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.
Because of strong headwinds on Delhi-Istanbul route for the last two days, the low-cost carrier has been unable to take most of the check-in luggage in the same aircraft along with passengers, said an airline spokesperson.
After rationalising flights and routes, major domestic airlines like Kingfisher, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are introducing sharp cutbacks in staff and salaries to cope with slower passenger growth and rising aviation turbine fuel costs. Manpower typically accounts for 10-15 per cent of an airline's total costs.
The new alliance will help the Tatas realise their long-cherished dream of flying abroad, while Singapore Airlines will get a foothold in the expanding Indian market
GoAir, run by the Wadia Group, has come out with an innovative way to attract passengers and reduce distribution cost. The smallest of all domestic airlines by market share, GoAir has rolled out a loyalty programme making it the first low-cost carrier to launch such a scheme.
'I remember AK came on set one day; one of his films had released the previous day and was not doing well. He was very attached to that film.' 'I felt he was low and that affected me.'
In a bid to cash in on upcoming summer holiday season, low-cost carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo on Tuesday launched the fourth round of price war in the bleeding aviation sector, offering massive discounts on tickets.
Budget carriers say no to full cost airlines' proposal to up rates.
IndiGo and Paramount Airways managed to register profit during the last fiscal.
Wadia group-owned no-frills airline GoAir on Monday announced that its managing director Jeh Wadia has stepped down from the position. The airline, however, said that Wadia will continue as a promoter. It also announced the appointment of aviation industry veteran Ben Baldanza as vice chairman at the carrier. Baldanza has been an advisor to the company since 2018 and director since 2019.
In a December 2012 interview, Ratan Tata, then preparing to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, expressed doubts about the Tata group re-entering the aviation sector, calling it a space plagued by "destructive competition". But beneath that frustration lay nearly two decades of failed attempts to conquer the Indian skies. In 1994, Tata, along with Singapore Airlines, had plans to launch a joint venture (JV) airline in India.
Given the cost structure in the country, it won't be easy for AirAsia to offer 'Nano' fares and still make money.
Sunil Bhaskaran, AirAsia India's chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), is the front-runner to head the low-cost carrier that will take birth after the merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India, sources said. In a show of confidence, the airline's board extended Bhaskaran's tenure by three years -- until March 2025 -- in a meeting held earlier this year, according to the documents reviewed by Business Standard. Moreover, AirAsia India's board of directors has increased Bhaskaran's salary twice in 2022 -- first in January by 5 per cent and then in June by 7 per cent, the documents showed.
Getting more people to fly with you seems to extract a high cost, as pioneer Gopinath learnt and full service carriers rediscover.
Says, it is too pre-mature to comment on the possibilities of any fresh equity issuance.
Although a merger with low-cost carrier SpiceJet would have made the Kingfisher-Deccan combine the largest carrier in Indian skies, it would have put a huge burden on the Vijay Mallya-controlled carrier's financials, feel experts. SpiceJet's losses have almost doubled to Rs 133 crore (Rs 1.33 billion) this year -- of which Rs 123 crore (Rs 1.23 billion) were incurred in the March quarter -- as compared with last year.
According to a separate stock exchange filing by the company, Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways have increased their holding in SpiceJet to 52.14 per cent.
Long-haul low-cost carriers like Scoot and AirAsia X offer a similar configuration.
A few days after the government made the crucial policy announcement, Tony Fernandes, chief executive officer of Air Asia, the largest low-cost carrier in Southeast Asia, said he would visit India this month.
Kingfisher Airlines Executive Vice-President Hitesh Patel said Kingfisher was interested in flying Gulf and south-eastern destinations, if the government permitted.
According to the latest figures released by the DGCA, IndiGo, with 27 per cent market share in July this year, has edged past Jet, which managed 26.6 per cent share.
The prospective owners of Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd plan to cut the airline's fleet, shrink its network and return to a "plain vanilla" business model to achieve profitability, two people close to the investors said.
The Chennai-based airline promoted by Kalanithi Maran had reported a net loss of Rs 39.26 crore (Rs 392.6 million) in the same period the prior year.
Meanwhile, the company's shareholders last week approved proposals to raise Rs 145 crore through issue of debentures and warrants, on preferential basis, to its promoter Kalanithi Maran.
Automobile retail sales in India rose 6 per cent to 2,61,43,943 units in FY25 with rural areas performing better than urban regions across passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments, dealers' body FADA said on Monday. The last financial year saw growth in sales of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
With a contrarian approach to the Indian market, Mills has reconfigured SpiceJet and eked out its first profit in five quarters. His plan is not without risks.
Malaysia's low cost carrier Air Asia and Singapore-based Tiger Airways have been locked in a war of words, with heads of both the companies taking digs at each other in public over alleged racist remarks by the Malaysian carrier's ethnic Indian chief.
The Gurgaon-based carrier, which started its regional operations from Hyderabad last month, plans to have the hubs in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi.
Faced with heavy losses, budget carrier JetLite has shelved plans to fly abroad. It will also stop 20 of its 131 daily flights within the country and ground three of its 18-strong fleet of Boeing 737s.
7,000 unemployed pilots in India but airlines continue to bet on expats
Air Arabia is connected to 31 destinations globally and 12 destinations in India. Hyderabad is Air Arabia's 43rd global destination, reinforcing its status as the largest destination network in India of any West Asia-based carrier. Currently, Air Arabia provides direct service to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.
Barely a fortnight after it launched international operations and integrated low-cost carrier Simplify Deccan with it, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines plans to lay off at least 300 employees, official orders for which are to be conveyed on Monday.
In aviation parlance, an 'interline arrangement' is a deal under which the same ticket covers different legs of the journey flown by different airlines.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Airlines, promoted by a group of investors led by the Kansagra family and Delhi-based Ajay Singh, is working on a plan to start international operations next year, making it the third private Indian carrier after Jet Airways and Kingfisher to fly overseas.
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.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet would adopt a two-pronged strategy - increase airfare and improve efficiency - for better margins, said Neil Mills, chief executive office of Spicejet Limited.
The airline was forced to ground its fleet in December after running out of cash.
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