Jet Airways losing ground among international fliers

Jet Airways, the troubled airline, has not just lost share in domestic market, but also among international fliers. Numbers reveal that the company’s share in international market out of India has dropped in the last one year.
The biggest gainer is IndiGo, which has already become a dominant player in the domestic market.
Statistics from aviation regulator DGCA reveal that Jet Airways' share in the international passenger traffic from India dropped to 13.9 percent in the first three months of 2018, compared to 14.5 percent in the same period in 2017.
On the other hand, share of IndiGo – which has been eating into the business of its peers in the domestic market — has risen to 5.8 percent in the January to March period, from 4 percent a year ago.
The loss among international fliers will hurt Jet Airways particularly because for years now the overseas market has been an area of focus for the Naresh Goyal-owned company. Its partnership with Etihad Airways, which owns 24 percent in Jet Airways, was supposed to help improve the Indian airline’s showing.
31/08/18 Prince Mathews Thomas/moneycontrol.com

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Centre’s Udan could put 3 state airports on the world map

Bangalore : Fasten your seat belts and don’t be surprised if you hear a boarding call for an international flight from a Tier-II city. These are not flights of fancy but they could soon be a possibility as the state government is proposing new routes from where it can operate international flights under the Civil Aviation Ministry’s UDAN scheme for international routes.
So far airports in Tier-1 cities used to be the starting point for international flights. But now airports like Hubballi, Belagavi and also Kalaburagi, which can operate wide-bodied aircraft, could be chosen for international flights under the scheme.
Recently, the Civil Aviation Ministry released the ‘draft scheme document of international air connectivity scheme’, UDAN (International). The Ministry had said that the scheme intends to enhance air connectivity between States and selected international destinations and invited stakeholders to send in their views on the scheme by September 4.
In response to the draft, Karnataka’s Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) will be holding discussions with Civil Aviation Ministry officials in New Delhi on September 1.
31/08/18 Hemanth C S/Bangalore Mirror

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Airlines asked to pay Rs 35 lakh as compensation for deboarding three of family

Chandigarh: The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission here has ordered two airlines to jointly pay a compensation of Rs 35 lakh to a woman and her two minor children for the "mental agony, tension, harassment" suffered by them after being asked to deboard a Toronto-bound flight at Delhi airport last year.

Minali Mittal along with her two children--11 year old daughter and 3-year old son -- was travelling to Toronto in September, 2017. They boarded a Jet Airways flight from the Chandigarh International Airport at Mohali to Delhi for onward journey to Canada.

In her petition, Minali submitted that having boarded the Air Canada flight in Delhi her daughter Teesha Mittal had to use the washroom and finding it locked, she kept on waiting at its door.

It was alleged that the "washroom was emitting a foul smell," as a result of which Teesha suffered from nausea and vomited at the door of the washroom.

"Crew staff of Air Canada screamed at minor complainant and wrongly termed it as sickness of complainant No.2 (Teesha), minor, and on that grounds they misbehaved and forced the complainants (mother and her two children) to deboard the plane, taking the plea of safety of other passengers," the Commission said in its order.
31/08/18 PTI/Economic Times

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Netherlands targets 25% growth in Indian travellers

New Delhi: Placing India as its joint second fastest emerging market along with Brazil, Netherlands Board Tourism & Convention (NBTC) has witnessed splendid growth from the Indian market last year and wants to continue the momentum in 2018. Netherlands welcomed 1,65,000 Indians in 2017 witnessing a 31% increase over 2017 and has set a target to clock 25% growth this year thereby reaching the figure of two lakh Indian arrivals. NBTC has already recorded over 67,000 visitors from India until May 2018.

Carola Muller - van Rijn, Global Travel Trade Manager, NBTC Holland Marketing shared these statistics at the Holland Sales Mission 2018 organised in New Delhi recently. The sales mission was also organised in Bengaluru and Mumbai where NBTC Holland Marketing along with Jet Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and five other players from Netherlands participated and interacted with over 300 travel trade members across the three cities to educate them about the new tourism offerings in Netherlands.

