Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

Boeing on track for 737 MAX 8 delivery as it completes high altitude tests

Boeing 737 MAX 8 performs high altitude testing at La Paz, Bolivia

US airframer Boeing’s 737 MAX programme remains on track for first delivery in the third quarter of 2017. The 737 MAX 8 recently completed high altitude flight testing in La Paz, Bolivia whose airport, is at a height of 13,300 feet. As altitude increases the air thins, which reduces the effectiveness of the control surfaces at slow speeds as well …

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Pictures of the new Vistara Lounge at New Delhi IGI airport

The Star Bar at the Vistara Lounge, New Delhi. Photo courtesy Vistara.

Vistara, the brand of Tata-SIA Airlines, has opened its new 250 sq. mt. (approx 2,700 sq. ft) lounge in terminal 3 (T3) of its hub, Indira Gandhi airport at New Delhi. The Vistara Lounge is located adjacent to gate 41 on the domestic departures concourse and is open to business class passengers and Club Vistara gold elite members. The lounge …

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Pictures of Malaysia Airlines’ new A330 business class

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 9M-MTE in special oneworld livery. See another photo here. This aircraft performed the first flight of the airline as a member of oneworld in the early hours of Feb 1 from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne.

Malaysia Airlines is fitting its long distance Airbus A330-300 fleet with a new business class. The new cabin is being progressive fitted and will be available on A333 flights between Kuala Lumpur and Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, China and India. The cabin will have 27 seats, with a pitch of 44 inches, seat width of 20 inches and length …

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GVK to sell 33% stake in BIAL to Fairfax

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

As part of its debt reduction exercise, GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, which leads a consortium owning Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), through wholly owned subsidiary GVK Airport Developers, has announced it will sell a 33% stake in the airport operating company to Prem Watsa promoted Fairfax India Holdings Corporation and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited for Rs. 2,149 crore (approx …

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Tatas and its nominee Directors to take majority stake in AirAsia India

S Ramadorai, Ratan Tata, Tony Fernandes and Mitu Chandilya with AirAsia staff

Tata Sons Limited and its nominated Directors Mr. S. Ramadorai (Chairman) and Mr. R. Venkataramanan, have together entered in to an agreement to take over the stake of Arun Bhatia promoted Telestra Tradeplace Limited in Air Asia India Limited, to gain a majority stake in the airline. Air Asia India is a joint venture promoted by Tony Fernandes promoted AirAsia …

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Jet Airways shuts Brussels hub; to evacuate stranded passengers today

Jet Airways Airbus A330-300 VT-JWQ. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

India’s Jet Airways which used Brussels as its European scissor hub has effectively closed the hub by cancelling all flights till March 27. From March 27, the airline was already scheduled to commence operations via its new Amsterdam hub. Recovery flights For passengers affected by the Brussels airport bombing, the airline has transported them to Amsterdam in The Netherlands, and …

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Jet Airways cancels Brussels flights for today and tomorrow

Jet Airways Airbus A330-300. Image courtesy Jet.

India’s Jet Airways which uses Brussels as its scissor hub at Europe has announced cancellation of its flights between Brussels and Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto over the next two days i.e. March 23 and 24. March 23, 2016: Flights from Brussels to Newark, Toronto, Mumbai and Delhi March 23, 2016: Flights from Newark and Toronto to Brussels March 24, 2016: …

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Many killed in Brussels explosions. 2 Jet Airways staff injured.

Jet Airways Airbus A330-300 VT-JWQ. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

Brussels’ Zaventem airport and metro system were attacked by multiple bombings. Bombs exploded earlier this morning near the check-in area. The authorities have shut down the airport and the metro system. The French-Belgian border is sealed. Media reports on the number of casualties and injuries vary. CNN quoting Belgian media reports 23 deaths, while BBC reports 13 deaths. Other media …

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Our condolences on FlyDubai #FZ981

flydubai Boeing 737-800 A6-FEO. Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal.

By now, you must have read about the fatal accident of FlyDubai flight FZ981 at Rostov on Don in Russia. In my humble opinion Simon Hradecky runs Aviation Herald, the world’s best aviation incident / accident reporting site. Quoting just a part of his report “A Flydubai Boeing 737-800, registration A6-FDN performing flight FZ-981 from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to …

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Exclusive photos from inside IndiGo’s A320neo

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

Bangalore Aviation was one of the first allowed on board IndiGo’s newest plane, VT-ITC, the Airbus A320neo it took delivery of just last week. We bring you exclusive shots from inside the cabin. For now we all can relax. IndiGo has opted to retain the existing 180 seat configuration which is common to its existing A320 classic fleet. The airline …

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GoAir relocates all Mumbai operations to Terminal 1B

GoAir Airbus A320 VT-WAI lands at Mumbai airport. Photo by Devesh Agarwal.

