Tag Archives: India

Whenever a new aircraft arrives at an airport for the first time, it is given the traditional water cannon salute by the airport’s fire trucks spraying water high in to the air from both sides, to form an arch under which the aircraft passes. India’s capital New Delhi’s India Gandhi International Airport welcomed the first Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental D-ABYA as …

As domestic full service carriers like Air India and Jet Airways are cutting back on their commissions, travel agents in India have decided to charge a service charge of Rs 225 from July 16 on tickets of full service carriers, issued by them. In this age of skyrocketing expenses, airlines are desperately trying to curtail costs. Ticket distribution and sales …

The following was posted as a guest post over at The Wandering Aramean, a great travel blog written by Seth Miller which also doubles as a travel tool site. Be sure to check his site out, and stay tuned, as we will have some guest content from him this week. When India’s Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and SpiceJet all recently …

Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has announced that it will be launching flights between Tokyo Narita and New Delhi later this fall as part of a broader plan to increase its international capacity by 22% by the beginning of fiscal year 2014. The expansion will be enabled by a growth in ANA’s long haul fleet, as it will …

Will SriLankan Airline’s entry into oneworld force a change in the carrier’s network strategy? Image courtesy Wikimedia Early Monday, SriLankan Airlines, the flag carrier of India’s southernmost neighbor, is set to be announced as the newest member of the oneworld, the global alliance of airlines. The carrier, which serves 60 destinations on a fleet of 21 aircraft, will add Kochi, …

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 …

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, …

Member airlines of the “Lufthansa Group” — Deutsche Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, have increased their baggage allowance on trips between USA/Canada and India to TWO checked bags each weighing up to 23 Kgs. As per the website Free Baggage Allowance UPDATE For tickets issued on or after February 17th, 2012, the free baggage allowance for …

With the on-going crisis at Kingfisher Airlines, we share with you the official Government of India Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for facilities to be provided to passengers, by airlines, in the event of denied boarding (read over-booking), cancellation of flights, or delayed flights. The Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3 – Air Transport, Series M, Part IV, Issue I, dated August …

In contrast to the positive note I ended my US airline review for 2011 on, the Indian industry most certainly had a bad year in 2011. The shine is certainly off the fast growing Indian market, and the cautious optimism noted at the end of 2010 has turned back into fear. Airlines and airports have continued to invest in their …

AirAsia X, the low cost, long haul, affiliate of AirAsia, today announced a suspension of flights between its Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia hub and Mumbai and Delhi in India, London, UK, and Paris, France. AirAsia X Airbus A340-300 at London Stansted airport. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. Mumbai – Four weekly services will be suspended with the last flight on 31 January, …

The team of Vinay Bhaskara, Addison Schonland and Devesh Agarwal bring you another edition of the India aviation review podcast. In this edition we feature the dilemma faced by a bankrupt Air India and its 27 787 Dreamliner order. There is no doubt that the airline needs a good mid-sized aircraft, but it is out of money. Is the national …

The world’s best airline, Singapore Airlines will be effecting a significant change in its scheduled operations at Mumbai starting from the Winter 2011 schedule which goes in to effect on October 30th. The carrier is also strengthening the operations of its regional subsidiary SilkAir across India. MumbaiCurrently the carrier operates double daily flights between the financial capital of India and …

By Devesh Agarwal and Vinay Bhaskara Late on September 4th, 2011, the first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental rolled out of a paint hangar near Boeing’s Everett Factory in Seattle in full Lufthansa colors. This first aircraft, which will be registered as D-ABYA, will undergo stringent ground tests ahead of planned initial test flights beginning in November. As per Boeing, this first …

Boeing is bringing the 787 Dreamliner to India for the first time. ZA002 will arrive in Delhi on July 13th. It is scheduled to proceed to Mumbai, but Boeing officials refused to indicate their plans for Mumbai. It appears the plan as of now is for the aircraft to be in Mumbai on July 15th briefly and then return on …

From the Summer 2011 time-table which commences this Sunday, Air China is increasing its frequency on the Shanghai-Chengdu-Bangalore flight from two to three times a week. The Wednesday, Saturday arrivals with Thursday, Sunday departures will be complemented by an additional frequency arriving in to Bangalore on Mondays and departing early morning Tuesdays. Aircraft type continues to be an Airbus A319-100. …

BASIC and BRIC economic group partners India and Brazil signed a new bi-lateral air services agreement (ASA) recently superseding an earlier 2006 agreement, with an intent to drive greater trade, economic investments and tourism between the two nations. The new agreement allows for any number of designated airlines (which was previously limited to one per country), to operate up to …

The Indian budget for 2011-12 has raised the cost of air travel by imposition or raising of service tax. Earlier this morning, the Indian Finance Minister, Mr. Mukherjee, announced that the service tax on air travel by economy class would be raised by Rs. 50 for domestic trips and by Rs. 250 on international. Domestic business and first class passengers …

Tomorrow, February 17, 2011 marks the 100 year anniversary of civil aviation in India. To commemorate this milestone, the year 2011-12 has been being declared as the ‘Civil Aviation Centenary Year’. From humble beginnings, India has grown in to the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world. Airlines, airports, aircraft, and pretty much anyone connected with civil aviation in …

While preparations are in full swing for Aero India, I came across another gem of a piece by Ajai Shukla a noted defence analyst in India and a person who I respect for his views. Ajai, who does not mince too many words writes in today’s Business Standard newspaper, in his Broadsword column about the growing scam in the defence …