Tag Archives: Air India

Boeing in a better position than Airbus as Indian airlines slash aircraft deliveries

2008 was the year reality struck home in the Indian airline industry. One whiff of the downturn exposed the lack of robust business planning, and abundance of financial vulnerability of Indian carriers, leaving all of them battered and bruised, some more than others. We saw mass-scale defaulting on payments by carriers in India to everyone from airports to aircraft manufacturers. …

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“Terrorist” commandos cause security flap at New Delhi airport

Call it post 26/11 jitters, but an quick reacting flight attendant and under-cover commandos caused a security flap and high drama at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. An Air India Airbus A320-200, IC-401 from New Delhi to Kolkata with 104 people on board, was lined up awaiting clearance for take-off when a woman passenger, an off duty flight attendant …

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Missing laptop fracas delays Kolkata Bangalore JetLite flight

A JetLite flight to Bangalore was delayed by 45 minutes and boarding on several flights had to be suspended for 10 minutes on Sunday evening after a passenger Saptarishi Basu, complained that his laptop had gone missing from the security hold. Around 5 pm, Basu, who was to board the JetLite flight to Bangalore, went in for security check. On …

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Airline services India update: El-Al, Air India, Saudi Arabian, Turkish THY

A host of new and updated services to and from India announced this week. Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) will launch new flights to Bangalore, Lucknow, and Kozhikode (Calicut) over the next few days. The airline has commenced operating three flights a week to Lucknow; two flights a week to Bangalore from today, March 30, 2009 and four flights a week …

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Two Air India staff arrested for human trafficking

Two Air India employees have been arrested after the vigilance department of the airline found they were allegedly involved in human trafficking and transported two women to the US showing them as their wives. Deepak Salvi, a office superintendent, and Hemant Morade, an operator, were arrested for allegedly illegally transporting two women posing as their wives to the US and …

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Entry of Air India in to Star Alliance delayed by a year, window opens for Jet Airways?

The entry of Air India in to the Star Alliance is delayed by at least one year to the first quarter of 2010. Star Alliance founder, Lufthansa was a sponsor for Air India joining the Star Alliance. Since 2004, Air India has operated code-sharing flights with Lufthansa between Germany and India. 18 months ago, the Government of India decided to …

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Air India budget allocation increased to $1.6 billion

In a bid to strengthen the financial position of Air India, the Indian government yesterday substantially increased the allocation for its holding company, National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL), by about Rs 4,029 crore (approx $806 million) in the interim Budget 2009-2010. Almost the entire increase in allocation for the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) was cornered by NACIL, …

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Government approves Air India-SATS joint venture

The Indian Government yesterday gave post-facto approval to the formation of following Joint Venture Companies (JVC) between the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) which is the combined Air India and Indian Airlines entity, but branded Air India now, and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS). The joint venture companies are more commonly referred to AI-SATS or Air India-SATS: For …

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Air India flight in near miss incident at Mumbai airport with presidential helicopter – Update 4

Read the official investigation report here. February 9, 2009, 10:00 IST (04:30 GMT) TV channels are reporting that an Air India Airbus A321 performing flight IC866 was involved in a rejected take-off/near miss at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport earlier this morning. The flight had commenced its take-off run, when a helicopter which was given permission to land, strayed across …

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Air India on significant fleet expansion till September

The last few days may have brought bad news to both Boeing and Airbus in the form of order cancellations, which have put both manufacturers in an unenviable situation of being negative on their net order book for 2009. They can take heart in the procurement actions of India’s national carrier Air India, which will be taking delivery of ordered …

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Time for zero tolerance on “air rage”, drunk, and lewd passengers in the Indian skies

The recent “hijack” incident involving Indigo airlines flight 6E344 from Goa to New Delhi, has created the furore all over India, and even on to the international stage. I am glad, Jitendra Kumar Mohala, a 42-year-old chartered accountant, and son of a retired air commodore of the Indian Air Force, has been booked under sections 336 (endangering life and personal …

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Oil companies force ‘cash and carry’ terms on Kingfisher while letting Air India slide

Kingfisher is the largest defaulting private airline in India, and this has finally caught up with it. State owned oil marketing companies (OMCs), who claim they are owed about Rs. 1,000 Crore ($200 million), have enforced ‘cash and carry’ payment terms on the airline, since it has not cleared its dues, even after the extended 90 day payment terms. Kingfisher …

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GoAir joins low fare fight with IndiGo and SpiceJet

The Mint is reporting that GoAir recently started offering uniform fares, inclusive of surcharges and other taxes, for purchases made 21 days in advance. For short sectors, defined as less than 750 kms travel distance, the airline will charge Rs 1,700 a ticket and Rs 2,700 for distances greater than 750 kms. According to the company statement, in effect a …

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Domestic passenger numbers highlight need for major cuts in air fares

2008 was a torrid year for domestic airlines in India, as recently released figures by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) show. Domestic passenger traffic for the year 2008 fell 5% from 42.58 million to 40.77 million (Fig. 1), driven by the increase in fuel costs, and the massive hikes in air fares, which are yet to fully retreat, and …

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Engine safety inspection directive to affect Airbus A320 family

Both the European EASA and US FAA have issued emergency Airworthiness Directives ADs for operators of CFM56-5B engines, typically operated on the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, which include the A318, A319, A320 and A321. Snecma ImageEASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2008-228 and the FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2009-01-01, requests operators of CFM56-5B engines, to monitor Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) for …

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Air India slashes fares as government refuses bailout plea

National airline, Air India, followed lead of its two private sector competitors Jet Airways and Kingfisher, and today, slashed its basic air fares in the domestic sectors ranging from 35 per cent to 82 per cent as per PTI. The fare cut was effective from 1500 hours today, an Air India spokesperson said. The maximum reduction in fares was 82 …

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An air battle, on the ground

In the aviation world, one hears of competition and disagreements in the skies, but in India, over the past year, an air-related battle has been steadily brewing — on the ground. Ground-handling is all the work on the ground relating passengers, cargo and aircraft. It involves passenger check-in, aircraft cleaning, aircraft handling, fuelling, baggage handling, cargo handling, boarding and disembarking …

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Travel agents to boycott Singapore Airlines

I must tip my hat to the travel agents’ associations in India. Their strategy of targeting one airline at a time, has paid handsome dividends. From a paltry five per cent commission on the basic fare, they have successfully made all the airlines pay three per cent on the gross fare, which includes the fuel surcharges, on domestic fares. Passengers …

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Air India and Kingfisher biggest defaulters at Indian airports

In the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that airport developers both in public and private sectors are not getting their dues from the airlines on time which is causing them financial problems. As per the minister’s statement in the house In respect of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI), the dues, …

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Staff protests hit Air India passengers in India

Air India (AI) passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai and other airports across the country will witness delay in baggage clearance and other inconveniences in the coming months as AI employees’ union will conduct a series of demonstrations and strikes to protest against the new ground handling policy of the government. According to a report in today’s …

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