Category Archives: Aviation

In order to further strengthen domestic connectivity, IndiGo plans to initiate flights from seven new stations subject to regulatory approvals and slot allocation. Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, IndiGo, says, “We plan to open Leh and Darbhanga in February, followed by Kurnool and Agra in March, Bareilly and Durgapur in April, and Rajkot in May 2021.”

Vistara has announced special, non-stop flights between Delhi and Frankfurt, starting 18th February 2020. The twice a week flight will be on Thursdays and Saturdays, as part of the ‘transport bubble’ formed between India and Germany and the aircraft will be Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

SpiceJet has announced the launch of 21 new domestic and international flights including the introduction of two weekly flights from Mumbai to Ras Al-Khaimah from 15th January. It will also increase frequency on the Delhi- Ras Al-Khaimah sector to 4 flights a week. SpiceJet will be the first airline to connect Jharsuguda with direct flights to Mumbai & Bengaluru.  

Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka, has said that he expects the country’s international airports to officially reopen by January 21. “We are currently preparing for this after identifying some basic issues,” he added. The airports will open after 10 long months with health protocols in place.

With a Rs438 crore project underway to upgrade it, Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, Tripura, is all set to become the third international airport in the Northeast region of India. Government of Tripura aims to connect the state with Bangladesh and neighbouring countries. The upgrade is pegged to be completed by March end this year.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways has announced that it has commenced the process of operating seaplanes on select routes from the hubs cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Surat to various tourist sport of the North and West India. To run such services, the authorities are keen to associate with interested scheduled/non-scheduled airline operators.

Marking the commencement of its first commercial flight from Indore to Ahmedabad on January 3, India’s newest airline, Flybig has announced connecting Raipur from Indore from January 13 and a flight from Ahmedabad to Bhopal from February 1.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has written to the Prime Minister proposing establishment of an international airport in Puri city. He says that the proposed ‘Sri Jagannath International Airport’ will boost the tourism, economy and cultural outreach of the eastern state. The Rath Yatra of Puri is a world-famous event that is celebrated across 192 countries.

With the government having announced the resumption of passenger flights between India and the United Kingdom, Air India has opened bookings for travellers and even added to the frequency. The additional flights between January 6 and 8 will connect both Delhi and Mumbai with London Heathrow.

After establishing air bubbles with USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives, the government is in the process of establishing arrangements with 13 more countries. Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said negotiations are underway with Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand to allow bilateral flight operations.