Category Archives: Aviation

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has registered growth of more than 15% and 22% in its revenues and profits after tax, respectively in the financial year 2016-17 as compared to the financial year 2015-16. While its traditional businesses have grown at a healthy rate, growth in the new businesses and new markets also contributed to its revenues, according to AAI annual report 2016-17. The major factors for hike in revenue are increase in route navigational charges and terminal landing charges; increase in landing, housing and parking charges; increase in passenger service fee; increase in other revenue like trading concession, rent and services, cargo, UDF and other miscellaneous revenue, and increase in share of revenue from Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) & Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (MIAL).

Air China recently organised a networking event for its agent partners in Mumbai to award the top performers. It presented a total of 19 awards acknowledging 16 agencies and three airport service companies. Present at the occasion were Subhash Goyal, Chairperson, Stic Travel Group, that distributes the airline in the western, southern and eastern region of India, along with Shao Jun, General Manager, Air China, Mumbai office. The event was followed by cocktails and dinner. Speaking about the new initiatives, Goyal said, “We had conducted a familiarisation tour for our agent partners in 2016 and 2017, offering them all Indian meals to give them an idea of what we are capable of offering our Indian passengers. We plan to conduct another such tour this year as well. We see tourism and trade as the growth drivers for air traffic between India and China. The number of Chinese tourists visiting in India has been low because of visa restrictions but we hope it will increase now with the introduction of e-visa scheme. Also, trade and industrial exhibitions in China are an attraction for Indian companies and we see a lot of Indian businessmen visiting the country.”

GoAir is set to further expand its international footmark with the launch of direct flights on the Bengaluru-Phuket and Bengaluru-Male routes effective December 9, 2018. The airline recently announced its direct services to Phuket and Male from Delhi and Mumbai. GoAir will operate three direct flight services per week between Bengaluru and Phuket at an attractive return fare starting from Rs 16,999 (all inclusive); two direct flight services per week between Bengaluru and Male at an attractive return fare starting from Rs 15,199 (all inclusive). The flight schedules are designed to provide flexibility of choice, passenger convenience and customised travel options. GoAir also provides GoHoliday packages, whereby customers can choose from 3/4/5/7 holiday options to both Phuket and Male. The addition of this new connectivity will bolster GoAir’s offering between Bengaluru with Phuket and Male. It will further strengthen the airline’s growing international network and significantly enhance connectivity for passengers. The sector has been introduced in response to the growing demand from leisure travellers from Bengaluru. GoAir had recently announced India’s first-ever direct service to Phuket from Delhi and Mumbai followed by connecting Mumbai and Delhi with Male, Maldives.  

With an average load factor exceeding 80 per cent and the increased demand on Air India’s New Delhi-Tel Aviv flight services, the national carrier has added a fifth weekly flight starting November 26, 2018. The airline will now fly five days a week including Monday in addition to Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday on the 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft departs from New Delhi at 16:50 pm and arrives in Tel Aviv at 20:45 pm (local time). On its return leg, the flight departs from Tel Aviv at 22:15 pm and lands in Delhi on the following day at 8:15 am. In addition to Air India’s announcement, Israeli carrier El Al has introduced a new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on its Mumbai-Tel Aviv route. The new airplane has a capacity of 279 seats in a four-class configuration of First, Business, Economy Plus and Economy. El Al is the only airline currently servicing the direct Mumbai-Tel Aviv sector with three weekly non-stop flights. The aircraft departs at 12:20 pm every Sunday, Monday and Thursday from Mumbai and arrives in Tel Aviv at 16:50 pm (local time). On its return leg, the plane departs from Tel Aviv at 20:15 pm every Saturday and Sunday to land in Mumbai on the following day at 7:30 am. On Thursdays, the flight takes off at 8:30 am from Tel Aviv to reach Mumbai at 19:45 pm. These announcements have come at a time when Israel Ministry of Tourism has recorded a growth of 58 per cent with 48,800 Indian arrivals to the country from January to September 2018 vis-à-vis 30,800 Indian visitors during the same period in 2016.

The Andhra Pradesh government has partnered with IndiGo to operate two weekly non-stop services between Vijayawada and Singapore with effect from December 04, 2018. Ajay Jain, IAS Principal Secretary- Energy, I&I said, “We feel excited to engage IndiGo as the most preferred airline for connecting Vijayawada to Singapore. This will fulfil the dreams of Telugu Diaspora in Singapore and will be a great convenience for our investors and business community.”  Virender Singh, CEO- APADCL, said, “This is just a beginning to add more such flights to many more destinations”. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We feel privileged to be the first domestic airline to launch international services from Vijayawada in association with the Government of Andhra Pradesh. These twice weekly non-stop flight services between Vijayawada and Singapore will augment our regional connectivity that we aspire to provide across domestically and internationally.”

