Category Archives: Aviation

A recent IATA Air Passenger Market Analysis reveals that improvement in early bookings for June-August travel period indicate a revival of demand for the summer season. Although passengers continue to book close to the travel date, nevertheless, the improvement in two months’ forward travel bookings compared to the same period in 2019 is robust, (-72% vs -66%).

In all likelihood, the Adani Group may come out with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for its airport business that is owned Adani Enterprises as Adani Airports Holdings. The airport business may become an entity separate from the holding Adani Enterprises. Before the launch, the Group is looking to raise $500 million on a private placement basis.

According to Rajiv Subramanian, Vice President, Cleartrip, “There are very initial signs of recovery with reduced caseloads and relaxation of restrictions by several states. Traffic and booking volumes have almost doubled from a couple of weeks back. Share of round trips and advance bookings has also seen an uptick. This recovery should continue with more cities seeing reduced caseloads and accelerated vaccination.”

Malaysia Airlines has announced that it will operate limited service with 85% reduction across its network during the Movement Control Order (MCO) from 1 to 14 June 2021. However, it will continue to facilitate essential domestic and international travels as well as cargo movement. Also, the carrier extended its rebooking travel flexibility, offering customers longer ticket validity until 31 December 2022 with a one-time fare difference and service fee waiver. Eligible customers can now rebook their travels on or before 30 June 2022 for travel to be completed by 31 December 2022. Malaysia Airlines previously offered customers the flexibility to rebook their travels on or before 30 June 2021 for travel to be completed by 31 December 2021. Customers may refer to the airline’ travel advisory available on its official website for more information. Captain Izham Ismail, Group Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Aviation Group, said: “The recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has moved us to prioritise further the safety and health of our passengers and employees. With customers being the centre of gravity, we hope the extended travel rebooking flexibility regardless of the class fare will provide the certainty and peace of mind that their tickets remain eligible for future travel with us. As national carrier, we continue to play our role in ensuring accessibility for Malaysia together with Firefly and MASwings, via limited commercial and charter services even since MCO 1.0. From April 2020, we have successfully deployed over 350 rescue and repatriation flights utilising Malaysia Airlines’ A380, A350, A330 and B737 aircraft whilst MABkargo operated more than 1,600 passenger-to-cargo (P2C) flights since March 2020, carrying over 30,000 tonnes of relief items on its global freighter network …

In its latest CAPA Advisory India Airline Outlook FY2022, the CAPA – Centre for Aviation has said that the industry is standing on the edge of a cliff. This is true even for airlines with access to large pools of capital. It said, ‘If we are to achieve the Honourable PM’s vision of affordable connectivity as a critical enabler of economic transformation, the viability of the airline sector must receive the highest level of attention and support from the Ministry of Civil Aviation’.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation, UAE has suspended all inbound passenger movement to the UAE from India until July 6, 2021. This excludes UAE nationals. Passengers are advised to reschedule their tickets for travel at a future date. Dubai’s Emirates had earlier said that passenger flights from India would remain suspended at least until June 30. The suspension of incoming passenger traffic from India to the UAE began on April 24. It was extended on May 4 by the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) in light of a deadly second wave of Covid-19 currently affecting India.

On 3rd June 1971, Singapore Airlines made its maiden foray into Mumbai, completing 50 years of operations since then. Over the last 50 years, we have achieved several key milestones in Mumbai. Owing to the pandemic, Singapore Airlines continues to have zero passenger flights out of India, and a lot of international borders are still closed for regular passenger traffic. Unfortunately, it is in this sombre and uncertain environment that Singapore Airlines ushered in the Golden Jubilee of its Mumbai operations.

Uzbeksitan Airways has appointed Aeroprime as its PSA (Passenger Sales Agent) for India. Aeroprime will be responsible for the airlines’ sales, reservations, customer service and ticketing. Abhishek Goyal, Executive Director, Aeroprime stated, “We are honoured to be working with Uzbekistan Airways in India. Our appointment is a perfect reflection of Aeroprime’s specialised offering of localised expertise and networks, which gels perfectly with the airlines’ philosophy and vision. The airline will be supported by international best practices of Aeroprime, to expand their market share and sales in India.”

CAPA Advisory, in its Airline Outlook FY2022, has said that there will be strategic consolidation in the Indian airline sector once the COVID umbrella has lifted. If there is no consolidation (although such a scenario appears unlikely) and if the privatisation of Air India does not proceed, then the Indian aviation sector may emerge from COVID with more airlines than it went in with.

Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL) has received the final credit sanction for Rs3,725 crore from the State Bank of India (SBI) for the development of Noida International Airport (NIA). Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) is the main shareholder of YIAPL and is injecting Rs2,005 crore into the development of NIA.