Tag Archives: Air India

World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) has appointed Ashwani Lohani, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India, as its Chairman for the year 2017. Lohani, who served as the Vice Chairman of WTTCII for the year 2016, takes over from Kapil Chopra, President, The Oberoi Group, who completed his term at the recently held AGM in Delhi. Sunder G. Advani, Chairman & Managing Director, Advani Hotels & Resorts (India) Limited, has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of WTTCII for the year 2017. This was announced at the Annual General Meeting of the World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) held on 12 December 2016 at New Delhi. Lohani said, “Over the years, WTTCII has been championing convergence between Government of India and States to facilitate tourism in India and we will continue to do so. With the GST in place by next year, the States will have the major onus of implementing smart policies for facilitating tourism on the ground. We will continue to work with the States, with the strength of our Members, to improve access, address infrastructural gaps and policy bottlenecks for tourism to flourish, and most importantly create jobs, employment and provide a vigorous boost to tourism’s contribution to the State’s GDP. The sub sectors of Aviation, Hospitality, Transportation, Railway compliments each other. In a country like India, all the subs sectors of tourism need to be integrated and treated uniformly by the Government in its various policy initiatives to give it a competitive edge vis-à-vis other countries.” Advani said, “We welcome the ground breaking move by Government of India introducing E-visa policy for 158 countries at 16 Airports and 5 Cruise Ports. These …

In an attempt to boost regional connectivity, Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India will connect Delhi and Bhatinda from December 11. The flights will be operated three times a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 70-seater ATR-72 aircraft would be utilised for the services. The flight will depart from Delhi at 12.15 pm and reach Bathinda at 1.45 pm. The return flight will fly out from Bathinda at 2.15 pm and reach Delhi at 3.45 pm. Alliance Air, which flies to tier-II and tier-III cities, has a fleet of eight ATR-72 and two ATR-42 aircraft. Currently, it operates flights to 33 destinations, including Allahabad, Bengaluru, Bhavnagar, Dharamshala, Gorakhpur, Shillong and Silchar.

Air India launched its first direct flight from Delhi-Madrid at a gala ceremony in Delhi, which was graced by P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister, Civil Aviation; Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India; I Prabhakara Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Delhi International Airport; Ignacio Ducasse Gutierrez, Tourism Counselor, Embassy of Spain in India and Director, Tourism Office of Spain in India, Mumbai; and other dignitaries from the travel and tourism industry. Madrid is Air India’s ninth European destination and 42nd international destination. Srivastava addressed the gathering and said, “The nine-hour flight would be able to cut down the flying time to Madrid by 4-5 hours, and would offer further connections to South American countries like Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Chile.” The thrice a week flight with a  B787 Dreamliner, offers a convenient departure at 1425hrs from Delhi and arrival at Madrid at 2020hrs. From Madrid the departure time is 2150hrs and arrival in Delhi at 1110hrs the next day.

PATA India Chapter, in cooperation with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, conducted its business development roadshow in six European cities from October 17-27, 2016, which was attended by nearly 80 Buyers from the market. Air India & Jet Airways have contributed to augment the connectivity between important European cities and India. The roadshow started in Helsinki (Finland) on October 17, and moved on to Stockholm (Sweden) on October 18, Copenhagen (Denmark) on October 20, Vienna (Austria) on October 24, Prague (Czech Republic) on October 26, and concluded in Warsaw (Poland) on October 27. PATA India Chapter’s Executive Director, Runeep Sangha, said, “We are more than satisfied with the response we have received from the European market. Since last year we have covered European Countries and hope to firmly establish ‘Share of Mind’. Scandinavia represents a high end long haul market and the interest shown by Travel Agents and Tour Operators from Helsinki, Stockholm & Copenhagen is encouraging. Vienna, Prague & Warsaw are emerging European source markets and demonstrate keen interest in India. The Indian Ambassadors in the Helsinki & Prague spoke to the participating Buyers and assured them of their fullest cooperation to not only facilitate travel to India but also partner in promotional activities. Similarly Consular staff in Stockholm, Vienna & Prague supported the Roadshows with their presence and assurance. At the event, India was represented by 14 sellers including Airlines, State Tourism Boards, Ayurveda Resorts and Destination Management Companies. Dr. U.S. Mishra, Additional Director India Tourism, Amsterdam, and Mr. Jitendra Jadhav, Additional Director, India Tourism, Frankfurt, made significant contribution to the hosting and coordination of these Roadshows were also present in their respective markets. The event brought …

Air India set a record with its longest non-stop flight from Delhi to San Francisco. The Boeing 777-200 long range aircraft took the Pacific route instead of the Atlantic route, adding an additional 1400 km to the route but was completed in 14 and a half hours, two hours lesser than the conventional flight due to the helpful tailwinds. “From October 15, the flight which connected Delhi and San Francisco via the Atlantic route has begun operations on the Pacific route and returns on the Atlantic route, making it the only flight that goes around the world,” says Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial and Board Member, Air India. This route also saved around 13 tons of fuel. Air India currently operates flights on the Delhi-San Francisco route three times a week but its growing popularity has prompted the airline to double this from November, flying east each time for the next six months. Inputs from: The Telegraph UK

