Final Talks Between Jet Airways and Air France-KLM Underway

Jet Airways Ltd is finalising talks with Air France-KLM to create a joint venture between Europe and India, Bloomberg reported, citing French weekly La Tribune.
The JV will be connected with the partnership between Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Delta without being part of it, said the report.
India’s second biggest airline by market share, Jet Airways is not a member of any aviation alliance but has code share agreements with other airlines, including Air France and KLM.
The deal follows the deepening of commercial ties between Jet and Air France-KLM since the code-sharing pact in 2014. Jet Airways will start flying a Paris-to-Chennai flight from October as part of the code-sharing pact with Air France. It also shares a pact with KLM where it will start a daily Amsterdam-to-Bengaluru flight.
30/09/17 Bloomberg Quint

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Haj season concludes with arrival of last flight

Hyderabad: With arrival of the last chartered Haj flight, carrying 446 pilgrims, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamsabad, the Haj Season 2017 came to a successful conclusion on Friday.

Telangana State Haj Committee Special Officer Prof. S. A. Shukoor received the Haj pilgrims at the Haj Terminal. He said that altogether 6,347 pilgrims including 3,445 from Telangana, 2096 from Andhra Pradesh and 806 from Karnataka state had left Hyderabad through 15 chartered Haj Flights from 16th August onwards till 22nd August. The pilgrims performed the Haj and later visited the holy tomb of the Holy Prophet in Madeenah.

In the return journey, a total of 6332 pilgrims of Hyderabad Embarkation Point arrived back. As many as 43 more pilgrims from Telangana had undertaken the sacred journey from Mumbai, who will arrive on 3rd September. There were 13 death cases including nine from Telangana and two each from AP and Karnataka. Two pilgrims who were admitted in the hospital were discharged and efforts are on to bring them back by tomorrow by a scheduled flight.
29/09/17 Hans India

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Turbaned Sikh woman alleges discrimination on BA flight from Vancouver to London, lodges complaint

Jalandhar: A turbaned young Sikh woman has alleged discrimination on British Airways flight while traveling from Vancouver to London, while on way to New Delhi. She has alleged that she was first not even served water and then she was not served food while all other passengers were served food.
Harsharn Kaur, who works as deputy producer with a Punjabi channel of a prominent national media house and lives in Mohali, has also lodged a complaint with the British Airways. She also tagged official twitter handle of British Airways while protesting against the episode.
"While the flight from Heathrow to New Delhi was very comfortable and there were no issues but quite a few Punjabi passengers shared their similar past experiences with me," she said while speaking to TOI after landing at IGI Airport New Delhi on Friday morning.
Apart from posting status messages on her FB about the issue, she also posted a video from Heathrow Airport detailing the incident.
"Discrimination in British Airways. How can your Employee named Monica refused even water to me? Am also paid passenger," she tweeted while tagging British Airways and also posted on her FB wall when she was still at Heathrow Airport. Then she also posted her video on FB from a Heathrow terminal detailing the incident on Thursday night.
"When water was served just after the flight started I was left out and I thought that the airhostess would have missed me just by chance. I was very thirsty. Then I specially asked for water and Air Hostess- named Monica - a black woman - said she would just serve. She was serving our line. Then a male host served water to me. Then in the night they served dinner and except me food was served to all. I was not asked if I required vegetarian or non-veg food. Even as I had food with me which I had brought with me but they had nothing to do with it and did not even ask me for once. I was wondering that how they could forget for the second time. Then I again asked Monica who was at food counter and asked why I was being ignored as I was not served food or even asked for choice of food and I told her that I was feeling discriminated. She said don't take personal, sometimes we forget. But I pointed out that only I was forgotten. I pointed out that entire flight was served and only I was left out," she said.
"Then I was served vegetarian food without asking my choice and served pasta. As she had not even asked me the choice and I pointed out that even in vegetarian there is choice I asked her that why was not asked but she again said 'please don't take it personal'
Before landing at Heathrow, they served snacks. I asked if it was vegetarian, he checked the box and told it was vegetarian. Then I was asked would I take coffee or juice. I said I would have juice but again it was not served at all. It was so weird and shocking.
29/09/17 I P Singh/Times of India

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Rescued girls to be brought from Yangon

Imphal:The Indian Embassy at Yangon has made necessary preparations to transport the eight minor girls of Churachandpur district, who were rescued from Yangon, Myanmar, on September 9 .

According to a top official of the State Home Department, the girls who were rescued by Myanmar police and the Indian Embassy at Yangon, will be brought upto Kolkata by Air India .

The official also pointed out that officials of District Administration Churachandpur have already left for Kolkata to bring back the girls and the State Government has also arranged for their tickets home .

It may be mentioned that the eight girls were rescued by Myanmar police and the Indian Embassy at Yangon, from near Yangon railway station, after they contacted Churachandpur SP to rescue them who in turn informed the Embassy.
28/09/17 The Sangai Express/E-Pao

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Raju for adding more cities to Indo-Afghanistan air corridor

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today called for adding more cities and products to the recently launched India-Afghanistan air corridor to further strengthen bilateral ties.

He also said that India can offer technical expertise to better handle perishables and time bound cargo from the neighbouring country.

The two countries, he added, can work together to standardise testing and export cargo commodities within Afghanistan itself as it would help in reduction of their holding times once they reach Indian airports.

"Let us now go beyond Delhi and Kabul and focus on adding more cities and products to this corridor," Raju said here at the inauguration of India-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Show here.

The minister said both the countries have huge potential in trade and commerce which largely lies untapped at this stage.

"We have tried to bridge the reasons which have prevented us from reaching this optimum potential. One main reason continues to be the lack of viable land connectivity. Mitigating this problem received a tremendous boost this year as we launched the India Afghanistan air corridor," he added.
27/09/17 PTI/Business Standard

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Kabul airport attack: Narrow escape for Delhi-bound SpiceJet passengers

New Delhi: Over 180 people on a Delhi-bound flight were among those who had a narrow escape at Kabul airport on Wednesday morning when the airport came under the rocket attack. A SpiceJet Boeing 737 was being prepared for a flight to Delhi when the attack happened and all those on board the aircraft had to be rushed to a safer place.
"The boarding for SpiceJet flight SG 22 (Kabul-Delhi) was almost complete when the incident took place. Passengers and crew were safely deboarded and taken to the terminal building. There was no damage to the aircraft," a SpiceJet spokesperson said.
The aircraft, that was supposed to fly to Delhi with almost a full load of 174 passengers, will most likely take off on Thursday as the Kabul airport has been closed after the attack.
The latest attack at Kabul Airport happened soon after US defence secretary Jim Mattis landed there. "A rocket landed near the airport this morning. No casualties reported," Afghanistan's interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said in a tweet.
27/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Philippine Airlines plans Australia and India expansion using A321neos with auxiliary fuel tanks

Philippine Airlines (PAL) plans to use a new subfleet of longer range A321neos to expand in Australia and launch services to India. In 2018 PAL is taking delivery of six A321neos with two auxiliary centre fuel tanks, enabling flights of over eight hours.

PAL has opted for a low density 176-seat two class configuration for its first six A321neos. Lie flat seats will be provided in business class, providing a premium product similar to that in long haul widebody aircraft, and both cabins will have seatback IFE.

PAL has orders for 21 A321neos, for delivery from 2018 to 2024. However, after the initial six longer-range aircraft are delivered in 2018, the airline intends to take the remaining 15 aircraft from 2019 in standard two-class configuration as replacements for A320ceos.
27/09/17 Centre for Aviation

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More flight routes to Indian cities from Malaysia

The Malaysian Government is working with India’s Civil Aviation Minister and the authorities in the country to discuss more flight routes into the cities there, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Liow said Malaysia’s good bilateral relationship with India would help boost the local tourism market.

“We are happy that we’ve got over 2,000 additional seats earlier, and now, we’re asking for an extra 40,000 seats or more,” he added.

He was speaking to reporters after witnessing the presentation of the Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to KLIA2 at the terminal here yesterday.

In his speech earlier, Liow said he had asked the Prime Minister to negotiate with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in opening up more routes.

“The Asean region is growing and we are growing bigger.

“Malaysia Airlines (MAS) would like to turn KL International Airport into a hub for Asean. AirAsia is also making a lot of efforts to penetrate more Indian and Chinese markets.
27/09/17 The Star

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This new carrier is offering Mumbai-Bangkok return trip for Rs 13,000

Thai Lion Air, an associate of Jakarta based low-cost carrier Lion Air, as part of its introductory rollout in the country, is offering flights between Mumbai and Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport at a cost of Rs 13,000 for a round trip.

The airlines that flags-off operations from September 27, 2017, will be running the flights twice a week from now, and from October 29 it will be made thrice a week, according to an article in Conde Nest Traveller.

Don Mueang International Airport coincidentally also happens to be the hub of seven other LCCs- these include Nok Air, New Gen Airways, NokScoot, R Airlines, Siam Aor, Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X.

Considering this, Mumbaikars can also expect some budget-friendly cuts soon to popular holiday destinations such as Phuket, Singapore, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Krabi, Ko Samui, Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Mai and more.
27/09/17 Moneycontrol

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All-Women Crew Flies Air India's First Direct Flight From Delhi To Copenhagen

An all-women cockpit and crew flew Air India's inaugural flight for its direct operations between Delhi and Copenhagen from IGI airport in New Delhi at 2.30 pm, with 218 passengers on board.

Tuesday's Flight AI 157 was scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen at 6.45 pm (local time). The return flight AI 158 is scheduled to leave Copenhagen at 8.45 pm and reach Delhi at 7.35 am on Wednesday.

CMD Rajiv Bansal along with commercial director Pankaj Srivastava and other senior executives were present for the inaugural flight. Sweets were distributed and a cake was cut at the boarding gate after Bansal cut the ribbon for the first flight. The national carrier would be operating the flight to Copenhagen with a B-787 Dreamliner aircraft thrice a week - on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Bansal said, "Air India is not just connecting Delhi with Copenhagen but... we are connecting all of India with the capital of Denmark."

