Category Archives: Aviation

Etihad Airways hosted a meeting to explore how the market is opening and what prospects exist for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. The meeting was attended by top clients at the MD and CEO levels. Also in attendance were, Martin Drew, Senior Vice President, Global Sales, and Murli Krishnan, Vice President, Revenue, both from Abu Dhabi; Neerja Bhatia, Vice President for the Indian Subcontinent; and Salil Nath, Regional Sales Manager, North Central India, Bangladesh, and Seychelles, both from India.

The next three to five years could see failures of multiple airlines that do not have the financial strength to invest in decarbonisation, says the CAPA-Envest Airline Sustainability Benchmarking Report 2021. “Climate change is a critical challenge, and climate inaction is a critical mistake. We have partnered with Envest Global to assess the impact on airlines of increased pressure to reduce aircraft carbon emissions, and to assist them in understanding global trends and meeting the growing expectations of stakeholders,” says CAPA Chairman Emeritus Peter Harbison.

Sharing his perspective on the new entrant in the LCC segment, Gavin Eccles, Managing Partner, GE Consulting & Advisory, says, “Key for Akasa Air is to differentiate through ancillaries.  Make ancillaries a key part of the travel proposition.  And, what that means is moving beyond just ancillary development with seats, boarding, etc., but to really look at the total travel proposition.  One area growing well at the moment is an in-house tour operator that allows the airline to sell the leisure proposition via a controlled inventory system. Could we see Akasa Air Holidays?”

Sharing his perspective on the new entrant in the LCC segment, Gavin Eccles, Managing Partner, GE Consulting & Advisory, says, “Key for Akasa Air is to differentiate through ancillaries.  Make ancillaries a key part of the travel proposition.  And, what that means is moving beyond just ancillary development with seats, boarding, etc., but to really look at the total travel proposition.  One area growing well at the moment is an in-house tour operator that allows the airline to sell the leisure proposition via a controlled inventory system. Could we see Akasa Air Holidays?”

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, shares that he is running strong campaign with the Chief Ministers of all states for reduction of VAT on ATF. “I am approaching every CM sequentially and asking them to lower the VAT on ATF. There are 11 state governments, which charge between 1-5% and around 27 state governments charge between 5-30%. My target is to get as many states to charge between 1-5% VAT on ATF, so that there is increased penetration in terms of connectivity,” he said in Kushinagar.

From December 6, Qantas expects to resume service on the Sydney-Delhi route. These initial flights, however, are only available to Australian citizens, permanent residents, and their close families and parents. With its A330 aircraft, Qantas plans to establish a new route from Sydney to Delhi on December 6, 2021, with three return flights per week, increasing to daily flights by the end of the year. Qantas and Jetstar will resume more international flights to popular destinations from Sydney, as well as operate regular flights to Delhi, which will be Qantas’ first commercial flights between Australia and India in in a decade.

The poll of 9,074 customers from France, Germany, India, Spain, Russia, Singapore, the UAE, the UK and the US found that there is a strong desire to travel. Over 35% of travellers feel the existing international guidelines on where and how to travel are complicated, making them less likely to arrange business or leisure travel. At the same time, travellers are showing a greater willingness to accept technology and share health information so that they can start traveling again.

PM Narendra Modi, in his address at the inauguration of Kushinagar International Airport, said that the new airport will facilitate international as well as domestic tourists with great connectivity to major Buddhist destinations related to the life of Lord Buddha such as Lumbini, Kapilvastu, Sarnath and Bodhgaya. He also highlighted that Kushinagar airport inauguration will form an ecosystem of employment generation & business development.

Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic last year domestic air traffic reached its highest level on Sunday, said Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. A total of 3,27,923 passengers travelled on 2,372 flights within India on Sunday, he noted. Before the pandemic struck, India’s daily domestic air traffic was approximately 4.25 lakh passengers. The Centre had suspended all scheduled domestic flights from March 25, 2020, to May 25, 2020, as part of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh on 20th October. The inauguration of the Kushinagar International Airport will be marked by the landing of the inaugural flight at the airport from Colombo, Sri Lanka, carrying Sri lankan delegation of over hundred Buddhist Monks & dignitaries. The Airport has been built at an estimated cost of Rs. 260 crore, to facilitate domestic & international pilgrims to visit the Mahaparinirvana sthal of Lord Buddha. It will serve nearby districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and is an important step in boosting the investment & employment opportunities in the region.