlines has resumed all its flights including those to and from the United States of America. By July 19, 2016, all Turkish Airlines flight schedule will be back to normal. Turkish Airlines Media Relations Office announced that FAA removed the recent order of all airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the US from Turkey either directly or via third country. Accordingly, all scheduled Turkish Airlines flights to the US will resume starting as of July 19, 2016, with Turkish Airlines Istanbul – NYC flight at 06:45 am. Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee İlker Aycı stated that, “Earlier today I had stated that we saw no reason for the ban as all precautions were in line with the norms. Following our recent report and dense meetings, FAA removed the ban as expected.” Following the illegal failed coup attempt in Turkey, on July 16th 2016 at noon hours FAA had issued a ban of “all airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country.”