Among its 44 international destinations, the national carrier operates flights to other European cities like Stockholm, Frankfurt, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, Rome, Milan, London, Moscow and Birmingham.
27/09/17 Mid Day

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Bangladeshi held with fake papers at Bengaluru airport

Bengaluru: A Bangladeshi illegally entered India, managed to get a passport and fly out. But luck ran out for him when he returned from Dubai and was caught by immigration officials at the Bengaluru airport.

The arrested, Rana Hussain (22), hails from Jhenidah district of Bangladesh. But he had managed to get fake Indian documents with the help of agents.

When he returned from Dubai on September 23 night on an Oman Air flight, the immigration officer grew suspicious and checked Hussain's documents, which were found to be fake.

The immigration officials detained Hussain and filed a complaint with the Kempegowda International Airport police, leading to his arrest.

Hussain crossed the Indian border in 2013. From West Bengal, he travelled to Bengaluru and took up tailoring in Anekal taluk where he rented a house.
28/09/17 Deccan Chronicle

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Air India flight from UK grounded by PA snag

New Delhi: An Air India flight from Birmingham to Delhi was grounded by a rare fault on Saturday — the Dreamliner's public address (PA) system developed a snag.
An aircraft is not allowed to operate without a working PA system as it is needed to convey information to passengers should an emergency arise. While the issue was rectified in a few hours, AI was still trying to figure out on Sunday if the flight could be operated that night.
"Since the crew and passengers were at the airport, they were made to board in the hope that the PA system would be rectified soon," said a source, adding that stalling boarding until the snag was resolved would have delayed the flight.
In doing so, apart from trying to dodge Europe's nighttime flight restrictions, the airline was looking to avoid breaching the pilots' and the crew's flight duty time limitation (FDTL). Meanwhile, AI rushed one of its most experienced technicians to Birmingham. "But by the time he repaired the PA system, the crew's FDTL had kicked in and the flight could not operate late Saturday night-Sunday morning," said a source.
25/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Planning trip to India? Book tickets for as low as Dh599

If you are planning to visit India soon, this is the right time to book your tickets. Air Arabia has launched special fares for five days, in which passengers will be able to book return tickets for as low as Dh599.
According to the Sharjah-based airline's offer, passengers will have to book tickets from September 24 and 28 (Sunday and Thursday), and the date of trip can be up to December 10, 2017.

The cheapest ticket under the promotional offer is for Dh599, to Kerala, India.

The offer is valid for 10 destinations, according to information on the airline's website.

Return tickets to Delhi/Mumbai and Bengaluru will cost Dh699 and Dh749, respectively, while a return ticket to Nagpur will cost Dh899.

Some expats had travelled to their home countries for Onam and Eid leading to a massive rush at airports in the beginning of this month. After the school rush got over, the airlines have consequently reduced the prices of tickets. In the off season, airlines are luring passengers with offers beyond sale on the tickets.
25/09/17 Khaleej Times

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Sri Lankan arrested with nearly 1kg of gold in his rectum

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a man for allegedly trying to smuggle gold and jewellery weighing up to 1kg (2.2lb) hidden in his rectum.

Customs officials found 904 grams of gold, worth about 4.5m Sri Lankan rupees ($29,370, £21,700) inside the suspect's rectal cavity.
The 45-year-old Sri Lankan man was bound for India but was stopped at Colombo's international airport.
There have been several similar cases in past years.
Typically smugglers in the region buy gold in places like Dubai and Singapore, where it is relatively cheap, and then bring it to India to sell there at a profit.
A customs officer told BBC Sinhala they spotted the man because "he was walking suspiciously".
Metal detectors then identified the hidden luggage, "carefully packed in polythene bags and neatly inserted", according to a custom officer.
"Among that there were four yellow gold biscuits, three pieces of yellow gold, six yellow gold jewellery articles and two silver plated yellow gold jewellery articles," a customs spokesman said.
25/09/17 BBC News

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Travel advisory for Indian nationals travelling to Bali

Bali: The Indonesian authorities have raised the alert level to IV for a Bali volcano Mount Agung amid fears that it could erupt at any time as the tremors recorded has increased due to continued volcanic and seismic activity in and around the mountain. MEA has issued a travel advisory for Indian nationals travelling to Bali to "keep abreast with the latest situation through their airlines and tour operators before finalizing their plans. Non-essential travel should be deferred till the alert level is lowered."
"For those already in Bali, it would be safer to avoid travelling to north and east Bali. Please keep in touch with your Hotel and tour operators," Consulate General of India, Bali, said in a statement.
"In case of emergency and distress, please contact the Consulate General of India, Bali at +628113976388 or +628113867270 or tweet @cgibali", the statement added.
24/09/17 ANI/Sify.com

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4 Hyderabad pilgrims, lost their way, stuck at Madina airport

Hyderabad: 3rd batch of Telangana Hajj pilgrims, comprising of 444 pilgrims, arrived at Shamsabad airport from Madina on Friday morning.
Special Officer Telangana Hajj Committee Prof. S A Shukoor greeted them at the airport. The 3rd flight was short of 6 pilgrims, out of them 4 lost their way in airport just before the flight. Thus the flight took off without them.
According to Prof. S A Shukoor, Mohammed Abdul Bari and Mohammed Momin of Hyderabad, along with their wives, set off to take a stroll in the airport premises, after reporting. However they lost their way while returning. Meanwhile flight time arrived and the plane took off without them.When the flight landed in Hyderabad, 4 pilgrims were found missing. They were contacted on phone on which they told that they had lost their way at airport and entered into another area instead of terminal gate.
23/09/17 Siasat

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Alitalia to restart India flights after a decade, Delhi-Rome daily from October 30

New Delhi:  Indians will soon have more flight choices to the west, particularly Europe, with greater capacity on these routes driving fares lower. Financially challenged Italian airline litalia  will restart flights to India after almost a decade. It will have a daily direct flights between Delhi and Rome from October 30 and offer three classes of travel — business, premium economy and economy.
Alitalia did not comment on its India plans, like will it expand operations to other cities here, despite repeated attempts.
The Italian airline "last flew from India in March 2008. They had six flights on the Mumbai-Milan sector and six flights on the Delhi-Milan sector — a total of 12 flights per week. It stopped flying India routes because of losses," said a senior official of a top Indian travel agency.
Cox & Kings' head (business travel) John Nair said: "The increase in direct connectivity between India and Europe is a boon for leisure and business travellers as this would reduce time spent on layovers and lead to an increase in demand for destinations across Europe. We are seeing a significant addition in connectivity between India and European points and this will also boost two-way tourism. Finally, this will also soften the air fares."
Alitalia is now an Etihad "airways partner" as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier had put money in it three years back and now is its single largest investor with 49% stake in Italian airline. Italy is examining how this airline can survive — similar to India looking at all possible options for Air India. Alitalia was privatized in 2008 and was state-owned till then like AI currently is.
23/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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26-hour nightmare for Egypt Air travellers as Mumbai airport flooded

Muscat: A flight from Cairo to Mumbai that should have taken seven hours, landed in India after a marathon 26 hours, due to the ongoing flooding in Mumbai.
Passengers on the Egypt Air plane were expecting to fly from Cairo to Mumbai International Airport on Tuesday. But the flight was diverted to Muscat International Airport because of the heavy rains at Mumbai Airport.
The flight finally landed at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Wednesday night.
Egypt Air flight 968 was carrying 101 passengers when it took off from Cairo Airport at 4.20 pm local time on Tuesday, with an estimated time of arrival of 1.30 am at Mumbai International Airport.
But due to bad weather in Mumbai, and problems caused by an aircraft that overshot the Mumbai airport runway and became stuck in the mud, the Egypt Air flight was diverted to Muscat International Airport, where the flight landed at 11 pm, an official of Egypt Air in Muscat said.
23/9/17 Times of Oman

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Alitalia to restart India flights after a decade, Delhi-Rome daily from October 30

New Delhi:  Indians will soon have more flight choices to the west, particularly Europe, with greater capacity on these routes driving fares lower. Financially challenged Italian airline litalia  will restart flights to India after almost a decade. It will have a daily direct flights between Delhi and Rome from October 30 and offer three classes of travel — business, premium economy and economy.
Alitalia did not comment on its India plans, like will it expand operations to other cities here, despite repeated attempts.
The Italian airline "last flew from India in March 2008. They had six flights on the Mumbai-Milan sector and six flights on the Delhi-Milan sector — a total of 12 flights per week. It stopped flying India routes because of losses," said a senior official of a top Indian travel agency.
Cox & Kings' head (business travel) John Nair said: "The increase in direct connectivity between India and Europe is a boon for leisure and business travellers as this would reduce time spent on layovers and lead to an increase in demand for destinations across Europe. We are seeing a significant addition in connectivity between India and European points and this will also boost two-way tourism. Finally, this will also soften the air fares."
23/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Indian Rafale deal creates openings for French SMEs

Rafale International — the joint venture set up by Dassault Aviation, Safran Group and Thales to promote the Rafale fighter aircraft to international customers — has met more than 100 French SMEs in two days of Business to Business events. The events, which were attended by Indian officials, took place in Paris on 19th September along with the GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association, and on 21st September in Bordeaux, under the patronage of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Council.

BPI France and the French defence procurement agency DGA took part in both events.

Rafale International and its partners presented their vision on how best to contribute to the Make in India policy and highlighted opportunities arising for French SMEs to invest and set up production activities in India alongside Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales in connection with the Rafale offset programme.

Indian Embassy representatives emphasized the critical importance of the Make in India policy and the Foreign investment policy for the Indian aerospace and defense sectors and attended networking B2B lunches in Paris and in Bordeaux to answer questions from participating companies.

