Bengaluru gets eight new flights this week

Bengaluru: Eight new flights and routes, both domestic and international, are being introduced this week from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
While Ethiopian Airlines started a direct flight to Addis Ababa in Africa from Monday, Dutch carrier KLM on Wednesday launched a thrice-a-week direct service to Amsterdam.

The new flight departed from Schipol airport at 11.10 am Wednesday and scheduled to land in Bengaluru at 12.37am Thursday. The flight is slated to depart from KIA at 2.40am on Thursday and arrived in Schipol at 8.25am Thursday. Air France has, meanwhile, upgraded its fleet on the Bengaluru-Paris and Delhi-Paris sectors with the revamped Airbus equipped with improved cabins.

GoAir added a four times a week flight from Bengaluru and Delhi, while IndiGo introduced flights between Bengaluru and Shirdi, Rajahmundry and Belagavi from October 27. IndiGo will also commence Bengaluru-Tuticorin flights from October 31.
31/10/19 Times of India

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Air India launches Mumbai-Amritsar-Stansted flight for Sikh pilgrims to mark 550th Gurpurab celebrations

National carrier Air India on Thursday launched a thrice-weekly flight between Mumbai and Stansted in UK via Amritsar, officials said.
Starting in Mumbai, the flight will connect Amritsar to Stansted to facilitate Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy city on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak.
It will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, Air India said, adding that a 256-seater Boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft will operate on the route.
Flight AI-165 will fly from Amritsar to Stansted and return as flight AI-166 to Amritsar. It will be the first-ever scheduled flight to India from Stansted airport and the only direct link between London and Amritsar.
Air India already connects Amritsar to Birmingham with a thrice-a-week operation.
Stansted, located at Northwest of Essex, is ideal to serve the Indian diaspora as well as the Asian community in north and east London and across the east of England and will fulfil a long-felt requirement of a direct airlink between London and Amritsar and other cities in Punjab, the airline said.
31/10/19 PTI/Business Today

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United Airlines not looking to participate in Air India disinvestment: CEO

United Airlines is unlikely to participate in the upcoming divestment of Air India. “Buy a piece of Air India? I am not sure that is something we are looking to do,” Oscar Munoz, Chief Executive Officer, United Airlines, told BusinessLine when asked whether the American airline would be interested in bidding for the Maharaja.

Munoz was addressing the media on the sidelines of FlightPlan 2020, organised by United Airlines, in Chicago. United Airlines is one of the founder members of the Star Alliance, a global alliance of over 27 airlines, which Air India joined in 2014.

In July this year, United reported second-quarter net income of $1.1 billion, diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.02, pre-tax earnings of $1.4 billion and pre-tax margin of 11.9 per cent, expanding its pre-tax margin by 4 points versus the second quarter of 2018.

Munoz declined to get into specific reasons why United might not be interested in participating in the divestment of Air India. “Our partnership in India is expanding. Whether we take financial investments or create partnerships through code-share agreements….. there are many ways to make investments and create a bonding and partnership,” he added.
31/10/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Air India aims to make Delhi-Doha flight seven trips a week

Doha: India’s national flag carrier Air India, which relaunched Delhi-Doha direct service after a decade with weekly four flights, is aiming to make it seven trips a week, considering the increasing business potential between the two countries.
Although the move to extend the service to seven days a week will depend on yields and the number of passengers, the full service carrier, which is now under disinvestment or privatisation process, is hopeful of garnering sizeable share in the ‘under-tapped’ market, said Veena Negi, Air India’s country manager (Qatar) in the presence of commercial director Meenakshi Mallik and regional manager (Gulf, Middle East and Africa) Mohit Sain.
Air India, which was one of the first airlines to start operations to Qatar in 1976 and continued flying until 2009, now uses A320 Neo which comes in twin configuration of 12 business class seats and 150 economy seats.
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, AI971 will depart Delhi at 7.50pm and arrive in Doha at 9.35pm. On Friday, it will leave Delhi at 8.50pm and reach Doha at 10.35pm, the website shows.
Then, AI972 will depart Doha at 10.35pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive in Delhi at 5am (next day). On Friday, it will leave Doha at 11.35pm and reach Delhi at 5.50am (next day).
30/10/19 Santhosh V. Perumal/Gulf Times

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India's aviation ministry defers decision on expanding airline seat capacity with UAE

India has deferred a decision on increasing air seat capacity with UAE under the bilateral air services pact, as it prepares to hold further discussions with all stakeholders involved.
Federal civil aviation ministry sources told Arabian Business that the ministry will schedule another meeting with the UAE civil aviation authorities early next month for further discussions.
The respective Indian and UAE authortities held a meeting last Wednesday to discuss possible expansion of the air seat capacity and flying rights between the two countries under the bilateral treaty.
“There was no decision [on expanding bilateral rights on seat capacity or flying rights] at the meeting. There will be another meeting with UAE on this shortly,” Pradeep Singh Kharola , Secretary, federal ministry of civil aviation, told Arabian Business.
While Kharola did not specify the date for the next meeting with UAE aviation authorities, ministry sources indicated that it is likely to be held within the first two weeks of November.
Under the existing bilateral rights, carriers from India and the UAE can fly a total of 134,441 aircraft seats a week, each way.
The UAE has been pressing for an expansion of bilateral capacities for flights and weekly airline seats for a long time now.

Indian airlines, however, have so far not been so keen, mainly due to fears that UAE-based carriers will gain most from more capacity as they could manage to get prime slots in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other airports in the UAE.
30/10/19 James Mathew/Arabian Business

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IndiGo to carry 30% overseas traffic among Indian carriers during winter schedule

Budget carrier IndiGo has received approvals to operate 572 international flights per week during the winter schedule which is valid from October 27 till March 30, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

All Indian carriers have received approvals to operate a total of 1,847 international departures per week during the ongoing winter schedule.

Air India, which is the largest international operator for outbound traffic, remained the leader in this race with 616 departures per week while its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express has received permission to operate 311 departures per week during the next six months.

IndiGo and SpiceJet were the biggest gainers of domestic slots and international traffic rights after the temporary but indefinite shutdown of Jet Airways in April 2019. Jet Airways was the largest international operator in India with a market share of around 13.8 percent. Air India had the second spot.

As per the international departure data for Indian carriers, SpiceJet can operate 229 international flights per week. GoAir has the approval to fly a small share of 5 percent or 91 departures per week. Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has received approvals for 28 departures per week.

As far as airports are concerned, Delhi will be the largest operator for Indian carriers’ international traffic with approvals for 490 departures per week or 27 percent of the national traffic.
30/10/19 CNBC TV18

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Vistara announces new international flights, fares starting from Rs 18,599

New Delhi: Vistara has announced new international flights that would be operated on the Mumbai-Colombo route. The flights will commence from November 25, 2019, starting at all-inclusive fares at Rs 18,599. The bookings are open on all channels, including its website-airvistara.com, mobile app and through travel agents and online travel agencies (OTAs).

"The airline will fly its Airbus A320neo aircraft with three-class cabin configuration between Mumbai and Colombo, which makes Vistara the first airline to offer the choice of Premium Economy class for travel on the India and Sri Lanka route, in addition to Economy and Business Class," the company said in its press release. Customers can also take convenient one-stop connections to/from other cities beyond Mumbai.
30/10/19 ETNowNews.com

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Boeing to help boost navigation at Chennai airport

Chennai: The Air Navigation System (ANS) of Chennai is set to improve as US aircraft manufacturer Boeing is preparing a master plan on the latest technologies in the field and the forecast of the future requirements.

It is learnt that Boeing will recommend ways and means of harmonisation of ANS with the ANS systems of other countries or regions. This comes as passenger traffic, both, international and domestic, grew at Chennai airport at a phenomenal rate. It is further expected that air traffic across India, will continue to grow at a rate which is faster than the world. At present, airports are able to accommodate only constrained movements of aircraft due to infrastructure and procedural constraints, leading to overcrowding and flight delays.

Airport director S Sreekumar told Express that officials of Boeing held discussions with Chennai Airport authorities last week.”They are visualising the ground equipment present now and how much will be required.”

At present, India does not have a futuristic, systematic, integrated master plan of Air Navigation Services (ANS,) based on the international Civil Aviation Organisation requirements as specified in Regional air navigational plans. The country needs a futuristic Master Plan of Air Navigation Services, which operates automatically and is periodically self-triggered by traffic requirements. In the absence of such a plan, a mismatch between the air traffic requirements and air navigation system is likely to occur, leading to congestion and cost inefficiencies.
30/10/19  C Shivakumar/New Indian Express

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Air India And Malaysia Airlines: Definitely For Sale, Government Interference Uncertain

Ownership and control defines aviation. Ownership is quantitative, assessing if shareholder composition meets thresholds about locality or type of investor. Control is more qualitative, abstract and subject to manipulation. Yet the industry and its government regulators have typically focused only on the ownership component.

Ignorance of control could hurt India and Malaysia as they sell their respective flag carriers Air India and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). The sales are gaining momentum. There are four short-listed bidders for MAS while the Indian government will re-start the process for Air India, this time offering a larger stake and perhaps even 100%.

While the governments may offload ownership of their airlines, there is concern that retaining influence would undermine the new owners.
Malaysia has not decided if it will permit a new shareholder to take majority ownership of MAS from sovereign wealth fund Khazanah. But the government does want the ability to meddle. Malaysian Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali told parliament, “The government will ensure that through Khazanah, we will still have (an) important stake and influence in the new structure.”
MAS over the years has attempted a number of restructurings under various management teams, but has been thwarted by government interference, industry observers generally agree about. Meddling can be significant, such as preventing workforce reduction. It can also be petty, such as how to paint an aircraft or what employee uniforms should look like. Those may not bear cost disadvantages, but can demoralise staff and consume limited management bandwidth.

The Indian government is expected to re-start the sale process for Air India by launching an expression of interest as early as November, according to the Telegraph.

