The Mint reports that Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd (DIAL), the operator running New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has sought relaxations on taxes from the Union government and permission to levy a new airport development fee (also called User Development Fee or UDF) on passengers that will together amount to a potential benefit of around Rs. 2,000 crore. …

Rampaging anti-government protesters forced the closure of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand’s main international airport, Tuesday. Photo:Wason Wanichakorn / Associated PressThousands of supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in a bid to pressure the current government to resign, breached police lines and stormed the airport, as a second day of demonstrations in Bangkok descended into violence with 11 …

Effective November 27, 2008, Jet Airways, will reintroduce services on the Mumbai-Coimbatore sector, with a daily Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Flight 9W 413 will depart Mumbai at 1235 hrs and arrive Coimbatore at 1420 hrs. On the return, flight 9W 414 will depart Coimbatore at 1500 hrs and arrive Mumbai at 1645 hrs.

Thai Airways International has revised its checked baggage policy for flights to and from USA and Canada. Effective 1 December 2008, the free baggage allowance for passengers traveling with Thai will be as follows: Royal First Class and Royal Silk Class passengers receive a free baggage allowance of two pieces. The weight of each piece should not exceed 32 kgs …

Paramount Airways extended its services to Western India, by launching daily flights from Chennai to Pune. Paramount already serves Ahmedabad and Goa from Chennai. Commenting on the Pune launch Mr Thiagarajan, MD, Paramount Airways said, “As part of our expansion strategy we have launched the Chennai – Pune sector today. This we believe will help our foray into the western …

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is gearing up for the oncoming winter season and possible disruption of flights due to fog and low visibility. In consultation with Airlines, and other bodies Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the airport operator, has drawn up a strategy to provide additional facilities to passengers during the fog season. These activities include: City …

After 7 years, Mr. Albert Brunner will not be extending his contract with Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) which comes to an end in early 2009, and will step down as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brunner who joined BIAL as CEO in 2002 is synonymous with the new Bengaluru International Airport. He is expected to take up another overseas assignment …

Logistics majors, DHL Express and Blue Dart Aviation inaugurated a $25 million integrated terminal at the Bangalore International Airport. The 220,757 sq. ft facility will integrate the South Indian domestic and international businesses of both companies. The facility, which was expected to bring synergies in operations, was said to improve services by reducing throughput time by 60 minutes. Malcolm Monteiro, …

The Deccan Chronicle reports, the 21-member Joint House Committee (JHC) headed by BJP MLA Hemachandra Sagar, to look into perceived lapses by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) wants a complete makeover for Bengaluru International Airport. But BIAL has baulked at the idea, particularly as the bill for the face-lift touches Rs 1,000 crore. “The committee is of the opinion that …

According to a press-statement issued by the German Embassy, “Germany will be the first country to have its consulate general in the Information Technology (IT) capital of India. There are already more than 120 German companies or Indo-German joint ventures in Bangalore.” German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, will fly to Bangalore today, to open the first consulate general in …

From the Times in London Rhys Blakely in Bombay Emboldened by its first mission to the Moon, India is to take on a target closer to Earth: Google. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is based in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of the sub-continent, will roll-out a rival to Google Earth, the hugely popular online satellite imagery service, by …

DIAL has dedicated a “Child Play Area” at the Security Hold Area (SHA) of Terminal 1A of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). IGIA is perhaps the first Airport in India to open a Child Play Area, which is free of cost. The Child Play Area has been professionally designed with safe climbing structures, swings, balls, and other play equipment. Children …

Jet Airways, will reintroduce daily service on the Bengaluru – Mangalore sector, effective December 01, 2008, using an ATR-72 aircraft. Jet is trying to target business passenger with a same day return facility. 9W 3561 will depart daily from Bengaluru at 0855 hrs in the morning, and arrive at Mangalore at 0955 hrs. On the return leg, 9W 3562 will …

Jet Airways, has become the first airline in India, to have obtained regulatory approval for the use of RNAV1 (Area Navigation) across its entire jet aircraft fleet. This is subsequent to the recently introduced Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures in India. Additionally, Jet Airways has also become the first airline in India to have obtained regulatory approval for the conduct …

About 40 days ago, I had raised the issue of a “Sanity Check” on the proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to Bengaluru International Airport. The issues I raised were : Sanity Check 1: Who is the target customer of the HSRL ? Sanity Check 2: Convenience Sanity Check 3: Close integration with Namma Metro and BMTC Sanity Check 4: …

State run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have reduced Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by Rs. 5,580 per kilolitre (KL) in line with global reductions in crude prices. This is the fifth cut in ATF prices since August 2008, when rates rose to an all time high of Rs 71,028.26 per KL. ATF prices have reduced by more than 30% during …

Between October 24th and November 26th, the five year anniversary of an event will pass; an event which Jeremy Clarkson described as “a giant leap backwards for all mankind”. For the first time in our history, we went backwards in aviation, retiring a plane, which had no replacement then, has no replacement even today, and has no replacement appearing on …

After steadily loosing market-share, low cost carriers (LCCs) like IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Kingfisher Red (former Air Deccan), have clawed back from 41% during the July-September 2008 quarter, to 46.4% in October. Indian domestic passenger numbers and passenger numbers growthJanuary 2007 to October 2008 Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and Ministry of Civil Aviation While passenger number rose in October, …