The seminars presented business opportunities aimed at enhancing the ties between the French and Indian aerospace communities in order to define areas of cooperation and pave the way towards building up a world class aero-defence manufacturing eco-system in India.
23/09/17 Air&Cosmos International

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New tourism boss to woo Indian airlines and focus on eco-tourism in National Parks

Queensland's powerful new tourism chief wants to remove green tape tying up the state’s national parks and open them for luxury bushwalking tours to rival those in Tasmania and New Zealand.

And Brett Godfrey, who launched Virgin Australia Airlines with British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, also has his sights set on wooing Indian airlines to Queensland to target a market he believes could rival China.

A multi-millionaire entrepreneur, Mr Godfrey was appointed chairman of Tourism and Events Queensland last week, replacing Mantra resort chain boss Bob East who became chair of Tourism Australia.

Mr Godfrey joined Mr Branson to found Virgin Australia (then Virigin Blue) in 1999 and take on Qantas and Ansett after famously scribbling the plan on a beer coaster and presenting it to the billionaire.
He retired as Virgin Australia CEO in 2010, and now owns ventures including Makepeace Island at Noosa with Mr Branson, and upmarket bushwalking tour companies operating in Tasmania and Victoria.

Mr Godfrey said he was a “great believer” in eco-tourism but Queensland’s national parks were massively ‘under-utilised’ because of commercial access restrictions.

He said his own Australian Walking Company, which operates the acclaimed Twelve Apostles Lodge Walk in Victoria, had found it “too difficult” to get into Queensland parks.

Mr Godfrey said New Zealand’s Milford Track was one of the most iconic in the world but Queensland had some tracks “every bit as good”, such as the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island.

“It’s one of the top 50 walks in the world but no-one apart from bushwalkers knows about it – we should be showing eco-tourism assets like this to the world,” he said.
23/09/17 Greg Stolz/Courier-Mail

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Sri Lankan media team visits RGIA

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) led Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad has been chosen by the External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, as one of the national assets to be showcased to the Sri Lankan media. The airport turned a host to the 17 journalists from Sri Lanka, who landed at the airport on Thursday. As part of the Media Outreach Programme being conducted by the External Affairs Ministry, a battery of high-profile media professionals has come to the city to witness its various signature institutions.
22/09/17 Hans India

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Suspicious mobile phone leads to emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi

An Indian-flagged Jet Airways plane made an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday night after two passengers spotted an unattended mobile phone displaying the message "do not turn off".

The discovery was reported to the captain of flight 9W 66, who took it for a bomb threat and immediately informed the control tower at Suvarnabhumi airport.

The plane had departed from New Delhi airport with 153 passengers onboard and was due to land at Suvarnabhumi at 8.37pm.

Suvarnabhumi airport director Sirote Duangratana said after receiving the captain's report it was decided to implement the "emergency plan to deal with a bomb threat".

The airplane was directed to an isolated parking bay after landing. The passengers and eight crew members were subject to strict examination and all luggage was checked thoroughly by the airport's security and officials from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.

An Indian couple later told police they had found a phone showing a "do not turn off" message on one of the passenger seats, and asked a flight attendant to locate its owner. The phone was taken to the captain, who reportedly feared turning it off might detonate a bomb.

Pol Maj Gen Surawhet Hakphan, commander of the Patrol and Special Operation unit, said the incident had not been taken lightly. A full search had found no suspicious objects.

He said the couple had acted correctly, with good intentions, and were not suspects.
21/09/17 Terry Fredrickson/Bangkok Post

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Mangaluru: Air India Express flight to Doha suffers engine failure mid-air, returns to airport

Mangaluru: In a mid-air scare, a flight from here to Doha on Thursday September 21 evening developed engine failure within 45 minutes of its take-off and had to return to the Mangaluru airport.

The flight Air India Express IX 821 was carrying over 170 passengers to Doha.

Confirming the incident, Mangaluru airport director V V Rao said that one engine of the aircraft failed a little half an hour after departure at 5.35 pm, due to which it had to be flown back. The flight landed safely, he said.
He also said that alternate arrangements are being made for the passengers on the flight.

A passenger who was aboard speaking to daijiworld said that when the engine failed, there was a 'loud bang' and the passengers panicked.

"Exactly 45 minutes after take-off, the engine failed and the flight came plunged down with speed. If we had flown another five or ten minutes we would not have survived. Some of us thought the flight exploded."

Another passenger said, "A little after half an hour of take-off, there was a loud sound. At first we thought it was thunder, but came to know it was engine failure. Thereafter the flight turned around and we landed safely at Mangaluru airport."

Sources said after the engine failed, the aircraft lost its height and balance all of a sudden, and was vibrating throughout on its return journey till it landed. Most of the passengers were too shaken to narrate the experience in detail. "We are grateful to the pilot that we survived," they said.
21/09/17 Daijiworld

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Air India Express’s Dubai flight to operate in winter

Pune: Air India Express, a subsidiary of national carrier Air India, would continue with its direct flight between Pune and Dubai in winter.
An airline official said on Wednesday that the flight would operate through the entire winter schedule until March. It would also start international cargo export within a fortnight from the Pune facility.
A top official of the company told TOI last week that the flight was making losses, triggering speculations over its discontinuation.
Suhas Jadhav, the station manager of Air India in Pune, told TOI, "The flight will continue operations for the whole winter schedule and the bookings have been opened until March. It should be good news for passengers in two minds about the flight."
Confirming that the flight would start international cargo export in a fortnight, he said, "The clearance has been given by the Pune customs. We are thankful to them for expediting the process."
Terming the development good news, aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar said, "Less number of international flights from Pune has been a concern. With the Air India Express' Dubai flight to continue operations, the passengers will benefit."
21/09/17 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Indian-origin UK MP lobbying for direct flights between Amritsar and UK

Jalandhar: After raising the issue of resumption of direct flights between Amritsar and UK with ministers in the Indian government and Punjab government, Slough MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi is now lobbying with airlines in UK and urging them to start the direct flights. During his meetings with the senior officials of the airlines, he also quoted Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal's assurance that if any international airlines wished to resume flights from Amritsar, the state government would consider forgoing the state aviation tax.
In the last few days, Dhesi has met Virgin Atlantic and Air India senior officials in UK and buttressed his argument with facts and figures about the commercial potential in case they would start direct flights between Amritsar and UK. Speaking to TOI on Sunday from UK, Dhesi confirmed that he was citing Manpreet Badal's offer to consider the waiver if international airlines would come up with proposal to resume the direct flights from Amritsar. "I shall meet officials of other airlines also in the next few days," he said.
"As I met Virgin Atlantic's Senior Manager External Affairs and soon-to-be Head of India Operations David Hodges, I presented various facts and figures about the potential of a very lucrative route to the global tourist capital Amritsar, visited by millions each year. I also highlighted the incentives being offered by the Punjab government and the overwhelming wishes of the Punjabi diaspora within my Slough constituency, Britain and beyond," Dhesi said.
He also held an hour long meeting with Tara Naidu, Head of Europe Operations, Air India. "I proposed that even if additional slots can't be procured, Air India is currently operating three daily flights from Heathrow Airport to India of which two are to Delhi and one to another destination and one of those could be used for Amritsar," he revealed.
20/09/17 IP Singh/Times of India

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India emerges as top destination for travellers in Changi Airport during August

Changi Airport of Singapore saw an increase in the number of passengers in August 2017 compared to last year, with India emerging as the topmost destination for travellers at the airport. There was an increase of 18 per cent in the number of passengers travelling between India and Singapore during August.
The release issued by Changi Airport Group said, “The airport registered 5.27 million passenger movements last month, a 7.0 per cent increase compared to August last year.”
However, it was lower than the 5.42 million passengers that passed through Singapore in July.
India came out on top, showing a strong performance with an 18 per cent increase followed by China (11 per cent) and Malaysia (11 per cent). India achieved double-digit growth for the eighth consecutive month.
Passenger traffic for the month was supported by growth across all regions, with air travel to and from South Asia, Africa and the Americas. Among its top 20 business routes, the fastest-growing were Guangzhou, Penang and Taipei.
Aircraft movements rose 4.9 per cent to 31,750 landings and takeoffs compared to the same period last year, while airfreight throughput grew 10.7 per cent to reach 180,590 tonnes.
21/09/17 Connected to India

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Egyptian held for smuggling in over 10 kg gold at IGI airport

New Delhi: An Egyptian man was arrested at the New Delhi airport for allegedly trying to smuggle over 10 kg of gold worth Rs 3.03 crore in specially designed pockets of his pants, the Customs Department said on Wednesday.
The department said in a statement that it is one of the largest seizures of gold at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in recent times.
It said the 39-year-old man was intercepted after he arrived from Dubai on Tuesday night. He had concealed the gold in specially designed pockets of his trouser, a senior customs official said.
20/09/17 Tribune

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Melwin D'Silva promoted as GM in Air India, Mohit Sen takes over Middle East charge

Dubai : Melwin D’Silva who was the regional manager for Middle East and Africa for Air India since last three years, located in Dubai, has now been promoted as General Manager, Marketing Planning, in head office New Delhi.

Melwin, an MBA graduate from B K School of Management in Gujarat, joined Indian Airlines in Ahmadabad and has worked in various capacities including as the country manager in Pakistan between 2006 and 2008.

Melwin has also served Mangalore between 1998 - 2002 and again in 2011-2013. He has also given his service as station manager for Goa, Indore and Ahmadabad.

He joined Indian Airlines in 1986 and has been working in airline for more than 30 years.
20/09/17 Daijiworld

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Indian couple with counterfeit passports caught at airport

Taipei: Customs officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport stopped an Indian couple from entering the country on counterfeit passports late Tuesday.

The Border Affairs Corps released a statement Wednesday reporting that the couple were found in possession of fake Singapore passports and Canadian electronic travel authorization (eTA) documents.

Customs officials found the two loitering after they deplaned and approached them to ask if they required assistance.

The couple at first reportedly claimed to be newlyweds coming to Taiwan for their honeymoon, so the customs officials guided them to where they could go through the proper arrival procedures.

Upon inspection of their documents, however, the officials found that their Singapore passports were fake, at which point the couple presented their real Indian passports.

The man disclosed that his wife wanted to move to Canada to start a new life after they got married, but the application for a Canadian visa in India is time-consuming and has a low chance of approval, according to the Border Affairs Corps.

The couple therefore bought two Singapore passports, identification cards, driver's license, and eTAs from a smuggler they were introduced to through a friend for the equivalent of NT$1.2 million (US$39,865).
20/09/17 Focus Taiwan.tw

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Google Flights ties up with Cleartrip to expand its flights reach in India

Google has tied up with travel portal Cleartrip to expand the reach of Google Flights in India, in what turns out to be the fourth such partnership by Google in the country after the launch of the application in 2015.

As per an Economic Times report, Google has been in such a partnership with Jet Airways, Vistara and travel portal Via.com already.

Google Flights is the sub-arm of the search giant which allows users to search for flights, compare prices and book them via the search engine on desktops, mobiles and tablets.

As per the report, head of air distribution at Cleartrip, Balu Ramachand had said that this would allow their flight prices to be accessible on the Google platform.

Now onwards, the Cleartrip flight inventory prices will be made available on the Google Flights search, added Ramachandran.

“For Google…this partnership with Cleartrip is important as it helps expand our offering and provides consumers with another way to conveniently plan and book their travel,” said Vikas Agnihotri, industry director, Google India.
A top executive whose company has partnered with Google said: "One advantage with Google Flights is that it allows the listed supplier to retain ownership of the customer. This means the supplier charges insurance tariffs, etc. and, more importantly, retains intelligence and data such as travel and booking patterns of the customer. This doesn't happen in case of booking through an OTA (online travel agency)."
nterestingly, according to a report in Medianama, chief marketing officer Subramanyam Sharma had previously pointed that Google Flights will have limited success in India due to homogenous consumer pricing.

In addition to searching for carriers, Google Flights can be used to book hotels as well.

One of the unique features Google Flights is the open-ended flight searches through which the user may select the destination and the application calculates every price for every day in the year, and display it like a graph or a table.
18/09/17 Moneycontrol 

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Russia aviation firm MiG eyes deal to supply military jets to Indian Navy

New Delhi: Eyeing a multi-billion dollar contract from the Indian Navy for the supply of fighter aircraft, Russian military aviation firm MiG today said it was not averse to the transfer of technology and joint development of MiG-29 K jets with Indian companies. MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko said his company would submit a detailed proposal to the Indian government shortly, detailing its readiness for the joint development of aircraft for the Navy to deepen its already close engagement with India. “We are considering various options for long-term and perspective cooperation, including those within the framework of the Make in India programme,” Tarasenko told PTI in a written interview.
In January, the Indian Navy had kick-started the process of procuring 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carriers by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to leading military jet makers. Currently, six planes are compatible for the aircraft carrier — Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia), F-35B and F-35C (Lockheed Martin, US) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden). While F-18, Rafale and MIG-29K are twin-engine jets, the other three have a single engine.
Tarasenko said MiG had been working with Indian defence forces for more than 50 years, delivering planes and providing service. He said the company was eager to further strengthen its relationship with India. Russia has been one of India’s key suppliers of arms and ammunition. Then Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had visited Russia in June during which the issue of transfer of technology and joint development of high-end military platforms and weapons systems were discussed at length.
17/09/17 PTI/Financial Express

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400 gms gold seized from Jordanian student

Hyderabad:  A Jordanian student studying in Osmania University was caught with four gold bars (24-carat) totally weighing 400 gms and valued at Rs 12.16 lakhs on Sunday.

According to Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials, the accused was identified as Ibrahim S Ghazwi, who is residing at International Students Hostel in OU. He arrived on Sunday morning on an Emirates Airlines from Amman via Dubai.

The gold bars were concealed on body in the front side small pocket of his blazer and he crossed the exit gate with an intention to evade payment of customs duty. “Based on profiling by the Customs officers of the AIU, RGIA, the gold was seized from the foreign national.” Investigation is going on.
18/09/17 Hans India

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Air India services to help boost India-Denmark ties

Copenhagen: Air India starting direct flight to the Danish capital will help boost business and trade ties between the two countries, India’s Ambassador designate to Denmark Ajit Gupte said. The national carrier’s inaugural flight from New Delhi to the city, carrying more than 200 people, landed yesterday. It was operated by an all-women crew, with commander Rupali Waghmare describing the flight as “very exciting”. In the words of Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal, the flight — which would be operated thrice a week — is connecting the “Mermaid with the Maharaja”.
“The bilateral ties between India and Denmark were affected to a large extent by the Kim Davy issue. There has not been much of progress in the last few years. So this (Air India flight) is a very important positive step towards normalising. It is a very important move,” Gupte told reporters here on Saturday. However, he quickly added: “See I don’t want to link the flights with the ties. It is a very positive step which will encourage the movement of people.”
In January this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Denmark to extend full support in the extradition of Purulia arms drop case accused Kim Davy, taking into account India’s “sensitivities”. India has sought extradition of Niels Holck aka Kim Davy, an accused in the 21-year-old Purulia arms drop case. Gupte also said direct flight service would help with the economic and people to people ties between the two countries.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a function to mark the landing of the Air India flight at the airport here. When asked whether he sees more growth in bilateral trade, Gupte replied in the affirmative. “As the investments grow, as the two way flow of businessmen increases and there is a signal that is sent out that relations have normalised, we expect trade also to expand… It was around $2.8 billion (in 2016) now and lets see if we can cross $3 billion,” he added.
17/09/17 PTI/Financial Express

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Now Vizagites can fly direct to Bangkok!

Visakhapatnam: Here is some good news for the citizens of Vizag. Air Asia is launching its direct flight services to Bangkok from Visakhapatnam either in October or November.In this regard, the Air Asia authorities have submitted a letter to Vizag airport director requesting for time slots.

“Our earlier efforts to connect Vizag with other leading and popular international destinations have become successful with this decision,” K Vijay Mohan, President of Tour and Travel Operators Association of Andhra Pradesh said.

As of now, people from this region need to travel to Hyderabad, Chennai or Kolkata first for taking a flight to Bangkok or other cities of Thailand.
17/09/17 Hans India

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Air India launches first direct flight to Denmark

New Delhi: Air India on Saturday launched the first non-stop flight service between India and Denmark.

The national carrier will fly non-stop from Delhi to Denmark's capital Copenhagen — its 44th international destination.

Copenhagen will be the 10th European destination where Air India will operate non-stop flight service.

The airline will operate thrice-a-week flight service on Boeing B-787 Dreamliner and is offering return fares starting from ₹42,000 to mark its inauguration.

It will offer 18 business and 238 economy class seats on Delhi-Copenhagen sector.

“This is connecting Mermaid to the Maharaja. The cargo booking till now looks promising and it will particularly help in transporting flowers between the two countries,” Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal said at the launch event.
16/09/17 The Hindu

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Singapore Air eyes ‘fly-cruise’ travellers

Bengaluru: As more young Indians take to global travel, Singapore Airlines, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier, is planning to cash in on a growing demand in the fly-cruise market to take travellers to exotic locations or take ship rides through rivers and oceans for adventure, David Lim, general manager, India, said in an interview.

“The Indian market is growing very well as we see more and more Indians going overseas,” Mr. Lim said. “There are a lot of Indians going to east-bound markets and we see there are more young people. The fly-cruise market is growing a lot for us. Singapore has a very big cruise centre.

“From Singapore, we have Royal Caribbean crew, Star Cruise, and one can go to Malaysia and Thailand. That market for the Indians is growing,” he said.

In March, Singapore Airlines signed a $26 million partnership with Royal Caribbean International to promote cruising out of Singapore on Caribbean’s ‘Ovation of the Seas’ and ‘Voyager of the Seas’ ships. About 45,000 tourists will be flying between March and June to Singapore to sail on the ships, according to the operator. Royal Caribbean has 72 sailings lined up for the 2017-18 season.
16/09/17 Jay Shankar/The Hindu

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Fly directly from Madurai to Singapore, New Delhi

Friday was a red-lettered day for Madurai airport. For, it got its first direct flight to Singapore with Air India Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, launching its international service from Madurai. Besides, it also launched the first non-stop air connectivity to New Delhi from here.

This is the fourth international flight service from Madurai and Singapore is the third international destination after Colombo and Dubai.

Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan formally launched the Madurai-Singapore flight service by lighting a lamp and cutting a cake in the presence of MP R. Gopalakrishnan and MLA V.V. Rajan Chellappa.

The bookings in Madurai-Singapore sector was very encouraging, Air India, Regional Director, South, Capt. S. Arulmani told The Hindu.

Stating that the initial bookings for the flights in the sector was between 85% and 87%, he said AIE was looking to make the four-days-a-week service to daily service based on patronage. “We are not only looking at Singapore, but also planning to operate to Kuala Lumpur and the middle east from Madurai,” he added.
AIE is operating a Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft with a seating capacity of 186-189. Capt. Arulmani said that the patronage for the newly-launched Madurai-Chennai flight service by Alliance Air, another subsidiary of Air India, was very good. “We are planning a second flight service. As and when we receive additional aircraft, we will simultaneously launch second flight service to Tiruchi and Coimbatore also from Chennai,” he added.
16/09/17 S. Sundar/The Hindu

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Shillong Airport to be hub of regional connectivity scheme of NE region

Shillong: The Civil Aviation Ministry has selected Shillong Airport as the hub of the Regional Connectivity scheme in the North East region, a top official of the North Eastern Council (NEC) said today.
The decision to select Shillong Airport as the hub of Regional Connectivity scheme in the North East region connecting – Aizawl, Silchar, Dimapur and Imphal was taken at a high level meeting of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in which representatives from all NE states were present, NEC secretary Ram Muivah.
“What I have come to know in the meeting is that Shillong will be the Hub for Regional Connectivity Scheme and they had already selected airlines to operate from Shillong to Aizawl, Shillong to Silchar, Shillong to Imphal, Shillong to Dimapur,” Muivah told PTI in an interview.
He said it was also decided in the meeting that Alliance Air, which was flying on viability gap funding provided by the NEC, will continue to fly till March 2019.
“Alliance Air requested extension of lease for a little longer period as they do not get aircraft for 3-4 months… So now we have decided that they can lease one more and the period will be up to March 2019,” Muivah said.
He said once they get another aircraft, the Alliance Air will also will fly to Dibrugarh and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and in the second phase, they have agreed to fly to Silchar, Imphal Guwahati and Dimapur.
13/09/17 PTI/Eastern Mirror

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India-Japan sign open sky agreement, fares may come down

New Delhi: India and Japan on Thursday agreed to an open sky arrangement under which the airlines of both countries can operate an unlimited number of flights. The agreement was signed after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan PM Shino Abe.  The move is ought to increase air travel and tourism between the two countries.  Travel portal Yatra.com said the free movement of airlines between the two countries will also lead to reduction in price of air tickets. “The agreement will not only encourage connectivity and passenger travel between the two countries, but will also result in reduction in airfares on these routes,” Yatra.com's COO Sharat Dhall said.

The agreement was signed in accordance with the National Civil Aviation Policy (NACP), 2016. The NACP permits the government to enter into an ‘open sky’ air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.
15/09/17 New Indian Express

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Tibetan nationals held at Mumbai airport with forged Malaysian passports

Two Tibetan nationals were held at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport this month for allegedly attempting to fly to France using forged Malaysian passports and boarding passes. Immigration authorities were alerted about the two Tibetan nationals and they were apprehended at departure gate 69 on September 2. The duo has been identified as Kunchok Wangdue (39) and Tsering Dolkar (32).
The police said forged Malaysian passports bearing their photographs were found in their possession, along with boarding passes for an Air France flight that had the names of two Malaysian nationals. “The accused told us they arrived in Mumbai on August 28 and met a travel agent. They stayed at a hotel near the airport for a few days before arriving at the airport on September 2 with legitimate tickets for an Air India flight for Ahmedabad,” said an officer at Sahar police station.
The Tibetan nationals collected their boarding passes for the domestic flight before bypassing immigration and crossing over to the international departure gates where they met an agent named Sonam Yomlu, the police said.
15/09/17 Srinath Rao/Indian Express

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AIE to fly to Singapore from today

Friday will be a red letter day for Madurai international airport when Air India Express launches the first direct flight to Singapore. The service which operates four days a week also connects Madurai and Delhi, a first direct connection to the nation's capital.
Flight (IX-163) originating from New Delhi at 7 pm will reach Madurai at 10.15 pm. It will depart from Madurai as flight IX-684 at 11.15 pm and reach Singapore at 6.15 am. In the return direction, flight IX-683 will depart from Singapore at 10.40 am and reach Madurai at 12.25 pm. IX-164 will depart from Madurai at 1.50 pm and reach New Delhi at 4.40 pm.
While an inaugural event with the customary water cannon salute has been planned, passengers of the first flight to the Southeast Asian nation would be presented flowers and sweets. A group of enthusiasts who maintain a facebook fan page for the airport are planning to celebrate it in their own humble way by presenting the passengers a memento and greeting card. "It is a big day for Madurai airport. We will present a key chain and greeting cards highlighting the modernity of Singapore and culturally-rich Madurai," said Mohammed Mustafa.
This is only the third international connectivity for Madurai after flights to Dubai and Colombo. According to tour operators, it is expected to get good patronage from the people of South Tamil Nadu who are either settled or are working in Singapore besides those looking for cheap international destinations. Apart from this, the service will also help to boost industrial development given the fact that Madurai-Tuticorin industrial corridor is expected to take off shortly.
14/09/17 Times of India

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Flydubai cuts fares by up to 50%

Dubai: Budget carrier flydubai has slashed its fares across a number of routes, in an apparent bid to stimulate demand after the peak summer travel period.
The airline announced on Wednesday that it is offering up to 50 per cent discount on economy and business class seats for flights from Dubai to more than 80 destinations, including  Prague, Maldives, Russia, Georgia, Thailand, India and Ukraine.

The sale has already kicked off and flyers have until midnight of September 26, 2017 to avail themselves of price cuts. The discounted fares are for trips between September 15, 2017 and October 27, 2018.
"From today until 26 September you can get big savings on fares. The earlier you book, the greater the discount," the carrier said.
Airline promotions are expected around this time of year, particularly between September and mid-November, when demand tends to slow down.
“This is the time of year when UAE residents have gone back from their annual vacation. Flydubai is also in competition with carriers like Air Arabia, so they want to get more market share and stimulate ticket sales during the lean season,” Premjit Bangara, general manager for travel at Sharaf Travel Services,, told Gulf News.
14/09/17 Cleofe Maceda/Gulf News

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Mont Blanc 1966 crash: Air India flyers’ remains may stay unidentified

New Delhi:  The body parts found over a month back on Mont Blanc in the French Alps and believed to be belonging to the passengers of an Air India plane which crashed here in 1966 or a previous AI crash at the same place in 1950 could remain unidentified.
France has told AI that the human remains are so old that conducting a forensic exam may not be possible. The country will hold a memorial service next month in wake of the July-end findings of the decades'-old crashes.
"The French justice department has told (us) that forensic examination of the human remains found recently on Mont Blanc (believed to be from an AI crash in 1966) may not be possible as they are very old. The Mayor of Saint-Gervais will organise a remembrance/meditating ceremony in presence of embassy of India and AI officials at the memorial dedicated to victims of the crash. AI has been requested to attend this ceremony," AI spokesman G P Rao said.
The airline will attend this sombre memorial as it had swung into action as soon as it had got news of the human remains being found on Mont Blanc. While in the past also, some aircraft parts have been found, this was possibly the first significant finding of human remains — a hand and the upper part of a leg.
14/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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USTDA signs MoU with Airport Authority of India to develop Kolkata, Lucknow airports

The US Trade and Development Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Airports Authority of India to support a 20-year master plan aimed at expansion of operational capacities of the Kolkata and Lucknow international airports, an official said on Wednesday.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) selected Cincinnati-based Landrum & Brown (L&B) company to conduct the master planning, which will incorporate sustainable and environment-friendly ways to accommodate the anticipated increase in demand at two of the fastest growing airports in AAI’s network, US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) said. “We are pleased to support this important project that will support India’s rapid aviation growth, while connecting US businesses with new export opportunities,” said Thomas R Hardy, USTDA’s Acting Director. Under the US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme, USTDA has supported a number of similar activities aimed at helping the India’s growing aviation market.
As the world’s ninth largest aviation market, India’s civil aviation sector is on a high growth trajectory, poised to be the third largest national market by 2020 and, potentially, the largest by 2030. This project will advance India’s priorities of expanding capacity at two of the busiest airports in the country, it said.
Mark A Perryman, Chief Executive Officer L&B, said his company was looking forward to the opportunity to assist AAI in developing their long-term modernisation plans for Kolkata and Lucknow International Airports and bringing the best in class and technologies to solve complex issues at these vital transportation hubs.
13/09/17 Indian Express

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Afghan traders charged heavy taxes at Indian airports

Kandahar City: The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) deputy head on Tuesday said Afghan traders exporting fruits to India were charged heavy taxes at Indian airports.

Khan Jan Alokozai told Pajhwok Afghan News in an interview that some 460 metric tonnes of dried and fresh fruits worth $7 million had so far been exported to India since the launch of the Afghanistan-India air freight corridor a few months back.

Six flights carrying 360 tonnes of fresh fruits (apricots, melons and grapes) and 100 tonnes of dried fruits and medicinal herbs were flown to India from Kabul and Kandahar province, he said.

Alokozai said the air corridor provided flight facilities to Kabul and Kandahar only but would be extended to other provinces later.

According to him, fresh fruits and herbal plants that were carried in flights from Kabul to India had  been collected from several central zone provinces – Parwan, Kapisa, Logar, Wardak and Ghazni.

“The reason behind one flight from Kandahar was some technical problems in initial days of the air corridor,” he explained.

“The fruit transfer and transit agreement through the air corridor reached between Ariana Afghan Airlines (AAA) and some other foreign airlines; however, both the airlines didn’t honor their commitment and were unable to prepare the cargo aircraft in time. Hence, the agreement with AAA was terminated and instead Kam Air Airlines was contracted that resolved the issue.”

Alokozay said the newly readied cargo aircraft flew twice a week to India and had the capacity of carrying 100 tonnes of goods.

He cited the use of refrigerated containers for export of fruits via Pakistan’s Wagah port to India another reason behind the delayed flights from Kandahar through the air corridor.

From 2,000 to 2,500 of tonnes of fruits were being exported via Torkham and Spin Boldak ports throughout Pakistani territory to India on a daily basis, Alokozai said. He said flights carrying pomegranates from Kandahar to India would be restarted after the fruit’s harvest.
12/09/17 Bashir Ahmad Naadim/Pajhwok Afghan News

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Government may lift bar on foreign airlines to invest in Air India

Even though the consolidated FDI circular keeps Air India out the ambit of being bought by a foreign airlines, Top sources indicate that that government may look at tweaking the FDI norms that will help in finding more takers and allow participation of foreign entities in the sale of the loss making national carrier Air India.
While the final decision will be taken after an opinion of the transaction advisors, sources close to the development tell ET Now that the government may extend the FDI policy to allow foreign airlines to pick 49% stake in Air India.

“We have various options on the table for the sale of Air India. No option would be finalised until transaction advisors views are taken,” the official, who didn’t wish to be identified told ET Now.

Under current regulations, foreign airlines can buy up to 49% in any Indian carrier except Air India, but non airline companies can fully own Indian carriers including Air India. However, the government enjoys discretionary power to tweak foreign direct investment policy on a case by case basis for select state-run enterprises.

New Delhi believes tweaking FDI rules may open the route for a combined bid by domestic and international carriers that are looking to take a slice of the pie or even give government an option to retain majority control.
11/09/17 Ruchi Bhatia/Economic Times

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Etihad to stay on as partner in Jet Airways: Goyal

Mumbai: Despite rumours to the contrary, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways will continue to be a partner in Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways, said at the airline’s annual shareholder meeting. Goyal also announced the induction of Harsh Mohan as Etihad’s representative on Jet’s board of directors.

Mohan is currently the Chief Group Support Services Officer at Etihad Aviation Group. Earlier, James Hogan and James Rigney (former CEO and CFO of Etihad, respectively) were the nominees on Jet’s board. However, they resigned from their posts after announcing in January their intention to step down from the West Asia carrier.

Jet and Etihad have had a three-year partnership, after the latter picked up a 24 per cent stake in the domestic carrier. Goyal said the partnership “continues to deliver synergies across all areas, including network growth, revenue enhancement, operational efficiencies and cost improvement, to the mutual benefit of both airlines...For another year running, Jet Airways, together with Etihad Airways, carried more passengers between India and the Gulf than any other airline.”

The resultant synergies enabled one million passengers to connect between India and North America, Europe, Africa and West Asia over Abu Dhabi, Goyal added.
11/09/17 Business Line

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Air India reschedules Hajj flights to Srinagar after CM intervenes

To ensure that the Srinagar bound Hajj flights arrive early in the day, the Air India (AI) has redrawn its flight schedule from today.
This follows the intervention of the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti in the matter and the strong note she took over the delay caused in the landing of first Hajj flight at Srinagar Airport and the consequent inconvenience caused to the Hajjis, said an official spokesman.
The Chief Minister, it may be recalled, had on September 07 asked the Chief Secretary to take up the matter with the authorities of Civil Aviation at the Centre and ask the airline authorities and Air Traffic Control to ensure that the same is not repeated.
As per the schedule communicated by the Air India, the flights from Saudi Arabia to Srinagar would be rescheduled from today to arrive here early in the afternoon at 1.55 PM and 03.15 PM daily except for the two flights on September 13 and 14 which would be landing at 10 AM in the morning.
The Chief Minister had also directed the State administration to ensure that in no case shall the flights carrying Hajjies back home be made to wait for landing or put to any inconvenience. The flights, as per the revised schedule by Air India, would now be directly arriving to Srinagar early afternoon rather than getting diverted via Delhi.
11/09/17 Greater Kashmir

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GMR eyeing airport projects in Asia and Eastern Europe

GMR Group, which operates three airports in India and abroad, is eyeing projects in South East Asia, Middle East and Eastern European countries besides looking for operations and maintenance of Jaipur and Ahmedabad aerodromes.

"Airport business, going forward, can be a significant growth engine for the group. In line with our growth strategy, the Group is actively pursuing suitable airport opportunities in India as well as globally," GMR said in its latest annual report.

"Domestically, the Group is exploring upcoming opportunities for the development of Nagpur Airport and O&M opportunity of Jaipur and Ahmedabad Airports. On the global front, it has pre-qualified for development and operation of Nikola Tesla airport in Belgrade, Serbia, Norman Manley airport in Jamaica.

"Apart from the aforementioned opportunities, the Group is selectively exploring new opportunities in South East Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe," the company said.
12/09/17 moneycontrol.com

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Etihad's Harsh Mohan nominated to Jet Airways' board

Mumbai: Harsh Mohan, Etihad Group's chief of supprt services has been nominated to Jet AirwaysBSE 0.39 %' board, its chairman Naresh Goyal said in the airline's annual shareholders' meeting Monday.

Etihad's earlier board members in Jet, CEO James Hogan and CFO James Rigney quit the gulf airline earlier this year and hence automatically resigned from Jet's board.

So far Jet has announced just a single nomination-Mohan-to the board.

A white-haired veteran, Mohan is responsible for a range of support functions at Etihad. He joined the airline as vice president, internal audit and risk management in 2011, before progressing to senior VP audit, compliance and risk management in 2013 and later the position of chief of the chairman's project management office, ethics and risk management apart from other functions in the Etihad Group. Mohan has been part of Air Canada, Sabre Airline Solutions and Gulf Air. He is a chemistry graduate from the Aligarh Muslim University and holds an accounting degree from the Instiute of Chartered Accountants of India.
11/09/17 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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IAF's plans to acquire planes from Israel, Russia on hold due to price hike

New Delhi: Indian Air Force's (IAF) plans to acquire two new Airborne Early Warning Systems (AWACS) 'eyes in the sky' from Israel and Russia have witnessed a steep hike in price of the surveillance platforms, forcing the government to put the project on hold.
India had acquired three AWACS systems in 2003 in which the Russian Ilyushin-76 aircraft were equipped with two Israel-made sophisticated radars at the cost of $1.1 billion (over Rs 7,035 crore) to carry out surveillance of enemy aircraft, drones and cruise missiles at ranges up to 400-500 km inside their territory.
"The price of the two new AWACS has been quoted very high. Vendors have asked for much more as compared to the cost of the three planes bought earlier. It cannot be agreed to and that is why the programme has been stalled," senior government sources told Mail Today.
"The main reason behind the steep jump in the price is the almost three-fold increase in the price of the IL-76 planes, on which the radars have to be mounted," sources said. It was earlier expected that the deal would be clinched at the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel earlier this year, but it could not be completed.
The issue over the high price has been holding the deal for a long time. On several past occasions the issue of acquiring the AWACs has been coming up at meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which is the apex body of the Defence ministry to acquire weapon systems for the armed forces. India has also decided to develop an indigenous AWACS as the DAC has given clearance to a proposal to acquire two Airbus-330 planes and build an AWACS, which can provide 360-degree surveillance like the Israeli radar.
The project would start with two planes, which are likely to take five to six years to be completed and once they are successful, the DRDO would take sanction for six more aircraft under the programme.
The process of completing trials of DRDO-developed Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft is on. These are smaller in size and have 240-degree coverage. AEWC planes have been deployed at Bathinda and undergoing trials, after which they would be used for operational flying by the servic
11/09/17 Ajit Kumar Jha/India Today

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Carry 10kg extra on Emirates economy flights to India, Pakistan

Dubai: So you pack your bags, weigh them on that hand-held scale you have at home -- which you only use before travelling -- and find that you still have a couple of kilos to go before you hit the 30kg mark.

You stuff in a few extra things, and the bag now weighs 32kg, two kilos more than the standard economy class checked-in baggage limit.

And the cycle continues...

For travellers such as you, Dubai-based Emirates has introduced a special offer, where you can carry 10-15kg extra on economy-class tickets to select destinations.

Passengers flying to Abidjan, Accra, Dakar, Entebbe, Harare, Luanda, Lagos, Lusaka, Manila, Cairo, Casablanca, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Algiers Guangzhou and Dar Es Salaam can now carry up to 15kg extra, on all Emirates flights.

Passengers flying to Karachi, Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Mumbai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jakarta, Cebu, Clark and Colombo will also be able to carry 10kg extra baggage with them, but only on select flights.

Offer is valid for tickets sold until September 30, 2017, and travel until December 13, 2017.
11/09/17 Khaleej Times

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Smoke gushes out of Bhutan Airlines plane at Kolkata airport; 20 hurt

Kolkata: Preliminary investigation revealed that a smoke broke out due to a suspected short circuit in the auxiliary power unit, which supplies additional power, of the aircraft, sources said. (Photo: DC)
 Preliminary investigation revealed that a smoke broke out due to a suspected short circuit in the auxiliary power unit, which supplies additional power, of the aircraft, sources said. (Photo: DC)
Kolkata: Around 20 air-passengers were injured while trying to escape after a smoke billowed out of the auxiliary power unit (APU) of a Bhutan Airlines aircraft soon before its take-off from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) on Saturday afternoon.

The 20 passengers injured got hurt while evacuating the aircraft and carry no burn injuries.

Responding to what could have been a major disaster, a team of a dozen Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel rushed to the scene and evacuated the passengers within half-an-hour.

The incident took place at around 12.05 pm.

Commanding Officer of the ICG's air squadron, which is based with a hangar at the NSCBI airport, commandant K R Arun was on a surprise round. He was discussing in the hangar along with SDO, deputy commandant Pankaj Mishra.

Suddenly they found a smoke coming out of from the Bhutan Airlines (A5-BAB) airbus. All the emergency chutes were deployed from the aircraft.

Preliminary investigation revealed that a smoke broke out due to a suspected short circuit in the auxiliary power unit, which supplies additional power, of the aircraft, sources said.

The airbus, carrying around 120 passengers including many foreigners, was on a taxiway barely 150 meters away from the ICG hangar.

Narrating the scene Mr Mishra said, "The passengers and the aircrew were in a state of panic deplaning through the emergency escape slides/chutes. The commanding officer alongwith his skeleton team rushed to the spot. All passengers seemed to be left unattended and the airhostesses along with the the pilots were seeking immediate assistance."

Flight operations were stopped at the airport soon.

Giving details of the rescue and humanitarian assistance operation Mr Mishra elaborated, "Our duty team along with unit ambulance were the first agency to rush to the scene of incident. We immediately interacted with the Bhutan Airlines aircrew and passengers. Immediate humanitarian assistance and support was provided to the passengers when they were in panic."
09/09/17 Rajib Chowdhury/Asian Age

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Air France completes 50 years of Mumbai-Paris flight

Mumbai: Air France added Mumbai to its Far East network and launched flights from Mumbai on September 7, 1967. The airline now operates a daily service between Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport by Boeing 777-220.

