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Qatar Airways is significantly increasing its flights to key European capitals as part of an aggressive expansion programme. Beginning October 25, the start of the Northern Winter schedules, the Doha-Paris route will increase from the current 11 flights to a double daily flight. Madrid will be increased from the current four a week to a daily effective December 2. Targeting …

The fifth Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight test airplane test registration N787FT has been painted in a special Boeing livery which is very different from the traditional blue-and-white Boeing Commercial Airplanes livery seen on the first 787 flight test airplane. The simplified paint scheme will be applied to the three remaining unpainted flight test airplanes (Nos. 3, 4 and 6). Airplane …

Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar while sharing the company’s market data and forecast says India’s commercial airplane market is viable, resilient and poised to rebound supported by the country’s strong GDP growth Boeing forecasts that over the next 20 years the Indian market will require 1,000 commercial jets valued at approximately $100 billion — which represents over 3 percent of …

British Airways has announced a limited time free upgrade offer on all its flights from its five gateways in India (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai) to London. Passengers travelling from India with British Airways in World Traveller (economy class) would get an upgraded one-way to the airline’s premium economy World Traveller Plus cabin. World Traveller Plus is a dedicated …

Faced with an uproar in India, a criminal compliant, and unanimous condemnation across party lines in the Indian parliament, Houston, Texas based Continental Airlines apologised to former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam for frisking him at the IGI airport at New Delhi. Read related story. In its apology to Dr. Kalam, Continental said it did not intend to …

With almost half of its 31,500 employees not directly involved in flying an airline, Govindraj Ethiraj raises an interesting question on whether Air India is an airline or much more in his article in the Business Standard. It is a very interesting read. The Mint has a seven step action plan to rescue Air India. I had covered many of …

This story is sure to raise the hackles of many in India as former President APJ Abdul Kalam is a highly respected and loved figure. Upon the directions of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has today registered an FIR (First Information Report) against Continental Airlines for carrying out pre-embarkation body check of the …

The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Murli Deora, informed the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) that Indian domestic airlines Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Air India), Paramount and SpiceJet, still owe a whopping Rs. 2,225.52 Crore ($445 million) to the stated owned oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum …

Another video on YouTube showing a whole horde of very irate passengers who were to have boarded Singapore Airlines flight SQ117 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The flight was delayed due to mechanical problems, something extremely rare for the airline. The lady keeps hollering “PPS passengers”. The PPS Club membership is one level above the regular Krisflyer frequent flyer program. …

On July 19, British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS) confirmed that their check-in staff were instructed to turn away passengers suspected of being infected with pandemic (H1N1) “swine” flu. So far this policy only applies to main airports in the UK; these airports might include but are not limited to London Heathrow (LHR), London Gatwick (LGW), Manchester International …

The BBC reports “Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.” and goes on to describe how the scam works on its website, and includes a …

The recent rains have created a sudden bird problem at Ahmedabad (IATA: AMD) airport who come to feed on the insects. On Friday July 16th, a GoAir Airbus A320-214, performing flight G8-321 from Ahmedabad, Gujarat to New Delhi, India with 102 passengers and 6 crew, was taxing for take-off when a black kite (Milvus migrans) was ingested into the right …

Airbus SAS delivered two new A320 family aircraft to Chinese airlines recently. Juneyao Airlines, a Shanghai-based privately-owned carrier, has taken delivery of its first purchased A320 during a delivery ceremony in Toulouse, France, adding to its currently leased 10 leased Airbus aircraft fleet – two A319s and eight A320s – with 10 more A320s, via operating lease and purchase, due …

Singapore Airlines is refurbishing the cabins of its Boeing 777-300 fleet from later this month. This does not include the 777-300ERs which already features the uber-luxurious interiors. First class in the newly refitted aircraft will be same as in the current Boeing 777-300ER in a 1-2-1 configuration. Singapore Airlines will offer eight of luxurious seats down from the current 18. …

Singapore Airlines is commencing an Airbus A380 superjumbo service to Melbourne, Australia from September 29 2009. The daily A380 flights will replace an existing daily Boeing 747-400 service (part of a triple daily) to Melbourne and will help the airline increase capacity by 10%. SQ227 will depart Singapore Changi Airport at 2100hrs and arrive in Melbourne at 0610hrs (0710hrs from …

I still recall with great fondness hearing the communications between Apollo 11 and Houston live. I was only five years old, and it was early in the morning in Mumbai. Forty years ago to this day, three human beings commenced a unique journey to another world. Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. lifted off at …

It is difficult to believe that the global economic slowdown commenced one year ago. Since July 2008, airlines across the world began to cut back on their seat capacity, and parking their aircraft. In it’s July 2009 report on trends in the supply of airline flights and seats, the Official Airline Guide OAG reported that airlines are offering 315 million …

The monsoon season is upon India, finally, though the spectre of drought is not fully removed. This is a traditionally low season for air travel and SpiceJet has launched special five day advance purchase fares to encourage travel during this period. Tickets to all 18 SpiceJet destinations are available starting from Rs. 2,429 all inclusive. For full details visit SpiceJet …

On the morning of May 5th an Airbus A321 operating Air India flight AI-179 with a seating capacity of 172 passengers was accidentally pushed back from the gate at Mumbai airport while the aero bridge was still connected to the aircraft. The door was badly damaged, and the passengers had to be transferred to another aircraft. In the ensuing accident …

At the 65th annual general meeting and world air transport summit held in Kuala Lumpur in early June, Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) put India’s two largest airports — New Delhi Indira Gandhi International and Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International on the ‘IATA Wall of Shame’ for their steep hikes of 207% in fees which, he …