An Auckland based couple made history today by becoming the first same sex couple in New Zealand to marry in flight. Find the details below.  19th August 2013  An Auckland-based couple has this morning made history celebrating the legalisation of same sex marriage in New Zealand by saying “I do” in the skies. Lynley Bendall and Ally Wanikau, who have been …

Thai Airways recently won an award of excellence for its in flight magazine “Sawasdee.” Find the press release below. 18th August, 2013  THAI in-flight magazine “ Sawasdee ” wins Award of Excellence in Magazine Design Image Credit: Thai Airways Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) announces its Award for Excellence in Magazine Design for the in-flight magazine, Sawasdee. THAI’s in-flight …

by Vinay BhaskaraAccording to the Airline Route blog, private Bhutanese carrier Bhutan Airways (also known as Tashi Air) is set to begin daily Paro-Kolkata-Bangkok flights from October 2013 with its new Airbus A320 aircraft. Proposed schedules are as follow: B3700 PBH-CCU 1035 – 1110 CCU-BKK 1150 – 1550 320 Daily B3701 BKK-CCU 0630 – 0730 CCU-PBH 0810 – 0945  320 Daily Tashi Air …

by Vinay BhaskaraMiramar, Florida based LCC Spirit Airlines has announced 4 new nonstop routes out of Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. Beginning November 7th, the low cost carrier will have daily non-stops from Minneapolis St. Paul to Tampa, Orlando, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, complementing existing flights from Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, and Denver. …

by Vinay Bhaskara JetLite continues to be a (modest) bright spot in Jet Airways’ broader operations. The low cost wing of Jet Airways, which was recently merged with the JetKonnect brand to streamline low cost operations, reported a net post-tax profit of Rs. 6.9 Crore, down from Rs. 11.7 Crore a year prior. An increased proportion of JetKonnect’s fleet was …

by Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal Earlier this week, Mumbai based Jet Airways announced a net post-tax loss of Rs. 355.4 Crore (US $ 59.8 million) for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2014, reversing from a Rs. 24.7 Crore net profit during the same period a year prior. Total revenues declined a whopping 12.3% to Rs. 4, 064.4 Crore …

On August 1, Air India brought the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Birmingham airport when flight VT-AND performed AI113 from Delhi. The videos below highlight the events surrounding the Air India inaugural flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Delhi to Birmingham last week. While the addition of the new route and the Dreamliner to Air India’s fleet are both …

by Vinay Bhaskara Yesterday, Sunday, August 4th, marked the final nonstop flight for Air China limited, the world’s 10th largest airline by passenger traffic, between Bangalore and Chengdu. Flights have been zeroed out from the global distribution system (GDS) and are no longer bookable via AirChina.com. The nonstop flights, which began in early 2010, had actually been increased in frequency …

by Vinay Bhaskara British Airways wide-bodies on the ramp at their global hub at London Heathrow From October 27th, London based full service carrier British Airways will be up-gauging its services between Hyderabad and its global hub at London Heathrow to daily flights utilizing Boeing 777-200ER aircraft configured in a 275 seat 3-class configuration (48J/24Y+/203Y), including flat beds in Club …

by Vinay Bhaskara Earlier this month, erstwhile Indian national carrier Air India placed a tender asking for fuel supply contracts at 9 different stations as seen below. The tender includes Sydney, where Air India is planning to launch 4 weekly nonstop and 3 weekly one-stop flights (in a triangle routing with Melbourne) on-board the carrier’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Australian …

by Vinay Bhaskara British Airways recently launched an powerful advertising campaign entitled “Visit your Mum.” The following video shows British Airways flying Ratnesh home from New York City to surprise his mother and visit his family for the first time in more than 15 years since leaving home at the age of 17. His unwitting mother is cooking his favorite dish …

by Vinay Bhaskara Late last week, The Times of India reported Turkish Airlines, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines in the world, wanted to more than quintuple its Indian footprint, requesting an increase in weekly seat allocation from 4,000 to 20,000 seats per week, and gain access to Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Amritsar, and Ahmedabad. Turkish is also requesting …

by Vinay BhaskaraLast Friday, a pair of incidents occurred with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Smoke was observed billowing from an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 parked on the ground at London Heathrow International Airport with no passengers on board, while a Thomson Airways Dreamliner operating between Manchester and Sanford, Florida (SFB) was forced to return to Manchester due to a routine …

by Vinay BhaskaraEarlier today, at its annual general meeting for shareholders, the shareholders of Tempe, Arizona based US Airways voted to approve the merger between US Airways and Fort Worth, Texas based American Airlines. The merger, which would create the world’s largest carrier by passengers carried, was announced on February 14, 2013. Under the terms of the merger agreement, US …

by Bangalore Aviation Staff After the crash of Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco International airport this past Saturday, a media firestorm erupted around the Boeing 777 aircraft involved in the crash. Fears grew among much of the traveling public and non-aviation media that the 777 was in fact an unsafe aircraft to fly. This is simply not the case. …

by Vinay Bhaskara Abu Dhabi based full service carrier Etihad Airways announced yesterday that it had achieved record revenue growth for the second quarter and first half of 2013. For Q2 2013, passenger revenues grew a robust 8% to $921 million, while passenger revenues for the first half of 2013 hit $1.8 billion, up 13% from $1.6 billion in 2012. …

[Last updated on 04:30 UTC]by Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal Asiana 777-200ER Image Credit: Wikimedia Earlier today, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 with service from Seoul Incheon Airport to San Francisco crash landed on arrival at San Francisco. The flight was carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members. Latest reports put the death toll at two. Initial reports are that the …

by Vinay Bhaskara Chicago based airframer Boeing S.A. reported a 13% rise year over year in aircraft deliveries for the second quarter of 2013, after the resumption of 787 Dreamliner deliveries in May following its grounding earlier this year pushed the total to 169 aircraft, up from 150 a year prior and 137 in the first quarter of 2013. Boeing delivered 116 737 Next-Generation narrow-bodies …

by Vinay Bhaskara Image by, and copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission. Earlier this week, Atltanta-based full service carrier Delta Air Lines and London based Virgin Atlantic Airways announced that their application for a code share and joint venture partnership on trans-Atlantic flights had been approved by antitrust authorities in both the United States and European Union. The deal, in …

National carrier Air India Ltd has announced it is set to launch four weekly direct flights between Birmingham and New Delhi from August 1. The route will be operated the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with a configuration of 18 business class and 238 economy class seats. The flight will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It will depart from …