4 airlines get more time to start ops from Ozar

Nashik: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) on Monday said it has given two-month extension to four airlines to start operations from Ozar under the second phase of the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) following requests from the airlines.
The AAI said, now the four airlines -- SpiceJet, Indigo, Alliance Air and TruJet -- will start operations by September end.
The authorities had given six-month period to the airlines which ends on July 31.
30/07/18 Tushar Pawar/Times of India

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SpiceJet offering instant discount of up to Rs 1,600 on flights

New Delhi: Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet had earlier announced an instant discount of up to Rs 1,600 and customers can avail the offer till midnight. According to SpiceJet’s website, customers willing to book tickets can avail the discount by entering the one-time code SPICEJETXP. While the offer was announced earlier, this is a great opportunity for customers to book tickets at a discounted price.  It is worth mentioning that the offer is exclusive to those who book it through the website www.flightxp.com. It may be noted that the instant discount is available on both one way and round-trip flights. Individuals booking the ticket will be able to available the offer on all debit and credit card payments, but net banking is not valid.  Besides, the offer is only for adult or child and is not applicable to infants.  Customers should also note that in case of a cancelled booking, the entire cashback amount will be forfeited. As mentioned earlier, the offer code can be used only once by the user. However, there is a catch: The amount of discount will vary in accordance with the number of passengers. For instance, if only one person is travelling, the code will fetch as Rs 150 cashback on one-way domestic flights while Rs 300 in case of a round trip. 
31/07/18 ET Now News

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IRCTC is offering 6-day trip to Kerala for Rs 24k including flights

New Delhi: Words cannot adequately describe the picturesque beauty of Kerala, with the destination offering multitude of experiences for holidaymakers. And if you haven't visited God's Own Country yet, here's a chance for you to book a trip at a cheap rate.

IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) is now offering a trip to Kerala from Delhi at a reasonable price.

The cost of the tour, which will be of five nights and six days, starts at Rs 23,700 (for triple occupancy), and can be availed between September 18-21.

Low-cost airline SpiceJet has been roped in for the tour. Travellers will be boarding the flight from Delhi at 0720hrs to reach Cochin at 1035hrs. The return flight will depart from Cochin at 1105hrs and reach Delhi at 1420hrs.
30/07/18 India Today

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Women monitor ‘dozing’ cops on CCTV, flee police station

Kolkata:  They were locked inside a room that housed the CCTV monitor. And they knew exactly what was happening in and outside the police station. They took advantage of that, and gave the cops the slip.
Two woman—one Bangladeshi and one Indian—who had been arrested at Kolkata airport on Monday evening walked out of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport police station around 5am on Friday, when the cops on duty were apparently too sleepy to react.
Along with these two, a third woman, also a Bangladeshi national, had been arrested, but she failed to escape.  The Bangladeshi women, Tanjila(20) and Mastura (26), both residents of Comilla, were set to board a SpiceJet flight from Kolkata to Delhi on July 23, when a CISF jawan smelt something suspiscious and accosted them. These two were found to be travelling with fake names and forged Aadhaar cards and were suspected to be victims of a trafficking racket. The Indian woman, Tasleem (24), who lived at Nirmal Vihar in Delhi, had claimed she was taking the two to Delhi to work as domestic help, but the police suspect she was trafficking them.
28/07/18 Tamaghna Banerjee/Times of India

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ATF may come under 18% GST bracket, but Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo in tailspin

Government is looking at bringing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under the purview of Goods and Services Tax (GST) even as petrol and diesel prices are still out of the GST. The Finance Ministry is planning to include ATF under 18 per cent tax bracket of GST, a source told Zee Business TV.  However, it is unclear exactly how such a move can impact airfares. Expectations are that the benefits would be passed on to flyers.

However, just yesterday Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation said in the Rajya Sabha that there is no such proposal to bring ATF under GST.

"At present, there is no proposal to include ATF under GST," said Sinha in the Rajya Sabha.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu had earlier said that the move will help cut costs as airlines would get input tax credit.
26/07/18 ZeeBiz

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GoAir, SpiceJet offer various value back schemes; check details

Leading airlines GoAir and SpiceJet are offering various summer offers on their respective websites. GoAir is offering value back of Rs 1000. GoAir offer will be available for the entire month of July. Get cashback of up to Rs. 1000 from PayTm, Food Panda and Mychoize on your next flight booking.
GoAir offers:
Paytm Offer: Get 5 percent cashback on payment through Paytm wallet
Food Panda Offer: For new user, flat Rs. 100 off on purchase of Rs. 275 (FPGOAIR). For Existing user- flat Rs. 50 off on purchase of Rs. 400
Mychoize Offer: Use GOAIR25 and avail 25 percent off on your ride with MyChoize Self-Drive cars.
SpiceJet is also offering Rs. 1000 off on flight bookings made through IndusInd Bank Debit and Credit Cards on www.spicejet.com and SpiceJet’s Mobile App. The offer is available on Tuesdays only.
24/07/18 ZeeBiz

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This isn't what you think but 1.85kg of smuggled gold-paste!

DRI officials stopped a smuggling bid at Hyderabad airport on Saturday and recovered around 2kg of gold that was being brought in from Colombo.
The man carrying the booty came under suspicion as his hand-baggage included two packages, weighing 1.85kg.
Upon inspection, the package was found to contain 1.12kg of gold-paste, out of which 1.10kg of pure gold was extracted, valued at Rs. 34.57L.
The suspected man came to Hyderabad from Madurai aboard a SpiceJet flight and was caught at the arrival hall of the airport.
He was responsible for transporting the gold to Chennai via Hyderabad, said Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials, adding that the smuggled good might be coming from Dubai, and Colombo was just a clone-stop to avoid investigators.
Ignoring the seriousness of the matter, Twitterati were cracking jokes as the gold-paste closely resembled human poop.
23/07/18 Pallabi Chatterjee/NewsByets/Yahoo

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Gold biscuits worth Rs 22 lakh found hidden in plane loo

Pune: The customs officials at the Pune airport recovered six gold biscuits, worth around Rs 22 lakh, from the rear lavatory of the SpiceJet flight (SG52) that had
come in from Dubai on Saturday.
This latest recovery of smuggled gold comes after a two-month break. In recent times, smugglers have tried to sneak in the precious metal into the country in many
innovative ways and forms — even making a semi-solid gold paste. These tactics have, however, not worked at the Pune airport. Perhaps the smugglers are now
reverting to their old modus operandi of using gold biscuits. “The total weight of the gold biscuits is 699.9 gram, which is valued at Rs 21,90,750. It is after more than two months that the airport has seen another gold
smuggling attempt and the modus operandi is an old one. However, the catch shows that the officials at the Pune airport are vigilant and have not slipped during the
lull period,” a customs official said .
“When the customs officials were checking the flight after landing, they found the gold biscuits concealed in the flight’s rear lavatory’s oxygen mask panel. The
biscuits were double wrapped with black adhesive tape and a yellow cloth and then concealed,” Mahesh Patil, the deputy commissioner (customs) at Pune airport,
said.
23/07/18 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Kalanithi Maran to relaunch litigation to regain control of SpiceJet from Ajay Singh

SpiceJet’s former promoter, Kalanithi Maran of Sun Group, will contest the ruling of an arbitration panel that rejected his claim of damages and repossession of control of the airline after a bitter share transfer dispute.

Maran and his KAL Airways will move the Delhi High Court to pursue the more substantive claim under Section 65 of the Contract Act seeking restitution so as to regain control of the airline, Sun Group chief financial officer SL Narayanan told CNBCTV18.com. “We are in discussions with our lawyers and we believe we have a very strong case,” he said.

On Friday, the tribunal rejected Maran’s claim of damages of Rs 1,323 crore for not issuing warrants to him and KAL Airways, but awarded him a refund of Rs 579 crore plus interest. The tribunal, which was created in end 2016 on the orders of the Delhi High Court to adjudicate the share transfer dispute, held that there was no breach of a share sale and purchase agreement reached between Maran and current promoter Ajay Singh in January 2015.
22/07/18 CNBC TV18

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SpiceJet's 'Mega Monsoon Sale' Extended Till July 22, Offers Flight Tickets From Rs 999

SpiceJet's 'Mega Monsoon sale' has been extended till July 22, 2018, said the carrier on its official website - spicejet.com. Under its monsoon sale, the airline is offering direct domestic flight tickets at a starting all-inclusive fare of Rs. 999. The travel period on the offer starts from July 23 and ends on October 8, 2018. SpiceJet is also offering 20 per cent discount on seats, meals, SpiceMax and other add-ons. However,  the offer is available only on bookings made through airline's official website. The promo code for the additional discount offer is ADDON20.
22/07/18 NDTV

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Tribunal rules in SpiceJet's favour, rejects Maran's Rs 13-bn claim

Mumbai/Delhi: An arbitration tribunal has ruled in SpiceJet's favour, in a share purchase dispute with ex-promoter Kalanithi Maran. And, has rejected the latter’s Rs 13-billion claim for loss on account of non-issuance of share warrants.

The tribunal has, however, held that Maran will be entitled to a refund of Rs 5.79 billion, the subscription amount he made for warrants and preference shares. Even so, this will not result in a new liability for the airline, since it has already deposited the amount with the high court in Delhi, said a source close to the airline.

Maran sold his 58.46 per cent stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh, its current chairman, for a nominal Rs 2 in 2015, after a financial crunch crippled its operation. The two sides have been locked in litigation since. Maran has accused SpiceJet of breach of agreement, for not issuing him 189 million share warrants and preference shares, despite his Rs 6.79 billion infusion.
The warrants, if converted into equity, would have given Maran and his Kal Airways a 24 per cent stake in the airline. SpiceJet contended these could not be issued as it did not ge the BSE exchange’s approval.
21/07/18 Aneesh Phadnis & Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Jaipur-Dubai Spicejet flight gets delayed due to glitch

Passengers flying on Spicejet SG 57 from Jaipur to Dubai got late by about 2 hours after the aircraft faced some technical glitches on Wednesday.
The glitch was first noted by the pilot when the flight was about to take off from the runway.
Immediately, the flight was stopped from flying. The flight’s regular time to fly from Jaipur is 9:25 am and it reaches Dubai at about 11:25 am. However, due to the technical problem in the flight, it actually took off about 2 hours late.
Troubled passengers took to social media and complained that the airline was late. However, later Spicejet tweeted that safety was its utmost concern and at no point of time, the airline compromises on the same.
19/07/18 DNA

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Gold abandoned in aircraft recovered

Madurai: Air intelligence unit of Customs department on Tuesday recovered ?10.54 lakh worth gold abandoned inside the SpiceJet aircraft that arrived at Madurai airport from Colombo.

According to customs sources, its Assistant Commissioner A. Venkadesh Babu led a team of officials for rummaging inside the aircraft as it landed at the airport. The officials found clay material wrapped in an adhesive tape and kept inside one of the seat pouches. The officials extracted around 450 grams of gold that was mixed with clay in the form of powder.
17/07/18 The Hindu

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Spicejet directed to pay up for flight cancellation

Hyderabad: While it’s a common practice for airlines to cancel flights “due to bad weather” it appears that the actual reason for cancellation is not always the weather. It became manifest when a private airline could not prove that a Hyderabad-Varanasi flight had been cancelled due to bad weather as it had claimed.  An amount of about Rs 50,000 is what a district consumer disputes redressal forum has directed the service provider, Spicejet, to compensate the customer with. Spicejet has also been asked to refund the ticket fare to the two passengers in question.

The incident dates back to October 31, 2015 when a couple from Gandhi Nagar in the city booked to-and-fro flight tickets from Hyderabad to Varanasi for a trip scheduled for December 2015. They paid a total amount of Rs 17,966 online for the tickets. However, on December 8, 2015, when the couple were to fly to Varanasi, the airline management sent a message that the flight was cancelled due to bad weather. It also stated that the amount paid towards ticket fare would be refunded. But until the date of lodging a complaint, the refund was not processed.
16/07/18 Ajay Moses/New Indian Express

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SpiceJet may tie-up with US companies to diversify business

Chennai: SpiceJet airlines is all set to enter into major business partnerships with two American companies, which includes an international airline, to diversify its activities beyond aviation, reports have stated.

The Gurgaon-based airline is planning to enter the digital and technology space, the report added. They are also interested in the cargo, courier, and logistics business.
14/07/18 News Today

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SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh awarded USISPF Leadership Award

Gurugram: The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), in its first ever Annual Leadership Summit, awarded Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet, with the USISPF Leadership Award on July 12 in Washington, D.C.. The award, established by the Forum, is to commend excellence in transformative leadership and public service, along with the leaders’ role in expanding trade and collaboration between the U.S. and India.
D. Jim Umpleby III, CEO of Caterpillar Inc., was also conferred with the Leadership Award. Both the business leaders were felicitated for their transformative role in developing U.S.-India business ties and progressing the lives of citizens in the U.S. and India.
The Annual Leadership Summit hosted in Washington D.C., highlighted the Forum’s commitment to furthering the strategic partnership between the U.S. and India. The theme of this year’s summit was “Strengthening the Strategic Partnership”.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award. SpiceJet is privileged to be a part of USISPF’s journey and vision. This recognition belongs to every SpiceJetter who has worked relentlessly to resurrecting a dying company and building a globally admired airline in less than three years. SpiceJet’s success is a testament to the strong and growing relationship between India and the US. This is just the beginning and we look forward to making great strides together in the years to come.” said Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet.