Air France began connecting Far East Asia as early as 1930, and its first flights to India were from Jodhpur, Allahabad and Calcutta. As more powerful aircrafts entered the airline industry, it began Boeing flight connecting Paris to Tokyo via New Delhi or Calcutta. By 1967, Mumbai was expanding rapidly, and Air France started the Mumbai-Paris flight.

Presently, its flight AF217 leaves Mumbai at 2 am and reaches Paris at 8 am daily, while its flight AFF218 leaves Paris at 11.10 am and arrives in Mumbai at 11.30 pm.

On its flights, Air France offers an Indian vegetarian meal option, Bollywood movies in inflight entertainment and even provides Air France agents fluent in English and Hindi at Charles de Gaulle airport for Indian passengers.
08/09/17 Mumbai Mirror

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Vistara foreign trip plan

New Delhi: Vistara, the two-year old Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture, will launch international flights from the summer of 2018.

"We will reach the fleet strength of 20 aircraft by March next year... this will allow us to start international operations," said Phee Teik Yeoh, chief executive officer of Vistara.

Sources said the full-service carrier planned to launch flights to the US, Europe, Southeast Asia and east Asia.
The airline, at present, has a fleet of 16 aircraft, including three A320 Neos.

The airline has placed orders for another half-a-dozen aircraft, of which four will come by March and the rest in June.

Indian rules allow any local airline with a fleet size of 20 to fly abroad. An earlier rule requiring a minimum of five years of flying experience had been relaxed after airlines pointed out that start-up foreign carriers were allowed to fly to the country.

"We are very close to finalising our plans for international operations ... We are yet to decide on the fleet, when and where (to start international operations)... I will say please stay tuned in," said Yeoh.
08/09/17 Jayanta Roy Chowdhury/Telegraph

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SpiceJet shows long-haul intent with Boeing-Airbus order contest

Indian budget airline SpiceJet has begun an order contest between Boeing Co. and Airbus SE for wide-body aircraft, in the strongest indication yet that it will go ahead with a move into discount long-distance flights.

The carrier is evaluating the US manufacturer’s biggest 787-10 Dreamliner together with Airbus’s A350-1000, Ajay Singh, its chairman, told Bloomberg TV in London Thursday.
SpiceJet is considering the introduction of flights to more distant markets including Europe, but needs Boeing and Airbus to come up with proposals to minimize costs, Singh said in an interview at the 2017 Aviation Festival. The carrier’s jetliner order book is limited to 175 Boeing 737 narrow-body planes.
India has the potential to be a “tremendous’” long-haul market, “if you can work out the math and bring down the cost,” Singh said. While the nation of 1.3 billion people is the world’s fastest growing aviation market, expanding at a 20 percent annual clip, it also remains “incredibly price sensitive,” he said.
08/09/17 Benjamin Katz and Anna Edwards/Bloomberg/Economic Times

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Turkey's Celebi Keen To Buy Air India's Ground Handling Unit

Turkey's Celebi Aviation Holding has shown interest in buying state-owned Air India's ground handling operations, India's aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said on Friday (8 September).

Celebi, which also provides ground handling services in India, has written to the ministry showing interest to bid for the Indian flag carrier's ground handing operations, Choubey told Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet in June approved plans to privatise Air India after successive governments spent billions of dollars to keep the debt-laden carrier flying.

Celebi is the second firm to show interest in buying Air India's ground handling operations.

Celebi was not immediately available for comment.

Last month India's Bird Group, which handles ground services at seven airports in the country and operates hotels in the United Kingdom, had expressed its interest to bid for Air India Air Transport Services Ltd.

Founded in the 1930s and known to generations of Indians for its Maharajah mascot, Air India is saddled with a debt burden of $8.5 billion and a bloated cost structure. The government has injected $3.6 billion since 2012 to bail out the airline.
08/09/17 BusinessWorld

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Two foreign nationals held at IGIA with fake E-tickets

New Delhi: Two foreign nationals, Belgian and Serbian, were held at the IGI Airport with fake e-tickets in order to see off their relative and girlfriend this week. Belgian national Gauter Heins had entered terminal 3 in order to see off his girlfriend while Siberian national Milicia Milosevic had entered the terminal with a fake ticket in order to see off her aunt.

A senior CISF official said Heins entered the Terminal 3 of the airport with an invalid ticket dated August 31 from Delhi to Bah to accompany his girlfriend Lalane Clara up to the check-in counter.

“After sometime a duty personnel found it suspicious when he noticed Heins wandering in the check in hall area. Heins was then escorted to a room for questioning where he confessed to have entered the airport with an invalid e-ticket to see off his girlfriend,” said the official.

Heins was then handed over to Delhi Police personnel, who took him to the IGIA police station and arrested him after registering a case under Sections 417 (Punishment for cheating), 447 (punishment for criminal trespass), 465(punishment for forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code.

Similarly, Serbian national Milicia Milosevic entered T3 terminal with an invalid ticket and was spotted roaming around in the check-in-area.

“When she was interrogated, she said that she had entered the terminal with the invalid ticket in order to see off her aunt Dukic Jelica who was to fly to Moscow,” said a police official.
08/09/17 Souvik Mitra/Pioneer

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Vistara to fly abroad after next March, place order for wide body planes

New Delhi: Full service Indian carrier Vistara will launch international operations anytime next year after March. The Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines JV will have 20 planes in its fleet by March 2018, three months ahead of earlier planned schedule to meet this cutoff for Indian airlines to fly abroad. The airline will fly long and medium haul to places like Japan as it plans to induct wide body aircraft in its fleet, apart from places close to India in the range of narrow body planes like its Airbus A-320.
Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeo said: "We are very close to finalizing our plans for international operations. Vistara will fly to places like Japan as that is a very important market. We are very excited by the aircraft order (the airline will place) to support our aggressive overseas plan. At this stage, I cannot share the aircraft type and how many wide and narrow body we will need for our plan. Or how soon will we fly abroad. We will make all these announcements very shortly."
At present, only full service Air India and Jet Airways have medium and long haul international operations. IndiGo and SpiceJet use their fleet of narrow body planes for flying to neighbouring places like Gulf and Southeast Asia. These two budget carriers are eyeing long haul flights on wide body planes, with IndiGo expressing its interest in acquiring AI and AI Express.
07/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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India-Malaysia air traffic flies on Indonesian wings

The busy India-Malaysia air sector is seeing a sudden spike in traffic, thanks to some ingenuity of AirAsia and Lion Group – the two low-cost carriers from Southeast Asia.

The carriers which have exhausted the bilateral rights – the number of seats and flights they can operate to India and back – are using the fifth freedom rights meant for Indonesian airlines to cater to the growing traffic, according to a report by aviation consultant CAPA.

In aviation parlance, fifth freedom (also beyond rights) is the right of an airline to fly passengers from its home country, deposit them at an international destination, and then carry passengers to another international destination.

AirAsia Group has resumed services from Kuala Lumpur to Mumbai, using A330s operated by Indonesia AirAsia X, and is planning to add capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-Kolkata route using A320s operated by Indonesia AirAsia.

Similarly, the Lion Air Group has launched services in the Kuala Lumpur-Chennai market using 737-900ERs operated by Batik Air.

As a result of which AirAsia Group's Malaysia-India capacity has increased more than 20% to nearly 20,000 weekly seats, as flights operated by Malaysia based AirAsia and AirAsia X are supplemented by the new flights operated by Indonesia AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia X.
07/09/17 Shahkar Abidi/DNA

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Air India to launch nonstop Delhi-Copenhagen thrice a week flight from Sept 16

New Delhi: Air India will launch nonstop flight between Delhi and Copenhagen September 16, 2017. This thrice-a-week service will be operated on Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The Danish capital will be AI's 44th international destination and 11th European non-stop destination. "To mark this new service, the airline is offering attractive return fares starting from Rs 42,700 only, inclusive of all taxes. AI 157 will depart from Delhi at 2.30 pm to reach Copenhagen at 6.45 pm the same day. The return flight AI 158 will leave Copenhagen at 8.45 pm and reach Delhi at 7.35 am the next day. (All times local)," AI said in a statement.
To popularise this new connection, AI has done special branding of the Rapid Metro train in Gurugram. The newly branded metro was flagged off by AI CMD Rajiv Bansal along with commercial director Pankaj Srivastava from Rapid Metro Station of Sector 55-56 of Gurugram on Wednesday.
06/09/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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No-frills airline sparks price war after it launches flights to the Indian city of Mumbai for just £150 one-way or £350 return

Forget the Costa del Sol – India is becoming the latest front in an air fare war between budget airlines.
A little known no-frills airline has unveiled plans to launch direct flights to India for around £150, with a return trip costing around £350.
This is almost £100 less than the cheapest return flight from Britain to Mumbai in October advertised on flight comparison website Skyscanner.
Scoot, which is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, told the Times of India it aims to launch ultra-low cost fares from Europe to cities including Mumbai and Delhi.
It hopes to use its so-called ‘fifth freedom’ privilege, which enables airlines to carry passengers between two foreign countries as a part of services that connect with their home country.
The catch for those who live in the South of England is that they may have to fly from Manchester to benefit from the bargain basement fares – should they ever become available.
Scoot currently operates most of its UK flights to Manchester to avoid competing with its parent, Singapore Airlines.
But India’s two biggest no-frills airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo, are also said to be planning direct routes to Gatwick Airport.
This means those living in or near the capital could soon be able to snap up low cost fares to India.
Scoot’s operations are currently concentrated in the Far East and Australia, flying to Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Manila.
But the airline – whose slogan is ‘escape the ordinary’ - also offers direct flights from Singapore to Athens costing from around £350 return.
Some passengers will rightly be sceptical about whether these super-cheap fares to India will ever become available.
Ryanair backtracked on a pledge it made in 2014 to launch flights to New York for under £10.
05/09/17 James Salmon/Daily Mail

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AirAsia India to fly overseas in 2018

Low-cost carrier AirAsia India aims to take to international skies by late next year, by when its fleet is expected to include 21 aircraft.

