26 Feb 2018

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 26 February

Air India arrives from Amritsar in UK Air India introduced a new twice-weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays connection from Amritsar (ATQ) to Birmingham (BHX) on 20 February.  The airline will operate 256-seat 787-8s on the 6,387-kilometre airport pair. “We are proud to say we are offering a totally unique route, as Birmingham is the only UK airport offering a direct service to Amritsar,” commented William Pearson, Aviation Director, Birmingham Airport. Domestic air passenger traffic records 20 per cent growth in January The Indian airlines have registered about 20 % growth in domestic passengers during the month of January, carrying 11.4 million passengers last month which is over 9.5 million carried during the corresponding period last year. On the back of the increase in number of passengers travelling during the month, all key scheduled carriers flew its planes with over 80 % of their seats full, according to the passenger data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Qatar Airways reiterates it will launch airline in India with 'at least 100 planes' Qatar Airways reaffirmed its plans to start an airline in India. The airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, told the media “We will launch an airline in India which will have a fleet of at least 100 aircraft”. He did not specify what aircraft types will be deployed in India. Vistara adds daily flights to Kochi and Chennai from Kolkata Vistara is all set to launch new routes from Kochi and Chennai to Kolkata from March end this year, the airline said in a statement. The flight between Netjai Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata and Kochi will be a daily one with a stopover at Chennai. There will be another daily flight to Chennai, the statement said adding the two services will commence from March 25. Viking Air forms strategic alliance with Mahindra Aerospace Viking Air and Mahindra Aerospace have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a strategic alliance to seize opportunities arising out of India’s growing regional air connectivity requirements. Mahindra Aerospace and Viking will support each other’s non-competing aircraft business to boost market penetration in identified territories and provide potential customers with multiple options based on specific operational requirements. Vistara plans overseas flights to tap rising global travel from India Vistara plans to start international flights later this year, seeking to capitalize on the rising demand for overseas travel from Asia's third-largest economy. Vistara will initially operate flights to short-haul destinations with Airbus A320 aircraft. XTI's TriFan 600 Adds First Indian Order to Backlog XTI Aircraft received the first order from an Indian customer for its hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the TriFan 600. Arvind Lal, chairman and managing director of Dr. Lal’s Path Labs, placed the milestone order for the $6.5 million TriFan 600, which is expected to enter service in 2022/2023. Acumen Aviation © 26 February All Rights Reserved.