Category Archives: Aviation

Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has revealed that Rs. 400 crore assistance will be provided by the Centre for developing the airports in Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly. And this would be done within a period of one and a half months. He said that a major effort is underway to operationalise numerous airports in the State of Uttar Pradesh. This is an outcome of a Review meeting that was held earlier in the day which was chaired by Dr. Mahesh Sharma. The meeting was attended by Secretary, Civil Aviation, R.N. Choubey, senior officers of Airports Authority of India, Director, Civil Aviation, Uttar Pradesh Government and District Magistrates of the concerned Districts in Uttar Pradesh. Dr. Sharma also revealed that an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the State Government had provided 200 crore and the work is being executed by RITES and would be complete with a year. The Minister said that a Committee had been set up, comprising of two senior officers from the Ministry and two officers from the Uttar Pradesh Government. This Committee will study the feasibility of developing no frills airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad. Dr. Mahesh Sharma also informed that the case of constructing airport in Jewar had been sent to the Ministry of Defence for their NOC. The Minister informed the media that the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural follow up to the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme that had been announced last week.

Air India will commence operations to Hubli from Bengaluru from July 20, 2016 on an ATR-72-600 aircraft. Flight AI 9509 on Bengaluru-Hubli will operate three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The flight will take-off from Bengaluru at 1545 hrs and reach Hubli at 1705 hrs. On the return flight AI 9510 will take-off from Hubli at 1725 hrs and will reach Bengaluru at 1835 hrs. Air India has announced this initiative to strengthen regional connectivity under its Connect India program.

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) price has been hiked by 5.5 per cent for the fifth month in a row. ATF in Delhi was increased by Rs 2,557.7 per kilolitre (kl), or 5.47 per cent, to Rs 49,287.18 per kl, the oil companies announced today. This is the fifth straight monthly increase in rates, the last being on June 1 when prices were hiked by a steep 9.2 per cent, or Rs 3,945.47, to Rs 46,729.48 per kl. In the five increases, ATF rates have increased by 25 per cent, or Rs 9,985.87, per kl since March. ATF rates vary at different airports because of differential local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline’s operating cost and the latest price increase will add to the financial burden of cash-strapped carriers. No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price increase on passenger fares. Source: PTI

Air New Zealand has signed a code-share agreement with Singapore Airlines and Silk Air from 6 Indian cities namely Mumbai, Bangaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin & Kolkata. NZ offers a total of 70 weekly flights via Singapore To New Zealand.

Air India is set to commence operations on the Delhi-Washington DC route from April 2017, revealed Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, while addressing a conference in New Delhi . “Air travel is crucial in making India more accessible to the rest of the world and therefore, we are aggressively looking into expansion,” he said. The new route marks the fifth direct air connection between India and the US for the national airline as it currently plies to New York, Chicago, Newark and San Francisco. Lohani also shared that plans to connect Hyderabad to the U.S. and other countries like Singapore and China are being looked into, and will also soon address the demand to connect Delhi and Mumbai to destinations like Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Air India and Jet Airways passengers travelling from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI)can now check-in at two Delhi Metro stations namely Shivaji Stadium Metro Station and New Delhi Metro Station. This facility will be made available from July 1. Earlier, only Air India passengers could check in at New Delhi Metro Station of the high speed corridor–Airport Express. The new facility will be available to passengers of the two airlines, flying both on domestic as well as international routes. The check-in counters at the stations will close two hours before the scheduled departure of a flight. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation informed that the passengers can obtain the boarding pass at these check-in counters and check-in the baggage as well which will be transferred to IGI Airport’s Terminal-3 through a secured Baggage Handling System (BHS).

In a bid to expand its India portfolio, Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said that Oman Air wants to increase its weekly flights from the current 126 from Muscat to 175 weekly flights by 2018. He said, “We currently fly double daily flights to six out of the 11 destinations in India with 21,147 seats. Our current bilateral agreement allows us only so much. If we are allowed more, we will opt to go triple daily to these six same cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad as our load factors are already close to 90 per cent thanks to the travel trade.” Gregorowitsch was visiting Mumbai to talk about Oman’s national carrier’s growth, strategy and expansion plans. The airline also hosted its agent partners for a networking and Iftar party. The airline celebrates 23 years of its India operations.

POP, the new low-cost, long-haul airline on the anvil, plans to operate non-stop flights from the UK to Amritsar (ATQ) and Ahmedabad (AMD). POP directly targets these whilst offering the business sector two new routes with a tailored, non-stop service. The needs of the VFR and leisure/tourism markets will be met at affordable prices that will ensure market penetration by word of mouth. Nino (Navdip) Singh Judge, Chairman and Principal of POP, commented: “POP is different – it is going to be a UK airline whose DNA is Indian. The Punjabi and Gujarati communities in both the UK and India historically have had strong family and business connections and that desire for both communities to keep in touch and visit each other has not abated over the years. Add to that India’s booming economy and the rise of the middle classes – including the expansion in their numbers, their larger disposable income, their increasing spending power and their insatiable desire to travel all means there are vast numbers of potential passengers waiting for an airline like POP to offer them the opportunity to fly. Combine the fact that passengers are contributing to the improvement of their own society in both the UK and India – perhaps even helping a village or an individual known to them personally – means there is an excellent chance for POP’s two proposed routes to Amritsar and Ahmedabad of being a great success.” Currently flights between the UK and India are predominantly between London Heathrow and just two main destinations, Mumbai and Delhi, and three supporting ones, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. There are also a number of indirect UK to India routes through the Middle …

Pawan Hans is all set to develop the first heliport in the country in Rohini, Delhi, and it will be done within a month, reveals B. P. Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director. Speaking at an event today, he said, “Under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, governance has taken a lead and we are bringing up the first heliport of the country in Rohini, Delhi. It will be ready in a month’s time for the use of people of the people in Delhi and its neighbouring states. And the policy also promotes to bring similar hubs.”

Vistara has announced the addition of Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as its 18th destination, effective September 30, 2016. Port Blair will be served daily from Kolkata and from New Delhi (same aircraft service via Kolkata). With this new flight, frequency between Delhi and Kolkata will also increase to three flights daily. Twice daily service to Kolkata from Delhi had commenced on June 10 this year, and has seen very high demand for Vistara’s product. One way fares start from Rs 5,500 from Kolkata and Rs 9,850 from New Delhi. Tickets are now available for sale on all channels.