Air India Express to start domestic flights from September

Air India Express, the low-cost carrier of ailing flag carrier Air India, plans to launch its domestic operations from mid-September. The operations will cover 24 cities and will have 161 flights a week, a source familiar with the development said. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had told Parliament last month that Air India's no-frill subsidiary would compete for a space in the low-cost carrier market. "In order to compete effectively with other domestic low fare carriers, and to get a share of the low fare market segment, Air India is considering a proposal to extend low fare services to some of the domestic routes also," Patel had said. Air India itself would, however, not lose its full service carrier character. Air India Express currently operates on short haul international routes covering the Gulf and South-East Asian countries.

Etihad Airways to launch flights to Hyderabad

The UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways has announced the introduction of a route to Hyderabad in India later this year. The Abu Dhabi-based airline will launch a direct service four times a week from November 2009, which will become daily in at the start of 2010. "Etihad has made no secret of the fact that it wants to build up its Indian services," said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ CEO. The airline will operate an Airbus A320 on the new Hyderabad route, carrying up to 140 passengers with 20 in business class and 120 in economy class. Currently, Etihad serves a total of seven Indian destinations - Mumbai, New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kochi (Cochin) and Kozhikode (Calicut) in the southern Indian state of Kerala, as well as Chennai (Madras).

Tiger Airways to operate additional flight to Bangalore

Low fare airline Tiger Airways will add an additional flight to Bangalore starting 25th October 2009, increasing flights to India’s third most populous city from four to five times a week. TR652 departs Singapore at 2115 hrs on Saturdays and arrives in Bangalore at 2300 hrs. From Bangalore, TR653 departs at 2350 hrs and arrives in Singapore at 0630 hrs on Sunday. Bangalore, a major economic hub labeled the 'Silicon Valley' of India, is located in the Deccan Plateau in Karnataka state. It is home to some of the most well-recognised colleges and research institutions in India, and hosts numerous heavy industries, software companies, aerospace, telecommunications, and defence organizations. Tiger Airways, Singapore’s largest low fare airline, flies to 31 cities in nine countries (Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Macau SAR, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia).

New terminal for private jets at Delhi airport soon

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi will have a dedicated terminal for private jets and chartered flights in two years. The general aviation facility will fulfill the long pending demand of corporate houses to have 'private airports' or at least separate terminals for business travellers at airports, especially in Delhi and Mumbai. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) had recently invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from global Fixed Base Operators (FBO) to build and operate dedicated general aviation facilities at IGIA. This will help in providing exclusive services to users of private and charter aircraft at IGIA.

The special terminal can come up near the existing domestic airport or might also begin from the international Terminal 2 of IGIA, which was originally planned to be de-commissioned after the integrated Terminal 3 comes up by March 2010. The FBO will provide services at both terminals and the airside to general aviation passengers. Services provided in the terminal will include special lounges, conferencing facilities apart from other amenities like rental cars, charters, catering, hotel reservations etc. In the airside, the FBO will provide handling services, aircraft fuelling, parking and hangar services.

Spicejet to hedge aviation turbine fuel

Wary of a possible rally in crude oil prices, low-cost carrier SpiceJet has hedged almost 30% of its jet fuel requirements for the rest of the current fiscal, using a window opened by the central bank for taking future positions on the commodity that accounts for half the operational costs of an airline. While confirming the development, SpiceJet chief executive officer Sanjay Aggarwal, however, declined to share details on price and the terms of the agreement. SpiceJet is one of the two airlines that is making profits in a segment, which is estimated to post a cumulative annual loss of Rs 10,000 crore. Crude oil futures in Asia rose above $70 a barrel on Monday, and India is one of the most expensive places to buy ATF, thanks to a higher and differential sales tax structure across states. The hike in crude oil prices in international markets has forced oil marketing companies to increase ATF prices by 1.6% last week.

Indian cuisine favoured by Singapore Airlines flyers

South Indian breakfast, apple halwa in a crust pastry and dates stewed in maple syrup, gajar halwa stuffed in pancakes and shahi thali are some of the Indian cuisine which are favourites among the flyers of Singapore Airlines. "People like a combination of regional cuisines and fusion food during their journey. Indian cuisine has scored over its western counterparts in flights operating from India," said celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Kapoor is on the airlines' International Culinary Panel.

Coimbatore airport gets ISO certification

Coimbatore Airport which has registered good growth in cargo, aircraft and passenger movements has got ISO 9001-2000 certification. Airport Director M.R. Vasudeva said that the growth rate had been encouraging and during the fiscal 2008-09 the airport had handled 14,721 aircraft movements and over 10 lakh passengers. The airport handles a number of services to domestic and international destinations besides weekly services to two international destinations such as Sharjah and Singapore. One more service on the sector, Coimbatore–Dubai, is in the offing.

