08 May 2017

India Aviation industry newsletter 8 May

Alliance Air beefed up to take on IndiGo In what could be seen as revival of Indian Airlines era, the Air India management is mulling giving enough gun powder to its subsidiary company Alliance Air to help it take on market leader IndiGo and others in the domestic market. As per the plan, the total fleet of Alliance Air will be raised to 40 within the next three years. Budget airline AirAsia X to start daily Mumbai-Bali flight from May 19 AirAsia X, the long-haul budget arm of the Malaysian airlines group AirAsia, will roll out this month a new flight connecting Mumbai with Bali. The new daily air service between the two cities, which will commence operations from May 19, will be operated by Indonesia AirAsia X. The route will be operated by a 377-seater Airbus A330-300 aircraft, with 365 seats in economy and the rest 12 in business or premium class. ‘Decision likely this month on Delhi airport slots issue’ The decision on the slots issue at Delhi airport is likely to be taken this months even as the possible solutions are “difficult” ones, says a top Civil Aviation Ministry official. Differences have been persisting between domestic airlines and DIAL — operator of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here — over the proposal to shift operations of some carriers to terminal 2 (T2). Discussions have been going on between the ministry, airlines and airport operator to find a way out. Etihad Airways Expands Capacity to the southern Indian state of Kerala Etihad Airways has launched a fourth daily non-stop service between Kozhikode and its Abu Dhabi hub offering convenient onward connections to cities worldwide. The extra capacity takes to 63 the total number of weekly services between Abu Dhabi and its three Kerala gateways of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. This represents over 30 per cent of Etihad Airways’ frequencies from across 11 Indian cities it serves. The Kerala flights are operated with a mix of Airbus 320 and A321 aircraft featuring up to 16 seats in Business Class and 158 in Economy. Indian airline IndiGo begins flights to Doha Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has started operations to the Qatari city of Doha, its fourth GCC destination. The carrier has launched daily direct flights to Doha from both Delhi and Mumbai. With the addition of IndiGo flights, HIA now has a total of 25 weekly flights operating to Mumbai and 35 weekly flights operating to Delhi. IndiGo also plans to operate direct flights to Doha from Chennai and Kozhikode from July 20, 2017. India slips to 2nd spot in domestic aviation market, IATA blames note ban India lost its fastest growing domestic aviation market tag to China in March as it registered the lowest growth in 18 months, primarily due to the note ban, global airlines’ grouping IATA has indicated. The domestic passenger traffic in India in March grew at 14.6 per cent while in China it was at 15.1 per cent. “This is the first possible sign of reduced cash supply and wider economic uncertainty weighing on demand,” said International Air Transport Association (IATA). Union Cabinet approves India-Spain civil aviation MOU A crucial meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has given a nod to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost cooperation between India and Spain in the field of civil aviation, said a news report.  "The MoU signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and Spain, and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries," the Union Cabinet said in a statement. Acumen Aviation © 8 May All Rights Reserved.