Air India still carries high debt, operational problems and a bloated workforce. What will be different this time is still to be finalised, but a government source told the Telegraph of an option: “One of them is offering 100 per cent stake for the buyers so that they do not worry about any interference by the government at a later date.”

The government did not receive any bids from last year’s offer of 76% of Air India, largely attributed to fears the government would have disproportionate influence by retaining 24%.

Like most countries, India and Malaysia require airlines to be locally owned. There are greater prospects for Air India to have a local majority shareholder, avoiding thorny questions about ownership laws.
30/10/19 Will Horton/Forbes

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Air India plane grounded at Sharjah after fire extinguisher system deploys twice, probe initiated

Mumbai: The fire extinguishing system of an Air India A321 aircraft parked at Sharjah airport went off when it was being readied for departure to Calicut last week. The commander in his report said that the co-pilot hit his head on the cockpit’s overhead panel where the cargo fire switch is located.
But aviation sources said that it was unlikely that a headbutt could activate the system. Air India has initiated an inquiry into the incident involving its flight AI998. “If there were loaders in the cargo hold, they would have been sprayed with the halon gas, in which case, they could have needed medical attention,” the source said. Inhalation of halon is known to cause lightheadedness, headache, coughing and elevated heartbeat in affected workers.
An Air India spokesperson said that the pilots took the aircraft on minimum equipment list without any cargo as cargo fire discharge indication came on in the cockpit when the aircraft was parked in Sharjah. He denied that the extinguisher system deployed in the cargo or that workers were affected.
However the report made by the commander (TOI has a copy) states a different story. According to the report, minutes after the co-pilot hit his head on the overhead panel, the aircraft maintenance engineer informed the captain that the cargo fire extinguishers had been discharged. It was then decided to fly the aircraft with an empty cargo hold. But an hour later, the extinguisher system deployed again and this time the engineers removed the cockpit voice recorder. The aircraft was subsequently grounded.
30/10/19 Times of India

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Foreign airlines operating in India offer 5.8 lakh seats this winter

New Delhi: Eighty-six foreign airlines are operating to and from India during winter schedule 2019 offering 5.8 lakh seats compared to 85 foreign airlines that operated in the winter schedule last year offering 5.6 lakh seats. This represents an increase of 3.05 per cent.

According to the latest data released by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, while Air Tanzania, Arkia Israeli Airlines, Azerbaijan Airlines, Lot Polish, Nok Air, Nok Scoot Air and Vietjet Airlines started services to and from India, six airlines, including Air Manas, Asiana Airlines and P T Garuda Indonesia, have stopped flights to and from India.

Air Arabia cut its services to and from India to 110 weekly flights offering 17,830 seats during winter 2019 against 112 weekly services offered previously with 18,144 seats a week. Similarly, AirAsia Berhad will operate 11 weekly departures against 12 previously.


Druk Air of Bhutan will operate 25 weekly services to and from India, down from 43 weekly services previously while Bhutan Airlines will operate 18 flights a week on the same route, up one weekly frequency previously.
30/10/19 Business Line

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Air India commences direct flights to Mumbai

Strengthening the Sri Lanka India tourism sector, Air India commenced direct flights to Mumbai effective from yesterday. The frequency would be daily.
The service will offer convenient connections to European cities London and Frankfurt and also to many domestic cities within India. As an introductory offer, Air India is offering special fares and 40 kg baggage allowance to its passengers travelling up to end of the year. Air India’s subsidiary, Alliance Air has also indicated that they would be operating Chennai Janna flights from the second week of November. This would be four flights per week. The on arrival visa facility too was a major factor for the air line to add Colombo and Jaffna.
30/10/19 Daily News

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SriLankan Airlines celebrates Diwali with passengers

SriLankan Airlines, the largest foreign carrier in to India, celebrated Diwali with all its loyal customers with a series of special events on Sunday 27 October at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and on board many of its flights in the South Asian region.

SriLankan is known for going the extra mile to give its passengers a totally delightful experience, winning the prestigious ‘Asia’s Leading Airline to the Indian Ocean’ title for the third consecutive year at the World Travel Awards Asia & Oceania; the global ‘Best Marketing Innovation’ award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), and a coveted PATA Gold Award in the category ‘Marketing-Carrier’.

Diwali, the ancient Hindu Festival of Lights is a holy day for Hindus throughout the world and celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

SriLankan’s Serendib Business Class lounge at BIA was gaily decorated for the occasion, with a traditional ‘kolam’ design at the entrance, jasmine strands, fairy lights, and Indian dishes that are traditionally served at Diwali for passengers to enjoy. Many of SriLankan’s counters at BIA also sported Diwali posters and the airline created awareness of its festive activities on social media.
30/10/19 Daily FT

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Indian man facing Russian jail over airport drugs charge

Moscow: An Indian man is facing up to seven years in prison after hashish was found in his bag at a Moscow airport, his lawyer said Tuesday, in the latest in a series of similar arrests.

The case of Aashish Bhadourya, 21, echoes that of an Israeli-American woman, Naama Issachar, who was jailed this month for seven-and-a-half years over a larger amount of marijuana found in her luggage at the same airport as she changed flights en route from Delhi in April.
Police found the drugs in Bhadourya's checked luggage while he was in the transit zone at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport en route from Delhi to Prague.
He was detained in July and is facing drug smuggling charges, his lawyer Nikita Taranishchenko told AFP. A Moscow court on Tuesday threw out an appeal of his pre-trial detention.
Bhadourya was working for the Czech Embassy in Delhi after studying the language and was travelling to do a course, according to Russia's Mediazona website, which covers court cases.
The drugs found in his checked rucksack "do not belong to him," but he initially made a confession "considered to be proof" by investigators, Taranishchenko said.
His lawyer said "there was no crime committed" as Bhadourya was in the transit zone, which "is not in Russian territory".
29/10/19 AFP/Gulf News

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American Airlines cabin crew accused of money laundering

Mangaluru: The union government had given six airports in the country on lease to Adani Group headed by Gautham Adani. The lease for maintenance of the airport will be for 50 years, and the company feels that the entire process of takeover may take about a year.
The operation of the airport, maintenance, terminal and other development works will be undertaken by Adani Group during the period of lease. Runway expansion is on its priority list. The company has currently undertaken scrutiny of airport assets, staff functioning, source of income, security system, airlines operating from here and other things. Experts deputed by the company are busy with this task.
Some employees are worried about the prospects of losing their jobs, but Adani Group has said that it will give preference to existing employees and interests of the locals would be protected.
30/10/19 daijiworld

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Air India's new privatisation challenge — competition from global counterparts looking to sell stake

After a failed attempt before the May elections, the government seems determined to press ahead with the disinvestment of Air India. Trade unions, analysts, consultants and political watchers have all taken sides in the ‘should the government sell Air India’ or ‘should it retain Air India’ debate. But the real question is can the government sell the airline?

Air India has run into a debt of Rs 50,000 crore by some estimates and the special purpose vehicle (SPV) named Air India Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL) has mopped up Rs 21,985 crore by way of bond issues since September 16 with the proceeds being utilised to repay the debt of the national carrier.

There is confusion about how the entity will be sold. Air India comprises the flagship airline, low-cost subsidiary Air India Express — which is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, a regional carrier named Alliance Air that operates only ATR turboprop aircraft. Together, there are 120 aircraft. The other arms are ground handling, engineering and hotel along with stakes in the catering unit!

Will an airline be interested in all this? Probably not. Will it be interested in parts? Most certainly yes.

The billion-dollar question has been who would want to buy Air India and the baggage along with it? A few like IndiGo have publicly stated that they are interested in the international operations if sold separately. While IndiGo is in contention because it is an airline operating out of India, the latest of deals in the airline space have been across boundaries with Delta acquiring stake in LATAM. Delta also owns a stake in AeroMexico and Virgin Atlantic.
The cross-holding of stakes in airlines or across the world is not uncommon. IAG (International Airlines Group), which owns British Airways and Iberia, sees Qatar Airways hold over 21 percent stake. With the industry as dynamic as aviation, Air India should look for suitors from all across the world. But Air India is not the only bride and in-fact, all other brides have the same characteristics as Air India.
Like Air India, many other government-owned carriers are in the market for privatisation and they are around for a very long time without success. Three to five government-owned carriers may be up for privatisation between now and 2021.

The competition starts closer home from Malaysia Airlines being the likely candidate for privatisation. The loss-making carrier, which has suffered two back-to-back tragedies (the doomed MH370 and MH17 flights), has been on a lookout for a potential investor as the leadership in the country has publicly admitted to looking for ways to turn the ailing carrier to profits.

The Indonesian government has been looking for a strategic partner to divest in national carrier Garuda Indonesia. Over the years, since the airline first mooted privatisation till date, the airline has started a low-cost subsidiary Citilink and has a stake in other ailing carriers in the country Nam Air and Sriwijaya Air, along with information technology company and an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul).
29/10/19 Ameya Joshi/CNBC TV18

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Government may relax FDI in aviation to spice up Air India deal

New Delhi: The Central government, which is expected to invite Expressions of Interest for Air India next month, is considering relaxing of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms in the aviation sector to attract global bidders. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and civil aviation ministry are expected to discuss relaxation of FDI limit from the current 49 per cent to majority stake-holding by foreign stakeholders.

In the Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed relaxation in FDI norms for certain sectors including aviation. The announcements were then seen as a bid to attract prospective buyers for Air India, since the 49 per cent limit on FDI has been a big block for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) investing in the debt-laden airline.

The government is also looking to do away with other terms and conditions that evoked a lukewarm response when AI was first put on sale last year.

According to officials, there were several proposals including one for giving majority stake to FDI as well as others where FPIs can invest a further percentage beyond 49 per cent, to give foreign shareholders a majority stake. In the aviation sector, 100 per cent FDI is allowed under automatic route for MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul), ground handling and aircraft purchase, but not for control of airlines.
29/10/19 New Indian Express

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Ethiopian Airlines eyes south Indian market to fly more

Bengaluru: Connecting Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and Bengaluru with a direct flight, Ethiopian Airlines (EA) is eyeing the burgeoning south Indian market to fly more people to and from Africa and beyond, a top official said on Monday.

