Category Archives: Aviation

New Indian regional airline, FlyBig is all set to commence operations from 15th November as it decided to make Indore make the base city of operations. DGCA has given its clearance for maintenance setup. FlyBig’s first aircraft has already been imported from Australia. It plans to launch direct flights to Bhopal, Jabalpur and also to northeast under UDAN.  

A study conducted by United Airlines and Department of Defense, US says the risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard its aircraft is “virtually non-existent”. It was found that when masks are worn there is only a 0.003% chance particles from a passenger can enter the passenger’s breathing space who is sitting beside them. It indicates that being on board an aircraft is the safest indoor public space, because of the unique configuration inside an aircraft that includes aggressive ventilation, lots of airflow. They ran 300 tests in a little over six months with a mannequin on a United plane. The mannequin was equipped with an aerosol generator that allowed technicians to reproduce breathing and coughing. Each test released 180 million particles – equivalent to the number of particles that would be produced by thousands of coughs. They studied the way the mannequin’s particles moved inside the cabin with a mask on and off. The tests assumed the flight was completely full with technicians placing sensors in seats, galleys, and the jet bridge to represent other passengers on the plane. Last week, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released new research, saying the risk of contracting the virus on a plane appears to be “in the same category as being struck by lightning.”  

All arriving international passengers, including residents of Delhi-NCR or passengers intending to undertake onward domestic connection, can now avail the COVID-RT PCR testing facility at Delhi Airport and get an exemption from institution quarantine. Quick bookings and rapid results are aimed at making travel experience seamless.

Sharing details about the India-Germany flights under the two-month air bubble arrangement, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted ‘Lufthansa will operate four days a week from Delhi, three days a week from Mumbai and three days from Bengaluru. Air India will operate five weekly flights from Delhi and two every week from Bengaluru to Frankfurt’.

It was an important day for the Goa International Airport with Air India starting its direct flight LHR-GOI-LHR on its Boeing 787. It will initially be once a week, and then twice a week from November under the new India-UK air bubble. Goa will now be connected to London directly.

AirAsia India inducts a new aircraft to its fleet as it expects sustained pax growth in the coming quarter. The airline will go ahead with its planned induction of five fully-owned A320 Neo aircraft with CFM engines in the next few months. It had firmed up these orders before the pandemic. This will bring down the average fleet age to around three years. The airline has opened new direct routes such as Mumbai-Ranchi, Mumbai-Bhubaneswar, Mumbai-Guwahati.

IATA is working with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to put in place scalable, affordable and fast testing systems, revealed Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice-President Asia Pacific, IATA. Alexandre De Juniac, Director General & CEO, IATA had also said last week, “We have a solution to open borders while mitigating the risk of importing COVID-19 through air travel. That is universal testing. There is testing technology that aligns with our requirements for speed, accuracy, affordability, scalability and ease of use in the travel process. And we are seeing momentum towards implementation.”

A total of 39.43 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in September this year, 66 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year, the country’s aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. As many as 21.07 lakh and 28.32 lakh people travelled by air domestically this July and August, respectively, the regulator had said last month.

In its second innings, Jet Airways, which was grounded in April last year, will not only retain its original brand name, livery and logo, but will also remain a full-service carrier with business and economy class divisions, according to reports. While initially, the airline will start with domestic routes with a single plane type, in the second stage they will have international flights with suitable aircraft, revealed Manoj N Madnani, Board Member, Kalrock Capital. Source: Times of India

Air India has decided to reduce the frequency of its Kolkata-London flight from twice-a-week to now only once-a-week, owing to poor load factor. An AI official has reportedly revealed that after Navami, October 25, the flight will arrive in Kolkata and take off for London only on Sundays. The flight that operated on Thursdays has ben withdrawn as it isn’t sustainable to continue with the present load.