Category Archives: Aviation

Vistara announces additional frequency between Delhi and Guwahati. Effective June 18, 2016, Vistara will operate double daily on the Delhi-Guwahati route. Introductory one-way fare starting Rs 2,700 in Economy Class, Rs. 5,000 in Premium Economy and Rs. 15,000 in Business Class. Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, is the largest and most cosmopolitan city in Assam and serves as the starting point for most north eastern itineraries.  With the addition of the new frequency, Vistara will now offer convenient connections to Guwahati from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Srinagar, and from Guwahati to Bagdogra, and to Mumbai and Ahmedabad via Delhi.

The rate of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been raised by a steep 9.2 per cent after petrol price was hiked by Rs 2.58 per litre and diesel price was raised by Rs 2.26 per litre. ATF price in Delhi has increased by Rs 3,945.47 per kilolitre to Rs 46,729.48 per kilolitre. ATF prices in Kolkata increased from Rs 47561.18 to Rs 51492.43. In Mumbai, fuel prices increased from Rs 41,756.16 to Rs 45,700.55 and in Chennai jet fuel prices hiked to Rs 49404.76 from Rs 45,346.82. The hike is the fourth one this year with the last one on May 1 that saw a 1.5 per cent increase. On April 1, there was a steep 8.7 per cent hike and prior to that, rates were hiked by 12 per cent on March 1.

IndiGo introduces its first direct and daily flight on the Kolkata-Lucknow route, while adding additional daily non-stop flights connecting the cities of Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Goa, Delhi-Kochi, Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Chennai-Kolkata, Chennai-Pune, with effect from June 01, 2016. Effective June 2, 2016, IndiGo will add additional flights between Ahmedabad-Hyderabad, Chennai-Hyderabad, Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram (operating on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday). The return fare for the first daily Kolkata-Lucknow flight  is Rs 7663.

Air India will restart its daily services from Delhi to Surat from June 2, almost five months after the operations were curtailed due to lack of aircraft. The one way flight from Delhi-Surat costs around Rs. 4216. Currently, Air India operates five times a week with its regional jet, CRJ-700. According to the airline, the move came in a bid to enhance connectivity and was driven by growing air travel demand on the route. Until now, the flight operated five days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Starting June 2, it will operate on Thursday and Sunday, revealed a statement by Air India. The new addition will provide seamless connectivity between two business cities besides offering convenient connections to other international flights from/to Delhi. The flight will depart on Thursday and Sunday from Delhi at 0525 hours and will arrive in Surat at 0745 hours. The return flight will leave Surat at 0825 hours and touchdown in Delhi at 1110 hours.

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) based low-cost airline, Air Manas, formerly operating as Pegasus Asia, is all set to start its third flight on the Delhi-Bishkek route from June 14. The airline already has two flights a week to-and-fro from Delhi to Bishkek. The return fare for the Delhi-Bishkek route is around $249.99. The airline just conducted a roadshow in Delhi along with the Kyrgyzstan Embassy. Sharad C. Goel, MD, Lark Logistics, GSA of Air Manas in India, said, “Air Manas has been operating in India for the last one year. We will be starting the third flight between the two countries from June 14, 2016. The demand from India has been increasing for Kyrgyzstan, which is only about three hours from Delhi. In fact we provide further connections to Moscow and Istanbul from Bishkek, which works to our advantage.”

India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8 per cent, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month it has led the domestic markets. Growth is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as by substantial increases in service frequencies, according to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global passenger traffic data for April. Demand for domestic travel climbed 4.1 per cent in April compared to April 2015, while capacity increased 3.8 per cent, causing load factor to rise 0.3 percentage points to 81.4 per cent. All markets reported demand increases with the exception of Brazil, which showed a 12.1 per cent decline, reflecting the country’s ongoing economic recession and political turmoil.  

