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Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), the operator of the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), has decided to levy the long pending User Development Fee (UDF) of Rs 260 on all outbound domestic passengers, from January 16, 2009. According to an official release by BIAL yesterday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has given nod for levy of UDF. Albert Brunner, CEO, …

Based on 2008 data sampling by Flightstats.com, a list of the most delayed and the most punctual airports in the world, by on-time arrivals, and on-time departures. Most delayed arrivals airports.India tops the list with three of its major cities in the top five. I was stunned to see our much beloved Bengaluru International Airport in this dubious list. Worst …

Japan Airlines (JAL) has been awarded by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies a Good Design Award 2008, under the Tabletop category, for the elegant aesthetics and ergonomic design of the chopsticks used in JAL First Class. Satoshi Nakagawa, Kaori Takehashi, Ikumi Kaneko, and Hironi Kobayashi of …

Following the successful bio-fuel test at Air New Zealand just 9 days ago, Continental Airlines, became the first U.S. airline to conduct a successful bio-fuel test yesterday, January 7. The test at Continental was very similar to the one at Air New Zealand. The air-frame manufacturer was Boeing, at Continental it was a Boeing 737-800, while at Air New Zealand …

FlightBlogger is reporting, Airbus brought MSN033, the first A380 for Air France, it’s European launch customer, out to the flight line in Toulouse yesterday. Image courtesy FlightBlogger. Copyright David Barrie F-WWSB, which will eventually be registered as F-HPJA. As the photo shows, the airframe has its four GP7200 engines installed, and we can expect it to take its maiden flight …

In my first post of the year, I had collated predictions from industry experts for the future of the airline industry in 2009. Here’s my own analysis on the current situation, and I feel, among other things, 2009 presents an opportunity for airlines to tap on technology to build stronger brands. Allen Adamson, MD of Landor Associates, made a statement …

Update – January 6. It never struck me, when posting the original article, but based on the timings, Kingfisher can offer passengers, connection between Singapore and London via Mumbai. Further, if Kingfisher can streamline its current Bangalore London operations with better slots at Heathrow, it need only one Airbus A330 instead of the current two. It can deploy that aircraft …

British Airways today, reported its performance for December 2008. The airline’s performance is in line with IATA’s November 2008 report, which highlights a deepening of the global economic slowdown. Capacity declines are in line with actual performance. Compared to December 2007, passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), was down 3 percent, Actual passenger performance, measured in Revenue Passenger …

Apart from Singapore Airlines, the best airline I have flown in my 4 million miles, is Virgin Atlantic. Today, Virgin launched its 25th anniversary celebrations, with a video reflective of its irreverent yet high energy culture. Virgin’s inaugural flight was from London Gatwick to Newark (EWR) on June 22 1984, at a time when the United Kingdom was in the …

The Government of India has ordered eight Boeing P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft. At $2.1 billion this will be the biggest-ever defence deal of India with United States, double of the $962-million contract signed with US for six C-130J `Super Hercules’ aircraft for use by Indian special forces, last year. The Boeing P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine …

On 16 October 2008, Emirates Airlines, moved all operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3. Terminal 3 is over 1,500,000 m2 (370 acres) in size, the single largest terminal building in the world, and is dedicated exclusively to Emirates Airlines. The move demonstrated the meteoric rise of the airline since its inception on May 25, 1985 with just two …

There are many road warriors who visit Bangalore Aviation regularly. We road warriors have a list of items we will never leave home, for a trip, without. This is my “crucial items list”. Please share your list via a comment. 1. Blackberry Love this GSM device from RIM. It is the device for the road warrior. The Nokia E series, …

Jet Airways has announced a basket of special deals on its international flights. Remember all fares mentioned herein are exclusive of surcharge and taxes. Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata – Singapore/Hong Kong/Bangkok Companion Free Offer on Premiére (business class)Jet Airways’ international Premiére customers travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong can now avail of exciting Companion Free travel offers. A Mumbai – Singapore Premiére return …

The recently announced results by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), is nothing short of shocking. International air cargo is down by a whopping 13.5 per cent in November when compared to November 2007, and passenger growth is down by 4.6 per cent. Graph legendRPK – Revenue Passenger Kilometres (sales)ASK – Available Seat Kilometres (capacity)FTK – Freight Ton Kilometres (sales)ATK …

IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite, and SpiceJet have announced Advance Purchase Excursion (APEX) fares for all purchases made at least 21 days before the flight departure. Jet Airways offers a fare of INR 250 while JetLite offers a fare of INR 9. The booking and sale validity of this offer is from January 1 to January 31, 2009. SpiceJet is offering …

Both the European EASA and US FAA have issued emergency Airworthiness Directives ADs for operators of CFM56-5B engines, typically operated on the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, which include the A318, A319, A320 and A321. Snecma ImageEASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2008-228 and the FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2009-01-01, requests operators of CFM56-5B engines, to monitor Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) for …

Happy 2009. As we wake up to a new year, I bring you an interesting video I came across on YouTube, which shows the global air traffic over 24 hours. But speeded up to complete in one minute. Air traffic follows the sun, at its peak during daylight, just like most human activity does. In the initial stages of the …

The Chinese have a saying “May you live in interesting times”. 2008 was certainly “interesting” to say the least. As we bid adieu to the year, I briefly recap some of the topics that made the aviation world interesting. Private greenfield airportsBengaluru International Airport at Bangalore, and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad, ushered in a new era for passengers …

Airbus today, met its revised A380 delivery schedule for 2008 of 12 aircraft. In Hamburg, Airbus delivered its 12th A380 of 2008, to its largest A380 customer Emirates. MSN020 registered as A6-EDD is the fourth of 58 ordered by Emirates, and the 13th overall A380 delivered out of 198 orders. Airbus has been steadily improving its A380 delivery performance by …

National airline, Air India, followed lead of its two private sector competitors Jet Airways and Kingfisher, and today, slashed its basic air fares in the domestic sectors ranging from 35 per cent to 82 per cent as per PTI. The fare cut was effective from 1500 hours today, an Air India spokesperson said. The maximum reduction in fares was 82 …