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.

IndiGo to receive three A320neos in March. Will receive 24 by March 2017

IndiGo A320neo MSN6720

India’s largest domestic airline is set to become the second operator globally of the new Airbus A320neo (new engine option) aircraft, and the first in Asia. The carrier today released a statement confirming that it will take delivery of a total of 24 new aircraft, three till end March 2016 and 21 in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. …

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DFW is first U.S. airport to launch an Apple Watch app

DFW Airport becomes first U.S. airport to launch Apple Watch App (PRNewsFoto/DFW International Airport)

Dallas Fort Worth international airport (DFW) the hub of American Airlines and one of the largest airports in the world, became the first airport in the United States to launch an app on the Apple Watch platform. The DFW Apple Watch app, provides flight information, gate information and notifications on the Apple Watch after it is synced with the DFW …

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Jet Airways signs code-share agreement with Korean Air

Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 VT-JGA.

India’s Jet Airways, and Korean Air have entered into a codeshare agreement and a reciprocal frequent flyer programme partnership. Under the arrangement, from March 1, Jet Airways will place its marketing code on Korean Air operated flights between Incheon airport, Seoul and Mumbai, Bangkok, and Singapore. Korean Air will place its marketing code on Jet Airways operated flights between Singapore …

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Philippines Airlines orders six Airbus A350-900s. Options for six more

Computer generated image of the Philippines Airlines' A350-900

Jaime J. Bautista, President & COO of national carrier Philippine Airlines and Fabrice Brégier, President & CEO of European airframer Airbus announced that the two companies have signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) for the order of six A350-900s, with options to purchase up to an additional six planes. The aircraft which will be used primarily on long distance North …

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Airbus CEO confirms IndiGo as second operator of the A320neo

IndiGo A320neo MSN6720

As launch customer Deutsche Lufthansa took delivery of its second Airbus A320neo, Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier has reportedly told Air Transport World that IndiGo, India’s largest domestic carrier, and largest Indian operator of the A320 family aircraft will be the next operator of the new fuel-efficient plane. The magazine website reports “He [Brégier] confirmed to ATW that India’s IndiGo will …

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Star Alliance Gold elite flyers get a free upgrade on Heathrow Express trains

Star Alliance Gold members get a free upgrade on the Heathrow Express train

Starting February 15th, Star Alliance Gold level élite members will enjoy a free upgrade on the Heathrow Express which connects London Heathrow airport with Paddington station in London. Passengers can buy a standard class one way or round-trip ticket and board the Business First Class coach on the train. Show their Star Gold card from one of the 21 frequent …

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Emirates announces longest non-stop flight between Dubai and Auckland

Emirates Boeing 777-200LR. Airline image.

Is this an effect of low oil prices? but there seems to be a spate of announcements focussed on ultra-long haul (ULH) flights. Dubai based Emirates airline has announced a new non-stop flight between Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Auckland, New Zealand starting March 1. This announcement follows recent announcements by Singapore Airlines on its ULH Singapore Newark …

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BIAL moves forward on second runway. Target completion in two years.

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

According to informed sources, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) the operator of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAB), has commenced activities on constructing the second parallel runway on the south side of the airport. The airport is targeting completion of the new runway in two years. The new runway will be parallel to the existing runway, 4,000 metres long, again like …

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Airbus delivers first A320neo to launch customer Lufthansa

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO, Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Robert Leduc, Pratt & Whitney President

European airframer Airbus, has delivered the first A320neo (new engine option) to German flag carrier Lufthansa. The A320neo is the latest revision of the popular single aisle narrow-body A320 family. It features the new Pratt & Whitney PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ PW1100G-JM engines which have an improved efficiency and reduce fuel burn by 15% along with reduced emissions and noise, compared …

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GoAir connects Bangalore Port Blair, Mumbai Leh, in network expansion

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

Mumbai based low fare carrier GoAir, has added new routes and additional frequencies in its latest round of network expansion which takes effect in the Summer 2016 schedule which takes effect on March 27, 2016. The new flights reflect GoAir’s strategy of connecting Tier 1 metro cities with Tier II and sometimes even Tier III cities. These include two triangular …

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IndiGo adds 24 new domestic flights, unloads Doha flight from GDS

IndiGo_A320 classic VT-INT. Photo: Devesh Agarwal.

India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo, is launching 24 new flights on its domestic network between tomorrow and January 15th, as its fleet cross the 100 aircraft mark. From tomorrow IndiGo is launching 12 new flights on Delhi Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Bengaluru Vishakhapatnam, Bengaluru Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar Kolkata and Chennai Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) sectors. A week later, on January 14, 2016, IndiGo …

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SpiceJet increases frequencies on south India and Kabul routes

SpiceJet Bombardier Q400 Dash 8 VT-SUB lands at Kempegowda airport Bangalore. Photo by Vedant Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Gurgaon based low fare carrier SpiceJet has increased its frequencies on certain south India routes, and on its Delhi Kabul route. The carrier will increase frequency on the Kabul route to five times a week, from the existing three a week from February 8, 2016. The airline has also added additional flights on its Chennai Hyderabad, Chennai Kochi, Bangalore Vijayawada, …

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Former Air India Airbus A310 crashes in Congo. 8 killed.

Services Air Airbus A310-304F 9Q-CVH. Former Air India VT-EJI crash at Mbuji Mayi

An Airbus A310-300 aircraft registered to Services Air over-ran the runway at Mbuji-Mayi airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo and killed eight people in a residential area just beyond the runway on December 24, 2015. The crew of five were unhurt, but the aircraft is substantially damaged. As per a report in The Aviation Herald “Witnesses reported the crew …

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Airbus delays A320neo delivery to 2016. IndiGo, GoAir fleet plans disrupted.

First Airbus A320neo with Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1127G-JM Geared Turbo-Fan (GTF) engine. Photo courtesy Airbus.

Airbus along with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and launch customer Deutsche Lufthansa has decided to delay the first delivery of the A320neo into 2016. While a date is not specified, sometime in January is the widely accepted time frame. The company said the delay was due to “some more documentation items that need to be address by Pratt& Whitney …

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IndiGo fleet crosses 100 jet milestone, as it faces A320neo delivery delays

IndiGo Airbus A320-232(SL) VT-IFK with Sharklets.

India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo crossed the historic milestone of a 100 aircraft fleet size and joined Air India and Jet Airways in the ‘century club’. The low fare carrier which operates an all Airbus A320 fleet, inducted VT-IDR, its 116th A320 received, to reach the 100 aircraft fleet size. The difference in numbers is explained by IndiGo’s fleet strategy …

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Vistara celebrates a million passengers

Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh felicitates Biplove Choudhary as the one millionth passenger.

The Tata-SIA Airline, Vistara has crossed the milestone one million passenger mark, in less than 50 weeks of operations, little over two weeks shy of its first anniversary of January 9th. The passenger Mr. Biplove Choudhary, received a warm welcome by Vistara crew at IGI Airport, New Delhi Delhi International airport and was escorted from the terminal entrance to the …

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Jet Airways to codeshare with Delta, KLM, shift Brussels hub to Amsterdam

Jet Airways Airbus A330-300. Image courtesy Jet.

In a major restructuring of its European and North American operations India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways has announced a code-share agreement with Delta Air Lines of the United States and with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the flag carrier of The Netherlands and part of the Air France-KLM airline group. To operationalise these code-share agreements, Jet Airways will shift its …

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A320neo launch customer Lufthansa, not Qatar. IndiGo now third.

First Airbus A320neo with Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1127G-JM Geared Turbo-Fan (GTF) engine. Photo courtesy Airbus.

Air Transport World is reporting that Airbus will deliver the first A320neo (new engine option) to German flag carrier Lufthansa and not Qatar Airways as originally planned. India’s IndiGo which was expected to be the second operator to receive deliveries will now be moved to third slot. The last minute change has been necessitated due to the ongoing problems which …

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Chennai airport flooding: Expert warned authorities 7 years earlier

Chennai airport flooded. IAF helicopter view from west.

Air safety expert and member of the government appointed safety committee, Captain Ranganathan had warned the authorities about the flooding of Chennai airport over seven years ago. In an article titled “Viable project or white elephant?” published in the Hindu Business Line print edition dated August 13, 2008, the airline captain with over 35 years of flying experience lambasted the …

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