Tag Archives: Devesh Agarwal

In a first for India, Miles & More, the frequent flier programme of the Lufthansa group has tied up with Nuance duty free shop at Bengaluru International Airport to offer its members earning of frequent flier miles while shopping. Miles & More cardholders can earn 2 award miles for every US$1 (approx Rs. 44) spent at Nuance’s duty free shops …

The readers of Bangalore Aviation are a well travelled, highly knowledgeable group. To make the site more interactive, I will try and bring one survey a week and seek your valuable inputs the results of which we will share the following week. Various airline executives claim most passengers only care about price. Everything is secondary or is not important. I …

For the first time in its history Aero India will host a privately owned aerobatics team The Flying Bulls Aerobatic Team. Visitors to the show will be able to enjoy some world famous dare-devilry in the sky. In an exclusive contest and thanks to this team’s owners, Red Bull, two readers of Bangalore Aviation will win tickets to visit the …

From Bangalore, the technological capital of India, the number one destination is San Francisco and the surrounding bay area, followed by Los Angeles, both in California. Good news from two behemoths of the Star Alliance, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines both of whom operate the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Lufthansa will upgrade its current daily Boeing 747-400 service to an A380 service …

Last week, the Indian ministry of civil aviation granted Gurgaon based low fare carrier IndiGo permission to commence its international operations in August with flights to Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore ex-Mumbai and Delhi and to Muscat ex-Mumbai. The Dubai and Muscat routes are a bonanza for the airline. Mumbai and Delhi are the two largest markets in India. There is …

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international (IGI) airport will face flight disruptions this week due to Republic Day and Bangalore’s Bengaluru international airport (BIA) will face disruptions in early February due to the Aero India 2011 show. With India celebrating Republic Day on 26 January, flight operations in Delhi will be shut down: Between 0700-1230 hours and 1400-1830 hours on 26 …

India’s largest low fare carrier IndiGo, is known for its no-fuss service and its flight punctuality. The airline has a television advertisement boasting the punch line “On time is a wonderful thing”. Back in late November, early morning flights at Bangalore were delayed due to fog. As the fog lifted with the morning sun, there was the usual mad scramble …

Another plane spotting quiz to tickle that grey matter. This is a picture taken by Aviation Photographers India Foundation member Vedant Agarwal. (See more of his photos here). Identify the twelve airlines and if possible the aircraft from left to right via a comment. Click on the image for a larger view.

Fog is the bane of New Delhi winters haunting air travellers every year like clockwork. All this despite the New Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport being the nation’s most technically advanced airport with Cat IIIB ILS equipped runways which permits landings in as low as 50 meters visibility. It is natural for the average traveller to wonder on these delays …

Click on the image for a larger view With the closure of the main runway 09-27 for re-carpeting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, only the secondary runway 14-32 is available. This has caused a veritable traffic jam especially in the midday. Our flight had to wait 20 minutes just to push back, and I managed to take a wing …

Without a doubt the Airbus A320 family is queen of the night-time ramp at Bengaluru International Airport. The three major Indian operators of the A320, Air India, IndiGo and Kingfisher, station their aircraft at Bangalore for early morning operations commencing from Bangalore. Even on the international front, Airbus rules the roost with the A330 being operated by Air France, DragonAir, …

Qatar Airways has announced its intention to enter into a code share agreement with one of Brazil’s largest airlines, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes with an aim to offer passengers of its Doha Sao Paulo flights connectivity to 47 destinations within the South American nation at a future date, yet to be determined. Both airlines have filed a joint application with …

Its a ritual of every winter. Heavy fog at Bangalore and Delhi causing flight delays and disrupting the trips of many. Hated by passengers, plane spotters and photographers love it. We get to see aircraft during the day which normally come only at night, when photographs cannot be taken, or in this case, we get to see an aircraft that …

Air travel is directly linked to economic activity, and it is globally recognised that the industry grows at roughly twice the GDP growth rate. Conversely, the industry shrinks twice as fast too. Across the world, the harsh economic conditions of the last two years forced the air travel industry to make their organisations leaner and meaner, and find ways to …

As 2011 dawns, our warmest wishes for your new year to be filled with joy, success, and prosperity. My deepest, sincerest and heart-felt thanks for your support and continuing patronage. Devesh Agarwal

An Egypt Air Boeing 737-800 registration SU-GCR performing flight MS-968 from Cairo, Egypt to Mumbai CSIA, India, with 121 passengers and 7 crew, was on approach to land. At 07:25 (01:55Z) the pilots declared a full emergency after receiving a fire warning in the cargo hold. The flight landed normally two minutes later and taxied to the gate. Passengers disembarked …

Continuing with the trend of air cargo, this week’s picture is of the MD-11F freighter N524FE of global shipping giant FedEx Express. Click on the image for a larger view The MD-11 was the update to the venerable McDonnell Douglas DC-10. After a long career with many an airline, the last MD-11 passenger flight was performed on February 20, 2010 …

On the back of strong economic growth in the region, Bangalore has grown its passenger traffic 23% to 11.24 million for calendar 2010 surpassing Chennai to become the third largest airport in the country. For the last five years, Bangalore had been leading Chennai as the third largest in domestic passenger and freight traffic, but this year in May the …