Air India has launched a new app to its more than 18-million passengers which will take the user experience to a new level. Built on SITA’s iTravel platform, the Air India app offers the ability to book and pay for a flight by quickly and securely scanning both passport and credit card. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and MD, Air India, said, “Mobile apps are becoming an important tool for making travel bookings by passengers who are tech-savvy and like to access information on the go. This mobile app provides Air India the right tool to access a growing passenger market that is connected both in India and beyond. The new app, developed by SITA, provides an elevated mobile experience where passengers can easily manage every step of their journey on their phone or tablet no matter where they are.” Passengers can fully manage their booking from their mobile device, including selecting their seat, making changes to their itinerary, buying additional services, choosing their meal and checking in. The app has also been integrated with Air India’s Flying Returns loyalty program where passengers can securely access details of points earned or other updates to their accounts.Today more than one billion Indians use a mobile phone. Of these, more than 300 million regularly use them to access the Internet, a trend that is expected to grow by 56 per cent per year. The new mobile service will be available on Android, iOS and Windows. This means at check-in, passengers can choose to receive their boarding pass on their phone or smartwatch. At the airport, passengers will receive regular updates on their flights and can use the app for mobile boarding. Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA’s …

Air India is going to begin its Amritsar-Toronto operations in 2017 via Birmingham, said Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India. Air India will also connect Delhi with Washington D.C. next year. Srivastava said, “We have grown substantially on the international network. In the last one year we have added 4 new networks to our operations which are operated on Dreamliners. Delhi-Madrid will begin operations from December 1 this year. Under the regional connectivity scheme, we are already planning operations to connect the Tier III and Tier II cities on Air India.” He also informed that Air India has managed to focus on its deeds and improve its services which has turned around their profits and recently the company posted a profit of RS 105 crores.

Air India has signed a free flow code share agreement with Air Austral enabling the former to code share on Air Austral operated flights on the Chennai-Reunion-Chennai sector as well as beyond Reunion to/from Johannesburg, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar. Reciprocally, Air Austral will put its marketing code on Air India operated flights beyond Chennai to/from Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi. Air India, member of the prestigious Star Alliance, will offer its passengers flights departing from India to Saint-Denis de La Réunion via Chennai with the Chennai/Saint-Denis flight operated by Air Austral. The passengers of Air India will be able to connect in Saint-Denis on flights beyond to/from Johannesburg, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar operated by Air Austral. Air Austral will offer its customers flights from Reunion to Chennai and beyond to/from Mumbai, New Delhi and Kochi on flights operated by Air India. Air Austral has been operating on the route Reunion Island-Chennai-Bangkok since 19th February 2013. From the beginning of November 2016, Bangkok will be discontinued, leaving all the capacity available to the Reunion Island – Chennai service. The code share will initially be implemented on the Reunion-Chennai-Reunion sector from 16th September 2016. Code share on the other sectors is likely to be implemented subsequently.

Air India’s direct New Delhi to Madrid flight will launch from either December end or first week of January, reveals Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India. The national carrier’s direct New Delhi to San Francisco flight was introduced last December, following which two other international destinations – Delhi-Austria and Ahmedabad-London-New York – were connected by the airline. These flights are being operated using Air India’s two-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Lohani revealed this on the sidelines of the 32nd IATO Convention in Chennai.

Air India commenced the first ever flight between Ahmedabad and Newark via London. The Flight AI 171 took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The flight is receiving immense response from the passengers and not only inaugural flight but all bookings till September 16 are sold out. The first passenger to check in was handed the boarding pass by Chief Guest, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Hon’ble Minister, Revenue, Education (Primary, Secondary and Adult), Higher and Technical Education, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs, Govt of Gujarat. The B787 flight to Newark will be the first commercial operation of the aircraft to the US from India. It will meet a long standing need and demand of more than 6 lakh Indians in Ahmedabad and expatriates in Newark and neighboring cities as well as off locals visiting the Indian sub-continent, who have been looking for seamless connections for work and leisure travel to Newark and London. AI-171 will operate three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. It will take off from Ahmedabad at 05:00 hrs and reach London at 10:15 hrs, depart from London at 12:30 hrs and arrive at Newark at 15:00 hrs. The return flight AI172 will leave Newark at 22:30 hrs and reach London at 10:15 hrs next day, leave London at 12:30 hrs and land at Ahmedabad at 02:00 hrs. Speaking on the occasion, Ashwani Lohani, Chairman & Managing Director, said, ‘’Air India is happy to start this new flight on August 15, 2016. It is a dream fulfilled for the people of Ahmedabad on India’s 70th Independence day. This is the third international flight introduced by Air India and we shall be …