Tag Archives: Devesh Agarwal

Image courtesy Wikipedia. At a time when the Indian airline industry is already reeling under the double whammy of lowering economic output and sky-rocketing fuel prices, passengers and airlines are going to get hit by a massive hike in both passenger and aeronautical charges at the national capital New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). The airport operator Delhi International …

The government of India will allow aviation companies to borrow up to $1 billion (Rs. 5,100 crore) collectively and up to $300 million individually, from overseas, via the external commercial borrowings (ECB) route, as per a statement released by the finance ministry today. In his Budget speech last month, the Indian Finance Minister had announced that companies in the aviation …

The Indian Government is expanding its Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) scheme, first introduced in 2010 to the nationals of 11 countries, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. The TVOA facility is only available for arrivals at the four metro airports, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The government has also expanded the purpose …

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 …

Today, the space shuttle Discovery performed her final flight; atop the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Here she is, touching down at Washington Dulles airport (IATA: IAD). Here is a video from NASA showing her departing Florida. Thanks for the memories Discovery.

ANA9397 the delivery flight of a brand new All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is making aviation history as it flies to its destination, Tokyo’s Haneda airport, today. Image courtesy FlightAware It is the first time a 787 Dreamliner has flown powered, at least in part, by sustainable biofuels. The delivery flight between Boeing’s Delivery Center in Everett, Wash. …

Malaysian low cost carrier AirAsia has released an ad titled “Awesome AirAsia” to commemorate its 10th anniversary. It sort of reminds me of Virgin Atlantic’s 25th anniversary “Still Red Hot” ad. A hat tip to Shashank Nigam at Simpliflying for the lead.

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 …

If you can get away from the self-promotion in this 9.5 minute video, it is an interesting fantasy on what flight could look like in the 2030~2050 time frame, and how technologies being developed today, military and civil, will play a part. In this 3.5 minute video the cabin of the concept plane. The one question that is asked in …

Image courtesy Lufthansa At the ITB show in Berlin, German carrier Lufthansa announced a new media campaign titled “nonstop you”. The new campaign attempts to build on the carrier’s strong reputation amongst business travellers and also targets leisure travellers more directly than before. Signifying a change in focus by airlines across the globe this year, the campaign focuses on the …

Continuing our weekly interactive post where we seek your views, this week we discuss Kingfisher Airlines. Whether due to his own poor planning and execution, or as some conspiracy theorists will have you believe, there is no doubt, in the case of Kingfisher Airlines, Dr. Vijay Mallya has been systematically pushed against the wall. Kingfisher Airlines is now a weight …

Last month Dubai based Emirates airline received the 1000th Boeing 777 to be built. The aircraft is registered A6-EGO and performed its delivery flight, from Everett to Dubai, on March 21, 2012. Since then the airline has sent this aircraft to many cities across the world, including the capital of India’s neighbour Bangladesh, Dhaka. Image generated courtesy GCMAP. The most …

The first Airbus A350XWB entered the final assembly line at Toulouse earlier this week. Enjoy the photos which are courtesy Airbus S.A.S. Have a great weekend.

Recently Airbus S.A.S. completed the final assembly of MSN (manufacturer’s serial number) 087 Thai Airway’s first A380 superjumbo. Here is a time lapse video showing the event. The national carrier is scheduled to receive delivery of the airline this year. Thai Airways will become the ninth customer worldwide to operate the behemoth, and is expected to deploy the A380 on …

British Airways is one of the world’s most recognisable airlines and at 93 years, one of the oldest. The radio call sign for British Airways is Speedbird, based on the stylised icon of the airline’s predecessors, Imperial Airways and BOAC, and probably best symbolised by Concorde. The airline has naturally relied upon and continues to rely on history and nostalgia …

British Airways has launched a special ‘Dove’ livery celebrating the upcoming London Olympic games of 2012. Nine Airbus A319’s will wear this new livery for the next one year. As part of our BA Great Britons programme, designer Pascal Anson was chosen to create a unique aircraft livery to celebrate London 2012. His beautiful design is based on a dove, …

In parliament, the Indian civil aviation minister Mr. Ajit Singh released the historical information on the passenger load factors and the on-time performance for domestic operations of Indian carriers for the last three years i.e. from January 2009 to December 2011. The annual average for each airline is given, as is the average for all airlines for a given year, …

Dear Readers, welcome to a new financial year. As you know, interactivity with you, our readers, is important to us, and we constantly ask for your thoughts and your views on our stories. Comments received are featured in EVERY page footer, and we are thankful for the contributions received. Deriving from my friend Brett Snyder The Cranky Flier, from today …

Dubai based Emirates airline is trying to evolve its brand from a travel / airline brand to a global lifestyle brand. The carrier set to launch a new global brand platform and direction, themed “Hello Tomorrow,” which positions the global airline as the enabler of global connectivity and meaningful experiences. Emirates has partnered with Strawberry Frog and will launch promotions …

At the India Aviation 2012 show, Bangalore Aviation was invited by Brazilian executive jet airframer, Embraer, to be the first to view the new cabin and interior of the 2012 version of their Legacy 650 business jet which is on public display for the first time in the world. The new interior includes the Honeywell Ovation® Select, all digital, cabin …