Category Archives: Aviation

India delivered an exceptional performance in 2025 for SriLankan Airlines, driven by robust demand and its strong operational footprint in the market. With 89 weekly flights across nine online points, covering key cities from north to south India, the airline maintained extensive connectivity that supported both leisure and business travel. “This comprehensive schedule ensured convenience and frequency for travelers, resulting in a significant increase in passenger numbers. The growth translated into a notable improvement in load factors across both economy and business cabins,” says Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Commercial, SriLankan Airlines. On the yield front, the trend was softer, with overall yields under pressure due to competitive pricing and market dynamics, he adds. While revenue growth was positive, it was largely volume-driven rather than yield-led, suggesting that stimulating demand through pricing strategies played a key role. Despite these challenges, India remained a high-potential market for the airline, balancing strong traffic growth with strategic pricing to maintain competitiveness. Tennakoon adds, “We primarily focused on strengthening the regional and international network while enhancing customer experience. Key network decisions included increasing frequencies to high-demand destinations such as Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai. Additionally, for our current winter schedule, we re-introduced our weekend additional flight to London to capture growing traffic flows. These adjustments were part of a broader strategy to improve connectivity via Colombo.” On the fleet side, the airline marked a major milestone by inducting the first wide-body aircraft in eight years, an Airbus A330-200, with plans to add more aircraft over the coming years. Product and menu upgrades complemented these moves, along with digital innovations like the AI-powered Yaana chatbot. “India will remain at the heart of our growth strategy in 2026, …

China Eastern Airlines expands its India sales footprint by filing interline through fares with Air India, enabling seamless access from multiple Indian cities to Shanghai and onward international destinations via Delhi. China Eastern Airlines (MU) confirms the filing of interline through fares with Air India (AI) from 38 cities across India, routed via Delhi (DEL) to Shanghai (PVG) and onward to mainland China and select international markets. The fares are issued on MU-781 ticket stock and are available across all major GDS platforms, subject to fare rules and conditions. Operating carriers and routing Under the arrangement, Air India operates the domestic Indian sectors to Delhi, while China Eastern operates the international sectors from Delhi to Shanghai and onward destinations. Example routing: BOM/BLR/MAA/HYD/AMD – AI – DEL – MU – PVG Filed segments and booking classes AI-operated segments (VV) – Air India RBD Sector Booking Classes DEL – BOM / BLR / HYD / CCU / MAA / PNQ / AMD / COK / ATQ / GOI / BBI / PAT / TRV / GOX / LKO / IDR / VTZ / IXL / IXC / BDQ / SXR / RPR / BHO / VNS / CJB / UDR / VGA / GAU / IXB / IXZ / DED / IXU / HSR / JDH / NAG / BHJ / DIB / IXR J / N / M / K / Q / V / G MU operated segments (VV – International) – China Eastern RBD Sector Booking Classes DEL – PVG – HKG / SIN / KUL / BKK / CJU / ICN / PUS / TAE / HND / KIX / NRT / FUK / NGO / OKJ / …

The airline continues to face operational challenges arising from new pilot-duty norms, with cancellations, refunds and regulatory action still underway. IndiGo, India’s largest domestic carrier, is currently navigating one of its most significant operational disruptions, with widespread cancellations and delays reported across major airports. The situation has unfolded following the implementation of revised crew-duty regulations, leading to staffing shortages and prompting regulatory intervention from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). As recovery efforts continue and investigations progress, further developments are expected in the coming days, keeping both passengers and the aviation industry on alert. What has happened so far IndiGo has been operating under a prolonged period of disruption over the past week, following difficulties in adjusting to recently enforced pilot duty-time regulations. The changes have limited crew availability across several routes, prompting widespread cancellations and delays. Network impact at major airports Large portions of the airline’s domestic network experienced schedule interruptions, with airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad reporting cancellation peaks, congested terminals and extended wait times for passengers. The situation coincided with the peak winter travel season, impacting both leisure and business travellers as well as tourism movement in several domestic destinations. Regulatory scrutiny on airline preparedness The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo, seeking an explanation on crew deployment, scheduling decisions and contingency arrangements. IndiGo has requested additional time to respond, while continuing to make adjustments to restore normal operations. Refunds and passenger assistance Refunds for cancelled flights have been initiated automatically, with the airline advising passengers to check flight status before travel. Network restoration remains gradual, and further disruptions are expected until operational capacity is fully …

India’s aviation sector is witnessing remarkable momentum, with Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA, confirming that the domestic market in 2025 is now 32% larger than in 2020. Speaking at a media roundtable in Geneva, he highlighted India’s expanding airport network and over 1,500 aircraft on order, calling it one of the world’s most exciting aviation markets. He credited strong infrastructure investment for enabling this rapid growth despite rising demand pressures.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced an increase in its Hyderabad–Amsterdam operations for the ongoing winter season. From January to March 2026, KLM will operate four weekly flights from Hyderabad to Amsterdam, up from the current three weekly services. This seasonal enhancement reflects positive travel demand from the region and highlights Hyderabad’s growing importance within the Air France-KLM India network. Hyderabad became KLM’s fourth gateway in India in September 2025, complementing its services from Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai.

The Ministry of External Affairs has sought assurance from China that Indian citizens transiting through Chinese airports will not be “selectively targeted, arbitrarily detained, or harassed” and that Beijing will “respect” regulations governing international air travel. MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also issued a travel advisory warning Indians travelling to, or transiting through China to exercise due discretion.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), in its just released Global Outlook, updated its analysis of aerospace supply chain bottlenecks noting that aircraft availability remains one of the most significant constraints on industry growth. While deliveries of new aircraft began to pick up in late 2025 and production is expected to accelerate in 2026, demand is forecast to outstrip the availability of aircraft and engines. “Airlines are feeling the impact of the aerospace supply chain challenges across their business. Higher leasing costs, reduced scheduling flexibility, delayed sustainability gains and increased reliance on suboptimal aircraft types are the most obvious challenges. Airlines are missing opportunities to strengthen their top-line, improve their environmental performance and serve customers. Meanwhile travellers are seeing higher costs from the resulting tighter demand/supply conditions. No effort should be spared to accelerate solutions before the impact becomes even more acute,” said Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA.