Yearly Archives: 2010

Jet Airways incident at Mumbai — DGCA release preliminary report, crew suspended

A Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGM operating Jet Airways Konnect flight 9W-2302 from Mumbai CSI airport to Chennai Kamaraj airport, India, with 139 passengers and six crew, was taxing on taxiway N parallel to runway 09-27 having pushed back from stand A-6 at 20:47 (15:17Z). At 20:55 (15:25Z) the captain declared a port side engine (i.e. left side , …

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IndiGo airlines Airbus A320 suffers bird-hit at Bhubaneshwar

An Indigo airlines Airbus A320-232 registration VT-IGJ performing flight 6E-260 from Bhubaneshwar Biju Patnaik airport (IATA: BBI, ICAO: VEBS) to New Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport (IATA: DEL, ICAO: VIDP), India with 140 passengers and six crew suffered a bird hit on departure on the port side engine (engine number one) at around 10:00 (04:30Z) earlier this morning. The plane …

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HAL Chetak helicopter crashes, pilots survive, aircraft badly damaged

A Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) Chetak helicopter registration VT-EIV belonging to the HAL Rotary Wing Academy crashed earlier this morning around 0900 (0330Z) while performing a training flight at the HAL airport in Bangalore, India.Image courtesy WikipediaBangalore Aviation understands the aircraft was just commencing a routine training flight, and had lifted just about 15 ft in the air when it …

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Plane spotting photos: Vote for the nose!!! Boeing vs. Airbus vs. Boeing

The nose is one of the most distinguishing objects on the human face. A beautiful nose makes the face, and millions if not billions of dollars are spent every year on “nose jobs” better known as rhinoplasty. Today, though, we present three noses of a different kind. A Boeing 777, an Airbus A320, and a Boeing 737. Which nose do …

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Photos: Starry Starry Night — night shots of Air China, Singapore Air, Thai, Air France

Today’s dose of spotting photos are all taken at night and incidentally, all are the national flag carriers of their respective countries. First, is an Air China Airbus A319-100. This is a rare visitor to Bangalore, coming in only twice a week, at 03:00. Turning around and leaving in less than 45 minutes. That is about as fast as I …

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Photos: Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F freighter in full ground operation

Today’s picture shows Lufthansa Cargo’s Boeing MD-11F freighter registration D-ALCC in full ground operations at Bangalore. D-ALCC was delivered to Lufthansa Cargo in 1998. Click on the image for a high resolution view. The aircraft features a forward port side cargo door of 140 in x 102 in or 3.56 m x 2.59 m (see the edge of the door …

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Photos: Full frontal of British Airways Boeing 777-200ER G-YMMS at Bangalore

Last week, the Aviation Photographers India very kindly received permission from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Bengaluru International Airport Limited for its members to do airside photography for a few days, a permission for which the foundation extends its sincere thanks. I had the pleasure of joining the expedition on a few days. Below is a British …

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Weekend laughs: Visual diary of an overnight trans-Atlantic flight in coach

The artist Christoph Niemann has published a beautifully illustrated visual diary in the New York Times documenting a flight from New York to Berlin with a layover in London. As a former over-frequent flier, I related to the diary and it had me in rolling on the floor laughing MAO. Cannot think of a better way to end the week. …

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Photos and Video: Bangalore airport terminal 1 to be expanded almost 100%

The operators of the Bengaluru international airport (BIA), Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), have announced a massive expansion of the existing terminal 1 which is expected to commence almost immediately, cost about Rs. 1,000 Crore (approx $222 million) and complete in about 18 months time. Outline of existing terminal indicates the scope of expansion. Click on image for high res. …

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GoAir to expand operations as it inducts ninth Airbus A320 VT-WAM in to fleet

GoAir recently added its ninth Airbus A320-214 in to the fleet. VT-WAM MSN4399 will help GoAir expand its operations. The airline is expected to induct its tenth A320 VT-WAN by end October 2010. As the Indian economy recovers air traffic is following the typical ratio and growing at twice the GDP growth rate of 8.5%. Winter is the highest travel …

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Bangalore airport’s hidden brain – the Airport Operation Control Centre

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Sitting directly opposite the western-most arrivals gate, in plain sight and yet missed by most passengers is the hidden nerve centre of Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) – the Airport Operations Control Centre or AOCC in short. The AOCC is the command, coordination and control centre for the whole airport which brings together the diverse processes relating to the three major …

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Can RyanAir survive without public subsidies — analysis by @Airobserver and @WhichBudget

RyanAir has often been credited with being virtually unstoppable thanks to a highly efficient operation. However, as the WhichBudget website explains While Ryanair declared €663m of ancillary revenues in its last annual report in 2009, Ryanair earned more than €664m in subsidies the same year. It means that subsidies are at least as important as ancillary revenues and represent around …

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gfiles magazine accuses systemic and widespread corruption in Indian aviation

gfiles magazine has written a two part article accusing India’s Civil Aviation Minister and other officials of systemic corruption with the ulterior motive of running Air India in to the ground. As the magazine puts it gfiles prayerfully brings to the Supreme Court’s attention, in two parts, the inside story of how a national resource – as well as a …

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IndiGo goes for a chic and hot look in cabin crew makeover

‘Tis the season for change. Last week value carrier JetLite announced a change in cabin crew uniform. This week it is Gurgaon based value carrier IndiGo making the change. However, unlike JetLite which veered towards a fusion Indian look, IndiGo has decidedly gone hot and chic with a single piece western tunic outfit complete with hats and scarves. In the …

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Video: The miles high Franco-German pillow fight

The world knows of the endless disputes between the French and the Germans. This dispute reached new heights on board a recent Lufthansa flight. LH687 from Tel-Aviv to Frankfurt had a few dozen French tourists in economy class who, in good humour, started a pillow fight in the cabin. Naturally the Lufthansa cabin crew rushed to defend the pride of …

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Exclusive Photos: Jet Airways performs go-around after hard landing at Bangalore

A Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGJ performing flight 9W2451 from Kolkata to Bangalore, India with 150 passengers on board, touched down very hard on runway 27 at 08:25 (02:55Z). The resultant force ballooned the aircraft back in to the air around 20 feet. Due to the impact the aircraft was de-stabilised and due to strong cross-winds prevailing, appeared to …

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Credit card based lounge access at Indian airports

Airport lounges are a critical benchmark, and a key selling point for airlines across the world. Be it for their premium class passengers or their loyal and frequent fliers, airlines spend millions of dollars on these oases of peace, calm, exclusivity and privacy and rightly so. In this day where passengers are treated more like cattle than humans, a little …

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JetLite unveils new crew uniforms and cabin branding

JetLite, the former Air Sahara and now wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd, has unveiled a new uniform for its staff as the airline commences a strategy of brand enhancement. Unlike the very modern and western look projected by the cabin crew uniforms of parent Jet Airways, the new blue and white uniforms of JetLite, with their embroidered …

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Video: Virgin Atlantic introduces new livery and brand identity

Virgin Atlantic Airways recently unveiled a new aircraft livery and brand identity for the airline. The new design which will be applied progressively to all of the company’s 38 aircraft, was showcased on one of Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft G-VROC named Mustang Sally. The carrier last had a makeover in 2005.The Virgin Atlantic name, previously on the front end …

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DFW Airport unveils memorial for Delta flight 191

I still remember it as vividly as any recent memory. 25 years ago today, August 2, 1985, it was just after 6pm in the evening and like most residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, I was just sitting down to dinner and watching the prime-time evening news. At 18:05 (00:05+1 Z) a six year old Delta Airlines Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar …

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