04 Feb 2019

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 4 February

Air Italy to withdraw direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai Air Italy said it is withdrawing direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai due to domestic network consolidation and route prioritisation. The decision comes less than two months after the carrier started operations in the Indian market. It launched three flights per week between Delhi-Milan and Mumbai-Milan in December using Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The directs flights from Mumbai will terminate with effect from February 17, while the Delhi route will cease to operate from March 29. The airline said network amendments have been made ‘due to a combination of strategic network consolidation and route prioritisation, aircraft delivery changes and market dynamics’. Flydubai's inaugural flight lands I n Kozhikode Flydubai marked its inaugural flight to Kozhikode in Kerala, India on 1^st February. The airline is operating flights three times a week connecting Dubai International (DXB) to Kozhikode Calicut International Airport (CCJ). Ghaith Al Ghaith CEO flydubai said "As the first Dubai-based carrier to operate direct flights from Dubai to Kozhikode, we expect this route to be very popular for travellers from the UAE to the region. Similarly, passengers from Kozhikode now have easier access to popular destinations on the flydubai network as well as the Emirates network providing easy access to more destinations when visiting family and friends in India”. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. and BIAL ink deal to build MRO IndiGo – and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) – operator of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) – have entered into a 20-year agreement to sub-lease land at the BLR Airport to build a state-of-the-art Maintenance Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility. The 13,000-sq mts hangar, to be built on five acres in the BLR Airport campus, would be able to accommodate two narrow body aircraft and will have support infrastructure, including an engine QEC shop warehouse and engineering offices for all repair and maintenance. TrueNoord leases five new ATR 72-600s to IndiGo TrueNoord announced 30 January it has leased five new ATR 72-600s to InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo). The first two aircraft were delivered at the end of December with the remaining three integrating with the fleet in the coming months. Anne-Bart Tieleman, CEO – TrueNoord, commented: “These brand new ATR 72-600s delivered to IndiGo are the first regional aircraft delivered into India by TrueNoord, so it is an important milestone for us. They bring our portfolio of new ATRs to nine and will increase our fleet of regional aircraft to 34. The past few months have been exciting times for TrueNoord as we concentrate on our long term strategy and continue to expand our strong portfolio of young regional aircraft with a good global spread and leased to experienced, market leading operators. We are very proud to support IndiGo’s domestic operation which is going from strength to strength.” Acumen Aviation © 4 February 2019 All Rights Reserved.