“A robust 20 per cent annual growth over the couple of years to and from India has made us double our daily flights to Mumbai and Delhi and foray into Bengaluru to connect south India with Ethiopia, Africa and other countries through Addis Ababa,” EA Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam told IANS here in an interview.

Under a code-sharing agreement with the state-run Air India, Bengaluru is EA’s third destination in the sub-continent to operate direct service to Addis Ababa and provide connecting flights to other African cities and Europe and Americas.

“Direct flights to Addis Ababa and connecting flights to 62 cities, including national capitals in Africa and 125 destinations the world over have made our airline the most preferred by passengers and cargo operators to and from India,” asserted GereMariam.

With 15-20 per cent of the traffic to and from Mumbai and New Delhi generating from south India, the airline has decided to operate a direct service to Bengaluru four times a week, with connecting flights in Air India to other southern cities to reduce air travel.

“We hope to soon operate a daily service between Bengaluru and Addis Ababa and connect Chennai and Hyderabad as next two destinations in south India to fly more people directly and minimise their travel time,” noted GereMariam.

With Air India discontinuing its service to Addis Ababa for operational reasons years ago, EA has a virtual monopoly on the inbound and outbound traffic between Addis Ababa and Mumbai/Delhi, which will extend to Bengaluru from this week with competition from Turkish and Qatar airlines though via Istanbul or Doha as one-stop over.

“With direct and connecting flights to and from Addis Ababa to cities in Africa and beyond, we have about 60 per cent of our passengers who are outbound to Europe, Americas and the Gulf or West Asia, while the remaining 40 per cent fly in Ethiopia or across Africa,” GebreMariam said on the occasion.

The CEO and other executives of the airline flew into Bengaluru earlier in the day from Addis Ababa with 110 passengers on the maiden service to south India in Boeing 737. The first flight to Addis Ababa and other connecting destinations from Bengaluru is scheduled to take off in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The airline operates Airbus A350 on the Delhi and Mumbai routes, as it has a huge capacity to fly about 350 passengers at a time.

“The passengers profile varies as each flight has a fair mix of people who are of Indian-origin or born to Indian parents living in Ethiopia and other African countries in hundreds as part of their Diaspora,” pointed out the CEO.

The airline also caters to hundreds of students from Ethiopia and other African countries studying in Bengaluru and other cities/towns in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who are our regular fliers,” pointed out the CEO.
29/10/19 Pioneer

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Air India to resume Jeddah-Kozhikode flights in December

Jeddah: Air India (AI) has decided to resume its Jeddah-Kozhikode direct flights this December. To start, there will be two services a week. The AI flight leaving from Jeddah at 10.30pm, will land in Kozhikode at 7am. After an hour, the same flight will leave for Thiruvananthapuram airport as a domestic flight. This flight will then return to Kozhikode in the evening and will fly to Jeddah at 5pm and land here at 9pm, AI spokesperson informed on Monday.
AI’s Kozhikode services were stopped since April 30, 2015, owing to runway expansion at Karipur airport. The airline spokesperson said that the Indian authorities have approved the plans to resume the flights. In June, AI conducted a feasibility study to resume the Jeddah flights. There is heavy rush of Umrah pilgrims apart from the regular passengers throughout the year. The Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) resumed its Kozhikode operations on December 5, 2018. Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has started daily direct flights from Jeddah to Kozhikode from April 20, this year.
29/10/19 Times of India

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India's IndiGo Airlines eyes Tbilisi as next European route

IndiGo Airlines is planning to launch its second European route, to Tbilisi, in February 2020 using A321-200neo equipment, sources told the Indian newswire PTI.

The low-cost carrier has reportedly already conducted all inspections of the Georgian airport required to commence scheduled operations. However, neither the airline nor the airport would confirm the plans.

It is unclear from which hub IndiGo Airlines would serve Tbilisi. Its two main north Indian gateways at Mumbai Int'l and Delhi Int'l airports are well within the range of the type.
29/10/19 ch-aviation

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India takes Pak to ICAO for denying airspace use

Bengaluru: India has moved the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) against Pakistan after Imran Khan’s government in Islamabad turned down its request for allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special aircraft to fly over the neighbouring country on its way to Saudi Arabia.
As the Air India One – the special VVIP aircraft of the national carrier – will now fly to Riyadh avoiding the airspace of Pakistan, it will take Prime Minister 45 minutes more than the usual time to reach the capital of Saudi Arabia. The aircraft will also avoid Cyclone Kyarr, which has intensified into a first super-cyclone – the first in the Arabian Sea in the last 12 years. 
Modi is expected to arrive in Riyadh late at night on Monday. He will meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, apart from delivering the keynote address at the third session of the Future Investment Initiative Forum, hosted by the government of the kingdom.
Islamabad turned down New Delhi’s request for allowing Prime Minister’s special aircraft to fly over Pakistan for his visit to Saudi Arabia. This is the second time the Khan government declined New Delhi’s permission to Prime Minister’s special aircraft to fly over Pakistan.
28/10/19 Anirban Bhaumik/Deccan Herald

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In a first, Diwali celebrated at Washington airport

Washington: In a historic first, Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, was celebrated at the Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), which was a riveting sight for passengers, visitors, airport personnel, flight and cabin crew.
Akanksha Sharma, marketing associate for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and the brainchild behind the celebration, told The American Bazaar: "This is the first event of its kind both in the region and at IAD."
The airport authority operates both IAD and the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
A gateway to the world, Dulles Airport serves over 24 million passengers a year. It is located in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, some 26 miles west of downtown Washington, DC.
28/10/19 IANS/Gulf News

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All Nippon Airways launches direct flight from Chennai to Tokyo

Chennai: All Nippon Airways, one of the largest airlines in Japan, on Sunday launched direct service between Chennai and Tokyo.
With the new service, Chennai has become the first city in South India to have the flight connectivity to the Narita International Airport, Tokyo.
"All Nippon Airways is here!!! Chennai will be the third in India and the first city in the South to welcome direct flight from Japan," Airport Authority of India said.
"The Chennai-Narita connect will operate thrice a week. Congrats @FlyANA_official," AAI said in a tweet.
All Nippon Airways, in its website, said, "Bringing a new attraction flight closer. The only direct flight from Chennai to Tokyo". As the inaugural flight from Tokyo made its touchdown at the Anna International Terminal here on Sunday, it was accorded with a traditional water salute.
Earlier in January, All Nippon Airways (ANA) had said it would commence direct flight from Japan to Chennai making it the third city in India after launching direct flights from New Delhi and Mumbai.
28/10/19 PTI/New Indian Express

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Emirate Airline, African Industries Partner India Cup Tourney

Emirates Airlines and African Industries have thrown their weight behind the organizers of this year’s edition of the India Cup which kicks off tomorrow as the event partners.

The Indian golfer’s foundation disclosed this over the weekend and added that 7Up, Zenith Bank, OVH Energy, DAG Motors, Olam Grains, Indomie, Prestige Brands are the other major sponsors of the competition along with a host of others.

 “We want to thank every company that has supported this event, the support is well appreciated. We want to also say a big thank you to them for the kind gesture. Kudos to individuals and committee members who have worked tirelessly to ensure the return of India cup after an absence of six years,” the statement said.
28/10/19 This Day

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Emirates says committed to India despite dropping proposed Karipur routes

Emirates airline has affirmed its commitment to India, despite pulling out of a decision to launch services from Karipur (Calicut) Airport in the Kerala region.
The Dubai-based carrier has come under fire for the move and was even accused of violating the bilateral agreement signed between India and the UAE.
But a spokesperson for Emirates airline told Arabian Business the decision was taken purely on business grounds.
They said: “We are always reviewing market opportunities in India to ensure that our capacity is currently deployed to best serve customer demand in India. Emirates continues to serve Kerala with multiple daily flights to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.”
Emirates currently serves nine destinations across India, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram – with 171 weekly flights.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation granted an NOC to Emirates in July to operate direct flights to Calicut. The state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) said it was waiting on Emirates to decide when it wanted to start operations to the Kerala airport.
When contacted, K Srinivasa Rao, airport director, Calicut International Airport, told Arabian Business they were not aware of Emirates’ latest decision.
28/10/19 Gavin Gibbon/Aabian Business

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US national charged over internal drug importation of 109 drug pellets

A 54-year-old man is set to appear before the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court today on the alleged internal concealment of 109 pellets suspected to contain amphetamines imported via Melbourne International Airport on Saturday (26 October 2019).

The United States citizen was taken into custody shortly after arriving in Melbourne, accused internally concealing a border controlled drug.

Members of the Australian Border Force (ABF) at Melbourne International Airport selected the man for a full baggage examination after he arrived on board a flight from New Delhi, India at 5:30am on Saturday morning.

When a frisk search conducted by ABF officers returned a negative result the man was requested to undertake a non-medical body scan, which returned an inconclusive result.

He was then referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) who took him to the Royal Melbourne Hospital Emergency Department for a CT scan which positively identified foreign pellets inside his body.
AFP Commander Crime Operations Jason Williams said Australian law enforcement will continue to combat the movement of illicit drugs across international borders.

“This arrest is yet another strong warning to criminals – if you participate in illegal activities, law enforcement will catch, arrest and prosecute you,” he said.

“This detection will have a significant impact on organised crime in Melbourne and a substantial disruption effect on Victoria’s drug supply.”

