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

Dad and me reached the Chennai airport at around 0430 for our scheduled 0530 flight. This was because British Airways (BA) had 24 hours in advance updated the status of their flight on their app as delayed to 6.40 due to technical problems with the incoming aircraft. (I just found that hilarious that BA could predict that their was going …

Yesterday, Bangalore Aviation was invited to view India’s first Boeing 737 MAX. VT-JXA was delivered to Jet Airways on June 20, 2018. Jet Airways has configured its 737 MAX 8 in a two class cabin carrying 174 passengers; 12 in business and 162 in economy. The aircraft which is the first of a 225 aircraft order is fitted with a …

United Airlines has opened its new United Polaris lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), located near gate G92 of the international terminal. United Airlines operates from San Francisco to India in partnership with Lufthansa. We also write about this lounge for the benefit of premium class passengers on other Star Alliance carriers like Lufthansa, Air India, Turkish Airlines, or …

Spanish flag carrier, Iberia, also a member of IAG, has taken delivery of the first of its 16 A350-900 XWB on order. While it is the 18th carrier overall to operate the new generate aircraft, MSN219 is the first A350-900 to feature the latest performance improvement package (PIP) including a wing twist, extended winglets and increased maximum take-off weight (MTOW) …

Low cost carrier SpiceJet has launched a training center called the Spice Star Academy. The academy will offer students cabin crew training through a six month classroom program and a online course for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Amity University. The airline has stated it will offer placement to all students trained under this program. Spicejet is planning …

Turkish ground handling company Çelebi Airport Services has been awarded a ground handling license by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL). The contract was won after a bidding process which saw multiple global ground handling participate. The company will begin to provide ground handling services from August 2018 under a 10 year concession. The company plans to invest $7-9 million in …

Low cost carrier GoAir has announced the appointment of Cornelis Vrieswijk as its new Chief Executive Officer effective June 4, 2018. Vrieswijk has over 25 years of experience in aviation and travel industry. He has experience in driving ventures, transitions, turnarounds and large-scale projects for diverse and multifaceted organizations with emphasis in aviation/travel and aircraft maintenance industry in Europe. He …

Bloomberg is reporting that the Tata Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara has selected the Boeing 787 Dreamliner over the Airbus A330neo as its wide-body aircraft for long distance international operations. Why did Vistara choose the 787 Just some of the reasons for Vistara choosing the 787 over the A330neo are: The 787 is a newer generation aircraft compared to the …

Oneworld member, Qatar Airways is upgrading its on-board dining for its business and first class passengers, initially on its European routes. The new concepts include newly-designed tableware, in-flight dining menus, cutlery and china. I am impressed that Qatar will place mini condiment grinders for fresh ground black pepper and Himalayan pink salt on the passengers’ tables. The airline has increased …

Marking an increase in airfares thanks to rising global oil prices, India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo has re-imposed a fuel surcharge on all domestic flights from today. The Indian Rupee has also been under pressure and has been steadily declining against the Dollar. With the airline claiming a 25% increase in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices, IndiGo will impose a …

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 is arguably the world’s most mysterious commercial aviation disaster. The aircraft which was carrying 239 passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on 8th March 2014. A multi-national search effort over many years costing hundreds of millions of dollars was called off in 2017. Earlier this year the search was resumed by …

Low cost carrier IndiGo, has announced the launch of 20 new flights. The carrier will add a scound daily flight from Bangalore to Varanasi and Chandigardh and a third daily from Bangalore to Ranchi and Indore. It will also add flights to Tiruchirappalli from Bangalore and Cochin. The airline is also adding direct flights from Kolkata to Chandigarh and Indore. …

The Indian ministry of civil aviation has notified a draft of a Charter defining the rights of air passengers for public consultation. The draft seems to have taken input from the famous European Union regulation 261/2004 which is the flight compensation regulation We are re-producing the draft as in the press release for comments by Bangalore Aviation readers. We will …

Confirming the challenging nature of the market, Jet Airways posted a loss of ₹1,036 crores for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. This pulled the full year loss to ₹767 crores. This was their first loss after eleven consecutive profitable quarters and the first full year loss after 2 years of profit. The results reflect …

Even during a lull, the Indian civil aviation market never ceases to keep one on their toes. The recent weeks have seen three Chief Executives of Indian carriers in the news. First, Aditya Ghosh of IndiGo put in his papers after steering the ship for over ten years, apparently under pressure from the promoters. Amar Abrol of AirAsia India is …