21 Feb 2022

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 21 February

Alliance Air to connect challenging airfields of the Himalayas with two brand new ATR 42-600 ATR and Alliance Air have signed a deal to acquire two ATR 42-600 via lessor TrueNoord. These new aircraft will support Alliance Air’s mission of serving challenging airfields in the Himalayas. The aircraft will be able to operate on the short runways of the Shimla and Kullu airports, both located at high altitudes, and exposed to high temperatures. Alliance CEO Vineet Sood stated “Our relationship with ATR started 20 years ago, and ever since we have been building a network that truly serves Indian communities, delivering comfortable, reliable and affordable air services. Thanks to the unique features of the ATR 42-600, Alliance Air will proudly fulfill the mission assigned by the Indian government to make the most inaccessible regions accessible.” Bangalore Airport awarded the PEER Platinum certification Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operator of Bangalore International Airport (BLR) has been awarded the prestigious PEER (Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal) Platinum certification by Green Building Certification Inc. (GBCI), the foremost authority on sustainability in building design, construction, and operations. This honour makes BIAL the first airport operator in the world to receive an outstanding score of 92/100 for its airport power infrastructure. First direct flight between Delhi-Khajuraho under RCS-UDAN The first direct flight between Delhi and heritage city of Khajuraho commenced on 18th  February. With this, 405 routes would be operationalized under the UDAN-RCS scheme. SpiceJet was awarded the Delhi-Khajuraho-Delhi route under the RCS-UDAN 3.0. The airline operates 65 daily flights under UDAN connecting 14 UDAN destinations to various parts of the country. flybig partners with IRCTC flybig announced a partnership with IRCTC  (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) enabling passenger book through mobile and web platforms, as part of an initiative to make travel partners more accessible to diverse parts of India that have recently been connected to the rest of the country. Flybig CMD Captain Sanjay Mandavian stated “It is a step forward from ‘Rail miles to Air miles’ – underlining flybig’s philosophy and aspiration to connect every farthest airport location, providing last-mile connectivity options to those locations hitherto unconnected even by Rail – at the most affordable fares and catalysing the growth of state and regional economic market opportunities.” Vistara gradually resumes in-flight services Vistara announced that it has been gradually resuming certain services which were temporarily suspended due to the pandemic. The airline said it has resumed serving tea and coffee on selected routes and will progressively restart this service on all flights of 90 minutes duration and above. In an  statement the carrier said “Vistara re-introduced menu cards in business class, on February 15, and will increase the choice of meals for its premium economy and business-class customers soon. While we are restoring our services progressively and systematically, we will also be introducing new enhancements at various customer touchpoints.” Acumen Aviation © 21 February 2022 All Rights Reserved.