ABF Regional Commander, Craig Palmer said that internal concealments such as this demonstrated the challenging role that ABF officers at the front-line have in detecting illicit drugs.
28/10/19 Mirage News

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Delhi preferred airport for Australasia-bound travelers

New Delhi: Delhi Airport has emerged as the preferred hub for travelers from India to Australasian countries, comprising Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and other islands dotting the Pacific ocean.
Of the 19 lakh travelers to Australasia from India between April 2018 and March 2019, as many as 7.7 lakh embarked on their journeys from the Delhi Airport, taking its share to 41% of the total traffic from 28% the previous year.
Melbourne is the most preferred destination of Australasia-bound travelers from the Delhi Airport with 33% of the 7.7 lakh passengers, followed by Sydney (25%), Auckland in New Zealand (15%), Brisbane (10%), Perth (6%) and Adelaide (5%).
“Delhi Airport has emerged as the hub for traffic to Australasia. It is the only airport in the SAARC region to have non-stop connectivity with Sydney and Melbourne,” Videh Kimar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said.
Interestingly, Delhi is the only airport in India to witness an increase in passenger share for the Australasian region, whereas other major airports such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai posted a dip during the same period.
Air India operates direct flights to Sydney that takes 12 hours 30 minutes to complete the journey, as against longer hopping flights operated by other airliners.
“This route has immense potential to grow further in future and I am sure that other Indian and foreign carriers would like to operate direct flights from Delhi,” Jaipuriar said.
26/10/19 Sagar Kulkarni/Deccan Herald

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Pakistan turns down India’s request to open airspace for PM Modi’s Saudi visit

New Delhi: For the second time in two months, Pakistan on Sunday rejected India’s request to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special flight to use its airspace for his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan had decided not to allow Prime Minister Modi to use the country’s airspace in view of the alleged violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, Dawn reported. Qureshi, in his statement, also said that the Indian High Commission will be informed in a written form.

Modi is set to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to attend an international business forum and hold talks with top Saudi leadership, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

During PM Modi’s visit to Riyadh, India and Saudi Arabia will sign an agreement on establishing the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council. The council will be headed by Modi and the Saudi Crown Prince. The Prime Minister will also deliver the keynote address at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s annual investment forum, the Future Investment Initiative.
27/10/19 Indian Express

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SpiceJet, Scoot new flights from Vizag on Diwali

Visakhapatnam: Good news for Vizagites as two new flights will be launched on Diwali from Visakhapatnam. The new flight services include one international and two domestic connections. SpiceJet will be operating flight services from Chennai to Visakhapatnam and from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada.
The new international flight service is to Singapore for five days a week instead of three days earlier. Scoot Airlines will be operating the flight service from Visakhapatnam to Singapore from October 27 for five days a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). The flight will take four hours from Visakhapatnam to Singapore.
The announcement came as a major relief to the air passengers as two airlines have recently cancelled their flight services from Visakhapatnam.Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers Association representatives K Kumar Raja, DS Varma and O Naresh Kumar thanked Scoot Airlines for increasing the frequency of service connecting Vizag.
They also thanked SpiceJet, Vizag airport director and local MP MVV Satyanarayana for their efforts to get new flight services from the city.
Naresh Kumar said Scoot Airlines will connect 160 destinations from Visakhapatnam through boarding pass issued from Vizag to China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, US etc.
There will be 30 more seats on Scoot Airlines flight compared to SilkAir flight, he said. The new flights will be formally launched at a programme to be organised at the airport on Sunday. Minister for Tourism Avanthi Srinivasa Rao and MP MVV Satyanarayana will attend the inaugural programme.
27/10/19 New Indian Express

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India to Deploy Naval Aircraft at France’s La Réunion for Joint Surveillance Mission

New Delhi: Within the first few months of 2020, India will deploy a naval aircraft at France’s reunion island as part of join surveillance mission with France in the southern Indian Ocean.

This was revealed by the French President Emmanuel Macron during his first presidential visit to the French overseas territories earlier this week. This has been partly a consequence of a larger political understanding between India and France to have closer maritime cooperation in the southern Indian Ocean, where it administers the islands of La Réunion, Mayotte and the French Southern and Atlantic Lands.

Macron, who arrived at La Réunion on October 23, was greeted with calls of protests which are part of a year-old strike by trade unions over the faltering economy.

Therefore, a key highlight of Macron’s island travels was his speech at the “Choose La Reunion” forum which aimed to bring in investment and link to business chains in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. India’s minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan took a business delegation to the forum for the first time.

In his speech in French at the business forum, Macron laid out the strategic importance of Reunion in the Indian Ocean and the need to position it within the axis of the African and Indian subcontinent.
27/10/19 Wire

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Ethiopian Airlines connects Bengaluru to Addis Ababa

Bengaluru: Ethiopian Airlines will start weekly non-stop flights between capital Addis Ababa and Bengaluru, making the tech hub its third destination in India after Mumbai and New Delhi to have direct connectivity, an official said on Sunday.

"The direct passenger flights to Bengaluru from Addis Ababa is part of our strategic plan to expand in India. We are one of the first entrants to serve the Indian market, having 48 years of operation out of Mumbai," said Tadesse Tilahun, regional director, Ethiopian Airlines (Indian sub-continent) in a statement here.

The airlines will initially operate 4 non-stop flights a week from Addis Ababa on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to Bengaluru and from Bengaluru on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to Addis Ababa.

As the largest aviation group in Africa and Skytrax certified four-star global airline, Ethiopian is the first airline to give direct connection from South India to Africa.
27/101/19 IANS/Outlook

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Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter: Heading to China and India?

With the first serially produced Su-57 scheduled for delivery to the Russian Air Force by the end of 2019, aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi unveiled the export variant of Russia’s flagship fifth-generation fighter at the MAKS 2019 air show earlier this summer. In an illustration of the Kremlin’s increasingly proactive advertising approach, Russian President Vladimir Putin made news waves for personally pitching the Su-57E to his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdoğan.

But this recent focus on high-profile presidential outings belies years of persistent behind-the-scenes work by Russia’s state arms export agency-- Rosoboronexport-- to line up a surprisingly wide array of potential Su-57 buyers and investors. Here is a current shortlist of all prospective Su-57 importers.

Myanmar: The most recent addition to this list, Myanmar’s ambassador to Russia Ko Ko Shein Russia notified Moscow of his government’s interest in importing the Su-57 earlier this month. Myanmar previously signed a contract with Rosoboronexport to replace its aging Soviet MiG-29’s with a fleet of Su-30SM Flankers. Even if it uses objectively more expensive components, the Su-57E could end up costing Myanmar barely more than the Su-30SM; as previously described by The National Interest, the Russian government is willing to “short-sell” the Su-57 in the short term if it plants the seeds of a profitable export platform down the line. Though unsuited for helping Myanmar’s government with their ongoing counterinsurgency efforts, the Su-57E would go far in shoring up Myanmar’s drastic deficiency in air-to-air power.
27/10/19 Defence News

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IndiGo plans to enter Europe via Tbilisi from early next year

Mumbai: IndiGo is likely to commence operations to Eastern Europe early next year with a flight to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi as part of its plans to connect Europe, a source has said.
 The no-frills airline has already completed the safety risk assessment and station facility inspection of the Tbilisi airport, which is a mandatory exercise prior to launching a flight to a new airport, the source said.
 IndiGo was planning to launch its services to Georgia which lies on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, from this February. "All preparations are in place to launch services to Tbilis from early next year," said a source privy to development, adding the airline will deploy a 222-seater Airbus A321 Neo on the new route. He said the safety risk audit and station facility inspection of the Tbilisi airport has already been carried out, adding that any operator intending to launch a flight to a new overseas airport will have to conduct such an exercise as per the ICAO norms. The same rules apply even to a new airport as well.
 The IndiGo spokesman did not confirm or deny the plan. Queries sent to TAV Georgia, the operator of the Tbilisi international airport, did not elicit a response.
 25/10/19 PTI/Economic Times

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T20 World Cup: Delhi Airport emerging as hub for flights to Australia

New Delhi: Delhi Airport has become the preferred airport for travellers from India visiting countries in the Australasian continent, which includes Australia and neighbouring countries such as New Zealand and Fiji.

The airport has been able to take its share of the passenger traffic on the India-Australasia route from 28 per cent in 2006-07, when the airport was privatised, to 41 per cent at the end of FY19. That's a gain of 47 per cent in the share of passengers during the last 14 years. Interestingly, Delhi is the only airport in India to register a significant increase in passenger share, whereas other major airports such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai posted a dip during the same period.

India has become Australia’s fastest-growing tourist market with visitor numbers rising by 53 per cent, driven by a surge in arrivals of those visiting family and friends.

“Delhi Airport has emerged as the hub for traffic to Australasia. It is the only airport in the SAARC region to have non-stop connectivity with Sydney and Melbourne. This route has immense potential to grow further in future and I am sure that other Indian and foreign carriers would like to operate direct flights from Delhi,” said Videh Kimar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).
26/10/19 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Dubai flight timing changed, fly to Dharamshala from November 16

Mohali: Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will be commencing new flights under RCS (UDAN) scheme on Dharamshala-Chandigarh sector with ATR72 aircraft from November 16. The flight will operate six days a week, said Air India airport manager M R Jindal.
On the other hand, the timing of the Chandigarh-Dubai flight by private airlines IndiGo has been rescheduled from October 27 to March 28, 2020, owing to bad weather conditions, according to the winter schedule released by Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Friday. The flight which used to arrive at 10.20 am from Dubai will now touch down at 11am. The same flight will depart for Dubai at 4pm against the earlier scheduled departure of 3.45 pm. Five domestic flights were rescheduled for the season too. IndiGo has rescheduled its Kolkata-Chandigarh-Srinagar morning flight with a delay of 5 minutes. According to new timings, the flight will arrive from Kolkata at 7.15 am and will depart for Srinagar at 7.45 am. Air India has advanced the arrival of Leh flight by 20 minutes. According to the schedule, the Leh flight will arrive at 10.15 am.
Nanded Sahib flight timing changed
Air India has advanced the departure of Nanded Sahib flight by 35 minutes. It will now depart at 9am. The same flight will arrive from Nanded Sahib late by 10 minutes at 3.05pm.
26/10/19 Barinderjit Saluja/Times of India

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2 US women held with satellite phone at Varanasi airport

Varanasi: Two women from the United States were detained at Lal Bahadur Shastri International airport here on Friday after a satellite phone was recovered from their luggage.
Their boarding passes were cancelled and CISF personnel handed them to the police for investigation. The women told the police that they were not aware that satellite phones were banned in India and claimed they had not used the phone in Varanasi. They were released after questioning.