Domestic air traffic has grown by 20.94 per cent from January-September YOY, according to a latest report by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-September 2018 were 1027.93 lakhs as against 849.94 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year. The passenger load factor in the month of September 2018 has shown increasing trend compared to previous month due to beginning of festive season. the report said.

India is set to become the third largest air passenger market, surpassing the UK around 2024, according to a recent study by IATA’s ‘20-Year Air Passenger Forecast’. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that present trends in air transport suggest passenger numbers could double to 8.2 billion in 2037. Over the next two decades, the forecast anticipates a 3.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), leading to a doubling in passenger numbers from today’s levels. The Asia-Pacific region will drive the biggest growth with more than half the total number of new passengers over the next 20 years coming from these markets. Growth in this market is being driven by a combination of continued robust economic growth, improvements in household incomes and favorable population and demographic profiles. “Aviation is growing, and that is generating huge benefits for the world. A doubling of air passengers in the next 20 years could support 100 million jobs globally. There are two important things that stand out about this year’s forecast. Firstly, we are seeing a geographical reshuffling of world air traffic to the East. And secondly, we foresee a significant negative impact on the growth and benefits of aviation if tough and restrictive protectionist measures are implemented,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, IATA.

Air Italy has announced its entry into the Indian market, offering services from Delhi and Mumbai to Milan effective December 7 and December 14, 2018 respectively. Connecting Italy to two of the main business destinations in Asia, India will be the fourth international addition to the Air Italy network after the successful launch of its operations to New York, Miami and Bangkok from its new hub in Milan-Malpensa. Rossen Dimitrov, Chief Operating Officer, Air Italy said, “We look forward to the connection between Italy and two of the main business and tourist destinations in Asia – Mumbai and New Delhi. With the launch of our India operations in December, we are excited to offer newer routes and a wider travel option to the discerning travelers from India. Our new service will increase convenience for business guests, leisure travellers as well as students, travelling between India and Italy, further strengthening commerce as well as tourism ties between the two countries.” With the addition of the two new routes, Air Italy offers travellers a range of both domestic and international connectivity options from the airline’s hub and access to exclusive destinations. Passengers travelling from India to Milan will benefit from convenient connections via Malpensa to Italian key cities and destinations. Airbus A330-200 will be deployed for the two new routes from India to Milan, operating thrice a week from both cities.

InterGlobe Air Transport (IGAT) has been appointed as the exclusive General Sales Agent (GSA) in India by car rental company, Hertz. The exclusive partnership was formed following a year of successful collaboration in India between the two companies. The appointment will be effective immediately and will cover all of Hertz’s brands including Dollar, Thrifty, ACE and Firefly for outbound rentals. Commenting on the partnership, Siddhanta Sharma, President and CEO, InterGlobe Air Transport, said, “Hertz’s global expertise and modern fleet, coupled with our strong footprint across the Indian market will help us pave substantial inroads with both corporate and leisure holiday travellers. Our discerning network in India very much welcomes our ongoing collaboration with a renowned, truly global player such as Hertz.” Eoin MacNeill, Vice President, Hertz Asia Pacific, added, “IGAT has 29 years of experience in the Indian travel industry and is perfectly placed to grow Hertz’s presence by providing consumers with mobility solutions that suit their needs, regardless of if they’re travelling for business or leisure.” According to Research and Markets, India outbound visitors will grow 10 per cent CAGR by 2022, thus increasing the demand for Hertz’s services. IGAT has 12 offices across the country, as well as 80 sales people to help cater to this segment effectively.

Commemorating 18 years of successful journey in India, Virgin Atlantic hosted a celebratory evening in Jalandhar for its major trade partners and travel agents. The evening witnessed the presence of Virgin Atlantic’s senior management including David Hodges, Country Manager, Virgin Atlantic India, Sameer Duggal, Commercial Manager and Inderpal S Anand, Sales Manager, Punjab. The evening began with company’s product update and latest offerings such as the new SME programme called Flying Co, which offers unique and differentiated reward opportunities. It offers members the chance to earn and spend miles across a range of product and services of Virgin Atlantic and its partners. A grand dinner and cocktails followed the product presentation. Hodges said, “The evening highlighted our fantastic new SME programme – Flying Co and our codeshare partnership with Jet Airways. These initiatives are a part of our commitment to give more rewards and a seamless service to the Punjab market. We want everyone to have the opportunity to fly the best service in the skies and look forward to our continued partnership with the Punjab travel market.” Virgin Atlantic with its active focus on India market is working round-the-clock to offer best in-class services such as three new ways to fly economy and its recent campaign ‘Depart the everyday’ which extends to the LGBT community in India.