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

Air Italy is an Italian airline in which Qatar airways has a major stake. Qatar bought a 49% stake in the airline which was formerly Meridiana and rebranded it earlier this year. The middle eastern carrier intendeds to use Air Italy to bolster it’s operations to the US and in Europe. The airline is also undergoing a rapid expansion of …

Earlier this year Emirates signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 36 Airbus A380s – 20 firm order with 16 options. The deal which was worth $16 billion (before discounts) was widely seen as an extension of life for the A380 program. It’s safe to say Emirates loves it’s A380s. With 105 aircraft in it’s fleet and another …

Full service carrier Jet Airways has been making small changes to it’s frequent flyer program JetPrivilege (JP) over the past few months. In May the carrier announced that frequent flier miles would no longer expire as long as the account had one activity every 18 months. Now the carrier is digitizing it’s upgrade voucher process. Upgrade vouchers are issued to …

Air India will begin thrice a week flights from Bangalore to London Heathrow from 17th November 2018. The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 which features the airline’s newest cabin product. With this flight Bangalore will be the fourth destination from which Air India flies to London after Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Read our review of Air India’s …

AirLive.net is reporting that an Antonov An-30 and An-32 have been destroyed in a ground collision on the runway at Khartoum International Airport, Sudan. In the video it appears that at around 10.10 today morning, The An-32 was landing on the runway while the other aircraft was on the same runway at a slower speed. There is currently no information …

Middle eastern carrier Etihad Airways is in the middle of a massive cost cutting spree. The airline has gone from spending money like there was no tomorrow to pinching every possible penny. In the last year we have seen the airline cut down routes, reduce passenger benefits like the chauffeur drive, catering and beverage quality in first and business, etc. …

It’s always a fantastic sight to see a special flight get a water cannon salute at an airport. A few weeks back (Not sure how I missed it then, but saw a retweet today) Dubai Airport to celebrate the 88th national day of Saudi Arabia performed a water cannon salute for an arriving Saudi Airlines Airbus A320. At the start …

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the “Long Range” version of the A321neo – the A321LR to fly up to 4,000nm with 206 passengers with up to three underfloor Additional Centre Tanks (ACTs). The aircraft has 180 minutes ETOPS authorisation which according to Airbus is sufficient for performing any transatlantic route. …

Air Arabia is a low cost airline based out of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The airline operates a fleet of 41 Airbus A320 aircraft. It operates flights to 14 destinations in India including Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi and more. The Aviation Herald has published an article on what happened to an Air Arabia flight G9-111 that was departing …

Low cost carrier SpiceJet has taken delivery of Bombardier’s first 90-seat Q400 turbo-prop. The Canadian airframer had announced in February 2016 that it would develop an extra-capacity 90 seat variant of the Q400. Bombardier has accomplished this by redesigning the front right door of the aircraft and moving the aft bulkhead further back. This along with reducing the space between …

A Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur operating 9W 697 was forced to return to Mumbai after the cabin pressure in the aircraft dropped. The drop in pressure was caused due to the crews failure to turn on the maintain cabin air pressure switch. 30 passengers out of the 166 on the flight have taken ill with nose and …

Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific rolled out a Boeing 777-300 registered B-HNO from the paint hanger with the airlines name spelt with a typo. The name on the aircraft currently reads “Cathay Paciic”. All credit to Cathay who took the error like good sports – posting images through their twitter account. Oops this special livery won’t last long! She’s going …

Jet Airways has announced that it will begin a five time a week flight from Mumbai to Manchester. The flight will be operated by an Airbus A330-200. Manchester will be Jet’s 21st international destination. Time table for the Mumbai – Manchester flight Flight Number Origin Destination STD STA Operation Days 9W 130 Mumbai Manchester 0230 0755 1,4,5,6,7 9W 129 Manchester …

Vistara (Tata-SIA Airlines) and British Airways have signed a codeshare agreement expanding on their existing interline partnership. Under the agreement, British Airways will add its ‘BA’ flight numbers to approximately 60 Vistara flights each day covering thirteen Indian cities. This will add eight new virtual destinations for the British flag carrier – Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Kolkata, Kochi, and …

Bangalore Aviation readers will recall our article last year highlighting the poor growth of air-side infrastructure at Indian airports. This morning, the Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, called on the Indian government to address, on priority, infrastructure constraints that limit growth and government policies that impose excessive costs on aviation. IATA …

Saturday, September 1st was a blustery and rainy day at New Delhi’s IGI airport. However, the excitement and warm hospitality by the team members of Vistara and their agency Avian, removed any gloom from the minds of us aviation geeks and press present for the occasion. Vistara, the brand of the Tata SIA Airlines joint venture of the Tata Group …

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) has published its order of tariffs for the second control period (April 2016 – March 2021) at Bangalore airport. The user development fees (UDF) at Bangalore airport have been reduced by 67% from 16 September 2018. However the UDF will increase every year as the airport invests in the second runway and …

Low cost carrier GoAir will begin its first international operations with flights from its Mumbai and New Delhi hubs to the popular holiday destinations of Phuket in Thailand and Male in the Maldives. The first inaugural flight of GoAir will be from Delhi to Phuket on October 11, 2018 and the first flight to the Maldives will be from Mumbai …

We ended our Q4FY18 analysis for Jet by indicating that, “Going forward, it seems that Jet Airways is headed for a turbulent ride. Debt will grow for the short-term. The revenue pressures are intense and the cost base is high. Addressing both these elements is critical to success.” While we forecast a result that would reflect ongoing challenges, little did …

The Ude Desh Ka Aaam Nagarik (UDAN) scheme launched in June 2016 has been hailed by the Government as a game changer. The intent of the scheme is to connect un-served and under-served airports across the country in an affordable manner consequently boosting connectivity. This is delivered via routes that are bid-for and awarded to airlines by the government including …