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

Back in late January, I had to do a weekend turn to Miami. Because I am currently shooting towards Star Alliance Gold (9,000 miles away) in advance of my travels this summer, I decided to book on United Economy. (Un)Fortunately, my mother was traveling with me, so I had to stick to the nonstop United between Newark – Miami – …

The third day of Aero India 2013 showed some performers who were sorely missed from the beginning of the show. Most notably, the Russian Knights, who finally arrived after being delayed in New Delhi, and the flight of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III which was grounded due to technical problems for the first two days of the show. A photo …

The long awaited Russian Knights aerobatic demonstration team finally arrived at Air Force Station Yelahanka, on the outskirts of Bangalore, at around 12:30pm today, the third day, of Aero India 2013. The arrival of the Knights was delayed after a three-day delay that a member of the Russian delegation confirmed was caused “by delay in internal security clearance” at the …

The ninth edition of Aero India opened late and missing a few performers, notably the Russian Knights air display team, which have still not reached the show by the end of the second day. A photo essay on some of the performers on the first day. A Dassault Rafale B takes off during the inaugural ceremony at Aero India 2013. …

Below is a detailed map of the Aero India 2013 show detailing the various entrances, show layout, venue, the different parking areas, viewing areas etc. Please click on the image for a high resolution view. Once the image window opens, you can also right-click and download the image.

by Devesh Agarwal, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines officially joined the oneworld alliance of airlines, as its 12th member, at 12:01am Malaysia Time (+8 GMT), earlier today. A day earlier on January 31, the airline had a series of events to celebrate its joining the alliance. Bangalore Aviation was present at the occasion, and brings you this photo …

National carrier Malaysia Airlines joins the oneworld alliance from tomorrow. Bangalore Aviation is in Kuala Lumpur to cover the event. Below are some exclusive photos of Malaysia Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 9M-MTE in the special oneworld livery. The airline will also paint one its Boeing 737-800’s and one Airbus A380 superjumbo in the oneworld livery at a later date. Till then …

by Vinay Bhaskara and Brett SnyderEarlier this month, I had a chance to do a little bit of back and forth with Brett Snyder (a.k.a Cranky Flier) about some of the biggest news stories in US aviation from last year. While the idea was that we’d do a lot of debating, it became mostly a discussion (what was that line …

With AeroIndia 2013 coming up soon, I have produced a small guide and check-list for photographers at the air-show. This guide can also be used as a template for other air-shows. Tickets Get your tickets as soon as possible. It is a lot better to pay and get Business passes for either Thursday or Friday (7th or 8th February). You …

by Vinay Bhaskara Computer rendering of A380 in Kingfisher Airlines livery Image Courtesy of  Malaysia Flying Herald At its recent annual results conference, European aerospace manufacturer Airbus released a bit of shocking information. Apparently, the ill-fated order for five Airbus A380s by now-defunct (though perpetually on the verge of “re-starting” in the eyes of chairman Vijay Mallya) Kingfisher Airlines is …

Yesterday, Dallas-Fort Worth based American Airlines announced a major re-branding effort, including an all-new logo and livery which it unveiled on its new flagship Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. This new branding will be expanded across American’s entire fleet over the next 3-5 years, as well as into airports and other corporate venues. The full press release from American is displayed below …

Earlier today, Air India announced that it was adding a second daily flight in the afternoon (complementing the existing overnight) between Chennai and Singapore utilizing a 279 seat Airbus A330-200 widebody aircraft in a 2 class configuration (24J/255Y). The move comes soon after low cost carrier IndiGo ended its flights from Mumbai to Singapore, and replaced them with flights from …

As I was returning to Bangalore on Saturday, I spotted this very unusual aircraft at the ramp across the passenger terminal at Mumbai CSI airport, an Antonov An-74-TK-100. UR-CKC belongs to Cavok Air, a Ukranian cargo operator. The striking feature of this aircraft is the overwing engines which are used to perform short take-off and landings by using the Coandă …

by Devesh Agarwal A week ago, Airbus S.A.S. rolled out an A320 aircraft serial number MSN 5437 from its assembly line. This aircraft is destined to become Indian budget carrier IndiGo’s first ‘Sharklet’ equipped A320 VT-IFH, and when delivered only the second airline aircraft in the world to be fitted with the new fuel saving large wing-tip device. Photo copyright …

Continuing our photo essay (see part two) on the night photography at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) and the DGCA, today is the Airbus collection. Unlike Bangalore where the mid-sized Airbus (since the A380 is not permitted) is the dominant aircraft type, Delhi with its …

Early in February 2009, Bangalore Aviation had advocated a strong “zero tolerance” approach to drunk passengers in Indian skies, specifically citing the case of Jitendra Kumar Mohla, a Chartered Accountant, and son of a former Air Commodore of the Indian Air Force, who boarded an IndiGo flight 6E-334 from Goa to New Delhi, in a drunk condition. Today, we are …