Bangalore Aviation has produced a set of graphics which provide significant insight in the domestic operating performance of Indian carriers for the last 12 months. The source data is obtained from India’s regulator The Directorate General of Civil Aviation. On time performance One of the key selling points of IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline, is, on time performance (OTP). As …
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Two of India’s full service carriers have resorted to fare sales to boost traffic numbers in the lean season due to commence once the summer school holidays are over. Jet Airways offered the ‘Great Premiere Experience’ where domestic business fares were discounted 25%. Now Air India is offering a ‘Monsoon Sale‘ which is offering fares starting at Rs 1,777 for …
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Indian carriers seem to be all chasing the same passenger. A cursory look at capacity deployment across seven carriers shows very little variance in terms of a domestic network strategy. However, as one starts to delve deeper some differences tend to emerge. Overall planners focus on three things: schedule offerings (and consequently slots); aircraft utilization; and feed (just a fancy name …
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Disasters bring out the best in people, and Indian airlines are no exception. Following the deadly earthquake in Nepal, all four Indian carriers operating to Kathmandu, Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet, are putting their best feet (or wings) forward, and pitching in to support the aid efforts directed towards the stricken Himalayan nation. Additional flights Indian carriers were …
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Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, airport is shut down after the landing gear of a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGA collapsed soon after landing, blocking the sole runway at the airport. All 59 passengers and eight crew on board evacuated safely. Flight 9W-2423 originated from New Delhi via Varanasi before arriving at Khajuraho around 13:15 this afternoon. The landing gear is …
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National carrier Air India’s newest Boeing 787-8 is the first Dreamliner in the world to wear the special Star Alliance livery. The carrier celebrated the milestone delivery of its 20th 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft bearing the registration VT-ANU was built at Boeing’s final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Air India serves more than 60 domestic and 37 …
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AirAsia India has painted its fourth Airbus A320 aircraft with a special livery in homage to JRD Tata, considered the father of Indian civil aviation in the Indian sub-continent. The aircraft bears the registration VT-JRT (Jehangir Ratanji (Dadabhoy) Tata) and has been named ‘The Pioneer’. The livery feature a portrait of JRD Tata with the Puss Moth, the aircraft he …
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For over 25 years, the venerable ‘Queen of the skies’ the Boeing 747-400, of the national carrier, Air India, has served as India’s VIP (very important person) international transport. Tagged as ‘Air India One’ two of these aircraft are used by the President, the Vice President, and the Prime Minister of India on their international trips, even if to neighbouring …
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Almost nine months after national carrier Air India joined the global airline grouping Star Alliance, it has painted one of its flagship Boeing 777-300ERs VT-ALJ Bihar is the special Alliance livery. This photograph from our contributor Prathamesh Kini at Mumbai. Contributors also report, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Charleston, South Carolina is also being prepared in the special Star livery. …
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It is like a non-stop litany. Another Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has been grounded. This time VT-ANK is AOG (aircraft on ground) since February 6, 2015, 10 days ago when it last operated flight AI-113 from New Delhi to Birmingham, UK. As per sources, the grounding was caused due to a fault in the C duct of the engine …
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Last week Indian national carrier Air India took delivery of it newest Airbus A320 equipped with the new Sharklet wingtips. The aircraft is registered VT-EXA and was ferried to New Delhi on the 5th of February. The aircraft delivered under a 12-year operating lease agreement from China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC). CALC shall deliver an additional four new …
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In a bold move national carrier Air India has put errant employees and vendors who delay flights on notice. The airline will deduct salaries of employees and caterers found responsible for delays of flights. The Maharaja which has one of the worst one-time performance (OTP) records amongst Indian carriers, has been instructed by the top bureaucrat in the civil aviation …
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It appears that Air India’s troublesome Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VT-ANI has finally completed its repairs and retrofits and is getting ready for flight. From a supporter of Bangalore Aviation comes this photo taken at Mumbai airport on India’s Republic Day, January 26, 2015. A hat-tip to the boss. Readers will recall, since April 2014, nine months ago, Air India’s Boeing …
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National carrier Air India finds itself in a jumbo-sized problem. It has a huge excess of wide-body ‘jumbo’ and ‘mini-jumbo’ aircraft used for international flights, while facing a severe shortage of narrow body aircraft leaving it unable to capitalise on the increased winter demand and the additional demand shying away from SpiceJet due to the latter’s financial troubles. The current …
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On January 19th, Bloomberg reported that national carrier Air India will commence large scale fuel hedging for the first time. The story was promptly picked up and reported by many leading Indian newspapers the next morning, including The Business Standard and The Mint. As per the story, “Air India is hedging 2 million barrels of aviation turbine fuel annually at …
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Keeping in line with the weak economic growth in India, domestic air passenger traffic grew a tepid 9.7% during 2014. In 2013 61.426 million passengers travelled, which grew to 67.383 million. Monthly data and info-graphics December is the peak month for travel in India, both international and domestic. As the stacked monthly graph shows, in December 6.44 million (64.4 lakhs) …
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National carrier Air India will introduce a daily direct daily service between New Delhi and Vijayawada from tomorrow, January 15, 2015 which will be the second service on the route. Presently the carrier flies on a one-stop flight via Hyderabad. The new flight AI459 departs New Delhi at 06:20 and arrives Vijayawada at 08:25 The return flight AI460 departs Vijayawada …
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Air India’s newest Boeing 777-200LR VT-ALH Maharashtra has finally flown after a gap of over 31 months after it was in storage since March 29, 2012. The test flight AI555 took off from Mumbai’s Chhatrapathi Shivaji airport around 13:20 on Friday, January 9, 2015 and performed a series of race track circuits for about 100 minutes (1h40m) before returning at …
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India’s two operators of wide-body aircraft, national carrier Air India and private sector Jet Airways will be deploying wide-body aircraft on their routes between Mumbai New Delhi Bengaluru and Chennai to boost capacity for the new year period. Jet Airways will deploy its surplus A330-200s while Air India will deploy its Boeing 777-300ERs. Jet Airways commenced operating its Airbus A330-200s …
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The Indian skies are fairly busy. With seven airlines operating, one about to launch services, one in a bit of a challenge and six airline licenses granted by the Ministry of Civil aviation, increased competition is inevitable. Yet, if one looks at profitability, there is only one airline that has been consistently profitable. Which begs the question, are all the …
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Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation