Anirban Chowdhury &Amp; Manisha Singhal

Stories by Anirban Chowdhury &Amp; Manisha Singhal

Delhi Airport appeases duty-free operator

Delhi Airport appeases duty-free operator

Rediff.com   11 Jan 2008

Delhi Airport has reduced the minimum annual guarantee paid by duty-free operator, Alpha Future.

Jet to take Shanghai shortcut

Jet to take Shanghai shortcut

Rediff.com   7 Jan 2008

Battling to grab market share on international routes, Jet Airways has drawn up plans to make China a hub for flying to popular destinations like San Francisco and Los Angeles on the US west coast and to Vancouver in Canada in the near future. "It is much shorter to fly from China to the US west coast than from Singapore. This way, the yields on the routes will also be higher," said Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal.

JFK slot auction may hit Jet Air

JFK slot auction may hit Jet Air

Rediff.com   3 Jan 2008

A move by the US administration to reduce congestion at New York's John F Kennedy airport the busiest in the world by auctioning parking slots, might spoil the party for private carriers in India such as Kingfisher and Jet Airways, which are planning their operations there.

Outlook for infrastructure in 2008

Outlook for infrastructure in 2008

Rediff.com   27 Dec 2007

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which is being developed by GMR on the outskirts of Hyderabad, will be the first greenfield public-private partnership (PPP) airport to be operational in March 16.

Portals keep airfares low, carriers remain stingy

Portals keep airfares low, carriers remain stingy

Rediff.com   26 Dec 2007

This season, even as airlines hike fares and go stingy on discounts, customers are gaining from the various offers given by travel portals.

Who will command the AI 777s?

Who will command the AI 777s?

Rediff.com   24 Dec 2007

Air India's fourth Boeing 777-200LR, scheduled for delivery in the second week of December, has not reached the airline. A shortage of commanders for the new generation aircraft will probably delay it further.

New runway norms: More flight delays likely

New runway norms: More flight delays likely

Rediff.com   22 Dec 2007

The new government guideline against simultaneous take-off and landing of aircraft from the same runway (now one runway would be used for take-off and the other only for landing) will increase delays in flight movement by 40-50 per cent, say airlines.

Come 2008, airlines to rethink fare strategy

Come 2008, airlines to rethink fare strategy

Rediff.com   19 Dec 2007

While full-service carriers like Kingfisher and Jet Airways are cutting down on business class seats and concentrating on the economy and leisure travellers, low-cost carriers (LCCs) have made it clear there would not be any rock-bottom fares this season.

India's pilot shortage just got worse

India's pilot shortage just got worse

Rediff.com   18 Dec 2007

The new law passed by the US government and called Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act allows both the pilot and co-pilot on a domestic flight to be up to the age of 65 years.

Realty cos see big money in small airports

Realty cos see big money in small airports

Rediff.com   17 Dec 2007

Omaxe, L&T and Unitech have already applied for the Rs 200-crore (Rs 2 billion) development projects at Udaipur and Amritsar. The work includes commercial operations and maintenance of the airport terminal building, besides development of 46,268 sq metres and 110,308 sq metres of land for city-side development and cargo handling facilities at Udaipur and Amritsar, respectively.

It's destination Gulf for Jet Airways

It's destination Gulf for Jet Airways

Rediff.com   13 Dec 2007

Jet will have 56 flights (around 9,400 seats a week) from four destinations from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Kozhikode to Bahrain and Doha (non-stop), Muscat and Kuwait, and cater to the middle and upper ends of the market.

Air India set to get Star Alliance tag on Dec 13

Air India set to get Star Alliance tag on Dec 13

Rediff.com   10 Dec 2007

The announcement of Air India's induction into the Star Alliance, which has 17 airlines as members and one of the oldest and the largest airline alliances, is likely to be made on December 13 in Beijing.

Most non-metro airports still in the red

Most non-metro airports still in the red

Rediff.com   4 Dec 2007

A total of 27 out of the 35 non-metro airports that have been taken up for development suffered a total loss of Rs 172.64 crore in 2006-07. Six of these made a loss of more than Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) each.

Indians splurging on second-hand jets

Indians splurging on second-hand jets

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2007

Indians are splurging to fly high on second-hand private jets. The cost of these jets (over 75 per cent of the business jets sold in the country are second-hand), are on an average up to 50 per cent cheaper than a new aircraft.

Mumbai cancels duty free operators' deal

Mumbai cancels duty free operators' deal

Rediff.com   24 Nov 2007

ITDC/Aldeasa, a joint venture between state-owned Indian Tourism Development Corporation and Spanish company Aldeasa, had bagged the contract for duty-free operations at Mumbai airport for Rs 571 crore (Rs 5.71 billion) in February. Operations were to start in June. Instead, two weeks ago, Aldeasa wrote to MIAL saying that the contract value should be reduced to Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion).

Expect more fog delays in Delhi

Expect more fog delays in Delhi

Rediff.com   15 Nov 2007

Despite private sector developer Delhi International Airport Ltd bracing for a long and foggy winter with added infrastructure, the shortage of CAT III pilots in some airlines could still mean long delays for passengers.

Travel portals eye smaller towns

Travel portals eye smaller towns

Rediff.com   7 Nov 2007

As the demand for air travel picks up in the smaller towns across the country, travel portals are aggressively moving into these markets outside the six metros wooing aspirant air travellers with easier booking facilities. Most of the prominent travel sites like makemytrip, yatra and cleartrip claim that the places to look at now are smaller cities like Varanasi, Surat, Chandigarh, Baroda, Ludhiana, Vizag and Coimbatore.

Coming soon: Low Cost Charters!

Coming soon: Low Cost Charters!

Rediff.com   23 Oct 2007

After budget carriers, the Indian skies will soon see the first low-cost charter service. Charter operator Club One Air is going to launch its domestic low-cost operations next year at prices 50 per cent below those currently charged by charters. Thus a Delhi-Kullu chartered flight, which costs Rs 60,000 per person at present, would cost Rs 30,000 once Club One Air starts flying.

Air fares to rise this holiday season

Air fares to rise this holiday season

Rediff.com   8 Oct 2007

This holiday season air travellers will not get rock-bottom prices like Re 1 or Rs 99. In all likelihood, they will have to fork out 10 per cent more for tickets than last year. SpiceJet executives said the fare war was over and average fares across the country would now go up

Private airports protest regional carrier sops

Private airports protest regional carrier sops

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2007

Private airport developers in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, say landing and parking fees account for a significant proportion of revenues, so offering these services free would be unviable.