Police said the two women had come to the airport to catch a flight for New Delhi. However, a satellite phone was found in their luggage during checking after which their boarding passes were cancelled.
CISF personnel handed them over to Phoolpur police. Inspector, Phoolpur, Sanwar Ali said the women were released after being interrogated by local intelligence unit and intelligence bureau. "The women were not aware that satellite phone is prohibited in India. They did not use the phone here," he said.
26/10/19 Times of India

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Jet Airways' only bidder Synergy Group has a default history

New Delhi: Columbia's Synergy Group, the only potential bidder for India's iconic airline Jet Airways, and its founder German Efromovich have a credit default history, which has come to the notice of lenders of the bankrupt airline too, say banking sources. Efromovich, who built the sprawling Latin American conglomerate with his brother Jose, had lost his shipyard and airline businesses because of loan defaults.

The shipyard Estaleiro Ilha (EISA), which Efromovich acquired in 2003, had filed for bankruptcy in 2015. It had a secured debt of $294 million, according to an old report by a research firm Debtwire. Around the same time, his shipyards Maua and Brasa had ceased production. In another incident, BRW Aviation, a subsidiary of Synergy Group, had borrowed $456 million from United Airlines in November 2018 by using its equity in South American airline Avianca Holdings as collateral, but defaulted on the loan in May 2019. United Airlines had removed Efromovich from the post of chairman of Avianca, and appointed Roberto Kriete, head of Avianca's second-largest shareholder Kingsland Holdings, at the top post. Last year, his airlines in Brazil and Argentina had also filed for bankruptcy.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had instructed ArcelorMittal to clear off the loan dues in Uttam Galva and KSS Petron (the world's largest steelmaker had stakes in both the companies) to become eligible to bid for bankrupt Essar Steel. The promoters of bankrupt companies were also disallowed from bidding for their bankrupt assets, citing loan dues reasons. Essar group's Ruia family and Jaypee group were willing to clear off the debts in their companies to regain the control. Under Section 29A of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the undischarged insolvents and wilful defaulters were not allowed to buy the bankrupt assets. But it is not clear whether the clauses in IBC is applicable to Synergy Group as its defaulted businesses have no connect with the lenders in India.
25/10/19 Nevin John/Business Today

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Chinese flyer with e-visa deported

Indore: A Dubai-based couple allegedly had a harrowing time at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport on Wednesday after the wife, a Chinese national, was not allowed to leave the airport over non-acceptance of e-visa.
The couple was travelling to Indore for Diwali vacation. However, when immigration staff found that she was having an e-visa, which is not acceptable at Indore airport, the wife was deported.
“Indore airport doesn’t have the facility to take in visitors coming on e-visa that we forgot to check and realized about the same only after landing and reaching the immigration counter,” Suryansh Gupta, the husband told TOI. He said that immigration staff at Indore did not allow his wife to leave the arrival terminal. “They even refused to arrange our return to Dubai, and I had to pay for it too,” he said.
25/10/19 Times of India

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Brazil says it will no longer require visas from Chinese, Indian citizens

New Delhi: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday the South American nation will drop its requirement that visiting Chinese and Indian tourists or business people obtain visas.

Bolsonaro, a far-right politician, came to power at the beginning of the year and has made it a policy to reduce visa requirements from a number of developed countries. But the announcement, made during an official visit to China, is the first he has made expanding that policy to the developing world.
25/10/19 Reuters/Indian Express

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US interested to provide aircraft ecosystem to India

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US interested to provide aircraft ecosystem to India
New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) The United States is interested in providing an entire fighter aircraft ecosystem to India, the country''s Under-Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD), Ellen Lord said in New Delhi on Thursday.

Lord was in New Delhi for the ninth group meeting of the India-US Defence Technologies and Trade Initiative (DTTI), a pact signed between the two countries in 2012 for co-development and joint manufacturing of defence products.

"With the fighter jet programme, we are very, very interested in providing an entire fighter aircraft ecosystem to India where we not only bring in aircraft but also bring in training and sustainment for the whole lifecycle which we believe we can offer to the Indian government," said Lord.

Lord also said that a project for co-developing jet engines under the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group between the two countries has been suspended right now.

"We could not come to an understanding as to what exportable technology would be useful to Indians. That being said, there is an enormous amount of aircraft technology on which we could work on together," Lord added.

She said a variety of projects are under discussion between the two countries under the DTTI which include three short-term projects, two mid-term projects and two long-term projects. These projects range from small unmanned aerial systems to light weight small arms technology and the Virtual Augmented Mixed Reality for Aircraft Maintenance (VAMRAM) system.

Addressing a roundtable in New Delhi, she announced that the US and India have agreed to a joint statement of intent (SOI) that will deepen defence technology cooperation, and inter-operability consistent with the shared national security interests and national laws of both countries.

"Further, the SOI outlines the need for detailed planning and measurable progress on specific short, middle, and long term DTTI projects that are identified in the document. This demonstrates how DTTI is making progress and that both sides are fully committed to it," she said.
24/10/19 IANS/Outlook

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Sri Lanka travel agents forced to bailout India’s JetAirways customers

Sri Lanka’s travel agents have called for the government to mandate a balanced contract or insurance for foreign airlines selling tickets in the island, after being forced to refund or fly back passengers of the failed Indian airline Jet Airways.

Travel agents in Sri Lank had already made payments to the Billing and Settlements Plan (BSP), a clearing system operated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“Now we have a huge issue,” Nishantha Senaveratne, President of the IATA Agents Association in Sri Lanka said at forum in Colombo.

“Money has been collected and had been permitted to BSP and our clients are forcing us to pay their money back.”

He said 52 travel agents in Sri Lanka had been hit. They had to refund money to those who had bought tickets when JetAirways ceased operations and also had to fly back stranded passengers from as far back as London.

He said 52 travels agents had made complaints. The losses of 24 travel agents alone had totaled 11 million rupees so far.

Seneviratne said the travel agents have obligations toward BSP to do the payments as soon as the issuing of a ticket.
25/10/19 Chanka Jayasinghe/Economy Next

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Turkish Cargo adds flights to Kuala Lumpur and Ahmedabad

Turkish Cargo has increased its cargo flight network with the addition of flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Ahmedabad, India.

Thanks to the Kuala Lumpur flights, Turkish Cargo will be be able to move Malaysia’s main exports, such as electronic products, medical products, and spare parts, to various countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany and US through its Istanbul hub.

The airline plans to use Boeing 777F aircraft on the ISL–KUL–SGN (Ho Chi Minh/Vietnam) route.

Turkish cargo, will also operate Airbus 330F aircraft to Ahmedabad on the DOH–AMD–ISL and BAH–AMD-ISL routes. The airline, which has received IATA CEIV Pharma certification, plans to become “an important air cargo brand for Ahmedabad”, which has a large pharmaceutical market.
24/10/19 Aircargo news

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Nigerian ‘celebrity’ arrested for overstaying

A Nigerian ‘celebrity’, who also acted in some Bollywood movies, was apprehended by CISF personnel at the Delhi airport on Thursday for allegedly overstaying in the country.
Olamilekan M Akanbi Ojora was intercepted around 4 am at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after security personnel found him roaming suspiciously in the terminal area.
The man had a ticket to Goa on a Vistara flight and when he was questioned, he divulged that his visa had expired, they said.
The CISF officials later contacted immigration and Central intelligence agencies, which confirmed that the man’s visa had expired in 2011.
25/10/19 PTI/Tribune

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Nigerian lodged in Trichy prison deported

Trichy: A 31-year-old Nigerian lodged in a Trichy jail for illegal stay in India was deported to his home country on Thursday.
Revenue officials and the Trichy city police sent Steven John Obuchi back to Nigeria from Chennai airport.
The police said Obuchi’s original name was Madu Abuchi Kingsley. He had been staying in India using a fake name. The impersonation came to light during police were checking his documents.
The illegal immigrant was arrested in Tirupur and jailed in the special prison at the Trichy Central Prison in August 2018. A case for attacking a Sri Lankan national was also pending against him. He escaped from the prison on July 19, 2019.
24/10/19 R Gokul/Times of India

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India’s SpiceJet to launch new airline from UAE

SpiceJet has decided to set up its first international hub outside India in Ras Al Khaimah its hub to expand its operations to Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The low-cost Indian carrier also announced plans to launch an airline, which will be based at RAK International Airport.

The budget carrier on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the RAK International Airport to start direct flights between RAK and New Delhi from December 2019. It will operate five flights a week and aims to gradually increase the frequency.

Ajay Singh, chairman of SpiceJet, said they are applying for a licence for the new airline, which will operate from Ras Al Khaimah and likely to take off next year.

“We are looking to establish an airline based in Ras al Khaimah. We are applying for certification shortly and the approval will take around three to six months,” Singh told media during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The proposed carrier will be sixth airline to operate from the UAE after Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, flydubai and the recently-announced Air Arabia Abu Dhabi. It will be the fourth budget carrier to operate from the UAE, resulting in stiffer competition among the UAE’s low-cost carrier to grab more market share — especially on the Indian route, which is already reaching its full capacity. Non-resident Indians living in the northern emirates will especially benefit from this increased competition among the low-cost carriers.

“The new airline will help connect India with Eastern and Western European destination using RAK as hub,” Singh said.
He said that around four to five jets will be based in Ras Al Khaimah and those will be 737 MAX series after they have been certified by the US regulator.

“We are looking to see Ras Al Khaimah become a stepping stone into European destinations. There is already good traffic between RAK and Europe and we are connecting Europe to India via Ras Al Khaimah. This is our first international hub,” he said, adding that airports in India are getting congested and with new aircraft coming for SpiceJet, the carrier is forced to look at alternatives in the region.

