Travels to Gulf accounted for 40% of India's international air traffic in 2016.
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.
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.
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.
Their battle for survival has actually made them more reliable and brought better customer service to the industry.
For Air India and Jet Airways, airspace closure over Pakistan would mean flights to US and Europe will have to take a longer route.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
This is the third incident of technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft in two days.
Modi alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka gave reservations in tenders based on religion, "snatching the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs." But Ambedkar had said there would not be reservation based on religion and there is a bar on giving reservation on the basis of religion in the Constitution, he stressed.
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.
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.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
The government is keeping its options open.
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.
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.
'Ajit Doval said, "They are threatening us now".'
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.
AirAsia India was set up as a three-way joint venture.
Several airlines in Vancouver are planning to operate to more Indian destinations, subject to bilateral air traffic rights and their respective fleet strengths.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.'
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.
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.
Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-promoted Akasa Air's first aircraft Boeing 737 MAX arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, bringing it closer to securing the mandatory Air Operator Permit to start operations. The airline had received the ceremonial keys for the aircraft in Seattle, the US, on June 15, Akasa Air said in a statement. This is the first delivery out of the 72 Boeing 737 Max planes that Akasa Air placed an order with Boeing last November.
Domestic air passenger volume spiked 70.46 per cent in October to 89.85 lakh over the same month of 2020, DGCA data showed on Thursday. The Indian carriers had flown 52.71 lakh passengers in October last year. It may be recalled that domestic traffic along with international flight services remained shut for two months until May 25, 2020, when scheduled air services were resumed in a graded manner.
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