Low-cost positioning is passe. Brand experts suggest ways in which the airline can differentiate itself in the minds of customers.
Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson has resigned after four years at the helm, prompting the airline to form a committee to find his replacement. Wilson's tenure saw significant changes, including the merger of airlines and fleet expansion, but also faced challenges such as the London-bound flight crash and safety concerns.
National carrier Air India's strategy to cut full-service flights and replace them with low-cost services by Air India Express on its West Asian routes has backfired. The passenger load factor of the flag carrier's low-cost subsidiary for West Asia has fallen a steep 11 percentage points over the last six months as a result of competition from new low-cost entrants and fare wars by incumbents. The PLF on the Dubai-India route fell from 83 to 78 per cent in the same period.
Executives from India's leading airlines are conducting internal meetings to devise alternative routes for their international flights that currently pass through Pakistani airspace.
'It was diminishing even before Trump came to power.' 'The US was at the centre of the global economy. That position is going to become less and less important and less central.'
'Where rostering systems are automated and duty time software interfaces directly with DGCA, the assertion that they suddenly discovered crew shortages is simply implausible.' 'If adequate crew planning hasn't materialised within 12 to 24 months from inception, how will 45 days -- from December 5 to February 12 -- suddenly resolve matters?'
Jetstar Asia on Thursday launched its international no-frills, low-cost and thrice-a-week flights between Kolkata and Singapore.
Full-service carriers remain unfazed by the introduction of the business class segment by budget airlines.
'The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities.'
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
The hotel brand goes by the 'great value, great savings' tagline.
Starting this October, Air India Express will fly Cochin-Chennai, Cochin-Hyderabad, Cochin-Bangalore, Bangalore-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Kolkata and Kolkata-Agartala.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
At the heart of the strategy is the basic fundamental of keeping costs for long-haul flights low.
India's duopoly in the domestic skies -- where IndiGo and Air India collectively control over 90 per cent of the market -- is highly skewed, leaving very little room for new players
But its sales pitch will remain muted till India opens up more seats on the route
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said on Wednesday that instead of calculating charges for backhaul spectrum on a weighted-average formula based on the number of carriers a telco may have, a flat low rate should be applied.
The bulk of Indian carriers flying to Dubai are low-cost carriers, which include IndiGo, Air India Express, and SpiceJet.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
While full service carriers (such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Air Sahara) offer food onboard and personal attention, low-cost carriers (such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet and GoAir) do not offer many of these services.
An Air India Airbus A350 sustained engine damage after ingesting a baggage container while taxiing at Delhi airport. The incident occurred after the flight returned to Delhi due to the unexpected closure of Iranian airspace. The DGCA is investigating.
Full-service airlines may have been making huge losses in India, but Tata Sons and Jet Airways are raring to give the model a second chance.
Here's why you should care.
Hyderabad-based Turbo Megha Airways takes off, promising affordable fares and other benefits.
Two more insolvency petitions were filed by Sabarmati Aviation and JetAir 17 against budget carrier Spicejet at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday. The NCLT issued a notice to the airline over the plea by operational creditor Sabarmati Aviation while asking another complainant, JetAir 17, to file additional documents in support of its claims of $27 million.
Nearly three decades after the ambitious project was first conceived to decongest the existing airport in the financial capital, the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport became a reality on Thursday as an IndiGo Airbus A320 from Bengaluru landed on the tarmac at 8 am amid a traditional water cannon salute.
With only a few days to go before the country celebrates Holi, several airline companies offered discounts on fares on the occasion of the festival of colours. While two airlines are providing discounts on both domestic and international networks, another has the offer only for the domestic sector. Low-cost airline Akasa Air said it is offering an all-inclusive one-way fare starting at Rs 1,499 on domestic routes.
Air India is considering a proposal to extend its low fare services to some domestic routes to compete with private carriers.
'This festival season, advance airfares for major metros are up 20 to 25 per cent from last year.'
The low-cost carrier of West Asia and North Africa has signed a contract with Airbus for 34 A320 with an option for 15 more, Air Arabia said in a statement. The deal would more than triple the size of Air Arabia's fleet and underlines its stated ambition to increase its total operating fleet to over 50 aircraft by 2015.
Lower taxes on ATF on international routes certainly help in making operations more viable.
Air India has cancelled eight flights, including four international services, on Friday due to enhanced maintenance and operational reasons, the airline said.
The economic slowdown has made companies look at low-cost carriers with new respect. As a result, corporate travellers now constitute over 35 per cent of the traffic on LCCs, up from ten per cent a year ago. This has caused LCCs to record passenger load factor in excess of 70 per cent, though overall traffic has fallen 10 per cent in the last one year. Full-service carriers, in contrast, are known to have lower PLF of around 60 per cent.
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