SpiceJet has been massive plan to expand its operations across the globe. Last month, Singh said airline will be discussing an order for at least 100 Airbus planes worth $13 billion. In 2016-17, it placed an order for up to 205 MAX aircraft, including firm order for 155 such planes. But, it had grounded 13 Boeing 737 MAX after the crash of two aircraft operated by other airlines.

SpiceJet chief said the name, destinations and shareholding for the new airline are still at the discussion stage.
He stressed that there is a strong potential to make Ras Al Khaimah hub for connectivity with Africa, Middle East and Europe. “Ras Al Khaimah sees strong European tourist inflow so it merits a direct connectivity between.”
24/10/19 Waheed Abbas/Khaleej Times

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SpiceJet to set up hub in Ras Al Khaimah

Ras Al Khaimah: India’s SpiceJet signed an agreement on Wednesday on set up its first international hub in Ras Al Khaimah and to later launch an airline from there.

The carrier, which is the second-largest in India, inked a memorandum of understanding with Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, and will launch its first flight from Delhi to the emirate in December 2019.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said at a press conference that the airline has been eyeing an international hub for some time now as India’s airports become more congested and as SpiceJet prepares to expand its aircraft fleet. He believes there is “tremendous potential” in a partnership with Ras Al Khaimah, which he described as being still untapped.

SpiceJet looked at various other airports to set up its new hub, but found that Ras Al Khaimah’s still has “a lot of space for growth, which is not the case” with many other regional airports.

Come December, the budget carrier plans to have four or five aircraft based in Ras Al Khaimah, and to deploy them on medium-haul flights of six to seven hours. This would include destinations in eastern and western Europe, as SpiceJet sees the new hub as its stepping stone into European markets.
“This goes beyond trying to provide more connectivity to Ras Al Khaimah … or Europe; we think that there is great potential as well in the logistics space, using Ras Al Khaimah as a port of entry into the UAE and North Africa,” the chairman said

SpiceJet has already started freighter operations into Ras Al Khaimah’s airport, and plans to expand that, with the aim of creating a logistics hub at the airport. Additionally, the airline is looking at the potential for maintenance and overhaul operations out of the UAE airport.

Once the hub is in operation, SpiceJet is seeking to launch an airline from there, and is applying for certification to do so. Whether its aircraft in Ras Al Khaimah are placed under a new airline or not will depend on discussions with authorities, Singh said. If it does establish a new airline, that would be the sixth UAE-based carrier after Air Arabia and Etihad Airways announced a joint venture to establish Air Arabia Abu Dhabi.

The SpiceJet aircraft based in the UAE will temporarily be serviced by Boeing’s 737 Next Generation jets, though the airline plans to later deploy Boeing 737 Max aircraft once they are allowed to operate again.
23/10/19 Sarah Diaa/Gulf News

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Boeing Max design to blame for Lion Air crash, Indonesia says

Flaws in the design of Boeing Co’s 737 Max and lack of information on how to deal with malfunctions in one of the jet’s flight-control systems contributed to last year’s crash of Lion Air Flight 610, which killed 189 people, Indonesian investigators found.

In a slideshow to victims’ families, the National Transportation Safety Committee said the 737 Max’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was approved based on incorrect assumptions and that its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor made it vulnerable.

It also criticised the certification process of the plane.

Indonesia is expected to release its final report in the coming days on the disaster that occurred just under a year ago, on Oct 29, 2018.

The controversial MCAS system, which activates when the plane appears to be at risk of stalling, was also implicated in an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March that claimed 157 lives.

The NTSC’s findings could influence regulators worldwide as they assess the fate of Boeing’s best-selling plane.

The jet has been grounded globally since Mar 13, costing the Chicago-based company over US$8 billion. The head of its jetliner division stepped down Tuesday after less than three years in the job.

Today’s presentation in Jakarta indicated that the lack of guidance on MCAS made it harder for crews to respond to automated actions by the system, while a replacement sensor installed on the plane wasn’t properly calibrated during an earlier repair, and that this error hadn’t been detected.

A lack of documentation made it more difficult for maintenance and accident crews to take appropriate actions, a slide showed.
The findings suggest a design flaw with the plane, said Satyendra Pandey, a New Delhi-based independent analyst and former head of strategy at Go Airlines India Ltd.

“Going back to revisit the design itself has tremendous ramifications for Boeing – both in terms of cost and liability,” he said. “It can be assumed that Boeing will contest this and point to software as the flaw.”

A Boeing representative wrote in an email that it was too premature to comment on the report as it hasn’t been officially released by Indonesian investigators. Lion Air didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comments.
23/10/19 Bloomberg/FMT News

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Emirates leaves Karipur in lurch

Kozhikode: The Emirates Airlines, which had promised to operate Code-E flights from Karipur airport, has been accused of violating the bilateral agreement signed between India and the UAE.

"From April 30, 2015 to July 5, 2019, the Airport Authority of India had banned the operations of  Code-E aircraft at Karipur due to runway maintenance. It was in those circumstances that the DGCA agreed to shift the flight slots of the airline to nearby airports,” K.M. Basheer, forum president, told reporters here on Wednesday.
After the repair was over, the DGCA directed the airline to resume the operations. Now the Emirates has allegedly demanded an additional 2,500 seats to resume the services from Karipur which is a violation of the agreement," Mr Basheer said.
24/10/19 Deccan Chronicle

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Pilot's mother calls for training as Boeing blamed in Lion Air 737 Max crash

Jakarta: The mother of the pilot of the Lion Air plane that plunged into the sea last year, killing 189 people, said Boeing should be required to re-certify the 737 Max aircraft and mandate simulator training for all pilots.

The plane's design and a lack of information for pilots on how to deal with malfunctions contributed to the crash of Flight 610, Indonesian investigators told the victims' families Wednesday (Oct 23) in Jakarta.

Relatives of the doomed jet's pilot, Bhavye Suneja, attended the briefing, said Sangeeta Suneja, the pilot's mother.

A flight-control mechanism on the 737 Max called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was approved based on incorrect assumptions, and its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor made it vulnerable, according to a presentation to the families by Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee.

The presentation also criticised the plane's certification process.

"Without simulator training, it is going to be lethal to fly the aircraft again," Sangeeta Suneja said by phone from Mumbai, where she's taking care of her ill father.

"Whenever a pilot flies, he just goes by the book, whatever is written and whatever they've gone through in simulation sessions. They create a muscle memory on what to do on a particular input."

The MCAS feature, which automatically pushes the plane's nose downward if it detects the danger of an aerodynamic stall, was also implicated in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max in March that claimed 157 lives.

The Indonesian agency said a lack of guidance around MCAS made it harder for crews to respond to automated actions by the system.

Bhavye Suneja, who was a 31-year-old Indian with more than 6,000 flight hours behind him, failed to regain control of the Lion Air flight after the automated system repeatedly pushed the nose down.

Indonesian investigators are due to publish their final report on the crash at 2pm local time on Friday.
23/10/19 Bloomberg/Straits Times

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Vistara to soon fly to New York and Tokyo in codeshare with Singapore Airlines and Silkair

Vistara has commenced codesharing on Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Silkair flights to as many as 35 destinations across Asia Pacific and Oceana region. In addition to Singapore, the full-service carrier will now add its ‘UK’ designator code on SIA and Silkair-operated flights to cities in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia.

Moreover, Vistara will soon implement its codeshare to four cities in the US and five in Japan. These include New York (Newark), Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

Commenting on this, Vinod Kannan, chief strategy officer, Vistara said, “We are committed to providing a global network to our customers. Our codeshare agreement with SIA and Silkair helps us to do this consistently to over 40 destinations around the world, given the high standards of product, service and operations that we share with them in common. We are sure that customers from India will appreciate the five-star flying experience to Singapore and beyond to their final destinations with us.”
23/10/19 Sanchita Nambiar/Business Traveller

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AirAsia carries 20% more passengers in 3Q19

Kuala Lumpur: AirAsia Group Bhd’s passenger volume, which is consolidated from its Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippines operations, rose 20% year-on-year to 13 million in the third quarter of this year (3Q19), from 10.80 million a year earlier.

This resulted in a 2 percentage point increase in the group's load factor to 84%. In the same period, its capacity grew 17% y-o-y to 15.50 million from 13.23 million, while available seat kilometres (ASK) was 16% higher y-o-y, as the group stays focused on strengthening its market dominance by introducing new routes and adding frequencies on existing ones.

The overall capacity expansion was contributed by a 10% growth in its Malaysian ops to 10.64 million. The local ops also carried 11% more passengers during the quarter at 8.85 million, which exceeded the industry's average growth as it continued to strengthen its market dominance, the group said in a statement today. "Load factor was firm at 83%, despite a seasonally leaner quarter," AirAsia said.
As for AirAsia India, it passengers carried grew by 47% y-o-y, surpassing the 25% capacity growth during the quarter, which drove the operation to record a strong 90% load factor.

"AirAsia India closed the quarter with 22 aircraft and is awaiting regulatory approval to commence international flights," AirAsia said.
22/10/19 Just Lim/theedgemarkets.com

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Ciel & Terre completes floating solar plant at Indian airport

French floating solar specialist Ciel & Terre has completed its first FPV plant in India through its local subsidiary.

The 450kWp project uses Hydrelio float technology and is located on a pond at CIAL golf course at Cochin Airport in the southern state of Kerala.

Last year, Ciel & Terre created a subsidiary dedicated to the Indian market – Ciel & Terre India – and opened a local office in Bangaluru.

The firm also owns a manufacturing line in the region to produce a Hydrelio float technology locally. The technology in this project has a 5° tilt, which is suitable for the southern region.
23/10/19 Tom Kenning/PV Tech

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IndiGo Airlines co-founder sues other co-founder in the US

IndiGo Airlines co-founder Rahul Bhatia filed a case in the Maryland District Court in the United States seeking an order to retrieve the correspondence of Anupam Khanna, an independent director on the carrier's board, the Times News Network has reported.

