12 Jun 2017

India Aviation industry newsletter 12 June

Air Astana launches service from Astana to India’s capital city New Delhi Air Astana will launch direct flights from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan to Delhi on 2 July. The service will be operated three times a week using Airbus A320 and Embraer 190 aircraft. India’s Jet Airways in talks to buy 75 aircraft Jet Airways Ltd, India’s biggest full service carrier by market share, is in talks to buy 75 single aisle aircraft with an option to purchase another 75, two people familiar with the plan said yesterday. Jet Airways, part owned by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, is likely to consider placing an order for either Boeing’s 737 MAX planes or aircraft from Airbus SE’s A320neo family, the sources said. Air India Privatization Back on Government’s Agenda Having gained a majority in parliament, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun seriously considering the restructuring and/or privatization of national carrier Air India. A high GDP growth rate and a domestic aviation market set to overtake Japan this year as the world’s third largest has led to calls for a more effectual national carrier. India flights to Qatar may get longer and costlier Flights between India and Doha will remain unchanged, but trip durations are expected to be longer. Due to the diplomatic rift in the region, many countries have taken the decision to no longer offer flights to Doha. India flights are expected to increase travel time due to the restriction imposed on accessing airspace for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE. The travel time is estimated to increase up to two hours depending on the direction of the route. It’s reported that an increase in travel time will eventually lead to an increase in prices due to the additional fueling. India wants to extend RCS to neighboring countries India's Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has suggested extending the country's regional connectivity scheme – known as Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) – to neighbouring countries and for an open skies agreement across the region. Sinha made the comments at the meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), where he highlighted the importance of connectivity to contribute to the growth of the region. The BIMSTEC group includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. Jet Airways inks codeshare agreement with Aeromexico Jet Airways said it inked an agreement with Aeromexico, the flag carrier airline of Mexico, to explore codeshare arrangements and shared frequent flyer programs. As part of the arrangement, both carriers will code on each other’s services between India and Mexico via common gates in Europe (London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Amsterdam). “This code share partnership with Jet Airways that will build new bridges and connect Mexico to India more easily,” said Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico. Ministry of Civil Aviation to roll out ‘DigiYatra’ for air travellers The Ministry of Civil Aviation is adding a digital experience for air travellers through DigiYatra platform. The ‘DigiYatra’ is an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the Ministry in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India’s vision to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society, an official release by the Government of India. This follows Air Sewa which brings together all the stakeholders on a common platform for handling customer grievances and disseminating real-time data. Slash taxes if you want aviation to grow: IATA to Indian government If India wants its aviation sector to grow, it should lower the entire burden of taxes and charges on it, global airlines body IATA has said. "We have always said to the (Indian) government to please lower the taxes if you want aviation sector to develop and bring much more prosperity and much more additional taxes at the end of the day, than you will lose by a lower rate of tax on aviation," - IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac UAE rules out changes to air service pact with India The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has said there are no plans to amend its air services agreement with India, insisting that it plans to stick to the current agreement, which was signed in 2014. The authority’s response comes after Indian carriers urged the country's Ministry of Civil Aviation to re-negotiate a unified air services pact with UAE.With over 1,000 aircraft set to be on order, India is poised to become the third-largest buyer of commercial passenger planes in the world, with only the US and China ahead of it. The aircraft order book of the Indian airline industry will soon touch 1,080, which would mean that for every aircraft in service, there will be 2.2 aircraft on order, said a report released by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Acumen Aviation © 12 June All Rights Reserved.