Muller - van Rijn said that around EUR 500,000 is the annual budget allocation for marketing and promotions for the four emerging markets i.e. Russia, India, Brazil and China and any increase in that budget allocation will help us better present ourselves in India which can help attract good numbers.
31/08/18 TravelBizMonitor

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Air Arabia to connect 13 Indian cities with Prague via Sharjah

Air Arabia will operate a direct flight from Sharjah in the UAE to Prague in the Czech Republic starting December 11.
Adel Al Ali, group chief executive officer of Air Arabia, said the airline is focusing on the continued expansion of its international routes. He said, “With the launch of the Sharjah to Prague route, we aim to offer our passengers a chance to discover the colourful and historic capital city. Our newest destination in Europe will be available direct from the UAE.”
Arzan Khambatta, head - Czech Tourist Authority, CzechTourism India, said, “The popularity of the Czech Republic as a tourist destination is exponentially increasing in India. Several Indian travellers want to explore this wonderful destination. Air Arabia will now connect Prague with 13 cities across India making the Czech Republic even more accessible to Indian travellers.”

Air Arabia will connect 13 Indian cities with Prague via Sharjah. The 13 cities are Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Kozhikode, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad.
30/08/18 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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GoAir to start international operations from Oct 11

Budget airline GoAir will start international operations from October 11, its chief executive officer Cornelis Vrieswijik said today.
The inaugural flights will operate to Phuket from New Delhi and Mumbai.
The airline will also launch flights to Male in Maldives from Mumbai and Delhi on October 14.
The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon, a source had earlier said.
The city-based airline will be the sixth domestic carrier to have international operations.
GoAir became eligible to fly overseas two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320 Neo for the airline.
30/08/18 PTI/Economic Times

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Air India to connect Mumbai with New York, resumes Frankfurt services

Mumbai: National carrier Air India will start flight services to New York from here, besides resuming services to Frankfurt, which it discontinued in 2010, from winters this year.

At present, the government-run airline flies to New York, Washington, San Francisco from New Delhi; Chicago from Hyderabad through New Delhi and to Newark from Mumbai.

Among European cities, Air India flies directly to destinations such as Stockholm, Madrid, Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Birmingham and Milan.

"Air India is set to spread its wings further in the US and European skies from the coming winters.
29/08/18 New Indian Express

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Guwahati-Singapore Drukair Flight To Take Off On Sept 1

Guwahati: As the inaugural Guwahati-Singapore Drikair flight is set to take off from Guwahati airport on September 1, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan would receive a major boost with the launch of new international flight by Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines, connecting Guwahati with Singapore.

He said this while taking part at the ceremonially launch of this new international flight in a programme held at Hotel Vivanta by Taj in Guwahati on Thursday. The inaugural flight between Guwahati and Singapore will take off on 1st September from Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International (LGBI) Airport here.

Sonowal termed the initiative historic and expressed his deep appreciation to the Royal Government of Bhutan and Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines, for the endeavour to connect Guwahati directly with Singapore. He said that the initiative would not only facilitate trade and people-to-people contact among Bhutan, Assam and Singapore but also contribute towards strengthening social, cultural and economic ties.
30/08/18 Shillong Times

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Air India to start flight services to New York from Mumbai, resume services to Frankfurt

Mumbai: National carrier Air India will start flight services to New York from Mumbai, besides resuming services to Frankfurt, which it discontinued in 2010, from winters this year.

At present, the government-run airline flies to New York, Washington, San Francisco from New Delhi; Chicago from Hyderabad through New Delhi and to Newark from Mumbai.

Among European cities, Air India flies directly to destinations such as Stockholm, Madrid, Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Birmingham and Milan.

"Air India is set to spread its wings further in the US and European skies from the coming winters. As part of this, it will launch flight services for the first time to New York from Mumbai and restart operations to Frankfurt in Germany," a source said.
30/08/18 PTI/First Post

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Uganda: MP Zaake Blocked From Travelling to India Hospital

Tortured Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament, Mr Francis Zaake, who is scheduled to travel to India for specialised medical attention, has been blocked at Entebbe Airport.

The MP who was arrested and tortured by security operatives on the eve of Arua Municipality by-election, two weeks ago, is stuck in the VIP Lounge at the airport.

Mr Zaake left Rubaga Hospital, where he has spent a fortnight, in an ambulance on Thursday morning.

