Category Archives: Aviation

After establishing air bubbles with USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives, the government is in the process of establishing arrangements with 13 more countries. Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said negotiations are underway with Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to allow bilateral flight operations.

FlyBig plans to commence three times weekly Ahmedabad-Indore service from Jan 3, 2021. From its Indore hub, FlyBig started flights to Bhopal and Ahmedabad with Jabalpur to follow later on. FlyBig started booking for Raipur-Indore from Jan 13, 2021. Its second phase will focus on North East India market for which it will set up a base in Guwahati. Apart from the Delhi-Shillong route, it will serve Imphal and Aizawl. It is yet to debut operations using its own aircraft ATR72-500.

The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has launched the round-the-clock COVID-19 testing facility using the RT-PCR method at the airport where flyers will be able to get the result in as early as 13 minutes. The cost of this rapid test would be Rs 2,400. Online pre-booking of the test is also available.

Regional commuter airline Flybig started its first flight from Shillong direct to Delhi on December 21, 2020. However, it used a SpiceJet aircraft for the same. Part of Big Charter, Flybig was awarded the contract for this route through a tender floated by Meghalaya Transport Corporation at the beginning of 2020. It will initially operate this route twice a week.

The first flight from Belgaum (Karnataka) to Surat (Gujarat) to Kishangarh (Rajasthan) was flagged off on December 21, 2020 by Star Air India under RCS-UDAN. This flag-off marks the inauguration of the 303rd route under the scheme and the 20th UDAN route by the airline. The airline is being provided Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the scheme to keep fares affordable. The airline will operate thrice-weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer-145.

Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day North East Festival, Santanu Kalita, CEO, SpiceJet – Sea Plane department, said, “Sea planes can bring a revolution in the tourism sector, especially in the North East which is one of the most beautiful natural lands in India. We will reflect on the planned fly-scheme for Guwahati to Kaziranga to Dima Hasao, etc. We have sufficient eight months to set the fly-plan scheme which will result in flourishing of tourism in the region.” Kalita played a key role in getting the maiden seaplane service of the country off the ground in Kevadia, Gujarat.

Lufthansa has launched its ‘Calendar of Hope’ initiative with an aim to help street and slum children in India. In a collaborative effort to help spread hope with kindness, the airline has dedicated the 2021 edition of its iconic calendar to support the most vulnerable in the fight against the hardships of COVID-19. Lufthansa is partnering with ImpactGuru, a Harvard incubated start-up, for this initiative. This will ensure that 100 per cent of the contribution goes directly to help the children at Aasraa Trust, which supports over 3300 street children in Dehradun, as well as Sunshine Children Education Society, which gives shelter to over 250 slum children in Delhi.Dehradun

IndiGo has recommenced operations from 8 cities in the Northeast—Agartala, Aizawl, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat & Silchar. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer, IndiGo said, “Being the airline with the most connections from the North-eastern states to the entire country, we take immense pleasure in slowly and steadily getting back to the recovery path on the back of strengthening confidence in air travel. We are providing nonstop connectivity to our customers from Northeast to key metro cities, catering to the increasing demand for direct flights owing to the pandemic. We have established more than mandated procedures and guidelines to provide a safe and hassle-free travel experience onboard our lean, clean flying machines. We will continue to strengthen our network and connectivity in the Northeast, in line with the government policies and focus on development in the region.”

Nepal Airlines will resume its Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi daily flights from December 17, 2020. This was confirmed by Narayan Podayal, Delhi Manager, Nepal Airlines, who says, “The flight will depart Kathmandu at 11:20 hrs and take off from Delhi at 14:00 hrs local time. Passengers transiting via Nepal will not be allowed to board. All travellers will be required to submit and carry negative PCR test report not older than 72 hours at time of boarding.”

Alitalia organised a webinar for the Indian travel trade, where Aldo D’elia, Regional Manager, East Europe & Asia-Pacific, Alitalia, shared that Indian travel trade partners are important to them. “The pillar in the coming weeks would be flexibility and safety, which is our priority. Alitalia will be launching its Delhi-Rome flights I  March 2021.