The civil aviation ministry and the directorate general of civil aviation plan to award the low-cost carriers some key morning and evening peak-time slots (a fixed time for departure or arrival of a particular flight) lying unused with the full-service carriers at metro airports like Delhi and Mumbai. DGCA officials and airline officials confirm that airlines like Jet and Kingfisher are not using around 10 per cent of their slots during the peak periods.
While portals such as makemytrip, cleartrip and ezeego have seen a rise of 30 per cent in advance booking in the first week of January, others such as yatra and travelocity, with a 10-15 per cent surge, are also expecting more bookings in the coming weeks. The cleverly-introduced advanced booking fares have induced passengers to book tickets until as late as November.
The lukewarm response to the proposed real estate development around the Delhi airport has put its Rs 8,940-crore modernisation in a financial bind.
Despite sharp erosion in the net worth of airline companies due to losses in the recent past, banks and financial institutions have decided to sanction loans to some of them including Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, while some of the companies in this sector are still waiting.
Travel agents in the country have had their way with airlines, at least in the domestic sector. National carrier Air India today agreed to pay a 3 per cent commission to travel agents, nearly two weeks after Jet Airways and Kingfisher agreed to do the same.
Several Indian and international aviation and logistics companies such as Air India, Singapore Airport Terminal Services, Menzies, Bobba, Swissport, Bird Group and Worldwide Flight Services have responded, individually or through tie-ups with each other, to two requests for proposals to set up a new cargo facility at Delhi airport and upgrade the existing one. The RFPs were sent by Delhi International Airport Limited, the GMR-led consortium that is modernising the airport.
Delhi-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet is looking at restructuring its core leadership team as part of US investor Wilbur Ross's strategy of turning around the company.
In addition to that, an increasing number of airlines like SpiceJet, national carrier Air India and GoAir are either getting into hedging of aviation turbine fuel or increasing the quantum of ATF hedged on the MCX. Last month, state-run Indian Oil Corporation approached MCX to provide it with a platform to hedge its refinery margins and end products from crude oil.
Move aimed at forcing airlines to revoke decision to withdraw 5 per cent commission.
Inbound travel to the balmy beaches of Goa is expected to drop a significant 60 per cent following large-scale cancellations by charter flights after last week's terror attacks in Mumbai.
Mumbai's unprecedented terror attacks have put airports across the country on a high alert.
The India-Bangkok sector is operated by carriers like Air India, Jet Airways, Thai Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines amongst others and travel companies say it constitutes more than 40 per cent of their business in the south east Asian market. Thousands of protestors have laid siege to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, the world's 18th largest in terms of passenger traffic, as their latest mark of protest against the elected government.
Full-service carriers Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India have told travel agents that they will not levy the transaction fee on air tickets from November 25. This means tickets will be Rs 350 to Rs 10,000 cheaper of bought from the airline office or website. In all, 16 carriers have shifted to the zero-commission mode. The decision of the airlines might leave 1 million people employed with over 2,000 IATA affiliated travel agencies without jobs.
By cutting international flights, Indian firms forefeit market share.
Most travel agents in India have refused to levy the transaction fees of Rs 350-10,000 on air passengers.
The terminal and airside development of as many as nine of the 16 non-metro airports, supposed to be completed by next month, has been delayed till next year. This included construction and expansion of terminal buildings, runways and taxiways, among other things.
Aviation industry experts expect the ATF prices to fall by 16 per cent in November, compared with the current month. This, they say, translates into bridging of nearly half the gap between the airlines' operational costs and total revenues.
The combine has a fleet of 189 aircraft which includes A-320s, A-330s, Boeing-737s, Boeing-747s and turbo props. Industry experts said this would mean the withdrawal of around 75 flights a day, or around 8 per cent of the combine's daily domestic flights.
Plan for interim international terminal cancelled; land trouble delays domestic terminal.
That is because Mumbai, which has no scope for further expansion, has not allowed any additional aircraft movements this winter schedule allowing only 32 flight movements per peak hour.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances