Category Archives: Aviation

Jazeera Airways has announced a five per cent IATA commission for all the tickets that trade partners issue through its CRS partners, Amadeus and Galileo. This offer is with effect from 14 February, 2020 till 31 March, 2020. The code to avail  commission is 1A: FM05 and 1G: TMU1Z05.  

Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India, according to a Personnel Ministry order. Bansal, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, is at present additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The post became vacant after incumbent Ashwani Lohani completed his tenure. Source: PTI  

After announcing direct flights between Ahmedabad and Kuala Lumpur from April 29, 2020, AirAsia has launched the “Chalo! India” sales campaign to celebrate lower tourist e-visa fees to travel to India. This promotion will run until February 16 for travel between 29 April 2020 to 30 October 2020. Fly from Kuala Lumpur to Bhubaneswar, Cochin, Kolkata from as low as RM229 one-way, or to Jaipur, Delhi, Amritsar from as low as RM299 one-way. All promotional fares are available for booking on airasia.com or AirAsia mobile app. The campaign is offering flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bhubaneswar, Cochin, Kolkata from as low as RM229 one-way, or to Jaipur, Delhi, Amritsar from as low as RM299 one-way. All promotional fares are available for booking on airasia.com or AirAsia mobile app. On this, Benyamin Ismail, CEO, AirAsia X Malaysia said, “India has never been more affordable so there is no better time to travel. We are running some of our biggest sales yet to every India destination we fly to, including this new route from Kuala Lumpur to Ahmedabad. At the same time, the cost for the tourist e-visa fee for Malaysians is currently at its lowest. We thank the Indian government for lowering the visa fees for Malaysians to facilitate tourism growth. India is a must-see destination on many people’s travel list, and we are confident that our latest promotional campaigns and extensive flight network will stimulate travel to India and also entice more Indian travellers to visit Malaysia in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020” Government of India had reduced the country’s e-visa fee from USD100 (1-year multiple-entry tourist e-visa) to USD10 (30-days tourist e-visa for April to June; USD25 for …

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern as the number of cases reported a rise in more countries. As many as 43 airlines have already begun pre-emptively cancelling or reducing flights to China. The reasoning for doing so is a mix of reduced demand for visitors and fear of virus spreading. European, American, and some Asian airlines largely make up the list of those reducing service or cancelling flights to mainland China outright under the virus is under control. Beijing and Shanghai are most affected including flights to Hong Kong also facing the heat. The cancellations are extended on some airlines to as far away as the end of March. WHO said that it is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of the onward spread of the virus.

Domestic air passenger traffic grew to 14.41 crore in 2019, an increase of just 3.74 per cent compared to 2018, revealed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).  The domestic air passenger traffic grew by 18.6 per cent to 13.89 crore in 2018. The decline in growth is attributed to the collapse of Jet Airways in April 2019. The passenger load factors of all major airlines – Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India and Vistara. The domestic air passenger traffic in December 2019 increased by 2.56 per cent to 1.30 crore compared to the same month in 2018. In comparison, the growth in domestic traffic in November 2019 was 11.18 per cent.

Major Indian and global airlines are witnessing a high number of flight booking cancellations to many cities of China amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak. IndiGo Cathay Pacific and British Airways have suspended flights to the mainland China. In addition,  Air India, Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet, IndiGo, AirAsia, Shandong Airlines, Air China, Cathay Pacific and China Eastern have waived off charges for any cancellation or flight change. Indigo has suspended flights on Delhi-Chengdu route and the Bengaluru- Hong Kong flight effective February 1 till February 20, while Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is reducing the capacity of its flights to and from mainland China by 50 per cent or more, from January 30 to the end of March 2020. Air India has announced that Reissue/ No-Show/Cancellation and Refund charges for all international tickets for travel to/from China till February 24 is waived off. Air Asia and Cathay Dragon have also extended suspension of flights to and from Wuhan and allowed credit account/refund for other mainland China bookings. Air India and Indigo have enabled the waiver of ticket change and cancellation fee on the bookings within the next one month. Shandong Airlines is also providing waiver on full refund of tickets issued for travel to/from China. Whereas, Rebooking, rerouting and refund charges on Cathay Pacific/Cathay Dragon will be waived off for all tickets issued worldwide for confirmed bookings arriving to or departing from mainland China between January 28 and March 31. IndiGo currently runs two daily direct flights to China, one is on Delhi-Chengdu route and another is on Kolkata-Guangzhou route. It will start a daily flight on Mumbai-Chengdu route from 15 March. Air India has only one direct flight to China and it …

In order to handle the increase in passenger traffic on the Tel Aviv-New Delhi sector, Air India has announced that they are doubling the frequency on the route to six flights per week from April. Air India started with three flights a week to Tel-Aviv in 2018 and would make this to six flights-a-week from April 1 this year. The announcement was made by Indian Ambassador in Israel Sanjeev Singla during the Republic Day celebrations at the Indian Embassy in Delhi recently. “Direct Air India flight connectivity between New Delhi and Tel Aviv is a game-changer in our bilateral relations reflecting the importance we attach to people-to-people linkages and connectivity. The direct flights have greatly enhanced movement of people between the two countries resulting in an increase in tourism and also facilitating the travel of the business community.” Every flight from Tel Aviv has almost 50 per cent of passengers travelling beyond Delhi to domestic destinations within India and international destinations including Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Shanghai, Hongkong, Sri Lanka and Nepal, a press release issued by Air India said.

The government on Monday has invited Expression of Interest for 100 per cent stake sale in Air India (AI). Along with AI, it has also invited interest from bidders for its entire 100 per cent stake in the low-cost international arm, Air India Express and its complete 50 per cent share of ground handling subsidiary AISATS. The total debt of AI and AI Express to be taken on by the new buyer is Rs 23,286 crore. The actual debt of the two entities combined was Rs 60,074 crore. The balance of nearly ₹27,000 crores has been absorbed by the government. The last date for submitting interest to the transaction adviser is March 17 and the result is expected to be known by March 31. Ernst & Young is the transaction adviser. The bid document says that the FDI policy for the sale remains unchanged, i.e. foreign carriers will be able to own 49% stake in Air India. The substantial ownership and effective control (SOEC) clause will also be applicable and will have to remain with an Indian.

VCADomestic air passenger traffic grew to 14.41 crore in 2019, an increase of just 3.74 per cent compared to 2018, revealed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).  The domestic air passenger traffic grew by 18.6 per cent to 13.89 crore in 2018. The decline in growth is attributed to the collapse of Jet Airways in April 2019. The passenger load factors of all major airlines – Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India and Vistara. The domestic air passenger traffic in December 2019 increased by 2.56 per cent to 1.30 crore compared to the same month in 2018. In comparison, the growth in domestic traffic in November 2019 was 11.18 per cent.

LOT Polish Airlines has decided to increase the number of weekly Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights from five to seven effective 14th September 2020. India-originating passengers can now further benefit from the new codeshare agreement between Star Alliance members LOT Polish Airlines and Air India, offering seamless connectivity via New Delhi’s Terminal 3 from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. On its Delhi-Warsaw route, LOT Polish Airlines features Indian meals in all three cabins (LOT Business Class, LOT Premium Economy Class, LOT Economy Class), complimentary beverages including alcoholic drinks as well as inflight entertainment system including the latest Bollywood releases in Hindi. Amit Ray, Regional Director India and DACH Markets of LOT Polish Airlines: “Our market entry in India has been a great success since the beginning. We have seen strong bookings from corporate and leisure travellers alike. We are therefore very pleased to increase our frequency.”