Sharing details of international plans, AirAsia India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amar Abrol said, “When we touch 21 planes next year, we look to fly international. We’re evaluating destinations that could be connected through 4.5- to 5-hour flights from India.”

The airline, a JV between Tata Sons and AirAsia Berhad of Malaysia, is likely to utilise a strong (AirAsia) presence in Southeast Asia, with existing stations. “It is a lot easier to fly to an existing station, as we have a captive market and infrastructure. It doesn’t mean that we won’t look at other destinations, which we eye tapping over a period of time,” Abrol hinted.

Southeast Asian countries, predominantly Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia, are popular tourist hubs. By connecting with AirAsia’s home base of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the airline is bullish on connections to Australia as well.

Currently, AirAsia India’s domestic network includes the hubs of Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata, along with Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur, Ranchi, Chandigarh, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Imphal, Bhubaneswar, Kochi and Srinagar. Along with Bengaluru, the airline is open to serving other Indian stations with international flights.

The Centre’s ambitious 0/20 Rule, which allows an Indian airline to commence international operations once its fleet reaches a strength of 20 aircraft, has inspired many carriers to tap foreign routes. Along, with this, AirAsia is also bullish on the UDAN scheme, serving a lot of Tier-II markets. “Our strategy is to focus on Tier-II cities, since growth is there. Out of the 330 million people who can afford to fly, only 75 million actually fly. We are helping create new demand.”
05/09/17 Deccan Herald

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Dassault CEO says in talks with India about more Rafale jets

Toulon: The chief executive of Dassault Aviation on Tuesday said the company was still in discussions with India over the possible purchase of additional twin-engine Rafale fighter jets, on top of the 36 ones India ordered in 2016.

Eric Trappier told Reuters that a separate tender by India for a single-engine fighter jet was independent of the Rafale order and would not impact the negotiations.

"These are different projects," Trappier said on the sidelines of a defence forum in the southern French city of Toulon. "We're talking about additional jets. Nothing is decided, but we're not going to stop at 36."
05/09/1 Reuters/New Indian Express

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India, Japan set to sign ‘open skies’ agreement

New Delhi: India has finalised an Open Skies Agreement with Japan, allowing designated airlines of both signatory countries to operate freely.

This is likely to be formalised during Japanese Prime Minister Shino Abe’s visit to India later this month. The agreement may allow airlines from Japan to fly directly to Chennai and Bengaluru.

All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Air India are the only carriers that connect the two countries, now.

Japan joins a growing number of countries with which India has an open skies agreement. These include the US (2005), Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, Sri Lanka (last year) and with Greece (2017).
03/09/17 Business Line

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Cathay Pacific eyeing more tie-ups with Indian carriers

Mumbai: Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, is open to more tie-ups with Indian carriers, Mark Sutch, Regional General Manager for South Asia, West Asia and Africa, told BusinessLine. The airline already has interline agreements — commercial agreements between airlines which ease passenger travel through one to another — with Air India and Jet Airways.

“The Indian aviation market is growing faster than anywhere else in the world,” Sutch said. “We’re making real investments in India and increasing capacity by flying bigger planes since we can’t increase frequency. There are government-to-government bilateral agreements between India and Hong Kong and we’ve reached where we can with that.”

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon currently operate 48 weekly flights from six cities in India to Honk Kong. While being restricted from increasing frequency by these bilateral agreements, Cathay is now choosing to fly bigger planes with more capacity. From October, for instance, it will fly the Boeing 777 aircraft on the Mumbai-Hong Kong route instead of the Airbus A330, which increases seating capacity by 21 per cent and offers significantly more belly capacity for carrying cargo.

“We’re looking for opportunities in interline agreements too,” Sutch added. “Low-cost airlines, at the moment, don’t seem to be keen on it but there are airlines like easyJet in the UK which see the benefits of teaming up with a legacy airline.”

Sutch said India is Cathay’s largest cargo market outside of the US in terms of freighter capacity. It has scheduled freighter services to and from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, mostly carrying electronic devices and telecom equipment inwards from the Chinese market. “Hong Kong-India is not a big trade lane but we try to go beyond that to China, the US and Australia, making multiple stops and trying to maximise efficiency.”
03/09/17 Tanya Thomas/Business Line

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How Airbus is mentoring aviation startups in its first accelerator outside Europe

The problem is not money but scalable ideas, says Siddharth Balachandran. He should know something about ideas that can take flight. He heads aviation giant Airbus’s global business accelerator in Bengaluru — the first outside Europe and only the third after Toulouse, France, home to the company’s headquarters, and Hamburg, Germany, where it has a jumbo factory.

Though investors have become a lot more cautious now, says Balachandran, they still place bets on concepts that have customer validation. “That’s why we encourage startups to develop pilots.” Airbus BizLab India completed its second season in India just last month, having hand-held five aviation startups through its six-month accelerator programme. Interestingly, while 137 applicants from nine countries competed for the programme, the chosen five were all from Bengaluru. Like Neewee, which speci ..

“The mentors guided us to refine our business model, strategise our go-to market and identify opportunities to scale,” says cofounder Harsimrat Bhasin. It is now in talks with Airbus’s manufacturing plant in Hamburg to help identify bottlenecks.

eFlight, another startup, is in the process of setting up a partnership with one of Airbus’s subsidiaries to jointly market charts in the business jets market.

Meanwhile Stelae has partnered with Tech Mahindra to propose a digitalisation project for Airbus, apart from Rolls-Royce Aerospace and French naval contractor DCNS.
03/09/17 Rajiv Singh/Economic Times

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Low-cost carriers set to offer Europe link for Rs 12,000

Mumbai: Long haul, low cost—the air travel game changer that has mainstreamed in Europe, the US, Southeast Asia and Australia is likely to debut in India in a year. These flights would not just be offered by Indian low-cost carriers (LCC), but also a couple of foreign airlines. If Indian LCCs SpiceJet and IndiGo delay launching long-haul international flights, Singapore Airlines' low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, might steal a march over them as it has a privilege that allows it to operate direct flights between India and Europe.
Called the "fifth freedom" rights, these permit a carrier to operate direct flights between two foreign countries. "Since we have fifth freedom, we can operate direct flights from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata to destinations like Copenhagen, Vienna, Cairo and Manchester," Bharath Mahadevan, head of Scoot in India, told TOI.
Scoot's lowest fare bucket for a one-way trip on, say, the Mumbai-Copenhagen route would be between Rs 12,000 and Rs 13,000, which includes the cost of a 20kg check-in bag and a meal. "A return trip to Europe would cost around Rs 26,000," said Mahadevan. Currently, the lowest fares on direct flights between India and Europe start at around Rs 45,000. Cheaper fares would be available on transit flights that halt in the Middle East.
03/09/17 Manju V/Times of India

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Foreign national takes Air India head on

Hyderabad: At a time when Indians are reluctant to approach courts for justice, a South African reached out to the city district consumer forum for a flight delay that costed him the last minutes with his ailing grandmother.

Sepamo Motlalepula Ishmael, 33, a student of law at Osmania University had booked a flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai from where he was to fly to Johannesburg to meet his ailing grandmother.

But the Air India flight was rescheduled and delayed by two hours due to which the student missed all connecting flights to Addis Ababa and then to Johannesburg.

Stuck at the Mumbai airport, the student had no other option but wait for 65 gruelling hours with no alternative for the next flight. During this time he lost his grandmother and missed a chance to attend her funeral.

It was then that the student decided to file a case against the airlines for abruptly delaying the flight and for the mental agony and damage. The airline, however, contested that they had rescheduled the flight the night before and had informed the student via SMS and a call.
03/09/'17 Deccan Chronicle

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Headed to New Zealand, Pune student ‘held back’ at Singapore over visa issue

Pune: When Simranjit Singh Ahluwalia, an 18-year-old student from Pune on his way to New Zealand, landed in Singapore on September 1, he found himself in a nightmarish situation. He was stuck in a foreign country, with no money to buy an onward ticket, and was facing the possibility of being sent back to India.
Simranjit, who had secured admission in a flying school in New Zealand, had booked a Qantas Airways flight from Mumbai to New Zealand, which had two layovers, at Singapore and in Sydney. The first leg of his journey began at 11 am on September 1, when he boarded a Jet Airways flight to Singapore, which is the local partner airline for Qantas Airways, said the student’s mother Inderjeet Kaur Ahluwalia.”After completing his Class XII, my son wanted to be a commercial pilot. He got accepted in a flight school at Air Hawkes, in New Zealand. His annual fee is over Rs 36 lakh… I took a loan to fund the course. When we had booked the flight via a travel agent, we were not informed that there was any requirement of a transit visa for his layover in Australia. At the time of taking off from Mumbai, when the three boarding passes were issued, neither did the airline tell him that any kind of visa was needed, nor did they ask him about it. He is a teenager, how is he supposed to know these things,” said Ahluwalia, a junior college professor and a single mother.
“When he called me from the Singapore airport to say that he has been held back and they weren’t allowing him to take the onward flight to Sydney, and they had stamped his boarding pass, which had already been issued, with ‘No Transit Visa’, I was in shock. My only son was in a foreign country, with no help… I felt so helpless,” she said.
Ahluwalia said her friends and family tried to contact Jet Airways over the phone, and even tweeted the airline’s official Twitter account, but received no response.
Simran Singh, a family member, said Qantas Airlines replied to the family via personal message on Twitter, asking for the flight details. “They later told us that it is not an airline requirement but enforced by immigration, and it should have been communicated by the travel agent. But they also said we were correct in assuming that Jet Airways should not have let the passenger board the first flight. We have not received any reply from Jet airways till now,” he said.
Faced with the possibility of her son being sent back to India, Ahluwalia said she had to borrow a friend’s credit card, since she didn’t have enough balance in her bank account. She then booked a ticket that cost over Rs 80,000 for a direct flight from Singapore to New Zealand.
03/09/17 Alifiya Khan/Indian Express
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