Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation

By Devesh Agarwal and Vinay Bhaskara Flag carrier Turkish Airlines has signed international soccer superstar Lionel Andrés “Leo” Messi, of La Liga club, FC Barcelona FC Barcelona as a Global Brand Ambassador. Messi joins NBA superstar Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, and professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, who have been brand ambassadors for the airline since …

by Devesh Agarwal A quick query to our readers. Bangalore Aviation has access to some good photographers who are also avid plane spotters and take great photographs of airplanes across the world. Would you like us to feature articles which can help you improve your plane spotting photography? Please post a comment. Do include specific points on what aspects would …

Over the past few weeks, it has become increasingly likely that Abu Dhabi based Eithad Airways will be purchasing a 24% stake in India’s largest full service carrier, Jet Airways, perhaps as soon as the end of this week. The deal for a stake in Naresh Goyal’s airline, is reportedly worth somewhere between Rs. 1600 to 2200 Crore, which would …

Indian low cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet will be launching flights 4 times per week between Delhi and Guangzhou, the hub of the Chinese Pearl River Delta. Services will begin on 8th February, 2013 with the following schedule: SG 81 — DEL – CAN — 1720-0035+1 — 2467 —  737-800SG 82 — CAN – DEL — 0155-0525 — 1357 — 737-800 …

German major, Lufthansa will re-launch its budget airline Germanwings on July 1, 2013, with a new brand and product concept allowing all passengers to enjoy “à la carte flying”. Passengers will then be able to create their own package and adapt it in detail to their individual needs, from low-cost flying without add-ons to a high-quality passenger experience with lots …

An industry traffic forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 240 airlines comprising 84% of global air traffic, shows India, China and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), leading air passengers and freight growth over the next four years. The IATA Airline Industry Forecast 2012~2016 sees passenger numbers expanding by an average of 5.3% per annum, between …

As domestic leader, IndiGo, adds its 61st Airbus A320 in to its fleet, it is expanding its domestic route network and will operate 373 daily flights to 33 destinations. Effective December 10, the carrier, will operate its 14th daily non-stop flight on the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai route. Will operate 6th daily non-stop flight on Mumbai-Bangalore Will operate and second daily non-stop flight …

Mumbai-based Jet Airways will the first Indian carrier to induct the new ATR 72-600 series turbo-prop aircraft into their fleet, with five aircraft, starting this month and completing in March 2013. The Franco-Italian ATR (Avions de Transport Régional) 72-600 is an upgrade from the existing ATR72-500 aircraft in the airline’s fleet, and will be used for connectivity to smaller Tier …

Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal. Used with permission. Low cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet will be launching service to Udaipur from December 15th, utilizing its fleet of 78 seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops. SpiceJet continues to pursue a strategy of serving Tier II and Tier III cities with the Q400s. SG 2435 DEL 1610 – 1730 UDR DH8 DSG 2436 UDR 1750 – …

European air-framer Airbus S.A.S. has completed the main structural assembly and system connection of the first A350 XWB aircraft ‘MSN1’, which is also the first flight-test aircraft of this new series. The aircraft pictured moved out of the main assembly hall (Station 40) at A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, France. It then entered the adjacent indoor ground test …

The CEO of GMR Male International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (GMIAL), Andrew Harrison has put out a statement refuting claims of the Maldavian government of a smooth and orderly take over of Male airport operations by the government. I categorically refute the version of events being portrayed to the media in relation to the meeting this morning with GoM officials and …

The past couple of years have not been kind to the global aviation industry. Whether it’s the European union implementing a misguided carbon taxation scheme, the Indian government crushing its nascent airline industry under the weight of oppressive regulations and heavy fuel taxation, increased “NIMBY” (not-in-my-backyard : a term used to describe local residents who oppose aviation development near their …

Dubai based Emirates airline, is deploying a line-of-business application for improving in-flight communication and customer relationship management. Called Knowledge-driven Inflight Service (KIS), the airline is equipping its in-flight Pursers with over 1,000 HP ElitePad 900 tablets running the KIS application on Windows 8. As the video below shows, the KIS application will download passenger data at the start of each …

In the Google Maps photograph below, you can see the storage yard, some may say, graveyard, of the Airbus fleet of Kingfisher Airlines at Mumbai airport. View Larger Map This parking area is at the 14 end of runway 32-14 next to the Kalina hangars of Air India. From the top you can see an Airbus A330-200 parked in an …

Earlier this month, now shutdown Kingfisher Airlines, once India’s largest private domestic carrier, reported a huge net pre-tax loss of Rs. 1115.5 Crore for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2012-13. The performance was by far and away the poorest quarterly financial performance out of any Indian airline in the last few years, though that is to be expected given …

Gurgaon based low fare carrier SpiceJet will expand its international network by opening three new sectors Kochi Male, Kochi Dubai, and Ahmedabad Dubai. Male is a new destination for the airline. SpiceJet already operates daily flights to Dubai from Mumbai and Delhi. Flight From Destination Departure (Local Time) Arrival (Local Time) Frequency First Flight SG 3901 Kochi Male 1250 hrs …

Qatar Airways will commence its Doha London Heathrow Boeing 787 Dreamliner service from December 13. It is expected that the airline will be the first to operate a regularly scheduled Dreamliner service to the United Kingdom. Flight QR 075 departs Doha 06:25 arrives London Heathrow 11:05 hrsFlight QR 076 departs London Heathrow 15:05 hrs arrives Doha at 00:45 Qatar Airways …

On October 29, India’s largest domestic, and low fare, carrier, IndiGo, held the first ever food tasting in the sky. Over 1,000 passengers were given free samples of food, on IndiGo flights across major metros, and asked to to vote for their favourite. The winners would be making it on-board menus as the “Passenger’s Choice.” And who were the winners? …

Bangalore Aviation photographer Vedant took this photograph of a pair of Boeing 747 freighters of Hong Kong based, Cathay Pacific Cargo at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport. Click on the image for a high resolution view. One of the 747s is an original 747 Freighter, while the other is a 747-400 BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter). Can you identify which …