24 Apr 2017

India Aviation industry newsletter 24 April

Air traffic growth slows to 18-month low as fares rise Higher fares slowed air passenger traffic growth to an 18-month low in March, typically a lean month for air travel. Passenger traffic grew 14.9% to 9 million passengers during the month, as against 7.8 million a year ago, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Bengaluru-Mumbai Is One Of The Most Profitable Routes For Indian Airlines Bengaluru-Mumbai may be one of the most lucrative routes for domestic airlines in India. The latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the month of March shows passengers booked their tickets on this route at peak prices. Three out of the seven commercial passenger airlines, including the country's largest private air carrier InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (IndiGo) sold the maximum number of tickets on this route when prices were at its peak. According to a report published by Bloomberg on 21 April. Despite rising costs, Indian airlines are still hiring expat pilots Indian aviation is growing at rate of 20% annually, airlines have expanded at a fast rate. Indian airlines have more than 800 aircraft on order. This has also led to a serious personnel shortage, mainly of pilots. Airlines have frequently banked on expat pilots, though the cost of hiring them is significantly higher than employing their Indian counterparts. Airline executives say they are forced to look at expats due to a lack of commanders. Pilots require experience to become a commander.Domestic airlines increase summer capacity by over 15 per cent Embraer, Air India to set up MRO facility in Secunderabad Brazilian aerospace major Embraer has partnered with state-owned Air India to set up a maintenance and repair MRO facility at Begumpet airport in Secunderabad in Telangana to maintain its brand of private and business jets in the entire Southeast Asian region. With Indian carriers expected to increase their fleet size to 1,740 plane in the next 20 years, the domestic MRO market is projected to be worth $5.2 billion by 2026, according to leading consultancy KPMG. India a vital market for Gulf airlines amid US travel restrictions India is a critical market for Gulf airlines. Their expansion efforts have been strongly focused on the subcontinent, as rising incomes are leading to Indians taking more trips abroad. With a population of more than 1.2 billion, India has enormous scope for growth in travel demand India is a critical market for the Gulf carriers .Their expansion efforts have been strongly focused on the subcontinent, as rising incomes are leading to Indians taking more trips abroad. With a population of more than 1.2 billion, India has enormous scope for growth in travel demand.. Their expansion efforts have been focused on the subcontinent as rising incomes are leading to Indians taking more trips aboard with a population of 1.2 Billion, India has huge growth potential for increasing travel demand. Last year IATA reported India is the fastest growing domestic globally as traffic grew by 23 per cent. IndiGo continues to enhance its connectivity IndiGo, India’s low-cost carrier, continuing to strengthen its network, has announced Doha and Mangalore as its new destinations. Doha is as a new focus city. IndiGo is all set to enhance connectivity between India and the Gulf region, where it flies to Dubai, Muscat and Sharjah already. Doha will be its 7^th international and 46^th overall destination. Qatar Airways plans fierce expansion in India to beat Gulf rivals Qatar Airways has sought a significant increase in capacity entitlements and access to seven new cities as it aims to counter the growth of its rivals — Etihad Airways and Emirates — in India. According to documents reviewed by Business Standard show that Qatar is planning to start direct flights to several cities where it doesn’t have a presence, while increasing frequency by four times on its current routes. Singapore Airlines to operate A350 to India Singapore Airlines (SIA) plans to deploy Airbus A350 on India-Singapore sector later this year with a view to optimise the age of its existing fleet replacing A330s and Boeing 777-200s .“We are expecting to bring the A350 to India later this year,” said David Lim, general manager, India, Singapore Airlines. SpiceJet to offer streaming in-flight content SpiceJet 49 Aircraft will be fitted BoardConnect Portable from Lufthansa Systems, which will store and wirelessly stream pre-loaded content to passengers’ Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices. SpiceJet controls a 13% market share compared with IndiGo’s nearly 40% market share Acumen Aviation © 24 April All Rights Reserved.