Singapore-based budget carrier Tigerair has announced a special ‘Fly to Singapore for free’ offer for Indian travellers on booking a round-trip fare that allows flyers to fly out of India to Singapore at discounted rates. The special round-trip fares have been announced for five Indian routes: Bengaluru (Rs 10999), Kochi (Rs 8,999), Hyderabad (Rs 9,999), Tiruchirappalli (Rs 9,999) and Lucknow (Rs 10,999). The offer is valid from 30 May, 2016 till 8 June, 2016. The applicable travel period for the offer is from 11 July, 2016 to 30 September, 2016. Commenting on the offer Leslie Thng, Chief Commercial Officer, Tigerair and Scoot said, “We are pleased to add on to the monsoon cheers in India and host our passengers. This offer is an example of how we strive to provide an added value for money to passengers through such promotions which makes their international trips more affordable. It reaffirms Tigerair as the most valuable airline of choice to fly to Singapore and across our vast network.”

The Maharaja will soon come to the rescue of wait-listed passengers of Rajdhani trains. Come June, IRCTC will provide Rajdhani wait-list passengers with the option of taking an Air India flight to their destination by paying marginally extra. Air India and IRCTC have already entered into a pact for the proposed arrangement which is expected to be in place “within a week”, the carrier’s chief Ashwani Lohani told news agency PTI. Under the proposed arrangement, people who have unconfirmed tickets across classes on Rajdhani trains would have the choice of boarding an Air India flight, provided the airline has services in the particular train route chosen by the passenger. Air India tickets would be offered to such passengers through IRCTC. Lohani, who is Air India Chairman and Managing Director, said details are being worked out and the arrangement is expected to be in place “within a week”. The wait-listed passengers of AC First Class of Rajdhani trains would not have to pay any additional amount in case they decide to take an Air India flight. In the case of those booked on Rajdhani Second and Third AC classes, the passengers would have to pay up to Rs. 2,000 per ticket as additional amount for flying Air India, Lohani said. The latest move is expected to help Air India in filling up more seats on its planes amid the carrier working on ways to turnaround its fortunes. Meanwhile, Air India is chalking out ambitious expansion plan to operate more number of smaller aircraft in various states as they look to increase regional air connectivity. In this regard, Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary Air Alliance plans to increase the number of ATRs in …

Spreading its wings to India, Scoot launches services from Singapore to Amritsar (fares starting Rs 4700) and Singapore to Chennai (fares starting Rs 5700). Scoot’s service to Amritsar commences three times weekly and will increase frequency with an additional Monday service from July, restarting the Singapore-Amritsar route for the SIA Group. The airline takes over the Singapore-Chennai daily service from Tigerair, expanding capacity to Chennai for the SIA Group with its new and spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliner as the world’s first all-787 operator. Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng, said, “India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and Scoot is excited to present exceptional value, an empowering selection of customisation options including inflight connectivity and in-seat power, as well as service with Scootitude to guests flying into and out of India.” “Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio,” he added. Scoot will also commence Singapore-Jaipur services four times weekly from October. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) , India is projected to be the world’s third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today.

Air India boosts regional connectivity by commencing operations to Pune via Raipur from Bhopal. Flight AI 9865 operating with a 70 seater ATR-72 will ply on the route Bhopal-Raipur-Pune. The flight will operate thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Air India offers a direct air link on this route for the first time. The flight will leave Bhopal at 0845 hrs and land at Raipur at 1015 hrs, will depart from Raipur at 1045 hrs and arrive in to Pune at 1300 hrs. The return flight AI 9866 will leave Pune at 1330 hrs and reach Raipur at 1545 hrs, depart Raipur at 1615 hrs and will touch down at Bhopal at 1745 hrs. Present on the occasion to launch the flight Minister of Home and Jail, Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur, said, “We congratulate Air India for starting this flight as it will save travelling time for passengers commuting to regions like Raipur and Pune from Bhopal. The 100% occupancy on the first flight is a testimony of the demand for such flights to push regional connectivity.” At Raipur the flight was received and flagged off by Minister for Agriculture, Chhattisgarh Brij Mohan Aggarwal. The passengers arriving at Pune were greeted by the Airport Director Shri Ajay Kumar who also gave the boarding card to the first passenger to check-in for the return flight to Raipur.