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All airlines in India have been slashing their fares since January. The sheer numbers of special offers, and schemes coming across my desk have overwhelmed me. However, these appear to be coming to an end. Despite a drastic cut in fares of nearly 50 per cent for full service airlines and over 40 per cent on low cost carriers the …

The financial woes at Kingfisher Airlines, forcing them to divert ordered aircraft to other airlines, continue. First it was the Airbus A340-500’s meant for the flagship Bangalore to San Francisco “Silicon to Silicon” flights, that were diverted to Arik when Kingfisher could not take delivery. Now it is the turn of Turkish Airlines THY, who is taking delivery of four …

The US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has delayed permission to a code-sharing agreement between Jet Airways (India) Ltd and United Air Lines Inc., as per the Mint. The code share agreement would have given Jet Airways passengers access to United’s five hubs of Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, and access to 20 other cities across …

Contact Zone, a first of its kind service at Indian Airports, has been established near Gate 1 of Terminal 2 (International) at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for catering to passengers with special needs, like physically challenged passengers, and unaccompanied minors amongst others. Currently, facilitation for passengers requiring special assistance is coordinated directly by the airline. However, security …

The recent “hijack” incident involving Indigo airlines flight 6E344 from Goa to New Delhi, has created the furore all over India, and even on to the international stage. I am glad, Jitendra Kumar Mohala, a 42-year-old chartered accountant, and son of a retired air commodore of the Indian Air Force, has been booked under sections 336 (endangering life and personal …

The One World alliance is celebrating it’s tenth anniversary, and its member airlines have unveiled a special livery on their fleets. Hope you will enjoy the images. Click on the images to see the high resolution versions. American Airlines Boeing 777 British Airways Boeing 747Japan Airlines Boeing 777Finnair Airbus A340Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A319Iberia Airbus A320LAN Chile Boeing 767Malev Boeing …

A quiet change took place at Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of Bengaluru International Airport. Marcel Hungerbuehler took over as CEO of BIAL on February 1st, 2009 from Albert Brunner. Prior to this, Marcel was the the company’s COO for two years. Those inside the industry know how instrumental Marcel was, in the start-up process and the operations …

Congratulations to Airbus. With the newest order from Korean Air, the order book for the A380 superjumbo has crossed the 200 mark. Korean Air has placed firm orders with Airbus for two more double-deck A380 superjumbos, bringing the total number of A380s ordered by Korean Air to ten aircraft. The carrier will operate the aircraft in a three-class layout on …

Airline flight schedules went haywire on Monday, due to a re-fuelling problem at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad. A technical hitch in the fuel hydrant system of Reliance, the fuel franchisee, led to disruptions and delaying almost all the morning flights by up to two hours. 27 flights were delayed due to ‘pressurisation problem’ in the Reliance …

BBC News and Aviation Herald are reporting a Cyprus Airways plane has slipped off a taxiway at Heathrow Airport, lodging its front wheel in a grassy area. The Cyprus Airways Airbus A330-200, registration 5B-DBS, was performing flight CY-332 from Larnaca, Cyprus to London Heathrow, United Kingdom, had landed at Heathrow and already turned off the runway onto the taxiways, when …

CNN-IBN is reporting on TV that a Russian man thought to be a crew member of Russian national airline Aeroflot has committed suicide by jumping out of the 16th floor at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, India. Update 1 – 14:30 IST (09:00 GMT) The deceased has been identified as Alexander (22), a flight attendant with Aeroflot. Alexander, along with …

SpiceJet on Monday said Mr Wilbur Ross has been appointed director on the board of the company, along with Mr Ranjeet Nabha, of the private equity firm led by the billionaire investor. “Mr Wilbur Ross and Mr Ranjeet Nabha of WL Ross & Co LLC have been appointed as directors on the board of the company with effect from January …

Production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners resumed yesterday with the join of the fifth airplane designated for flight test. This airplane, designated ZA005, is the first to be powered with General Electric GEnx engines. The major assemblies were loaded in final body join over the past several days. The fuselage and wing joins occur simultaneously. Five of the six airplanes designated …

SCARY!!!!, there is no other word to describe the performance numbers and the forecast from IATA, the association representing 93% of the global commercial air transport industry. For the month of December, it is now official — ALL regions of the world, have reported major declines in cargo performance in December 2008 when compared to December 2007. Across the globe, …

From the Summer 2009 schedule which commences end March, Air France will suspend its thrice weekly flight between Paris Charles De Gaulle and Chennai Anna International, and withdraw from Chennai. I strongly suspect this move is partly as a result of the relentless capacity expansion by Emirates Airlines across India. With its non-stop connectivity to both the coasts of the …

Kingfisher is the largest defaulting private airline in India, and this has finally caught up with it. State owned oil marketing companies (OMCs), who claim they are owed about Rs. 1,000 Crore ($200 million), have enforced ‘cash and carry’ payment terms on the airline, since it has not cleared its dues, even after the extended 90 day payment terms. Kingfisher …

AVHerald reports a passenger on board Japan Airlines flight was severely burnt by hot tea which was spilt over her. JL950 from Seoul, South Korea to Tokyo Narita, Japan, with 330 people on board, was about 30 minutes into the flight and meal service had just started, when one of the trolleys rolled away, struck a seat and poured the …

Buoyed by its recent lease of the Jet Airways Boeing B777-300ERs, Turkish Airlines THY is again expanding flight frequencies to the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai in India, Brussels, Venice, Helsinki, Basel and Dublin in Europe, Kuwait in the Middle East, Addis Ababa in Africa. New Delhi and Mumbai, India will increase its services from five times and three …

Dubai based Emirates Airline will commence operations of its Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport in November 2009. Emirates currently operates daily flights to Seoul using a Boeing 777. Trade ties between South Korea and Dubai have been growing steadily, and major Korean corporations are active in the Dubai business arena. The Korean government is also positioning …

Singapore Airlines is making further adjustments to its route network, primarily cutting back flights to various destinations in India, Thailand, Europe, and USA, while increasing capacities to the middle east. The changes, will take place progressively from now and will apply for the rest of the Northern Winter schedule (i.e. till end-March 2009), and will most likely continue in to …