Tag Archives: Air India

How India’s airline market lost its way

The following was posted as a guest post over at The Wandering Aramean, a great travel blog written by Seth Miller which also doubles as a travel tool site. Be sure to check his site out, and stay tuned, as we will have some guest content from him this week. When India’s Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and SpiceJet all recently …

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ANA to launch services to Delhi – deepening ties between India and Japan

Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has announced that it will be launching flights between Tokyo Narita and New Delhi later this fall as part of a broader plan to increase its international capacity by 22% by the beginning of fiscal year 2014. The expansion will be enabled by a growth in ANA’s long haul fleet, as it will …

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SpiceJet to commence Dubai flights from Mumbai and Delhi

After almost two years after it commenced international flights, low fare carrier SpiceJet is expanding its destination portfolio by adding Dubai. The airline will commence daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai later this month from June 25th. The flights will be operated by narrow body Boeing 737-800 aircraft and SpiceJet has announced a special inaugural fare of Rs. …

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Opinion Poll: The on-going pilot’s strike at Air India; share your views

The topic of the week is the on-going pilot’s strike at national carrier Air India by members of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) which began last month on the 7th making this strike almost a month old. The strike has caused estimated losses exceeding Rs.350 Crore ($64 million) to airline. This at a time when the airline is on life …

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Air Canada in talks to lease 5 Air India Boeing 777-200LRs… Huh?

Late last week, reports emerged that beleaguered Indian national carrier Air India, which is in the midst of a crippling strike by its international pilots union, was in discussions with Canadian airline Air Canada to lease out 5 of Air India’s Boeing 777-200LRs to the Toronto based airline. The news broke as Air India continues to operate less than half …

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First Charleston, SC built Boeing 787 destined for Air India has first flight

First Charleston, SC, built Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner achieves first flight. LN46 is due to be delivered to Air India. Boeing image.

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner built at their new South Carolina facility, completed its first flight yesterday, even as its destined customer, national carrier, Air India, delayed taking delivery of its first 787 thanks to the on-going strike by its international pilots. Aircraft number 46, which is expected to become VT-ANI when it is delivered to Air India, performed its …

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Infographics: April Data for the Indian Airline Market

The image above shows the load factors at each of India’s airlines. Considering that Kingfisher has shrunk so much, it is surprising that their seat factor has not elevated past its pre-downsize levels. The image above shows on-time performance for April. Two interesting things to note about the data. First, Kingfisher’s OTP has come back down to earth. In earlier …

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Editorial: Time to Eliminate Unions at Air India

When the Indian Pilots Guild, one of two pilot unions at national carrier Air India, began a strike around 2 weeks ago, it once again illustrated the deep fallacy of the employee situation at Air India. Coming on the heels of a $5.8 bailout package over 8 years offered by the Indian government, IPG’s industrial action marks just the latest …

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Opinion: Bold admissions Mr. Singh. Now please free Air India

The newly travelling youngsters may not have the pathos, but the Maharaja of national carrier Air India is a brand cherished by most persons of my age, with ties to India. We remember, with pride, the fact that Air India was the first all jet airline in the world; one of the earliest adopters of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet …

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Your views: Topic of the week: The mess at Air India

For the last week members of the Indian Pilots Guild are causing huge losses to the national carrier Air India, by going on strike. On CNN IBN noted journalist Karan Thapar interviewed the civil aviation minister Mr. Ajit Singh. Mr. Singh was candid, agreeing to the failures of the carrier, even admitting that government had no business running any service …

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Lufthansa group analysis – Part 2: India Operations

Vinay Bhaskara India is the second largest market for German carrier Lufthansa, after North America, in numbers. In return the all member airlines of the “Lufthansa Group” including SWISS, and Austrian Airlines devote a considerable share of their fleet to India, while Brussels Airlines has a strategic partnership with India’s largest private carrier Jet Airways. Most Lufthansa loyalists were excited …

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“How can you save money, except by getting the 787?” Interview with Dr. Dinesh Keskar, President, Boeing India

On the sidelines of the India Aviation 2012 show at Hyderabad, Devesh Agarwal had an exclusive one-on-meeting interview with Dr. Dinesh Keskar, President, Boeing International Corporation India Pvt. Ltd., and Senior Vice President of Sales, Asia-Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Dr. Keskar also chairs the Committee on Aviation at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) which …

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Jet Airways should strengthen its Brussels hub, not shift to Munich

Editor’s note: This is Part 1 in a series of analyses answering the question: “What should Jet Airways do with its international operations?” Parts 2 and 3 will cover the idea of a Mumbai hub and the fate of Jet’s 777-300ER fleet. Photo courtesy Jet Airways Late last week, a report emerged from the Economic Times of India that India’s …

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A PPP proposal to rescue Air India while retaining government ownership

Yesterday the government announced a massive Rs. 30,000 Crore ($5 billion) bailout of national carrier Air India. The government has justified this this bailout to ostensibly protect the jobs of the over-bloated workforce of 30,000 employees at the airline. Simple maths effectively translates the infusion to Rs. 10 million per employee, a figure the average Indian cannot even hope to …

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MAP: All of the announced routes by airlines for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

To date, the only carrier to enter the new super-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliner into service is Japan-based All Nippon Airways (ANA). However, numerous airlines have announced their planned operations for the Boeing 787 as follow: 1. ANA (already in service)2. Japan Airlines (already delivered; will enter service in March)3. Air India (already delivered; entry into service [EIS] TBD)4. Ethiopian Airlines …

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Restoring India’s Aviation Competitiveness: Tony Tyler

The following speech was given by the CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Tony Tyler, at the India Aviation 2012 Air Show in Hyderabad. Our comments are included in the quote and are italicized and colored red. Good morning and thank you for the invitation to address the opening session of this important event. Congratulations to the Ministry …

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Photos and Videos: Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner cabin interiors revealed

At the India Aviation 2012 show in Hyderabad, Boeing finally unveiled the interiors of its 787-8 Dreamliner meant for delivery to Air India today. Bangalore Aviation was one of the first publications to be invited on board the long awaited aircraft. Line Number 35, test registered N1015B, which when delivered to Air India will become VT-ANH. This video is a …

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Air India’s first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lands in Delhi

The 35th Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner painted in national carrier Air India livery touched down in the capital New Delhi earlier this afternoon. The aircraft currently registered N1015B which will become VT-ANH when delivered to Air India, lifted off from King County International Airport better known as Boeing Field at 10:01 Pacific time under the radio call sign Boeing 236 to …

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Middle East Loses its Luster for India’s Airlines

Will the majority of future of India-Gulf flights go through Dubai? The first 9 months of 2012 will see a major re-shuffling by India’s airlines on the heavily trafficked India-Gulf sector, as airlines respond to higher fuel prices and a poor regulatory environment, and Air India continues to re-align its network strategy. Air India will be enacting the most significant …

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Analysis: Air India’s $1 billion compensation claim on Boeing for 787 delays is baseless

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that India’s national carrier Air India was asking for roughly $1 billion in compensation from US original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Boeing for the roughly 3 year delay of the Boeing 787-8. With Air India’s initial delivery having been pushed back almost 2.75 years by the natural program delays and further delay of the delivery of …

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