Tag Archives: Devesh Agarwal

Last week, the Aviation Photographers India very kindly received permission from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Bengaluru International Airport Limited for its members to do airside photography for a few days, a permission for which the foundation extends its sincere thanks. I had the pleasure of joining the expedition on a few days. Below is a British …

The artist Christoph Niemann has published a beautifully illustrated visual diary in the New York Times documenting a flight from New York to Berlin with a layover in London. As a former over-frequent flier, I related to the diary and it had me in rolling on the floor laughing MAO. Cannot think of a better way to end the week. …

The operators of the Bengaluru international airport (BIA), Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), have announced a massive expansion of the existing terminal 1 which is expected to commence almost immediately, cost about Rs. 1,000 Crore (approx $222 million) and complete in about 18 months time. Outline of existing terminal indicates the scope of expansion. Click on image for high res. …

GoAir recently added its ninth Airbus A320-214 in to the fleet. VT-WAM MSN4399 will help GoAir expand its operations. The airline is expected to induct its tenth A320 VT-WAN by end October 2010. As the Indian economy recovers air traffic is following the typical ratio and growing at twice the GDP growth rate of 8.5%. Winter is the highest travel …

RyanAir has often been credited with being virtually unstoppable thanks to a highly efficient operation. However, as the WhichBudget website explains While Ryanair declared €663m of ancillary revenues in its last annual report in 2009, Ryanair earned more than €664m in subsidies the same year. It means that subsidies are at least as important as ancillary revenues and represent around …

gfiles magazine has written a two part article accusing India’s Civil Aviation Minister and other officials of systemic corruption with the ulterior motive of running Air India in to the ground. As the magazine puts it gfiles prayerfully brings to the Supreme Court’s attention, in two parts, the inside story of how a national resource – as well as a …

The world knows of the endless disputes between the French and the Germans. This dispute reached new heights on board a recent Lufthansa flight. LH687 from Tel-Aviv to Frankfurt had a few dozen French tourists in economy class who, in good humour, started a pillow fight in the cabin. Naturally the Lufthansa cabin crew rushed to defend the pride of …

A Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGJ performing flight 9W2451 from Kolkata to Bangalore, India with 150 passengers on board, touched down very hard on runway 27 at 08:25 (02:55Z). The resultant force ballooned the aircraft back in to the air around 20 feet. Due to the impact the aircraft was de-stabilised and due to strong cross-winds prevailing, appeared to …

Airport lounges are a critical benchmark, and a key selling point for airlines across the world. Be it for their premium class passengers or their loyal and frequent fliers, airlines spend millions of dollars on these oases of peace, calm, exclusivity and privacy and rightly so. In this day where passengers are treated more like cattle than humans, a little …

JetLite, the former Air Sahara and now wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd, has unveiled a new uniform for its staff as the airline commences a strategy of brand enhancement. Unlike the very modern and western look projected by the cabin crew uniforms of parent Jet Airways, the new blue and white uniforms of JetLite, with their embroidered …

Virgin Atlantic Airways recently unveiled a new aircraft livery and brand identity for the airline. The new design which will be applied progressively to all of the company’s 38 aircraft, was showcased on one of Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft G-VROC named Mustang Sally. The carrier last had a makeover in 2005.The Virgin Atlantic name, previously on the front end …

I still remember it as vividly as any recent memory. 25 years ago today, August 2, 1985, it was just after 6pm in the evening and like most residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, I was just sitting down to dinner and watching the prime-time evening news. At 18:05 (00:05+1 Z) a six year old Delta Airlines Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar …

Gurgaon, India based value carrier SpiceJet has placed a fresh order for 30 addition Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with deliveries commencing from 2014. The new aircraft will incorporate the new, spacious 737 Boeing Sky Interior (click link for images) with soft blue cove lighting, curving architecture and larger window that will offer a sense of spaciousness in the cabin and comfort …

Last week on July 20, Boeing [NYSE: BA], delivered to the U.S. Navy the first F/A-18 Super Hornet featuring a gun bay door manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) based in Bangalore, India. F/A-18 featuring HAL made gun bay door. Click on image for a high resolution view. These gun bay doors are the product of the first military contract …

Indian Navy officers along with Boeing have successfully completed the final design review (FDR) for the P-8I, India’s long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on the Boeing 737 commercial airplane. Completion of the FDR locks in the design for the aircraft, radar, communications, navigation, mission computing, acoustics and sensors, as well as the ground and test support equipment. …

Sky Team alliance members Air France-KLM and Delta announced a special promotion called the ‘Early Bird offer’ for passengers flying economy class from September 10 to October 10, 2010. To avail the offer, customer needs to book the tickets by August 15, 2010. The offer is subject to availability of seats. The fares are inclusive of all applicable taxes and …

Dubai based Emirates airlines operated the first commercial A380 flight to India on July 15. It was a rain soaked day, but the excitement was palpable for this one-off flight. The flight proved the A380 capabilities of Indira Gandhi International airport at New Delhi. Now it remains to be seen if Emirates will pip Lufthansa and be the first airline …

A Jet Airways turbo-prop ATR72-500 (ATR72-212A) registration VT-JCA performing flight 9W2510 from Indore to Ahmedabad airport with 57 passengers and four crew on-board had a nose wheel collapse soon after landing at Ahmedabad airport around 21:20 (15:50Z). The airplane is blocking the single runway of the airport. All passengers and crew are safe and were de-planed via stairs and taken …