Page 4 - Airlines

From the cockpit: Meet Vinay Dube, co-founder and CEO of Akasa Air

Avid golfer and tea aficionado, Dube speaks to Aneesh Phadnis about food, family and flights

Etihad Airways expands in India; Kolkata-Abu Dhabi service to begin in 2023

Etihad Airways plans to expand its flight network in India with additional services to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Cochin and Delhi starting from early next year. The Gulf carrier on Thursday also announced plans to launch a daily flight service to Kolkata from Abu Dhabi from March 26, 2023 providing a total of seven weekly non-stop services to the City of Joy. The flights will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, offering 8 seats in business class and 150 in economy class, according to a release. "In parallel with re-establishing air links to Kolkata, Etihad will boost its network with additional services to Ahmedabad (bringing it up to 2 daily flights) and Chennai (twice daily)," an Etihad Airways spokesperson told PTI. Besides, Cochin will have an additional 6 flights per week, bringing it to a total of 13 flights per week, starting from March 26, 2023. An additional daily service will also be started to Delhi and Mumbai from April 24 next year. The re-introduction of flights to

Need wide-body planes for capturing long-haul segment: Jyotiraditya Scindia

India's civil aviation market is poised for a double-digit growth in the next decade and the country's carriers should have more wide-body planes to capture the long haul segment, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. At the event for inaugurating Air India's direct flight from Mumbai to San Francisco, he also said that discussions have happened with airlines and the effort is to make Delhi the country's first international hub. "We have 86 international carriers coming into India and only 5 national carriers taking people to international destinations outside India. However, these 5 carriers that fly overseas hold 36 per cent market share. We have to look at increasing international to international traffic. That is why I have been urging all our carriers that we need to have more wide-body aircraft so that we can capture the long haul route market," he said here. He also said that Indian carriers' share of international to international traffic is only ...

Very tough path ahead for new entrants like Akasa, Jet 2.0: GMR official

Julian Carr, the firm's CMO, says it will be "fascinating" to see how IndiGo's desire to grow further progresses when Air India aims to become a big full-service domestic and international carrier

Unmanned check-in counters causing congestion at airports, says govt

Airlines ask passengers to arrive early to ensure 'smooth' security check

Arrive early, carry just 1 hand bag: Airlines to passengers amid congestion

With passengers continuing to experience long waiting hours at Delhi and other airports, airlines have asked them to reach early, do web check-in and carry only one piece of hand baggage for faster movement. The country's largest airline IndiGo has asked passengers to reach Delhi airport at least 3.5 hours prior to domestic departures. In recent weeks, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital has been witnessing long queues and crowds amid rising air traffic. Authorities have put in place an action plan, including reducing the number of flights during peak hours, to deal with the situation. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also inspected the arrangements at the airport here on Monday. Amid congestion, Vistara is asking its passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to domestic as well as international flights. Delhi airport is experiencing high footfalls and the check-in and boarding time is expected to be longer

Vistara inaugurates daily, non-stop flights from Mumbai to Muscat

Full service carrier Vistara on Monday launched daily, non-stop flights from Mumbai to Muscat, a move that will see the airline expand its footprint in the lucrative Middle East region. The inaugural flight departed from Mumbai at 2000 hours (IST) and arrived in Muscat at 2135 hours. Muscat is the fourth destination in the Gulf region for Vistara, which is a joint venture between the Tatas and Singapore Airlines. The airline said there has been a consistent rise in passenger volumes and demand from the Gulf countries, paving way for the airline to bolster its presence in the region. Muscat is the third Gulf city (Abu Dhabi and Jeddah being the other two) that Vistara has added to its network in the last four months. Vistara also operates daily flights to Dubai to/from Mumbai. Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said the launch of operations to Muscat is in line with the airline's goal to steadily enhance its footprint in the Middle East. The firm bilateral relationsh