Bhatia and his investment vehicle InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE), who own a 38% stake in the Indian LCC, have alleged that Khanna acted in coordination with Rakesh Gangwal, IndiGo's other co-founder, a 37% stakeholder, and a party to a public argument with Bhatia.

"In light of the evidence of cooperation between Khanna and Gangwal, the petitioners believe that Khanna is likely to be in possession, custody or control of documents and communications concerning the actions taken by Gangwal to the detriment of the company," IGE said.

Bhatia's group is seeking to obtain documents to use them in an ongoing arbitration in London.

In its filing in the Maryland court, IGE argued that communications between Khanna and Gangwal prove cooperation in an effort to reduce IGE's influence over the carrier in a breach of the shareholders' agreement.

"Khanna has historically aligned himself with Gangwal, and petitioners believe that he is 'acting in concert with Gangwal in a clandestine manner ... notwithstanding his position as an independent director on the board," the filing said.

Gangwal is a US citizen while Khanna is a resident in Maryland.
23/10/19 ch-aviation

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India, UAE set to discuss bilateral air traffic rights

India is understood to have invited UAE civil aviation authorities for discussions on bilateral air traffic rights. This followed request by UAE authorities on expanding bilateral air seat capacities between the two countries.
The meeting, which is also expected to discuss the issue of re-designation of flights, is scheduled for today (Wednesday), according to a report in New Indian Express.
Civil Aviation ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to Arabian Business’ query on this.
Under the existing bilateral rights, carriers from India and the UAE can fly a total of 134,441 aircraft seats a week, each way.
UAE and some other Middle East countries have been requesting New Delhi for review of their respective bilateral air service agreements, under which weekly air seat capacities as also designated airports are decided between the two countries.
So far, India has been reluctant to expand bilateral flying rights with UAE.
Indian carriers are also said to be not in favour of expanding air capacities between the two countries, mainly on apprehension that UAE-based carriers could gain most from this as they could manage to get prime slots for landing and take off in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other airports in their country.
23/10/19 James Mathew/Arabian Business

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India’s SpiceJet sees ‘significant’ impact from Boeing groundings

Ras Al Khaimah: India’s SpiceJet reiterated on Wednesday its commitment to Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft even as it said there have been “significant consequences” from the grounding of the model.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said the financial fallout for the airline from having to ground 13 aircraft of that model since March has been “very bad, no question about it.” Still, he said that Boeing has long been a key partner, and “we owe it to Boeing to support them.”

Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft have been banned from flying across the world after two fatal crashes involving the model.

Singh said the financial impact came from having to instead deploy other aircraft models, which are costlier to operate and not as efficient as the 737 Max. The grounding has also forced SpiceJet to halt expansion plans to certain markets that would have benefited from the longer flight range of the 737 Max.
23/10/19 Sarah Diaa/Gulf News

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Emirates to serve special Diwali sweets on flights

In celebration of Diwali, Emirates will be offering its passengers a variety of special treats that are synonymous with celebration of the festival of lights.
 During the festive period from October 25 to October 31, the airline will be serving colourful and aromatic array of traditional Indian sweets and savoury meals, which will be made available onboard its flights departing from and travelling to India, as well as in selected airport lounges worldwide.
 Economy class passengers will be served sumptuous ‘motichoor laddu’ garnished with silver leaf and delightful pistachio. Passengers travelling on first and business class will be able to enjoy delicious ‘dry fruit tribhuj’ along with ‘motichoor laddu’.
 At its airport lounges in Dubai, Delhi, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kuala Lumpur, Emirates will offer special festive dishes that include traditional sweets and savoury dishes on October 27 – the concluding day of the festival.
 For passengers at the Emirates lounge at Delhi International Airport, the airline will offer them an assortment of Indian cashew sweets, along with rich ‘motichoor rabri’ topped with 'pistachio nuts'. Meanwhile, the Emirates lounge at Dubai International Airport will serve 'crispy-fried mini dal kachori' and 'mini Punjabi samosa'.
 For dessert, the lounge will serve the sweet and succulent 'angoori rabdi' paired with 'motichoor laddu'. Passengers at the Emirates lounge in Cape Town International Airport and O.R. Tambo International Airport can enjoy scrumptious 'jalebi', along with 'barfi', and 'nankhatai' - a popular snack.
 23/10/19 Anuradha Himatsingka/Economic Times

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Guwahati-Dhaka flight to resume in a fortnight

Guwahati: The Guwahati-Dhaka direct flight, which had suspended operation less than three months after flag-off, will be resumed within a fortnight.
Announcing it at the valedictory ceremony of a two-day India Bangladesh Stakeholders’ Meet here, Act East Policy Affairs minister of Assam Chandra Mohan Patowary said, “The direct flight between Guwahati and Dhaka had to be suspended due to some reasons.”
“The Jet Airlines has closed down in India and Spicejet, which operated the Guwahati-Dhaka flights, have procured a huge fleet from Jet Airlines. Spicejet has temporarily suspended the flight due to rescheduling,” he said.
23/10/19 UNI

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194 Out The Door: Pipistrel Completes Indian Trainer Deliveries

All of the 194 aircraft ordered by the Indian government for use by the Indian air force, Indian navy and the National Cadet Corps have been delivered, according to Pipistrel. Based on the Virus SW 80, the trainers are called the GARUD, a bird prominent in Hindu mythology.

Pipistrel began delivering aircraft in 2016, but also managed training of “a large number of technicians and engineers” from all branches of the Indian Ministry of Defense. The Indian government is expected to use the aircraft for at least the next 15 years.

“At the beginning also big players in the aviation warned me that working with India is not possible and we would never bring the contract to the end successfully, but all of us, working together as a strong team, succeeded in doing just that,” says Ivo Boscarol, Pipistrel’s CEO. “This deal opened many future doors for us.”
22/10/19 Marc Cook/AVweb

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Mumbai: Iranian woman held for forging Greek passport

Mumbai: Police arrested a 31-year-old Iranian national after she was allegedly found with two foreign passports, one from Iran and the other from Greece.
Lufthansa Airline crew stopped Naeimeh Mohammadzadeh from taking the Mumbai-Frankfurt flight on October 20. Sahar police registered a case on October 21 and the Mumbai crime branch is conducting further probe Mohammadzadeh who hails from Tabriz in Iran got the Greece passport and managed to clear the security and immigration check there. “Mohammadzadeh flew to Chennai after she got evisa to travel to India on the Greece passport. Two days ago, she came to Mumbai and was supposed to fly to Frankfurt when she was stopped,” said a police officer. Police said immigration officials got suspicious after she claimed she was a Greece national. They frisked her bag and found another passport showing her as an Iranian national.
23/10/19 V Narayan/Times of India

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Vistara set to fly to New York, Tokyo in codeshare with SIA,SilkAir

Mumbai: Full-service carrier Vistara said on Tuesday it will soon commence codeshare flights to the US and Japan with partner carriers SIA and SilkAir as part of an extended pact with the two South-east Asian airlines. 
The Delhi-based airline had in August this year extended its codeshare pact with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional arm SilkAir to international routes as well besides for domestic flights, which is in place since 2017. Under the extended pact, Vistara will codeshare flights to more than 40 destinations in the SIA and SilkAir network.
 The pact is already in place for 35 destinations operated by SIA and SilkAir across AC region, Australia and New Zealand, Vistara said in a release. "Codesharing on flights to the United States and Japan will follow soon," it said.
 Implementation of Vistaras codeshare with SIA and SilkAir will soon include flights to New York (Newark), Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco in the US and Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya and Fukuoka in Japan, Vistara said in the release.
 Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.
22/10/19 PTI/Economic Times

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Higher seat quota for Gulf carriers on cards even as old deals under scanner

New Delhi: After agreeing to expand flying rights with Saudia Arabia, the Civil Aviation Ministry would hold talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday to consider their demand to raise bilateral seat quota for designated carriers of the two sides.

The higher seat quota will allow the airlines from the two sides to operate more flights.

With alleged role of middleman in negotiations for higher seat quota with the Gulf countries during the UPA-II government, the new government had almost put on hold the demand for further raising the seat entitlements.

Official sources indicated that the Indian side may not immediately agree for raising quota with the UAE that would benefit foreign carriers like Emirates and FlyDubai.

Among key demands, the UAE may press for designating Air Arabia as carrier from Ras Al Khaimah, one of the Emirates, and use the bilateral seat entitlements. RAK Airways, the official airline of Ras Al Khaimah, shut down in 2014 and Air Arabia is eyeing the unutilised quota. The designated airlines from India and Ras Al Khaimah are entitled to operate 1,428 seats per week.

The Ministry is, however, unlikely to agree to this given that in response to a Parliament question it had earlier said that the proposal is beyond the scope of existing bilateral air service agreement (ASA).

Article 3 of the ASA between India and UAE gives rights to both the parties to designate airlines.

"...the entitlement of each Emirate is specifically meant for designated airlines of that Emirate only and therefore Air Arabia which is designated airline of Sharjah can not utilise the entitlements of UAE (Ras Al Khaimah) at the same time," the then Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha had said in Parliament.

In what suggests the government has now decided to remove virtual freeze on negotiations for more seat quota with the Gulf and Middle East countries, India last week agreed to enhance bilateral quota with Saudi Arabia by about 10,000 weekly seats.

Sources said that the move would help Saudi Arabia diversify its economy and boost tourism sector. Given that Saudi Arabia now wants to reduce its dependence on oil and focus on tourism as a major growth driver, the higher seat quota will help its airline get passenger feed from India.

The designated airlines of India and Saudi Arabia are currently entitled to operate 28,000 seats weekly from each side.

