Air India

Air India under-serves Chennai in new non-stop to Singapore strategy

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner line number 35 test registered N1015 (later became VT-ANH) at the India Aviation show, Hyderabad March 2012. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal.

National carrier Air India will introduce an all Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, all non-stop flights strategy to Singapore from October. The airline already operates the new aircraft on the New Delhi Singapore route, and currently operates an Airbus A330-200* a Boeing 787-8 on the Mumbai Chennai Singapore return route. The new flight schedule is : AI342 will depart Mumbai at 00:05 …

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Video: Air India celebrates one year at Birmingham, UK

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner line number 35 test registered N1015 (later became VT-ANH) at the India Aviation show, Hyderabad March 2012. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal.

Air India and Birmingham airport authorities had a lavish celebration at the Birmingham Airport Holiday Inn to mark the one year anniversary of Air India flights to the city. Event Host – Sameena Ali-Khan First Speaker: Lord-Lieutenant Paul Sabapathy CBE Second Speaker: Solihull Mayor Kate Wild Third Speaker: Pankaj Srivastava, Commercial Director, Air India Fourth Speaker: Birmingham Airport CEO Paul …

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Air India loses money on all international flights, but two

Air India Boeing 777-237LR VT-ALF Jharkand at New Delhi IGI airport. Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

National carrier Air India lost money on 57 of its 59 international routes in the last fiscal year which ended March 31, 2014. The airline lost a whopping Rs 4,273.35 crores (approximately $712 million at current exchange rates) operating these international flights. This according to an internal “Route Economics” provisional report for April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 which …

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Air India refutes TimesNow TV report on Air India Day extravaganza

A tail parade of each of Air India's Boeing aircraft as in 2011. The 747-400, 777-300ER, 777-200LR and 737-800.

In an unusual move for the national carrier, Air India issued a strongly worded statement refuting a media report by TimesNow TV on the airline’s recent Air India Day celebrations calling it “baseless” and “devoid of truth”. In a segment titled “What was Air India celebrating?” aired late last week, the television channel claimed [bsu_quote cite=”TimesNow TV report” url=”http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFoQIDAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwebcache.googleusercontent.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dcache%3Ay5VkuKA84n8J%3Awww.timesnow.tv%2FWhat-was-Air-India-celebrating%2Fvideoshow%2F4463051.cms%2B%26cd%3D8%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Din%26client%3Dfirefox-a&ei=LBoEVPWzLJKfugTvoIHQAg&usg=AFQjCNHUC_YOQubD7kS9gxqj6ke_SHrm4g&bvm=bv.74115972,d.c2E”]While the …

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We salute the brave flying by Air India pilots after engine failure

Air India Boeing 777-300ER VT-ALR Meghalaya landing at Chicago O'Hare airport.

The Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper must be complemented for its report on the bird-strike incident involving Air India Boeing 777-300ER VT-ALR Meghalaya as it performed flight AI144 from Newark to Mumbai on July 13, 2014. It is well written, considering its reader base is technically unaware of aviation intricacies. Very special kudos to the flight crew of Niranjan …

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Air India joins the Star Alliance

Air India Airbus A320 VT-ESF in Star Alliance livery. Photo copyright Uday Krishna. Used with permission.

A long chased ambition of the national carrier came to fruition on July 11, as it was inducted as the 27th member of the Star Alliance. It is the first Indian carrier to join a global alliance of airlines. The first from the sub-continent is SriLankan Airlines which joined the oneworld alliance. The airline decorated one its older Airbus A320s, …

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Air India to get Rs.6,500 crore bailout this year

A tail parade of each of Air India's Boeing aircraft as in 2011. The 747-400, 777-300ER, 777-200LR and 737-800.

National carrier Air India will receive a total of Rs.6,500 crore (about $1.08 billion) financial bail-out this year. The tax-payer funded bailout is part of a package exceeding Rs. 30,000 crore (about $6 billion at the time) approved in April 2012 and to be completed over nine years. In his maiden budget budget yesterday, the finance minister Arun Jaitley proposed …

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Air India offers customised in-flight premium class meals

As the national carrier Air India enters the Star Alliance tomorrow, the airline along with its in-flight caterer TajSATS, will upgrade its in-flight meal service for its premium class passengers, with a new concept called ‘table set-up’. The service will be available for first and business class passengers of Air India on select domestic and international routes. The new concept …

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Air India finally cleared to join the Star Alliance as 27th member airline

A tail parade of each of Air India's Boeing aircraft as in 2011. The 747-400, 777-300ER, 777-200LR and 737-800.

