22 Feb 2021

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 22 February

Bengaluru airport to be first airport in south to have operational parallel runways Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport will soon make history by becoming the first airport in south India to have operational parallel runways, enabling planes to take off and land simultaneously when its northern runway re-opens on 25 March. The refurbished runway, which includes an LED centre line and edge lights, is expected to reduce aircraft taxiing time by at least 15 minutes. IndiGo to operate Trichy-Kuwait weekly service IndiGo Air will operate a weekly special flight to Trichy from Kuwait during the month of March. This is seen as an effort to tap a potential market in the wake of Trichy airport handling 45 Vande Bharat flights bringing back 5,950 Tamils stranded in that country during the pandemic. India’s air passenger traffic is ‘within touching distance of pre-Covid Numbers Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said that the country's air passenger traffic is "within touching distance of pre-Covid numbers". In a tweet, the Aviation Minister said: "2,90,518 passengers on 2,360 flights on 19 February is within touching distance of Pre-COVID numbers and marks revival of the domestic sector. Passenger numbers rise at Bengaluru airport On average 30,000 passengers now fly through the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) daily, in encouraging signs for the travel industry that’s recovering from the pandemic. Good connectivity to smaller destinations is driving the numbers. Last month, there were an average 270 flights to nonmetro cities daily.According to the KIA operator, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), it now connects 61 destinations across the country and five new locations — Agra, Kurnool, Rajkot, Durgapur and Dibrugarh — are in the pipeline. sKart Express launches its first depot in collaboration with SpiceJet in Noida sKart Global Express has launched its first Depot in Noida with Indian carrier SpiceJet for first and last-mile logistics solutions. The association would benefit customers by adding more deliverable locations besides increasing the efficiencies by working on their strength which would enable them to enhance their capabilities. Vistara Inaugurates Services To Frankfurt Vistara inaugurated its non-stop flights between Delhi and Frankfurt, under the travel bubble agreement between India and Germany. The inaugural flight, operated by Vistara’s brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airline will fly between the two cities twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays. Vistara’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Leslie Thng, said “The launch of our services to Frankfurt is another important step ahead in our commitment towards growing our global network and strengthening our presence in Europe. As one of world’s busiest aviation hubs, Frankfurt promises great opportunities for India’s best airline to grow in the global market. We are sure that travellers will appreciate having the choice of flying India’s favourite airline on this route.” Acumen Aviation © 22 February 2021 All Rights Reserved.