It has been reliably learnt that sale-bound national carrier opposed the government move but its suggestion was rejected.
21/10/19 IANS/Outlook

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Tripura CM for direct access to Agartala airport for Bangladeshi flyers

Guwahati: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb today placed before a top Bangladesh delegation, including the Commerce minister and the advisor to the PM, a request to allow its citizens direct access to the Agartala airport.
 Addressing the inaugural session of the twoday India Bangladesh Stakeholders’ Meet here, Deb said, “I had put the request with our Central government for taking up the matter with Bangladesh. I had placed the request when the Bangladesh prime minister had visited New Delhi recently, and I am once again putting the same request here today with the Commerce minister of Bangladesh and the Economic Adviser to the PM of Bangladesh present here.”
 22/10/19 UNI

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GoAir partners with Skål

Kolkata: GoAir, India’s most trusted, punctual and fastest growing airline, on the occasion of its inaugural Kolkata-Singapore flight, partnered with Skål – a professional organisation of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism. The partnership was announced at an event organised by Skål, in Kolkata. GoAir worked with Skål to extend its reach in the travel and tourism world for the domestic and international markets.
The event was attended by leading hoteliers, tour operators and other tourism industry personnel. GoAir exhibited its flight offerings from Kolkata and other cities in eastern India to the present guests and reiterated GoAir’s commitment to develop a strong network in eastern India.
GoAir operates flights to all metro cities from Kolkata and besides that, it also operates daily flights to other eastern Indian cities like Bagdogra, Aizawl, Bubhaneshwar and Guwahati. Thus connecting these cities through its dense network to the rest of the country. With the help of this partnership, GoAir will engage with tour operators from the region and will look at roping in agents to make GoAir’s network accessible to more and more travel and tourism enthusiasts. As a cumulative result of this association, there will be a boost to the travel and tourism industry, as a whole.
22/10/19 Orissa Diary

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Ukranian Passenger Dies Onboard Qatar Airways Flight

Hyderabad: A 69 year-old Ukranian suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on board a Doha-Bangkok flight, prompting the crew to divert the aircraft to the airport in Hyderabad, where doctors declared him brought dead, airport sources said on Tuesday.
Galyna Konkina, who had a history of heart ailment and undergone a bypass surgery 20 years ago, was found ''unresponsive and unconsious'' in the flight at 1.30 AM, following which the Qatar Airways flight landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport about two hours later. Airport sources said the crew had carried out pulmonary resusication, but to no avail.
The flight landed here at 3:25 AM and the patient was seen by the doctor at the airport. The patient was declared brought dead due to cardiac arrest, the sources said.
22/10/19 PTI/NDTV

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Passenger held at KIA with satellite phone

Bengaluru: A British national was held at Kempegowda International Airport on Sunday morning for possessing a satellite phone without authorisation. According to an airport source, Leandrom Muller was heading to Delhi by Air India flight AI 505, with a scheduled departure time of 10 am. “During security checks before boarding, the Central Industrial Security Force detected one Thuraya satellite phone. The passenger was not authorised to carry it,” he said.
22/10/19 New Indian Express

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How a young immigrant who was sacked after offering his boss advice did the unthinkable... and is now worth $66MILLION at the age of 30

An high-flying aviation school entrepreneur has soared into Australia's Young Rich List for the first time.
As an ambitious and smart-thinking young flight instructor, Neel Khokhani, then 22, was sacked for telling his boss that his aircraft fleet could be better.
With just $5000 in savings, he crowdfunded the purchase of his first plane by selling highly discounted lessons on group buying site Scoopon.
He sold $180,000 of vouchers within a day, enough to buy his first plane and start up his own flying school in Melbourne.
Eight years on, Soar Aviation is now Australia's biggest flying school with 67 aircraft, three airport campuses in Melbourne, Sydney and Bendigo and more than 500 students, including the great-great-nephew of aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford Smith.
Khokhani, now 30, has built a $66million fortune and is deservedly ranked 51st in his debut on Australia's Young Rich List.
Originally from India, Khokhani arrived in Australia as a 16-year-old teenager to chase his dreams of becoming a pilot, where he learned how fly at Sydney's Bankstown Airport before he could even drive.
'I was always fascinated by Richard Branson as a boy and wanted to start my own airline,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'I was always fascinated by Richard Branson as a boy and wanted to start my own airline,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'But it's something you can't teach a 12-year-old so I decided to first learn how to fly instead. I was a bit of a nerd so I skipped a few grades to finish school at 15.

'I came to Australia with my parents to study aviation at 16 and had my pilot licence by the age of 18.'
Within four years, the young instructor was questioning his boss about the planes he had after hearing about smaller, cheaper and more efficient aircraft being built in Europe.

'Every Friday night, we would catch up for a beer and one night, I decided to give him a few ideas about how to run his business,' Khokhani recalled.

'He took it quite personally and said "If you think you can run a flying school better than me, then go and start your own".'

'Being 22 and with $5000 in savings, I was shocked, scared and nervous about having to support myself. But it turned out to be a good thing and never looked back.'

Soar Aviation's success began to take off as one-time customers came back for repeat lessons.
21/10/19 Kylie Stevens/Daily Mail Australia/Mail Online

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AirAsia to get first A321neo from December

Kuala Lumpur: AirAsia will start receiving its Airbus A321Neo from the end of 2019, which would enable it to further improve efficiency and boost capacity to routes such as Singapore where the slots have been maxed out, chief executive officer Riad Asmat said.
In June, AirAsia announced that it was upsizing its future Airbus single-aisle fleet, converting 253 orders for the A320neo to the larger A321neo version, emerging as the world’s largest customer for the model.
“We (Malaysia) are getting it first. There will be two this year and another two next year,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview recently.
AirAsia currently has 230 A320 Family aircraft in service, flying out of its hubs in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Japan.

He ssid the A321neo is still a member of the best-selling A320 Family incorporated with the latest technologies including new-generation engines and Sharklets, which together deliver at least 15 per cent fuel savings at delivery and 20 per cent by 2020.
These planes, Riad said, would be deployed to routes that have maximum efficiency as well as those that don’t have slots anymore such as Singapore.
 “Besides Singapore, the other routes that the A321neo can be deployed are Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Bali, Indonesia,” he said, adding the increase in seat capacity is like adding another half a plane.
 “Currently, the A320 has 180 seats, to and fro the total capacity for a single trip is 360 seats. The A320neo has 186 seats (372 seats for a single trip). The A321neo has 236 seats and a single trip would mean 472 seats.  I can make more money,” he explained.
The A320s can be deployed to other short trips, said Riad.
“So again, I can manage my resources much better, be more efficient in capacity management. It is a bit of a game-changer for us. First, we started off with Boeing B737, then we went to A320, A320neo and now A321neo.”
Besides Malaysia, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia would also receive the A321neo.
21/10/19 Bernama/Daily Express

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Vistara announces sale with return fares starting at Rs 14,999 to international destinations

Vistara has announced its Grand International Sale on airline tickets, offering return fares at just Rs 14,999. The deals include flights to popular domestic and international destinations like Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, and Dubai.

Bookings under the sale are open for a 72-hour window beginning Sunday midnight and will last until 11:59 pm on Wednesday. The offer will cover travel between October 28, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

The deals encompass economy, premium economy, and business class.
21/10/19 CNBC-TV18

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AI waives rescheduling fees for flights to Hong Kong

New Delhi: With Hong Kong airport getting frequently closed due to ongoing pro-democracy protests, Air India (AI) has waived all re-issuance/re-booking/date change/no-show/cancellation charges for passengers booked on its flight to fly to and from that city upto Friday (August 16). AI is also offering a full refund to those who wish to cancel their tickets for travel to and from Hong Kong till Friday .

The Maharaja, like some other airlines, has cancelled its flights to and from Hong Kong till further notice. SpiceJet said its flights scheduled for Wednesday morning to and from Hong Kong were cancelled.

The HK International Airport (HKIA) said on its website that it “will implement flight rescheduling today (August 14) with flight movements expected to be affected. Passengers are reminded to pay attention to the latest flight information through the airport’s website… Please confirm the flights before heading to the airport. Passengers can also check with their airlines for the latest flight information.”
20/10/19 Ronald Lewis/Stock News Brief

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OCI holders stopped at Australian airports from boarding flights to India

Mr A Singh*, a long term listener of SBS Punjabi says his elderly parents went through a terrible ordeal when trying to fly to India last week from Tullamarine International Airport in Melbourne.

“My parents were booked to fly in business class on a Thai Airways flight from Melbourne to Delhi last week, and they’ve undertaken this journey several times using their OCI card as the travel document.”

“But to our utter shock, the staff refused to check them in, saying the new Australian passport number didn’t match with the OCI card.”
Mr Singh’s father is an octogenarian and his mother is in her late 70’s, and according to him, “they’ve had their OCI cards for well over a decade and have had new passports issued, maybe two or three times during this period. They had never encountered any problem with a renewed Australian passport before.”

He said what his elderly parents faced this time was “nothing short of harassment,” because the common understanding is that an OCI is a travel document which is valid for the holder’s lifetime.

“We began calling various people to understand what was happening and even spoke to someone in the Ministry of External Affairs in India, who told us this shouldn’t take place. But the staff at Melbourne airport won’t budge.”

Mr Singh says his parents were shown an internal email shared with all check-in staff at Melbourne Airport, which states “Passengers younger than 21 years or older than 50 years must apply for a new OCI card when they get a new passport,” directing staff to check if the passport number matches with that recorded on the OCI.

The internal memo to all airport check-in staff was issued on October 4, but so far, no one has explained what triggered this. Others have also reported a similar experience, with the same email being shown to them by way of explanation.
SBS Punjabi has seen an email sent by an Indian immigration official on 17 September 2019 to the Airline Operators Committee (AOC) in Chennai, requesting it to “take up with all airlines so that harassment to passengers can be avoided.”

The email clearly states that the refusal by some airlines “to bring passengers to India, who seek boarding pass on the strength of OCI card, old passport and new valid passport”,  is an action “against the rules prescribed in the visa manual.” 
21/10/19 SBS Punjabi

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