Category Archives: Aviation

MakeMyTrip and Lufthansa Group have entered into a Direct Connect cooperation which gives customers access to innovative and even more competitive flight products.  Direct Connect is a distribution functionality that enables partners to use the Lufthansa Group’s API (application programming interface) for a direct access to the airlines’ inventories and rich content. The API software facilitates the travel partner to provide an enhanced customised offer for third parties. Wolfgang Will, Senior Director Sales South Asia for Lufthansa Group Airlines and Rajesh Magow, Co-founder & CEO India, MakeMyTrip jointly signed the cooperation. The new agreement allows MakeMyTrip to offer Lufthansa Group Airlines’ differentiated travel content to consumers with personalised flight products. Amongst other services, passengers can use the platform to conveniently purchase flight tickets and other services from Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines without paying the 16 Euro Distribution Cost Charge applied to bookings made via traditional sales channels. “This Direct Connect Solution with MakeMyTrip is an incredible milestone in addressing the new-generation of travellers. MakeMyTrip as a Direct Connect Partner of Lufthansa Group in India is a key partner for our future developments in distribution,” Will said. “At MakeMyTrip, we are always looking to provide best content to our users to help make them best travel decisions. We are delighted to partner with Lufthansa and take another step in providing customised and more relevant offerings to better serve Indian travellers”,  said Magow.

Amadeus has introduced the ‘Airport Common Use Service’ (ACUS) to key stakeholders in the Indian aviation industry at India’s first Common Use Roundtable, an event hosted by Amadeus and Bird Group. The launch of Amadeus ACUS means, airports in India can offer a futuristic, more efficient and convenient check-in service as the number of international and domestic travellers increases. Rajesh Suri, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Bird Group shared, “Airports and airlines around the world are looking at how new technologies and solutions can improve passenger experience and operations throughout the airport. Behind the scenes and in front of the passenger, we are pleased to introduce ACUS to India. It is indeed a milestone moment for us as we demonstrate our commitment to offer best-in-class solutions to our business partners across the Indian subcontinent.” To mark the launch of ACUS in India, Amadeus and Bird Group held India’s first Common Use Roundtable on May 17th and 18th in New Delhi, the event brought together India’s senior airline and airport industry leaders to share insights, learnings and to create a vision for the future of Common Use in the country. Sarah Samuel, Head of Airport IT, Asia Pacific of Amadeus says, “The rapid growth of passengers traveling in India means airports are under a lot pressure. Now more than ever, they need to think differently to provide the service expected by consumers. The airport industry has advanced tremendously from the days of dedicated airline check-in desks towards a much more flexible and shared environment.”

WOW air, Iceland’s low fare transatlantic airline, has launched its operations in India with flights from December 7, 2018 at an introductory fare of Rs 13,499 one way. The airline will fly direct, five times a week between New Delhi and Keflavik airport in Iceland and would further connect to multiple destinations in North America and Europe. The price varies in different configuration of seat options, ranging from WOW basic, WOW plus, WOW comfy and WOW premium. A one-way ticket to Iceland, US, Canada and London in economy category called WOW basic will start from Rs 13,499 (including taxes) while the business class fares termed as WOW premium will be priced from Rs 46,599 onwards (including taxes). The airline will deploy the most modern long-haul aircraft, Airbus A330neo for the route from New Delhi. Skúli Mogensen, Chief Executive Officer and founder of WOW air said, “Our launch is in sync with India’s aviation growth story and we look forward to being part of it with our very affordable fares to North America and Europe on board brand new Airbus A330neos. It is also a major milestone for WOW air as we are now connecting Asia with our extensive network in North America and Europe, making Iceland a global hub.”  

IndiGo is all set to add two more sectors connecting Tiruchirappalli by operating a direct flight between Tiruchirappalli and Bengaluru and Tiruchirappalli and Kochi. IndiGo with its seventh ATR will operate four direct flights from Chennai to Tiruchirappalli from June 1. Chief Commercial Officer Sanjay Kumar presented the airline’s expansion plan during a travel agent meet held in Tiruchirappalli. The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options. The introduction of these flights will further strengthen airline’s ATR operations, and will provide enhanced connectivity between Chennai and Tiruchirappalli with all-inclusive fares starting from INR 2299. Elaborating on the new route expansion in south India, Kumar said, “Just like Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai, Tiruchirappalli is also a key market for IndiGo in Tamil Nadu. With rising business and tourism stemming from the southern hubs, IndiGo is determined to provide the best travel experience to all those who wish to fly to these destinations. We are looking at providing affordable fares on these new routes for 6E travellers. It is our constant endeavour to provide more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on time, hassle-free and always affordable flying experience”

