Category Archives: Aviation

Following the fresh lockdown measures introduced in Maharashtra from April 5, Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Commissioner, BMC – Mumbai, clarified that passengers landing in Mumbai city during curfew hours – whether from out of state or internationally – will be allowed movement within the city. Their boarding pass and/or flight ticket will be enough for this. The night curfew is in place from 8pm to 7am and anyone breaking the rules will be fined Rs 500, said government officials.

IndiGo has joined hands with CarterPorter, to launch ‘6EBagport’, to provide door to door baggage delivery service starting April 1, 2021 in New Delhi and Hyderabad. The service, which starts at a nominal rate of INR 630 for one way, will subsequently be launched in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well. Passengers can book the service from the comfort of their homes. The facility will enable passengers to travel worry-free as CarterPorter will transfer their baggage contactless from one destination to another with added assistance inside the terminal. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo said, “We are continuously striving to enhance our customer service and this collaboration is a step further towards providing a one-stop hassle-free experience. The service will bring relief to customers who may want to travel with additional baggage from home to airport or would like to go for a meeting directly from airport without carrying bags. Our partnership with CarterPorter will ensure that our customers have a seamless experience as their baggage gets transferred door to door while they fly onboard our lean, clean flying machine”.

Maldivian, the National Carrier of Republic of Maldives, will start direct flights between Maafaru and Mumbai from April 13, 2021. Aishath Jennifer, Deputy Managing Director, Maldivian, shares that Indians can land at Maafaru and reach their respective resorts or guest houses in no time. “It will be very convenient if they come to Maafaru Airport, and we have four atolls with about 10,000 tourist beds in this region. With four islands in this vicinity, there is a lot of opportunity for the tourists. Unlike Male, we are asking the tourists to report to the airport only two hours prior to departure of the flight, so that they can spend more time in their resort or guest houses,” she said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that Willie Walsh has officially taken on the role of Director General of the organization. He succeeds Alexandre de Juniac. “I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the COVID-19 crisis. IATA has been at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass. Less visible but of equal importance, airlines continue to rely on IATA’s financial settlement systems, Timatic and other vital services to support their day-to-day operations. I am grateful to Alexandre for leaving behind a strong organization and a motivated team. Together, the IATA team is absolutely focused on restoring the freedom of movement that airlines provide to billions of people around the world. That means your freedom to visit friends and family, to meet critical business partners, to secure and retain vital contracts, and to explore our wonderful planet,” said Walsh.

As per the February 2021 assessment made by Safe Travel Barometer – a travel technology company – three Indian airports figured in the Safe Travel Score for Asia Pacific airports. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport came in at fourth with a score of 4.3, while Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport came sixth with 4.2 score. Kempegowda International Airport was in the seventh position with 4.1 score. Number one was taken by China’s Beijing Capital International Airport with 4.4 out of 5.

Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has inaugurated the Kurnool Airport in Orvakal, Andhra Pradesh, which is the  6th airport in the state to become functional after Kadapa, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rajahmundry & Vijayawada. Flight operations from Kurnool will commence from 28th March under the RCS-UDAN scheme to Bengaluru, Vishakhapatnam and Chennai which will bring the region closer to the major hubs in the South India.  

The latest air ticket data analysed by ForwardKeys reveals that comparing April-September 2021 against the same six months in 2019, a significant shift in source markets is evident. The USA, which used to account for 31% of actual air tickets into India pre-COVID has doubled. The UK, a traditional source market, has shrunk by more than half to only 6%.

Air India has announced that it is all set to launch flights between Hyderabad and London from May 9, 2021 to September 6, 2021. The non-stop flights will be operated every Monday in the said period, and the carrier has allowed bookings through its website, booking offices, call centre, as well as through authorised travel agents.

Indian LCC IndiGo claims that the airline has already processed close to Rs1030 crore of refunds, which amounts to about 99.95% of the total amount owed to its customers. The pending credit shells are mostly cash transactions wherein IndiGo is awaiting bank transfer details from the customers.

In its commitment to get travellers safely where they need to be, Qatar Airways has announced that it will no longer require passengers to present a negative RT-PCR test report when departing India, where this requirement was implemented previously. However, any government regulation imposed or required by the destination or transit country will continue to apply. The airline has included a total of 13 countries in its list of exempt nations, including the Philippines and Nepal.