Depending on the fleet size and its age, airlines buy 30-50 per cent of the components that they need, and take the rest on lease. Expenditure on spares and components is a considerable part of engineering and maintenance, which account for over 9-10 per cent of the total operating expense of an airline. For instance, Air India, which has a large and ageing fleet, has to provide $35 million-$40 million for spare parts during any time of the year.
Market estimates suggest the airline has already totted up Rs 1,800 crore of losses in FY20, and FY21 is expected to see losses in the region of Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore Many in the sector say that Vistara lacks the light-footedness of the airlines with which it competes, reports Anjuli Bhargava.
There is enough room for growth in smaller Indian towns as per US and European aircraft manufacturers
The first hurdle is how long Jet Airways can enjoy rights over its parking slots at various airports.
Aviation turbine fuel accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total operating cost of an Indian airline.
Govt's decision to allow in-flight Wi-Fi doesn't take off with budget airlines, full-service carriers enthused
When the move was first thought of it was at the behest of Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India. Only Vistara and AirAsia were opposing it as they were doing the poaching, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Except GoAir, all other Indian airlines have opened bookings for their domestic flights that will start operating from May 25. GoAir will open bookings on domestic flights from June 1 onwards.
The airline is not convinced that it will have a sizeable passenger traffic to make wide body operations profitable
Some airlines, says Anjuli Bhargava, are convinced there's a conspiracy to malign them.
Both Vistara and AirAsia India, along with their partners, are quietly putting together an aggressive plan to become a formidable force in the skies. At the core of this new push is their plan to go international this financial year.
"The return fare on economy class to most European capitals from Mumbai are close to 50,000 plus. If an LCC can offer direct connectivity for a basic fare of 25,000 with additional top ups for meals, baggage and blankets, which further takes the fare to, say, 35,000, it is still a value deal."
$3.6 billion worth of aircraft - by today's prices - are lying idle or are in hangers due to poor maintenance and management
National carrier Air India became part of the 27-member global airlines grouping Star Alliance, as budget airline AirAsia India launched operations and Tata-SIA joint venture carrier Vistara received the flying permit and announced its intentions to start operations from January 9.
The airline owes lakhs of rupees to passengers and its vendors.
Though Vistara is not a low-cost carrier, it could benefit from the fact that the difference between the fares of LCCs and economy class of full-service carriers in India is minimal today.
Rains made the job more challenging as it was making the ground soft, the AIESL CEO said.
An additional lease rental of Rs 200 crore on nine Boeing 787 Dreamliners was the reason for ending in the red this quarter, Arindam Majumder reports from New Delhi.
Indian bankers are fearful that going out of their way to save Jet could lead to subsequent harassment from investigative agencies.
The Trump regime has informed the Congress that it 'strongly supports' transfers of F-18 and F-16 fighter proposals put forth by Boeing and Lockheed Martin respectively.
7,000 unemployed pilots in India but airlines continue to bet on expats
Let Air India - that anyway flies very limited international routes, often bleeding profusely and makes huge losses on trunk routes - do this national service, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Flight operations at the Mumbai airport were suspended for nearly half an hour as visibility dropped well below the required 550 meter-mark
About a week ago, DGCA officials conducted surprise checks and grounded a Reliance Industries-owned 14-seater Falcon 900EX.
Life of air passengers was different in the 1970s.
On the BSE, 1,493 shares declined and 1,236 shares rose. A total of 177 shares were unchanged
The vanity project, of absolutely no use to most Indians, will suck money that could be used for health and education, says Aakar Patel.
'Earlier, when they were selling tickets at Rs 1,000, a family of five could travel by flight.' 'When it comes to realistic pricing and the price becomes Rs 5,000, a family of five will have shell out Rs 25,000.' 'How many will be able to afford that?' 'You will see people switching back to train travel which is more realistic.'
The Nifty PSU Bank pared losses to end flat after falling as much as 1.05%
As many as 108 flights cancelled and another 51 diverted to nearby airports.
GST impact: Higher lease payouts may hit airlines, cab aggregators.
But its sales pitch will remain muted till India opens up more seats on the route
Jet's advertising and that of most other airlines has been limited to new routes or promotional fares.
A financial turnaround with the Etihad partnership and debt restructuring has not fully materialised.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 339 points at 28,119 and the 50-share Nifty closed 100 points lower at 8,438.
India needs 1.4 million hotel beds a night but has only 2.4 lakh, points out Rahul Pandit, MD and CEO of Ginger Hotels.
'By the time he came out after nearly five hours, he had a one-to-one conversation with the President, a delegation-level meeting, a reception, a dinner, a tour of the White House and a joint statement of a kind none of his predecessors ever had,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The future certainly looks good for Bangalore.
Given the cost structure in the country, it won't be easy for AirAsia to offer 'Nano' fares and still make money.
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