In India, many players are in the throes of chaos and pain but at least one partnership -- Air Asia India -- that was fraying even before the pandemic now finds itself at breaking point, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Abdullah said they are claiming that terrorism is over but the ground situation shows that it has increased in otherwise peaceful Jammu region.
Loans for Indian airlines have dried up as banks have become cautious to lend to the sector.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on Monday inaugurated the Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL)-Airbus facility in Vadodara to manufacture C-295 military aircraft in India.
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha who joined Trinamool Congress on Saturday narrated how West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had offered to go as a hostage in exchange for passengers of Air India's IC 814 that was hijacked by the militants over two decades ago.
Their battle for survival has actually made them more reliable and brought better customer service to the industry.
Former Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, says Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal developed his airline's business class mock-ups in utter secrecy inside the garage of his London home.
Unlike Air India and Jet Airways, which have revised downwards free check-in baggage allowance on domestic flights, GoAir has made provisions for pre-purchasing excess baggage limits.
The presence of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India could have prevented Go First airline from going "belly up", as sending engines abroad for servicing is not an efficient way to operate a carrier, Piyush Srivastava, senior economic advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday. On May 3, Go First suspended its flights and filed for insolvency, squarely blaming engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) for its cash crunch. The airline claimed that about half of its 54 aircraft were grounded on May 3 due to a delay in the supply of engines by the US-based company. PW has denied the charges.
For Air India and Jet Airways, airspace closure over Pakistan would mean flights to US and Europe will have to take a longer route.
ATF for domestic carriers has become 11.22 per cent cheaper since October and is expected to see more price cuts in the next three months.
Dispute arose as Indian carriers objected to Emirates flying passengers beyond Dubai, and Dubai authorities complained that Indian airlines have been flying more flights than allocated to its carriers.
PIA is to operate a twice-a-week service between Karachi and Mumbai on Mondays and Fridays while Indian Airlines, which is to begin its services from January 9, is likely to fly on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Domestic airlines are keen to bring China into their network as the latter is set to become the country's top trade partner in the coming years.
India, which plans to start flights to Kabul whenever Pakistani airspace opens, on Wednesday agreed to take a slew of steps, including waiving off expenses, to assist Afghanistan in building up its aviation infrastructure.
Airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India have decided to go with the new attire to ensure safety of cabin crew members as they are in close proximity to passengers during flights
The national carrier has drawn a blueprint to cut the number of recognised unions in the airline from 15 to two -- one for pilots and another for the rest of the employees.
In further easing of restrictions, the government on Wednesday permitted Indian airlines to increase the number of domestic passenger flights to 60 per cent of their pre-Covid services, according to an official order.
The government is keeping its options open.
'The past few quarters have seen prohibitive fares for advance bookings, only to dip closer to departure.'
An executive of a private airline said even though volume picked up, it will be difficult for airlines to make money as fares have remained low even during festive season.
Shares of low-cost airline IndiGo hit record high on the bourses soon after reports of pilot crisis at Vistara emerged. The development also saw airfares surge by around 25 per cent on select routes. Shares of IndiGo hit a lifetime high of ~3,68.5 on April 2, 2024, and has gained 2.4 per cent on the bourses in April.
This is the third incident of technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft in two days.
The FIA termed as 'illegal' the clearances granted to the airline by the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and called the grant of Air Operator's Permit or the flying licence to it 'fraudulent'.
Domestic air traffic in April this year consisted 10.99 million passengers as compared to 11.51 million passengers in the same month last year, signifying a fall of around 4.5 per cent,
The initial speculation over who is likely to down shutters seems to have given way to a resigned acceptance that all the players are determined to stay in the game.
AirAsia India was set up as a three-way joint venture.
For any airline to be eligible for restructuring, the current ratio has to be equal to or higher than 0.4, while 'debt to Ebitda' has to be equal to or less than 5.5.
Several airlines in Vancouver are planning to operate to more Indian destinations, subject to bilateral air traffic rights and their respective fleet strengths.
Accepting a major demand of the cash-strapped aviation industry, the government on Tuesday said it would soon launch the process to allow foreign airlines 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers.
Pilots working for Air India are divided on the call of a nationwide strike from March 9 by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), part of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, which has 680 members.
According to experts, the new entrant with its aggressive plans could give tough competition to Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, two strong players in this sector.
Aircraft lease rentals are fixed costs and account for around 15 per cent of an airline's expense and since these are paid in dollars are also subject to currency fluctuations.
Ending suspense over the appointment of Air-India MD, the government said on Friday that Sunil Arora, chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines would assume additional charge of the international airline.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa is in talks with US aerospace company Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max aircraft. Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and his family members are promoters while ex-IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh is a board member of the airline. The airline is in negotiation with Boeing and has reached out to the government to recertify the aircraft which has been grounded since 2018 after two crashes killing 349 persons, according to sources in the know.
Several passengers have been complaining on social media as domestic airlines have decided not to give refunds in cash for cancelled flights due to the lockdown and instead issue credit for future travel.
'Our focus is not going to be metro to metro routes.' 'We will begin by focusing on metro to non-metro (routes).' 'Metro to tier-2 cities or tier-3 cities is where there is a lot of space for affordable, efficient carriers.'
Sundays are generally quiet days for air travel, but this Sunday was a tad different. There was quite an excitement at Gate 28 of Mumbai airport's Terminal 1 as Akasa Air, India's newest airline, prepared to take to the skies on Day 1. With a new fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft and soft cushioned seats equipped with USB ports, Akasa Air hopes to bring freshness to the flying experience.
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