Mr Asuman Basalirwa, one of Mr Zaake's lawyers said at the airport that they are not aware that his client is wanted by police or court to warrant police clearance, before travelling.
"A police officer by the name of Oloka has informed me that we need police clearance from police for him to be able to travel. We informed him that we are not aware that the Hon Francis Zaake is wanted by police or court. But even if he was wanted, his condition cannot allow him to either go to police or court," Mr Basalirwa said. "So, the best thing is for government to clear him to travel to India for medical treatment. His condition is dire. If he is not cleared, Hon Zaake could easily die from here. So, we are waiting for 12 o'clock which is check in time, we try to get him to the plane, if they stop us, then we will see what to do."
30/08/18 James Kabengwa/All Africa

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IndiGo Announces Kuwait and Abu Dhabi as New Destinations

IndiGo is adding Kuwait and Abu Dhabi to its route network, with both new services starting in October 2018.

As part of the international expansion, Kuwait will be the 57th and Abu Dhabi will be the 58th destination on its network.

To provide more enhanced connectivity across India, IndiGo has added 24 new flights to its network. IndiGo will become the first domestic airline to introduce services connecting Port Blair with Hyderabad and Vadodara. These flights will commence from September 2018.

In addition, the Indian airline will operate its first daily return flight between Surat and Chennai, daily non-stop return service between Delhi and Imphal, direct flights to Vijayawada from Delhi. The airline will also add two international new routes connecting Doha with Ahmedabad and Trivandrum. These new services will be effective October, 2018.
30/08/18 Aviation Tribune

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Why that's NOT a $199 fare to India

This week WOW Air rolled out a "$199 fare" between the US and India. It made headlines across the internet on major travel and news sites and I'm sure snagged thousands of clicks.
But if you are thinking that $199 to India sounds too good to be true, you'd be right. As a matter of fact, if you wanted to fly from the Bay Area to India and back on WOW Air, you'd pay almost 400% more.
Wait. What?
Here's a lesson on what to look for when you see a fare that seems too good to be true using this $199 to India fare as an example. Below are questions you need to ask yourself to determine if the fare is indeed a good deal. For this post, we are pricing a hypothetical roundtrip, one-stop itinerary between San Francisco and Delhi for late January, 2019.
Which airline is offering it?
What's the roundtrip fare?
When/where do I have to fly to get the deal?
What's the bag fee?
Where will I sit?
How much are other airlines charging?
29/08/18 Chris McGinnis/Chron

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Wow Air to fly between L.A. and India starting at $199. Just watch out for those extra fees

Budget travelers may bite on the latest bargain fare between Los Angeles and New Delhi. Iceland-based Wow Air in December will begin flying to the Indian city from major U.S. hubs, including L.A. The initial ticket price: $199 each way.

Tickets are on sale now for flights that begin Dec. 5 and stop in Reykjavík. I checked the airline’s website Tuesday and found the $199 fare from L.A. available Jan. 21. However, the cheapest return I could find for the week of Jan. 27 was $354 (I selected Jan. 30 to test this fare). Total round-trip airfare costs $554, including tax, one of the cheapest fares around.

But that price assumes you are bringing only a personal item on board, defined as something roughly 17-by-13-by-10 inches.
29/08/18 Mary Forgione/Los Angeles Times

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British national with satellite phone detained at airport

Kolkata: A British national was detained by the Central Industrial Security Force at Kolkata Airport on Thursday for carrying a satellite phone. He was later handed over to the police. The officers at NSCBI Police Station seized the satellite phone. Around 3.30 pm on Thursday, the 33-year-old British national, Prior Mathew, was detained at the airport after the CISF personnel found a satellite phone in his handbag. It was found during the pre-embarkation security check through X-BIS machine in the Security Hold Area at the airport.
Sub-inspector Ved Prakash of CISF detected the satellite phone from Mathew's handbag. He was supposed to travel from Kolkata to Delhi by an Air India flight. He was scheduled to take a connecting flight to Hong Kong from Delhi.
According to police sources, the satellite phone was seized as its use is ban in India. He was allowed to go following discussions over the matter with the British Consulate in Kolkata.
30/08/18 millennium post

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Spreading wings: Vistara to start flights to Phuket, Colombo

Full-service carrier Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group, is set to fly on international routes from October. Sources told FE that the airline’s international flights will be from New Delhi to Colombo in Sri Lanka and Phuket, an island off Thailand’s west coast.

Under the new policy, an airline needs to have 20 aircraft for domestic operations to be eligible to fly overseas. Vistara, which began operations in January 2015, got its 20th aircraft in April and now has a 22-aircraft fleet so it can begin services to two overseas destinations.

Sources said Vistara wanted to fly to Dubai but the quota under the India-Dubai bilateral is full. The quota can be hiked under a new policy, but since Indian carriers are negotiating for better slots at Dubai airport the entire matter is stuck.

