09 Oct 2017

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 9 October

AAI invites global airlines to operate from India The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has participated in the World Route 2017—a global conference for aviation sector and stakeholders where it invited over 30 key international airlines to commence operations from various cities of India. The AAI delegation held fruitful route development meetings with prominent airlines like Oman Air, British Airways, Air Canada, Hong Kong Airlines, Kuwait Airlines, Monarch Airlines, Gulf Air, Finnair and Viet Jet Air. DGCA approves 11 extra flights for Mumbai The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has permitted 11 additional domestic and international flights in the northern winter schedule. Starting mid-October these additional flights will take off from and land in Mumbai between 11pm and 3am till mid-March, said an official from the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). India expects to triple aviation market in next 15 years New Delhi says that India has doubled the size of its aviation market in the last four years, and will look to triple it in the next 15 years. Speaking in a televised interview, India's minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, adds that by the end of the current 2018 financial year, the country will hit 200 million passenger trips. The figure is up from 160 million passenger trips made in the 2017 financial year, and double the size from four years ago. Indian Airlines Facing Major Slot Constraints Capacity constraints caused by a lack of parking slots have stifled growth at Mumbai International Airport, prompting the likes of Air India and Jet Airways to adjust fleet-planning strategies to compensate. The hardest-hit city pair—Mumbai-Delhi—ranks as the sixth busiest in the world, according to the OAG, and accounts for more than 45 percent of the domestic air traffic in India. Indian airlines maintain double-digit traffic growth for 36th straight month: IATA Indian airlines maintained the 36th consecutive month of double-digit traffic growth as demand rose 16% in August, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its global report. “Traffic continues to be stimulated by sizeable increases in the number of domestic routes served,” IATA added. Globally passenger traffic data for August showed demand up 7.2% compared to the year-ago period. According to Iata, the five fastest-growing markets in terms of additional passengers per year over the forecast period would be China, the US, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Jet Airways to lease three B737-800s from DAE Jet Airways has signed lease agreements with DAE Capital for three Boeing 737-800s. According to the Dubai-based lessor, the aircraft will deliver this year and are intended to help the Indian carrier bridge capacity to their B737 MAX 8 order which is expected to begin delivering next year. Jet Airways to launch direct flight to Amsterdam from Bengaluru on October 29 Jet Airways will launch a daily non-stop service from Bengaluru to Amsterdam on 29 Octpber. The new service will provide travellers with a convenient link between Bengaluru and Amsterdam, the airline said. This will be Jet Airways’ third daily service between India and Amsterdam. The new service will be operated in codeshare with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France and Delta Air Lines. Kempegowda International Airport will be India's first Aadhaar-enabled airport by December 2018 Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is all set to be become country's first Aadhaar-enabled airport by 2018. After a two-month pilot project in February, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has decided to make KIA fully compliant with Aadhaaar-enabled entry and biometric boarding system. The KIA is expected to be completely Aadhar enabled by December 2018. SpiceJet in talks with Japan’s Setouchi to buy seaplanes SpiceJet Ltd is in talks with Japan’s Setouchi Holdings Inc. to buy seaplanes to increase remote area connectivity in India. The low-fare airline is exploring the introduction of small 10 and 14 seater amphibious plane in places where there are infrastructural challenges. "With the ability to land in a small or confined space, smaller fixed wing aircraft are the perfect flying machines that can effectively connect the country’s remote cities and airstrips which can in turn revolutionize the regional connectivity scheme,” SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh said in a statement. Acumen Aviation © 9 October All Rights Reserved.