After years of trying and suffering the ignominy of being the only airline whose membership process was suspended, national carrier Air India was approved for membership of the world’s largest airline grouping, the Star Alliance. The final integration processes by teams at Air India, the Star alliance and its member carriers will be completed so that the first Indian carrier …

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29th anniversary of Air India Emperor Kanishka bombing today

Air India Boeing 747 VT-EFO Emperor Kanishka at London Heathrow. Photo taken on 10-June-1985 just 13 days before its bombing. Photo by Ian Kirby (Ian Kirby as seen on airliners.net) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Twenty-nine years ago today, June 23, 1985, a air bombing that shook the world and introduced stringent security checks on checked-in luggage. Air India Boeing 747-237B c/n 21473 line 330, registration VT-EFO and named Emperor Kanishka was operating flight AI182 on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. In the early hours of the morning, as the aircraft approached Ireland at an altitude of …

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Air India and Hong Kong Airlines sign code-share agreement

Mr Pankaj Srivastava, commercial director of Air India and Mr. Li Dianchun, commercial director of Hong Kong Airlines sign code-share agreement in Delhi. Photo courtesy the airlines.

National carrier Air India (AI) has signed a code-share arrangement with Hong Kong Airlines (HX) under which the latter will place its flight codes on Air India’s flights between New Delhi and Hong Kong and between Hong Kong and Osaka Kansai, Japan and Seoul Incheon, Korea. The code-share flight will be effective on June 10th for the flights between Delhi …

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Air India to commence Delhi to Rome and Milan flights

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner line number 35 test registered N1015 (later became VT-ANH) at the India Aviation show, Hyderabad March 2012. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal.

National carrier Air India is finally starting its long expected flights between New Delhi (Indira Gandhi airport) and Rome (Fiumicino, Leonardo da Vinci airport) and Milan (Malpensa airport). The flights will be operated triangular routing using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in a two class configuration with 18 business class seats and 238 economy class. Effective June 6, 2014: On Tuesdays, …

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Air India’s domestic and international airport upgrade offers

National carrier Air India is offering upgrades on a seat available (SA) basis at the airport on its international and domestic sectors under its the “Get Up Front” promotion. On domestic routes, from 43 stations, Air India offers economy class passengers an opportunity to upgrade to Executive Class, based on seats available and on a first come first served basis …

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Air India puts last three Boeing 777-200LRs up for sale

Air India Boeing 777-237LR VT-ALF Jharkand at New Delhi IGI airport. Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

After selling off five of its Boeing 777-237LRs to Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways PJSC (read our analysis), national carrier Air India has put the last three of its ultra-long-haul 777-200LRs up for sale. The airline has posted a tender (view it here), inviting bids for the aircraft bearing registrations VT-ALF (named after the state of Jharkhand), VT-ALG (Kerala), and …

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Exclusive photos: Air India strips its newest Boeing 777-200LR

Air India Boeing 777-200LR VT-ALH at Paris CDG airport. Photo copyright Sylvain Muglia. Used under CC license.

Original story. First published Mar 27, 2014 12:00 IST Updates are posted at the end of this original article Financially beleaguered national carrier Air India appears to have resorted to cannibalising its newest Boeing 777-200LR VT-ALH, currently stored at Mumbai airport, to service the remaining five 777-200LR aircraft its fleet, three of which are due to be delivered to gulf …

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Air India operational and financial analysis 2010~2013 with infographics

A tail parade of each of Air India's Boeing aircraft as in 2011. The 747-400, 777-300ER, 777-200LR and 737-800.

In response to a series of questions from law-makers, the Indian civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and his junior minister K.C. Venugopal gave some operational insight to the Indian parliament on national carrier Air India. It was the first time, in recent memory where we obtained some numbers on the otherwise very opaque airline. Air India debt and equity As …

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Air India Express to lease eight Boeing 737-800s

Air India Express, the low cost arm of beleaguered Indian national carrier Air India, is looking to lease eight new Boeing 737-800 aircraft for a period of between eight and twelve years. According to a tender released by the airline, Air India Express is looking to dry lease eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft equipped with winglets for an initial period of …

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Air India now accepts American Express credit cards for online bookings

A tail parade of each of Air India's Boeing aircraft as in 2011. The 747-400, 777-300ER, 777-200LR and 737-800.

Air India has started accepting American Express credit cards for payment of on-line bookings made on its website, for journeys originating from USA, UK, Europe, Japan and Singapore. The airline till now was accepting only Visa and MasterCard. American Express is a popular credit card, especially in the United States and offers card-holders significant privileges compared to most other credit …

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