British Airways has announced the introduction of the new direct route between London and Durban to a global audience attending Africa’s Travel Indaba in Durban. This long awaited decision was announced by Sihle Zikalala, MEC–Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu Natal, to delegates at the event. The new route adds to the airline’s existing twice-daily flights between Johannesburg and London, and daily flights between Cape Town and London. “This new route adds to our growing number of international flights‚ connecting us to key destinations such as the Gulf region‚ the Middle East‚ the Indian subcontinent‚ Australia as well as Beijing‚ Shanghai‚ Tokyo and Seoul through the hub in Abu Dhabi. The trade opportunities presented by this direct flight between Durban and London is set to add huge value to our economy‚” Zikalala said. The route is a huge leap forward for the tourism sector, propelling foreign direct investment, improving business potential and ensuring the economic empowerment of South Africans.

Pakyong Airport in Sikkim has got licence for scheduled operations, paving way for direct connectivity to Sikkim, which will boost tourism and economic growth in the norteastern state. Suresh Prabhu, Civil Aviation Minister announced the development via Twitter. “The Pakyong (Gangtok) Airport at Sikkim got license on May 4, 2018 for scheduled operations. It is an engineering marvel at a height of more than 4,500 ft in a tough terrain. It will pave a way for direct connectivity to the state of Sikkim, giving boost to tourism & economic growth”, Prabhu said. Pakyong airport, 30-km from the state capital of Gangtok, will be the 100th operational airport when it begins operations, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said. Low-cost airline SpiceJet has been granted permission to fly to Pakyong from Kolkata under the Civil aviation Ministry’s regional connectivity scheme.

Forging ahead with the fourth destination in India after Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kochi recently, Jazeera Airways will now fly to Mumbai starting May 9 to expand its growing network of Indian routes. Responding to the travel demands of its customers, the airline will provide strong connectivity through Kuwait on to 14 destinations across the Middle East. Jazeera Airways will operate daily flights to and from Mumbai starting May 9 departing 20:30 pm from Kuwait arriving 03.00am in Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Rohit Ramachandran, CEO, Jazeera Airways said, “Our network in India is developing well and is continuing to support the travel needs of over 920,000 Indians from Kuwait, as well as offering Indian citizens connectivity across the Middle East. With our increasing passenger numbers, Jazeera Airways is proud to open its own dedicated terminal at Kuwait International Airport in May. This is an exciting phase for the brand as it reiterates the long term commitment of honouring Jazeera’s support for the Vision 2035.”    

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced the opening of a representative office in Mumbai. QTA’s representative office in India will oversee a wide range of promotional initiatives, including workshops, sales visits, travel agent destination training through QTA’s online Tawash programme, partnerships with tour operators, familiarisation trips, media campaigns and a variety of innovative activities to raise Qatar’s profile as a leisure and business tourism destination among Indian tourists. Rashed Saeed Al-Qurese, Chief Marketing and Promotion Officer, QTA commented, “The rapid growth of India’s outbound tourism market in recent years, coupled with QTA’s intensified efforts to diversify and grow visitor source markets, makes it the right time to establish our on-the-ground presence in India.” He added, “The steps taken to make accessing Qatar easier are particularly targeted at visitors who are seeking to experience our country’s luxury hospitality and unique cultural offerings, all while benefiting from the convenience of relatively short flights.” Qatar aims to have 5.6 million tourist visitors by 2023. Qatar recorded 1,56,726 Indian visitors from January to April this year, an increase of 15 per cent compared to last year. Qatar has become an increasingly accessible destination for Indian travellers, especially after Qatar waived entry visa requirements last year for 80 countries including India.

Continuing with its agenda to inspire the spirit of sportsmanship among the travel trade, Emirates Airlines will organise the third edition of its ‘Emirates Cricket Trade Tournament 2018’ for the travel trade in November in Mumbai. The League matches will be held on November 17-18, 2018 and the semi-final and final matches will be on November 24-25, 2018 at Islam Gymkhana. The cricket trophy was also unveiled in a pre-event networking event where it invited all the team members. Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, VP-India & Nepal, Emirates, was present at the networking party and wished the players all the best. The matches will be powered by DTCM, Amadeus and Reckon Travels & Holidays. The previous edition played in 2016 had 416 players in 32 teams playing 45 games over four days over two weekends.

Ariana Afghan Airlines, one of the largest airlines in Afghanistan, has recently commenced operations of its flight on the Herat-Delhi-Herat route. The Delhi-Herat flight will arrive in Delhi at 13:20 hours and depart Delhi at 14:30 hours. The airline flies once a week on Mondays. The first flight was inaugurated by Nader Omar, President, Ariana Afghan Airlines. The Delhi-Kandhar and Delhi-Kabul flights will arrive in Delhi at 13:05 hours and depart Delhi at 14:35 hours.