03 Apr 2018

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 3 April

Airports Authority of India hails UDAN scheme for exponential growth Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Airports Authority of India (AAI) annual day Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said that the recently launched UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme would help the emerging civil aviation sector in the country to grow exponentially. It is forecast more than 900 aircraft are planned to be added by the airlines to meet the rising passenger demand. CDB Aviation and SpiceJet Sign Lease Agreement for Five 737 MAX Aircraft CDB Aviation announced 27 March that the company signed an agreement with India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd for the long-term lease of five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. All five aircraft are from CDB Aviation’s order book with Boeing, and are expected to deliver to the airline in 2019. Ethiopian increases capacity on Indian routes Ethiopian Airlines has announced that until October 26, 2018, the airline will increase capacity in its India operation by deploying the ultra-modern Boeing 777 aircraft on its twice daily operation to/from Mumbai and Boeing 767-200 aircraft on its twice daily operation to/from New Delhi. Indian association connects members with new distribution technology The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has linked arms with travel technology provider, TP Connects, to launch a new initiative to digitally empower its membership base of about 2,500 across the country. Launched on the sidelines of the last week’s TAAI Convention in Srinagar, TAAI Connect allows travel agents to have their own website, booking engine, mobile application, corporate booking tool and decide their commission directly with 39 suppliers integrated into their platform. Indian aviation market has vast growth potential: Indigo prez Indian aviation market has vast growth potential and can achieve the target of flying 500 million passengers annually within the next decade, Indigo airlines president Aditya Ghosh said. Ghosh was speaking at the 64th convention and exhibition of travel agents association of India (TAAI). "The goal of national civil aviation policy of the Government of India has set a target of ensuring that there is a half a billion domestic air travelers in India in next nine years. IndiGo Becomes 1st Indian Carrier To Operate 1,000 Daily flights IndiGo has become the first Indian airline to operate over 1,000 daily flights across its domestic and international network. Besides, the Gurgaon-based airline has also attained a fleet size of 150 aircraft with the induction of one more A320Neo aircraft. SpiceJet Lobbies for International Route Subsidies SpiceJet wants India to extend its Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to international destinations, the airline’s managing director, Ajay Singh, told AIN during the Wings airshow held in Hyderabad recently. In an effort to lower the cost of air travel, Indian authorities award routes identified under the RCS to airlines asking for the least amount of subsidy and willing to submit to ticket price ceilings. Also called "Udan," the RCS—introduced last year—aims to develop remote regional airports. Acumen Aviation © 3 April All Rights Reserved.