The Wadia promoted, Go Airlines will move its arrivals to Terminal 1B at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai, from tomorrow, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. With this, the airline will consolidate all its operations to Terminal 1B. GoAir was operating in a split mode with departures from Terminal 1B and arrivals in Terminal 1A. GoAir was the last airline operating …

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Boeing develops self-cleaning airplane lavatory

Boeing self cleaning toilet prototype. Boeing image.

Engineers and designers at American airframer Boeing has developed a self-cleaning lavatory prototype that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to kill 99.99 percent of germs in just three seconds. The cleaning system which can be activated after each use, will disinfect all the surfaces using Far UV light. Far UV is safe for humans and is activated only when the toilet …

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IndiGo becomes first Asian and second global operator of the A320neo

IndiGo's first A320neo. MSN6799. VT-ITC. Photo courtesy the airline.

India’s largest domestic airline Indigo, has taken delivery of the first of its ordered 430 Airbus A320neo (new engine option) at Toulouse, France, today. The airline accepted the airframe, MSN 6799 (manufacturer’s serial number) at 1212Z which is 17:42 Indian Standard Time. The aircraft will be registered VT-ITC. Its sisters VT-ITA and VT-ITB will join the fleet later. VT-ITC will …

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Vistara increases its flights 25% to 400 weekly. Additional Bangalore Delhi flight

Vistara Airbus A320 VT-TTC arrives at Bengaluru performing the airline's inaugural flight UK889 from New Delhi.

The Tata Singapore Airlines promoted airline Vistara, has announced a 25% increase in the number of flights it will operate in the Summer 2016 schedule starting from April. The airline has commenced new services to Jammu, Kochi (Cochin), and Srinagar. The airline has also added an additional flight on the New Delhi Bengaluru route allowing for same day returns. The …

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Qatar Airways enhances in-flight entertainment content

Qatar Airways In flight entertainment system. Image courtesy the airline.

National carrier and oneworld alliance member Qatar Airways has upped the game in the in-flight entertainment (IFE) arena. The Doha based carrier is now offering up to 3,000 inflight entertainment options on board its flights compared to 2,000 earlier. From March the airline offers a selection of up to 550 movies, 1,400 episodes of TV shows, 1,000 audio selections, and …

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Bombardier starts C series European route-proving flights from Zurich

Bombardier CS100 in SWISS livery.

As the second CS300 aircraft completed its first flight in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, last week, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has commenced European route-proving flights with the smaller CS100 aircraft for launch customer Swiss International Air Lines (“SWISS”). The airframer has already conducted a similar exercise for North America last year. The month long exercise operated with a dedicated aircraft will visit …

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Singapore Airlines announces new IFE app as it takes first A350 delivery

First A350 XWB of Singapore Airlines receives the traditional water cannon salute at Singapore Changi airport.

As Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 XWB, it announced it was the first airline to introduce an app which enables passenger to pre-select their choices on its KrisWorld In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system ahead of boarding the aircraft. Receives first A350 XWB The airline’s first A350 arrived at Singapore’s Changi airport to the traditional water cannon salute …

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Singapore Airlines to launch Airbus A350 on Amsterdam route

Singapore Airlines' first Airbus A350-900 exits Airbus paint shop. Airbus photo.

National carrier Singapore Airlines which will take delivery of the first of its 67 ordered Airbus A350-900s tomorrow will launch the aircraft on the Singapore Amsterdam route on May 9, 2016 as SQ324 and return as SQ323. The first batch of Singapore’s long haul A350-900s are configured in a three class configuration with 253 seats. 42 in a 1-2-1 business …

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Vistara to reconfigure aircraft, boost economy class capacity

Vistara Airbus A320 VT-TTC arrives at Bengaluru performing the airline's inaugural flight UK889 from New Delhi.

The Tata-SIA Airlines Vistara, will be reconfiguring its Airbus A320 aircraft and boosting economy class capacity and reducing both business class and premium economy class capacity tacitly admitting failure of its strategy. The airline will change its existing configuration of 16 business, 36 premium economy, and 96 economy, to eight business, 24 premium economy, and 126 economy class. Class Business …

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