SpiceJet MD Ajay Singh (2nd from right) and Caterpillar Inc CEO D. Jim Umpleby III, (2nd left) after receiving the award

Under the leadership of Mr. Singh, SpiceJet placed an order for up to 205 narrow and wide bodied aircraft – one of the largest orders for new airplanes in Boeing’s history. SpiceJet was lauded by US President Donald J. Trump for this aircraft order and helping create tens of thousands of jobs in the United States. SpiceJet followed up the Boeing order with an order for 50 Bombardier Q400 planes --- the single biggest order for the Q400 in Bombardier’s history.
The event brought together key stakeholders, including Government of India officials, industry leaders from the U.S. and India, and government officials in the United States to discuss opportunities in investment.
Approximately 300 senior level business leaders and investors attended the Summit. Attending companies at the summit included Walmart, Dow, Boeing International, Abbot, Amway and Bank of America. Industry and government leaders from the U.S. and India discussed the value of the U.S.-India partnership between the two countries and how their shared values of democracy, security, and sustainability are being applied in both business and government to spur job creation, encourage innovation, and accelerate economic growth.
Some of the key speakers from India who attended the summit were NavtejSarna, Ambassador of India to the United States and Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of NitiAayog. Representative from the USA included Senator Rob Portman (R-OH); USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney; Jeffrey Gerrish, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative; and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus among others.
Among the major highlights of this year’s Summit was former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, participating in a fireside chat with USISPF’s Chairman, John Chambers, former Executive Chairman & CEO of Cisco and Founder of JC2 Ventures.
The summit followed a year where India has seen unprecedented global economic growth. As the fastest growing economy and soon to be third largest consumer economy, India is of vital interest to the U.S. with regard to trade, technology and innovation. Led by the most prominent leaders in U.S.-India relations, USISPF has already been instrumental in furthering this partnership during the organization’s first year of existence.
15/07/18 Press Release/SpiceJet

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Empty seats becoming rarer on airline flights

Mostly gone are the days when you could get an entire row of airline seats to yourself; with flights worldwide fuller than ever, travellers are lucky even to have a middle seat open between themselves and a fellow passenger.

Forbes reports that, worldwide, the average load factor for commercial airliners has reached 81.9 per cent in 2018, meaning more than eight of every 10 seats on the average flight is full. That’s up from an average of 75.2 per cent in 2005.

Low-cost carriers tend to have the highest load factors, although the basic economy fares offered by big airlines like Delta have helped fill seats, too.

Globally, Ryanair is the most crowded airline flying, with an average load factor of 94.7 per cent in 2017. Other airlines with load factors over 90 per cent include India’s Spicejet, Europe’s Easyjet, Wizz Air, and Air Asia.
15/07/18  Robert Curley/Business Traveller

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Biplab seeks Prabhu help to ensure SpiceJet services

Agartala: Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has urged Union civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu to ensure continuity of SpiceJet service to Agartala-Kolkata and Kolkata-Agartala routes keeping in mind the rush of passengers.
Based on media reports regarding withdrawal of SpiceJet service from Agartala, Biplab spoke to Prabhu on Friday and explained him about the possible hardships if SpiceJet discontinues its service to Agartala. Herequested Prabhu to enhance flights in Agartala-Kolkata and Kolkata-Agartala routes.
15/07/18 Biswendu Bhattacharjee/Times of India

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SpiceJet to diversify

Washington: Low-cost airline SpiceJet is considering alliances with two American companies, including an international airline, and diversifying its activities beyond aviation, its chairman and managing director Ajay Singh has said.

Acknowledging that aviation is a "fairly high-risk enterprise", the airline's chief said, "We must hedge ourselves from the risk of being in a pure aviation business and find the businesses which are connected to aviation, which would be a little more insulated from the high cost of fuel and so on."

"So, we are looking at some new areas. We will be making announcements at the appropriate time. We believe that there are significant strategic partnerships that we can enter into and we will be announcing them soon," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meet of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Summit (USISPF) here on Thursday.
14/07/18 Telegraph

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Tripura urges ministry to persuade SpiceJet to continue operations to Agartala

Agartala: After Jet Airways, budget airline SpeiceJet has decided to suspend operations to Tripura capital Agartala from September 1, prompting the Chief Minister to seek intervention of the Union Civil Aviation Minister, an official said here on Saturday.

"Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had requested Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday to intervene to have the airline retract its decision," an official of Tripura Chief Minister's secretariat said.

Jet Airways had withdrawn from Tripura citing revenue losses.
14/07/18 IANS/Business Standard

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