China Eastern Airlines to increase Delhi-Shanghai flights

China Eastern Airlines plans to increase the flights on the Delhi-Shanghai route from October 2009. Two extra weekly flights will be added to the sector, taking the total frequency to five flights per week. The move follows China Eastern’s recent decision to increase services on the Shanghai-Kolkata sector.

Jet Airways and Turkish Airlines sign frequent flyer partnership

Jet Airways recently entered into a frequent flyer partnership with Turkish Airlines. As part of the same, members of Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege may earn and redeem JPMiles on all flights marketed and operated by Turkish Airlines. Similarly, members of Miles & Smiles, Turkish Airline’s frequent flyer programme may earn and redeem their miles on all flights marketed and operated by Jet Airways. With this partnership, JetPrivilege members will now have more opportunities to earn and redeem their miles on Turkish Airline's services to 36 domestic and 116 international destinations today across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, USA and Australia, while Miles & Smiles members may do the same on Jet Airways’ services to 45 destinations in India and 18 destinations across North America, Europe, Asia and the Gulf.

According to Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, “Jet Airways is delighted to enter into a frequent flyer partnership with Turkish Airlines. This partnership will enable travellers to enjoy grater connectivity with Jet Airways’ unmatched pan-India domestic network and growing international network, as well as Turkish Airline’s strong international network out of Turkey, all while earning and redeeming frequent flyer miles.” Turkish Airlines is one of the world’s fastest growing carriers, flying to 152 destinations, comprising 36 domestic and 116 international destinations today. It connects India’s financial and national capitals, Mumbai and Delhi respectively, with Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, with daily flights.

Bahrain Air launches Bahrain-Mumbai flight

The national carrier of Bahrain, Bahrain Air, started its daily non-stop flight operations on the Mumbai – Bahrain route effective from yesterday. Mumbai being the third destination, the airline is keen on expanding its route network in the country in the coming years. Bart Schellens, Director – Commercial Operations, Bahrain Air said, “Starting non-stop services from Mumbai, the largest financial hub of India to Bahrain, is part of our strategic outlook for the Indian market and we are bullish about the growth prospects here. Along with the labour traffic (80 per cent), we are also receiving increased response from business, tourists and religious segment (20 per cent) from India.” The airline is considering launching a loyalty programme soon to further fuel the growth of load factors. Schellens informed that the airline is operating A319 on Mumbai – Bahrain route as of now. “If required, we will start operating A320 in future on this route,” added Schellens.

Kingfisher Airlines flight makes emergency landing at Kolkata

A fire alarm forced a Kingfisher Airlines flight to make a priority landing at Kolkata airport on Tuesday evening. Inspection, however, revealed the alarm was false. Jose P Vidad, the commander of the Guwahati-Kolkata-Hyderabad-Bangalore flight first spotted the alarm in the cockpit control panel when the aircraft was 125 km from the city. The alarm indicated a fire in the cargo belly. The pilot immediately contacted Kolkata air traffic control (ATC) and sought priority landing. At the airport, emergency was declared at 5.15 pm and the runway made available for landing.

All emergency facilities including fire brigade and ambulance were rolled out. The flight, however, landed safely 10 minutes later. The emergency was called off at 5.35 p.m. after the ATC confirmed that all 170 passengers and six crew members on board were safe. "The pilot received a smoke warning alert from a cargo compartment. On inspection immediately after landing, it was found that there was no evidence of fire or smoke in the cargo hold," said Kingfisher spokesperson.

Engineers said the alarm might have been triggered by a mechanical fault in the fire alarm panel of the Airbus A 320 aircraft. "It was a false warning. After primary investigation, we have released the aircraft. A detailed inspection will take place either at Bangalore or at the aircraft base in Delhi," said a DGCA official. "No flights were scheduled to take off or land during that period. Hence, there was no disruption in movement of aircrafts," said airport director R Srinivasan. The flight finally took off for Bangalore via Hyderabad two hours later.

Air India Express flight suffers tyre burst at Sharjah

A faulty tyre of a 737-800 aircraft resulted in temporary closure of the runway, flight diversions and fuming passengers at the Sharjah International Airport on Tuesday. Air India Express flight LX 536 to Thiruvananthapuram from Sharjah, which was scheduled to take off at 12:10pm on Tuesday afternoon was delayed for over 8 hours when it encountered a tyre burst during take-off. On board were 172 passengers and 6 crew members. There were no casualties reported. Mohini Singh a senior official at the airline confirmed the accident and said all that passengers were safely taken to the terminal waiting lounge. She said, “The runway had to be closed temporarily so that the aircraft can be towed back to the bay. We have immediately asked for a new aircraft from India.”

Airbus beats Boeing for orders

Plane giant Airbus booked more orders than rival Boeing in the first half of this year, according to figures released today after the US firm saw almost all its orders cancelled. From January to June Airbus received 90 orders of which 22 were cancelled, according to the latest figures released today by the company, a subsidiary of the aeronautic and defence group EADS. According to Boeing's figures, it saw all but one of its 85 orders fall through in that period. Most of them were orders for its new 787 Dreamliner model.