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

American Airlines had a code-share agreement with Qatar Airways which it terminated in 2017 claiming unfair government subsidies to the Gulf carrier Both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance Both airlines remain tight-lipped on what developments caused the rapprochement oneworld alliance members American Airlines and Qatar Airways appear to have buried the hatchet and put aside their disputes to …

As the government of India attempts to privatise Air India, media reports suggest the second time around is seeing renewed interest. Reports also indicate the government is keen the Air India brand is retained post any sale. One can see why. The airline is still India’s national carrier and the brand has a high recall value and familiarity quotient. Despite …

The announcement by the owners of Air Italy that it will suspend operations on 25th February brought to an end the short-lived resurrection of the airline that was founded in 1963 and flew by the names of Meridiana, Meridiana Fly and Air Italy under various ownership structures over the years. Qatar Airways, which picked up a 49% stake in the …

February 14th saw SpiceJet report its third-quarter results. The airline reported a profit of INR 78.2 crores but we believe the results warrant closer examination. This because of the Boeing 737MAX grounding and the fact that compensation that has been recorded but not yet received by SpiceJet significantly contributed to this result. Additionally, in looking at the operational numbers, it …

American Airlines announced new nonstop service from Seattle to Bengaluru as part of a broader move to turn Seattle into an international gateway. American will also deepen its relationship with US regional carrier Alaska Airlines (the largest airline in Seattle by passengers carried) with a widespread codeshare agreement and the addition of Alaska to the OneWorld global airline alliance. The …

Earlier this week, the US government began implementing new rules for travel from China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The US has already issued a level 4 advisory urging residents to avoid outbound travel to China. Additionally, flights from China will be contained to seven airports (New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Honolulu, and Los …

As the finance minister presented the Budget this Saturday expectations were that there would be some announcements related to aviation. This because of sections on the economic survey and also the fact that last year’s budget speech had laid out a vision towards India entering the aircraft financing and leasing market; the divestment of Air India; consideration for re-examining foreign …

Monday, January 27th was quite a newsday for Indian aviation. In what is becoming a tale of two airlines, while the national carrier came out with its Preliminary Information Memorandum looking for someone to take over 23,286 crores of debt and 8556 crores of losses (for FY19) the other airline Indigo reported profits of 496 crores with another 20,000 crores …

Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport has continued its yearly growth with 33.65 million passengers in 2019, a 4.1% increase from 2018’s 32.33 million. Indigo continued to be the largest carrier at Bangalore with their passenger figures rising by 13.0% from 13.81 mppa in 2018 to 15.61 mppa in 2019 representing 48% of the total passengers through Bangalore. International passenger traffic grew …

The long-awaited first flight of the Boeing 777-9X is set to take place today. The first aircraft N779XW will take off from Boeing’s Paine Field factory at Everett at around 10:00 PST. The flight was originally scheduled for yesterday (23 January) but was postponed due to bad weather. Watch the first flight Boeing is streaming the first flight and you …

Boeing has confirmed that it does not expect the grounded 737 MAX to return to service before “mid-2020”. In a statement released on January 21, the company cautioned that this time-line is an estimate, and entry in to service will be finally determined by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other regulators across the world like Europe’s EASA and …

After a loss of 8,556 crores in FY19, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India has indicated that the airline needs a sovereign guarantee of 2400 crores to fund ongoing operations. The airline continues to bleed cash at an alarming rate. Capacity woes continue and estimates indicate that twenty-two aircraft are grounded. On the costs side, there have …

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi is the upcoming low-cost joint venture between two of the UAE airlines – Sharjah based Air Arabia and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad. The joint venture is one of the two new low-cost airlines being launched in the capital of the Emirates – the other being a joint venture between Wizz Air and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company …

The airline industry is undergoing a transformation while it deals with disruptive shifts. Whether it’s the grounding of the 737MAX affecting capacity plans worldwide, the shift to low-cost travel or declining demand due to movements such as “flight shaming” in Europe – change is happening in a manner not witnessed before. This holds true even in the world of airline …

Low-cost carrier Indigo has become the first airline in India to operate 1500 daily departures. The airline operates these flights to 83 destinations and with over 250,000 passengers daily. Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, IndiGo “We are very pleased to be the first Indian airline to touch 1500 daily departures, with one flight taking off every minute. The simple philosophy of offering …

India largest and most profitable airline, IndiGo’s CEO Ronojoy Dutta has gone on record recently about the low-cost airline “actively studying” long haul flights to London on widebody aircraft. This statement coming from an airline which for the longest time stuck to a single fleet strategy, until it added ATR aircraft for regional flights, has left some perplexed. Dutta also …

Bangalore airport will begin limited operations on the new south parallel runway (NSPR) from 5 December 2019. The runway will begin operations with a single cross taxiway in operation, a BIAL spokesperson told BangaloreAviation. “The South Runway will start with limited operations on December 5, 2019. Operations will commence with one of the two crossfield taxiways connected. The second taxiway …

Virgin Atlantic made its India debut in July 2000 when the airline launched its flight to India’s capital, New Delhi. Back then, Virgin Atlantic was a boutique airline fuelled by the ambitions of a maverick entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson.  A lot has changed since then. Today, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a minority shareholder (20%) in the airline with …

SpiceJet, now India’s second-largest domestic airline, reported its second-quarter results of the fiscal year 2019-2020 (Q2FY20) this Wednesday. It was a result that was met with mixed expectations and also one that seems to be underplayed. We attempt to present an analysis that may help deconstruct the figures. The focus has been on a net loss of INR 462 crores …

Early morning fog is the bane of the Indian air passenger, especially at Bangalore and New Delhi airports. It disrupts schedules and leads to aggravation, quarrels, shouting, and general ill-will not just for passengers but also airlines, airports, and all their staff and stakeholders. Here are some tips that should help you avoid the disruption and hopefully keep your blood …