SpiceJet expects improvement in operations in December quarter: Ajay Singh

SpiceJet, which is looking to raise USD 200 million, expects to see improvement in operations and restructuring benefits in the current quarter of this financial year. The budget carrier's chief Ajay Singh has told shareholders that it has also completed a series of settlements with most of the major partners, including manufacturers and lessors. Hit by high fuel prices and rupee depreciation, SpiceJet saw its net loss widen to Rs 789 crore in the June quarter. The airline is also facing other headwinds, including some of its aircraft having technical snags in recent times, and quite a few of its Boeing 737 planes were deregistered due to non-payment of dues to lessors. In his message in the airline's annual report for 2021-22 fiscal, Singh, who is the Chairman and Managing Director, said the airline industry worldwide continues to undergo a transformation. "The sky-high fuel prices, depreciating rupee, erratic passenger demand and disrupted supply chains have deferred growth plans

Go First inducts 55th A320 neo; to receive engines from P&W soon

Go First, which is facing multiple headwinds, has received an additional Rs 400 crore under a government scheme and expects to operate more planes once it gets 16 new P&W engines in the coming weeks, according to officials. The no-frills carrier has at least 25 planes on the ground, mainly due to the non-availability of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines that power its A320 fleet. With many aircraft remaining non-operational, the airline is also grappling with flight delays and rescheduling of departure timings. Further, its On-Time Performance (OTP) has taken a beating. A government official said the airline availed an additional Rs 400 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) this month. Go First, which can take up to Rs 1,500 crore under the scheme, has so far availed at least a total of Rs 800 crore. A Go First spokesperson said that 25-26 planes are on the ground and currently, 32 aircraft are operational. The airline is in active discussions with ...

Domestic airlines flew 409,831 passengers on Sunday, highest since May 2020

Air traffic touches nearly 96 per cent of pre-Covid level

Jet Airways lenders may sell 11 aircraft in absence of resolution: Report

Lenders said that even one-and-a-half years after the resolution plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Jalan-Kalrock consortium has failed to pay the required amount

Air India to introduce premium economy class in some long haul flights: CEO

Air India will be introducing premium economy class in some of its long haul international flights next month, its chief Campbell Wilson said on Saturday as the Tata group-owned airline works on ways to expand its market share as well as the global network. In his speech at an event by the JRD Tata Memorial Trust here, Wilson said the airline will increase its market share to at least 30 per cent in domestic and international routes. The airline is implementing a long-term revival plan and over the next five years, it aims to grow its wide-body and narrow-body fleet as well as expand the global network. "The short-term actions have been to replace carpets, curtains, seat cushions and covers. To fix defective seats and inflight entertainment systems as fast as supply chains will allow. And where parts are no longer available in the market, to work with the likes of Tata Technologies to design and manufacture parts ourselves. "We've recently completely revamped the domestic inflight

Tata Group to own 75% stake and SIA 25% in the merged entity: Report

The Air India-Vistara merger is expected to be completed within a year after getting all approvals

Year-end fares go through the roof as airlines fly on low capacity

More than 75 planes are grounded; Goa to see 11% fewer flights in December

Civil aviation ministry to amend slot allocation guidelines for airlines

The civil aviation ministry is planning to amend the guidelines for the allocation of slots for airlines, wherein it has proposed to review the allocation every six months. A slot authorises an airline to operate a flight at a particular airport during a specific time. Under the proposal, the ministry has proposed changing the frequency of review of the slot allocation every six months from the current practice of one year. As per the proposed change, "historic precedence is only granted for a series of slots if the airline can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinators that the series was operated at least 80 per cent of the time during the period allocated in the previous season". The ministry has sought comments on the proposal till November 28, according to a communication on its website. The country's civil aviation sector is slowly coming back to normal after being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tata Group plans to merge carriers under Air India, scrap Vistara brand

Tata is considering scrapping Vistara brand, Singapore Airlines Ltd's local affiliate in South Asian nation; Singapore Airlines is evaluating the size of stake it should take in the combined entity

Airport slots for next season to be based on this season's usage: Govt

Usage of slots for more than 80 per cent of time in the previous winter season decides whether an airline would get the same slot again in the current winter season

Udan levy on airlines to double from Jan due to inflation, route expansion

The official added that a 20 per cent contribution from state governments to the regional connectivity fund had been factored in while proposing the hike

2 in 3 travellers want pre-pandemic govt fare caps back as air-fares soar

A recent survey by LocalCircles reveals that soaring airfares have worried travellers and two out of three fliers want the government to bring back an upper and lower limit on air-fares

IndiGo, Go First weighed down by grounded planes and engine shortages

IndiGo confirms 30 planes on ground, plots alternate strategies for capacity growth