The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
Propelled by strong demand and lower costs, the country's largest airline, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), reported solid operational performance in the 2024-25 (FY25) October-December quarter (Q3). While demand was driven by the festival season, year-end increase, and higher consumer spending, lower fuel and rental costs helped deliver a beat at the operating profit level.
From November 12, Vistara aircraft will be operated under Air India's banner, identifiable by a special four-digit flight code beginning with '2'. For example, flight UK 955 will become AI 2955, making it easier for customers to recognise when booking on airindia.com after this date.
'The past few quarters have seen prohibitive fares for advance bookings, only to dip closer to departure.'
'Within five years, we should be achieving more on the international front than what it took most airlines 15 to 20 years back.'
Most reported unruly passenger incidents were classified as level 1, or intentional non-compliance with safety regulations like not wearing face masks, not wearing seat belts.
The charges for these would be a fixed amount and announced well in advance by the airlines 'which shall not vary with the base fare for a particular flight'.
Sanjive Narain, owner of Assam's oldest news channel, and Sanjay Aditya Singh, promoter of a cabin crew training academy, are coming together to launch a regional airline providing business and premium economy services in the Northeast. Jettwings Airways will be based in Guwahati and will connect places with twin-class Embraer E175 aircraft. The airline has secured an initial no-objection clearance from the civil aviation ministry and plans to launch services in October.
The government on Monday asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by Go First. In the case of the unfortunate Odisha tragedy, airlines have been advised to provide free carriage (cargo) services to the families of the deceased, the civil aviation ministry said. During an hour-long meeting of the airlines advisory group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared his concerns about the steep rise in airfares on certain routes.
The opulent 'Residence' will feature a living room, double bedroom, separate ensuite shower room, and a trained Butler.
Indian airline industry is expecting to prune its net losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore in this fiscal from an estimated Rs 17,000-17,500 crore in FY2023 on the back of improved yields and stable cost environment, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. At the same time, ICRA also estimated that domestic air passenger traffic will expand by 8-13 per cent each in FY2024 and FY2025. The rating agency has also maintained its stable outlook on the industry in view of healthy passenger traffic growth, improved yields and a stable cost environment.
Passengers booking preferred seats in advance may not have to shell out extra money with the Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) ordering airlines to withdraw the additional charge.
Indigo has zero competition on 61.2 per cent of its 838 domestic routes.
Starting November 12, Vistara aircraft will be operated under the Air India banner, to be identified by a special four-digit flight code beginning with "2".
Vistara's aircraft, having better interiors, will replace Air India's planes on major metro-to-metro routes between Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru after merger of both the carriers next month, sources privy to the development said on Thursday. "Air India aircraft are being refurbished one by one. Until that process is complete, it makes sense to deploy Vistara planes on our high-revenue metro-to-metro routes between Delhi, Mumbai and Benglauru," a source said.
The new visa-free regime allows travellers to stay for up to 60 days instead of only 15 earlier.
'Airlines are aware that during peak times like Diwali, demand will be high, so prices remain steep even for tickets purchased 90 days ahead.'
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) could once again allow domestic airlines to charge passengers for on-board services like preferential seats and drinking water.
'This case is not a good example of intellectual property strategy for either sector.'
Tata Group-owned Air India shaved off its losses by 60 per cent to Rs 4,444.10 crore in FY24 over the previous year, according to the Tata Sons annual report for 2023-24. The airline had reported a loss of Rs 11,387.96 crore in FY23, the annual report said.
The seats will offer storage space as well.
The total seats on a two-class single-aisle Airbus A-320 or a similar Boeing-737 aircraft number around 130-140, of which the airlines would be able to charge more for a maximum of about 30-odd seats, official sources said.
The Yeti Airlines aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am on Sunday and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport in Pokhara, minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Long-term macro trends indicate growth in demand for air travel. Trends from the ticketing website MakeMyTrip indicate a likely annual growth of between 11-17 per cent in Indian air travel demand over FY24-30. Through that period, InterGlobe Aviation or IndiGo may continue to make gains in market share in both domestic and international travel, aided by large fleet additions. IndiGo is the largest global customer of Airbus by far with 950 aircraft orders outstanding.
Though India's airlines are certainly bleeding, they haven't yet faced the ignominy of shutting down.
The incident was reported on January 30, and it came to light after the United States-based traveller, identified as Meenakshi Sengupta, lodged a complaint against the flight attendant.
IndiGo share price today: IndiGo share price fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a low of Rs 4,275 per share on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade as investors booked profit in the stock post a its April-June quarter (Q1) results for financial year 2024-25 (FY25). The stock ended 1.36 per cent lower at Rs 4,430 as against a 23-points gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The selling also got exacerbated as the management commentary, post Q1FY25 results, highlighted that inflationary pressure could likely dent July-September (Q2FY25) performance.
Full service carrier Air India on Thursday announced a new multi-year global distribution services partnership with US-based Sabre Corporation. The collaboration enables travel agents and corporations around the world to access Air India fares and seats through Sabre's extensive global travel marketplace, Air India said in a statement. In addition to the distribution services, Air India said it is utilising Sabre's consultancy expertise to help determine optimal routes for its existing and new fleet.
On Thursday, Virgin Atlantic, for instance, cancelled its morning flight between London and Delhi. And Air India rescheduled its London-Ahmedabad flight by several hours. With the Heathrow restrictions to remain in place till September 11, air traffic between India and London is likely to see slower growth over the next two months.
A passenger on a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday.
The regulator has warned airlines and in an email on May 2 asked all Indian carriers to give compensation and facilities to passengers affected by such denial of boarding, failing which it would will impose financial penalties on them.
'The ministry may like to consider setting up an ombudsman similar to electricity ombudsman and insurance ombudsman, to ensure a time-bound resolution of consumer issues within the airline sector.'
Passenger traffic to Lakshadweep more than doubled from April to June this year.
Emirates has been voted as the world's best airline in 2016 by travellers around the world.
Just over a three-hour flight from Delhi, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia have seen a big jump in visitors.
The Cyberster is currently sold in the UK for about Rs 63 lakh and is expected to be priced between Rs 65 lakh and Rs 70 lakhs.
Air India (AI)'s rise could be at the expense of three "super-connector" hubs - Doha in Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE - as the Indian passenger would any day prefer direct flights of their national airline that is providing excellent on-time service, Arved von zur Muehlen, chief commercial officer of Saudia Airlines, said on Thursday.
Domestic airlines are preparing to offer lower fares for passengers without check-in bags in a move to improve seat occupancy and market share. IndiGo chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta indicated the airline's interest to offer zero bag fares in an interaction with Bloomberg. Regulatory caps on fares and capacity related to Covid-19 have prevented IndiGo from taking a decision and the airline is discussing the issue with the government, he said.
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