19 Mar 2019

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 19 March

Air Peace to Operate Direct Flights to India

There are indications that Nigeria's biggest airline, Air Peace may begin direct flights to India from Lagos. This was made known by the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur, who disclosed that the domestic carrier had been approved by the federal government to operate direct flights to India under the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) signed with the Asian nation in January. The High Commissioner said, "We had the bilateral air services agreement that was signed in January, we already have the approvals accorded to Air Peace by the government of Nigeria and the approvals by the government of India are currently in the process and we hope we can start direct flights sooner than later”. Air India suspends Birmingham Airport flights Air India has suspended its Birmingham Airport flights citing "operational reasons". New Delhi and Amritsar services in and out of the city are to be suspended. Birmingham Airport called the move "disappointing" and said it was trying to restore the schedule .The change affecting four regular services is a result of closures to Pakistan airspace, the airline says. Calicut airport seeks permission for Emirates flights Calicut International Airport in Kerala is currently in the process of seeking a no objection certificate (NOC) from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for Emirates to operate direct flights to the airport. The NOC from DGCA will pave the way for Emirates to begin direct flight operations to Kozhikode (Calicut) in northern Kerala.

New baggage service for Indian airlines from UAE airport

Abu Dhabi airport has announced a special service for passengers in Indian airlines travelling from UAE. Indigo travellers can now remotely check-in their luggage via the 'City Terminal Check-in' service - allowing them to avoid the hassle at the airport and check-in quickly. The service, which started on March 10, needs to be availed 24 hours before the time of the flight. SpiceJet Joins International Air Transport Association (IATA) SpiceJet is the first Indian budget carrier to join the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has over 290 airlines as members. "The IATA membership is also significant on account of SpiceJet's plans to rapidly expand its international footprint,". The membership also allows SpiceJet to explore and grow its collaborations with international member airlines of IATA through interlining and code shares, enabling to seamlessly expand the network options for its passengers in future. 15 small towns get linked to Mumbai by air under central govt’s scheme In a move to strengthen air connectivity within Maharashtra and further connect cities in the state by air nationally, the Centre has approved six routes from Mumbai to cities in the state and nine routes from the financial capital to regional pockets across the country. Also, 15 routes involving other cities in Maharashtra, including Pune, Nagpur and Nashik. 35 airlines confirmed for inaugural Connect MEA & India forum More than 30 airlines have confirmed their participation at the inaugural Connect Middle East, India & Africa – co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019 and taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre on April 30 and May 1.Senior network planning teams from a wide range of legacy and low-cost carriers including Emirates, Etihad, China Southern Airlines, Jordan Aviation, Air Asia, flydubai, Gulf Air, Oman Air and Azerbaijan Airlines as well as SpiceJet and Air India are among those already registered. In India, which has one of the world’s largest aviation industries, more than 678,000 flights departed from its top five airports in 2018 – with these airports possessing the capacity to manage 118.07 million passengers, an additional 12.32 million passengers when compared with figures from 2017, according to data published in the latest Anker report. Acumen Aviation © 19 March 2019 All Rights Reserved.