According to travel trade experts, launching overseas flights in October makes sense for the airline as it is a good period for travel given that it is the festival period and is a small vacation time.
29/08/18 Manisha Singhal/Financial Express

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First batch of haj pilgrims returns home

Gaya:  The first batch of 150 haj pilgrims from Bihar, 46 of them women, arrived at the Gaya international airport by a special Air India flight on Tuesday afternoon.
Scheduled for 2.15pm, the flight landed about 75 minutes late at 3.30pm. The pilgrims who returned hail from eight districts of the state, including Patna and Darbhanga. Sources said arrangements had been made to escort the pilgrims to the state capital in airconditioned buses under police escort.
The pilgrims were received at the airport by state minority welfare minister Khurshid Ahmad, State Haj Committee chief Mohd Iliyas and Gaya DM Abhishek Singh. All the 4,798 pilgrims from the state will come back in the next two weeks. The last batch of pilgrims will be reaching Gaya on September 11.
28/08/18 Times of India

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Lufthansa bags Airline of the Year award at IGIA Awards 2018

Lufthansa German Airlines, Europe’s leading airline in India and first European airline with 5-star Skytrax rating was awarded as ‘Airline of the Year, Europe & North America’ at IGIA Award 2018. Organized by Delhi International Airport Authority (DIAL) in collaboration with KPMG, Lufthansa was recognized under the category of ‘International Airline – Europe & North America‘ for the seventh consecutive year.
Held at a ceremony in New Delhi, the award was received by Lufthansa India team in the presence of key stakeholders. The award celebrates and recognizes the outstanding efforts of the Lufthansa team at Indira Gandhi International Airport for raising standards of excellence and serving the ever increasing demands of passengers.

Lufthansa India team after receiving the award

Lufthansa offers its passengers state-of-the-art products and best-in-class services such as in-flight entertainment and enhanced FlyNet allowing in-flight, high-speed internet to help stay connected with business partners or family on ground. The airline recently introduced a brand-new in-flight menu offering passengers an array of delectable and healthy meal options. Guests with special meal requests such as diabetic, Jain, Kosher and those with food allergies have scrumptious options to choose from. Passengers can also relish special Chaayos Masala Tea, crafted exclusively for the airline and featuring a special blend of high quality natural ingredients.
As the leading European airlines in India, Lufthansa Group has been in India for more than 50 years and its carriers Lufthansa, SWISS and Brussels Airlines currently offer 61 flights from four Indian gateways, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru connecting to 343 destinations in more than 100 countries via its four European hubs of Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Brussels.
The IGIA Awards were conceptualized in 2011 to honour and reward the efficiency and achievements of various service partners such as airport retailers, F&B, etc. at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
29/08/18 Lufthansa/Press Release

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AirAsia offers cheap international flight tickets from Rs 4,399. Details here

New Delhi: AirAsia is launching lucrative discounts for all its international flyers in its 'Thailand on Sale!' deal.
The tickets under the offer start at an all-inclusive rate of Rs 4,399 and are only available for select routes.
In order to avail the benefits of the scheme a customer has to book tickets till September 2, 2018.
Also, the customers need to book the tickets in advance in order to get the benefits.
The offer is only available on connecting flights and can be availed by bookings done on the website.
28/08/18 India Today

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Cabinet approves signing of Air Services Agreement b/w India & Morocco

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the revised air services agreement to be signed between India and Morocco.
After the new Air Services Agreement comes into force, the existing Air Services Agreement of
December, 2004 shall stand superseded.
According to an official source, the Air Services Agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and Morocco and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
29/08/18 UNI

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India Clears Decks For 24 American MH-60 Romeo Helicopters For Navy

The Indian Navy gets to exhale a bit, as a crucial and long-pending demand for a replacement of its old fleet of Sea King anti-submarine/utility helicopters gets off the ground. The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 25 August 2018 cleared decks for the navy to go ahead and contract for 24 Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky MH-60 Romeo maritime helicopters in a government-to-government deal with the Pentagon. The deal is expected to be worth $1.8 billion.

The move comes days before Delhi and Washington engaged in a crucial ‘2+2’ dialogue in the Indian capital, in which US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will meet with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman on a range of issues, including military trade. The MH-60 Romeo proposal has been key to discussions over the better part of three years now.
27/08/18 Shiv Aroor/Swarajya

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