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

By BA Staff Fairbanks residents flying on Alaska Airlines’ Bombardier Q400s starting next March will board and deplane the aircraft using the existing jet bridge at Fairbanks International Airport. The carrier will modify the jet bridge at Gate 1 to provide passengers with warm, easy access to their flights on the turboprop aircraft. Marilyn Romano, Alaska Airlines’ regional vice president …

by Devesh Agarwal Lao Airline ATR72-600. Photo courtesy ATR. Airbus joint-venture subsidiary ATR (Aerei da Trasporto Regionale or Avions de transport régional) suffered the first fatal crash of the ATR 72-600 aircraft it manufactures. The airframer confirmed that an ATR 72-600 operated by Lao Airlines as flight QV301 from capital Vientiane to Pakse crashed at around 16:00 (09:00 UTC) near …

By BA Staff Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has granted anti-trust immunity to the joint business venture between Japan Airlines, Finnair and British Airways.  This paves the way for Finnair to join the existing joint business venture between Japan Airlines and British Airways. The agreement will allow all three airlines to cooperate commercially on flights between …

By BA Staff Bird Information Systems (BIS), a provider of automated aviation and travel related software solutions has entered into a partnership with Sri Lanka based FITS Air, for the use of its Airline Inventory and Reservations System (AIRS). As per the partnership, Bird will provide FITS Air, the booking technology for the airline inventory hosting, reservation at all city …

The Airbus Military Services Logistic Hub has started operations in Seville, Spain, in line with the Full In-Service Support (FISS) model developed by the company. This hub delivers spare parts for all Airbus Military products worldwide as well as ground equipment for the operation of the fleet. The new facility substantially strengthens the spare parts delivery procedure by improving reliability …

By BA Staff Virgin Australia has expanded its codeshare agreement with Air New Zealand, adding its code to an additional 17 routes across New Zealand. Virgin Australia already codeshares to all Air New Zealand destinations in New Zealand however today’s announcement means that customers now have more choice than ever before on how to get to their destination. Virgin Australia …

By BA Staff Readers of Business Traveller magazine have voted oneworld Best Airline Alliance in the magazine’s 2013 readers’ poll. This is the sixth “best alliance” honor oneworld has received in major international industry award schemes in the past year, a record for any global airline alliance – and it comes as oneworld undergoes the biggest expansion program in its …

By BA Staff Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced that they will work together to develop and implement a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa, a first for the continent. Courtesy of Boeing The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding for sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain development at The Corporate Council on Africa’s 9th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business, …

by Devesh Agarwal Flag carrier British Airways, by coincidence, has received the latest aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus around the same time. Take video tours of the carrier’s Airbus A380 double-decker super-jumbo and the composite fuel efficient Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

By BA Staff Courtesy of Wikipedia Emirates, the Official Airline Partner of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay, has today started the first leg of the “Baton’s journey round the world”, beginning its international journey in Glasgow. The Queen’s Baton will be transported by Emirates, visiting a selection of the Commonwealth’s nations and territories ahead of the Glasgow …

By BA Staff Air China Limited will introduce a new thrice a week service between Beijing and Chiang Mai from November 7, 2013. Located in Thailand’s northern mountainous region, Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second largest city and also northern Thailand’s political, economic and cultural centre. This city, celebrated for its Buddhist traditions, is also called “Rose of the Northern Thailand”. …

By BA Staff Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, confirmed its equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings had reached 19.9%. This follows a series of on-market purchases of Virgin Australia shares over recent weeks. The Abu Dhabi-based airline now holds more than 515 million shares in the airline. At 19.9%, Etihad Airways has reached the threshold …

By BA Staff Boeing delivered to UTair, one of Russia’s leading national carriers, its first directly purchased Next-Generation 737-800. The airline currently has 40 Next-Generation 737s on order to be delivered in the next several years. Andrey Martirosov, CEO of UTair said: “Next-Generation Boeing 737 airplanes meet today’s development needs of the airline by their optimized operating performance and value-for-money …

By BA Staff Boeing has delivered to El Al Israel Airlines the carrier’s first Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range) airplane. The delivery is the first of six 737-900ERs the Israeli flag-carrier has on order and is the latest addition to El Al’s all-Boeing fleet.   Elyezer Shkedy, president and chief executive officer, El Al, said: “The purchase of the Boeing 737-900ER …

By BA Staff SilkAir (MI), the regional airline of Singapore Airlines, will become the latest airline partner to join Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent flyer program. From October 10, 2013 onwards, Velocity members will be able to earn points and status credits or redeem their Points on the SilkAir network across South East Asia, India and China. This includes the ability …

By BA Staff AirAsia has introduced ‘Hi-Flyer’, a new flexi-fare service which offers guests greater convenience, flexibility and added benefits while travelling with both AirAsia and AirAsia X. Complimentary 20kg check-in baggage allocation Complimentary ‘Pick-A-Seat’ for both Standard & Hot Seats (Hot Seats are subject to availability) Priority Boarding Up to 2x flight change – for flights up to 2 …

By BA Staff Emirates is offering 100 Emirates Skywards members the opportunity to win tickets to the 2013 edition of the Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix event on October 27 in Delhi. Emirates is a Global Partner of Formula 1. From now until 16th October, Emirates will be giving away 100 tickets to the race. The competition is open …

by BA Staff Japan Airlines will launch its upgraded cabin JAL Sky Suite II business class product on its revamped 767-300ER service between Tokyo (Narita) and Vancouver, from December 9, 2013. The airline will also offer its Sky Wider improved economy class product on the same flight. The Sky Suite II is a 24 seat business in a 1-2-1 configuration …

Two days ago, when gulf major, Etihad Airways, announced its intention to fly between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, we at Bangalore Aviation were the first to indicate that Etihad’s announcement was a pre-cursor to its purchase of Boeing 777-200LRs from Air India. Yesterday, it was confirmed that Air India will indeed sell five of its eight Boeing 777-200LRs to …

By BA Staff Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege frequent flyer program announced a partnership with ColorPlus, a clothing brand for men. JetPrivilege members will get rewarded with 10 JPMiles for every Rs. 100 spent on purchases made at ColorPlus exclusive stores across India. JetPrivilege members will now get to experience premium ‘Smart casuals’ and the many product enhancements, introduced by ColorPlus’ innovations, …