Yearly Archives: 2011

Supreme Court quashes Airport Development Fee at Delhi and Mumbai airports

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that the private consortia running the Delhi and Mumbai airports will not be allowed to charge an airport development fee (ADF) on passengers. The stock prices of both the GMR group which leads Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) and GVK Group which leads Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) were hammered on the stock …

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The downside of complimentary class upgrades of US airlines

Recently, on an on-line forum, there was a great debate on how the legacy domestic carriers could deal with the issue of an empty premium class on many of their flights. Be it Air India, Jet Airways, or Kingfisher, many a time, fliers will observe just about three or four passengers in the premium class which has 20 or more …

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Writer’s block!!! Suggestions needed. I-Beg.com-e and help please

After spending a week in bed with severe gastritis, it appears my mind and imagination are stuck in neutral. For the first time in many years, I am stuck for want of ideas for articles. Some suggestions from Bangalore Aviation readers on subjects you would like covered. Thanks in advance Devesh

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Video: Air France A380 hits Delta Comair CRJ-700 at New York JFK

Sorry for being out of action, but a combination of summer heat, irregular working hours and even more irregular eating, combined with stress and most likely some dodgy food gave me a most severe case of gastritis and left me in bed for five days. Do these conditions sound familiar to fellow frequent fliers? Yesterday, an Airbus A380 superjumbo of …

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Survey Results: Price, service quality and comfort are top influencers when buying international travel

In our survey two weeks ago, we asked the discerning readers of Bangalore Aviation to inform us on your top influencing factors on how airlines should secure your international travel business. Ticket price was the top most factor, followed by the airline’s service reputation and seat/cabin comfort in close order. Surprisingly, not many readers were concerned about an airline’s alliance …

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High price threatens to derail the Indian Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III deal

The acquisition of ten Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic heavy lift transporters by the Indian Air Force, which was one the cornerstone deals during the recent visit of US President Barack Obama to India, has hit a price hurdle. The Indian Express newspaper is reporting that the Indian Air Force had estimated the 10 aircraft deal to be around $3 …

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IndiGo and Jet lead performance and market share but also in passenger complaints

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation reported domestic performance metrics of the seven Indian carriers for February 2011. Overall traffic was up 18.46% to 4.576 million passengers from 3.863 million passengers a year earlier. Cumulative traffic for 2011 is up 19.62% to 9.511 million from 7.951 in 2010. The Jet Airways group, comprising of Jet Airways, Jet Airways Konnect and …

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Potential impact of Japan earthquake on the air transport industry

Japan, which suffered a devastating earthquake recently, has long been a major player in the air transport industry with a total market size of $62.5 billion annually. While it is too early to assess the long-term infrastructural impact of the quake on the industry, an understanding of the industry structure in Japan can provide us with some insights. The most …

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Boeing completes the first flight of its 747-8 Intercontinenal

Boeing’s largest passenger jet aircraft the 747-8 Intercontinental or 747-8i successfully completed its first flight earlier today. Painted in the new Sunrise livery of red-orange, a significant departure from Boeing’s traditional blue livery, the aircraft registered N6067E, and designated RC001, lifted-off from runway 34L at Paine Field at Boeing’s Everett factory at 9:59am local (16:59Z, 22:29IST) in front of several …

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Kingfisher Airlines and Finnair commence frequent flier partnership

Kingfisher Airlines as a member elect of the oneworld alliance has entered in to a frequent flier partnership with alliance member Finnair allowing members of their King Club and Finnair Plus programmes to earn and redeem miles on each other’s networks. Effective March 11, 2011, members of each programme can earn and redeem miles when flying with the other airline. …

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Air China increases Bangalore operations, Lufthansa increases Mumbai Munich

From the Summer 2011 time-table which commences this Sunday, Air China is increasing its frequency on the Shanghai-Chengdu-Bangalore flight from two to three times a week. The Wednesday, Saturday arrivals with Thursday, Sunday departures will be complemented by an additional frequency arriving in to Bangalore on Mondays and departing early morning Tuesdays. Aircraft type continues to be an Airbus A319-100. …

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Massive earthquake hits Japan. Sendai airport flooded. Narita and Haneda disrupted

A massive earthquake with an 8.9-magnitude hit northern Japan earlier this morning triggering tsunamis. The epicenter was estimated at 373 kilometers (231 miles) north-east from the capital, Tokyo. Narita and Haneda airports are shut down and there is major disruption to all flight schedules to and from Tokyo. Osaka Kansai and Sapporo airport are operational but they are going to …

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Jet Airways in talks with Air France-KLM, Delta, and Alitalia. To finally join SkyTeam?

Both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that India’s largest carrier Jet Airways is in talks with Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines Inc. about joining the SkyTeam alliance. Jet has long practised a policy of bi-lateral and code-share agreements and officially, its management has steadfastly refuted any speculation of carrier joining an alliance, but with Air …

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Why SpiceJet should choose Bangalore to commence it’s Bombardier Q400 regional flights

Low fare carrier SpiceJet is expected to announce commencement of their regional operations using their recently ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 turb0-prop aircraft which are expected to start arriving from end June onwards. It appears SpiceJet will commence their regional operations from Hyderabad using their first four or five aircraft and then commence another hub from Bangalore in late 2011 or …

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India and Brazil sign new bi-lateral air services agreement

BASIC and BRIC economic group partners India and Brazil signed a new bi-lateral air services agreement (ASA) recently superseding an earlier 2006 agreement, with an intent to drive greater trade, economic investments and tourism between the two nations. The new agreement allows for any number of designated airlines (which was previously limited to one per country), to operate up to …

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Turkish Airlines orders ten Airbus A321s passenger and three A330-200F freighters

Turkish Airlines (THY) has signed a firm order with European airframer Airbus S.A.S. for the purchase of ten A321-200s narrow body passenger aircraft and three A330-200F freighter aircraft for delivery from 2012 onwards. The airline has an existing backlog of 27 aircraft on order with Airbus from earlier contracts placed in 2009 and 2010. The ten A321 ordered today are …

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Images: US Air Force Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster III

From the recently concluded Aero India 2011 show. Two magnificent beauties. One an Angelina Joile – a new entry to the fold, one a Grace Kelly – a timeless beauty which will never fade from our memories. The Indian Air Force is soon expected to finalise an order for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft with their huge …

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Etihad to make Bangalore a daily flight from Summer 2011 schedule

As expected, when it launched its four flights a week on the Abu Dhabi Bangalore sector earlier this year, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, will increase its frequency and make the flight a daily service from the Summer 2011 schedule which commences from March 25. Compared to its other dominant GCC rivals Emirates airline and …

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