A Chennai-based firm GCAS carried out the pre-certification procedures, inspection and documentation on May 19 and 20. On June 4 a two-member team completed the final procedures for recommending recertification. The certification has been done by strictly following the norms laid down by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). The certificate was handed over to Mr. Vasudeva recently by Airport Authority of India Regional Executive Director D. Devaraj. The certificate is valid till July 2, 2012.

Go Air launches 'Freedom to Fly' offer

GoAir, one of the country's leading domestic low cost airlines, has announced 'Freedom to Fly' services on this Independence Day. The domestic airlines is celebrating Independence – Freedom to Fly. In this category the flight fares are starting at Rs 1500, all inclusive. The independence offer will be available till August 17, 2009 on only at www.GoAir.in. After booking, you can travel anytime until March 2010.

Kingfisher Airlines reports $338.5 million loss

Private carrier Kingfisher Airlines has reported a net loss of Rs.1,608.09 crore ($338.5 million) for 2008-09, but said it has plans to raise Rs.500 crore from the equity market. The airline's expenses on employees cost stood at Rs.823.85 crore last fiscal, while expenses on aviation fuel and aircraft lease rental were respectively at Rs.2,602 crore and Rs.1,185.13 crore, Kingfisher said in a regulatory statement Wednesday. The carrier's performance for the first quarter of the current fiscal was also dismal with losses touching Rs.242.71 crore. The airline industry in India is going through a tough time due to the economic slowdown. The private carriers owe nearly Rs.2,500 crore towards fuel to oil companies and have suffered cumulative losses of Rs.10,000 crore last fiscal.

Air India aircraft makes emergency landing at Hyderabad

An Air India flight to New York which took off from Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport made an emergency landing after being airborne for over 20 minutes when the pilots noticed a problem with the Ancilliary Power Unit (APU) on Wednesday night. Air India sources said the flight AI 141 with 180 passengers was on Hyderabad - Mumbai - New York sector and it took off at 8.50 p.m, about five minutes behind schedule. The pilots then noticed that the APU was not functioning properly and decided to return to the RGIA immediately. The APU, it was stated, supplies power in addition to the two engines and the pilots did not want to take any chance on the long distance flight. Moments after landing of the aircraft, an A-321, technicians set right the problem immediately and it took off at 9.29 p.m. sources said.

India Post cargo aircraft collides with animal on runway

On Tuesday night an India Post freighter, hit a pig as it landed at Nagpur's D. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.This is the second such incident within a fortnight after a Kingfisher Indore-Nagpur flight had to be grounded for the same reason. A senior India Post official informed, "The aircraft coming from Chennai hit the pig during landing. It had to be grounded at airport as it suffered major damage due to animal hit."

Flights delayed as air traffic disrupted at Mumbai airport

Five planes had to be diverted to Ahemdabad after two emergency landings and air-traffic congestion at Mumbai airport threw the flight schedule out of gear late on Tuesday. General delays of 15-30 minutes were reported for other flights landing in Mumbai between 9 pm and midnight. Of the five diverted flights, four were of Jet Airways. The string of delays started with the Air India (AI) Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight, which declared full emergency after hydraulic failure at 9 pm. Officials said the aircraft kept the main runway occupied, leaving other flights holding.

Only 15 minutes later, another AI flight from New York asked for a priority landing after a passenger developed sudden chest pain. "The AI flight 140 was given a priority due to a medical emergency on board. Hence, those waiting to land had to wait for a longer time," an airport official said." Jet Airways' flights from Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad and a non-scheduled flight had to hold for 30-45 minutes before they were diverted around the midnight," an official said. "They had run out of hold-over fuel."

Swiss-Belhotel Resort opens at Masirah Island

Swiss-Belhotel International has launched the soft opening of Swiss-Belhotel Doha in Qatar, as well as Swiss-Belhotel Resort Masirah Island in Oman. Following these two diverse openings is also SBI’s first in Dubai, Gold Swiss-Belhotel Dubai, bringing the total of operational hotels and resorts managed in the region under SBI to five. Vice president, Operations and Development - Middle East, SBI, Edgar Solenthaler said, "There is a saying that when it rains, it pours. This is what SBI is experiencing at the moment in the Middle East with two hotels opening on the same date and the third one soon to join the league in a month’s time. It is a feeling of ecstasy when you see the hard work of the team pay off. I am definitely proud of the people behind this and also would like to thank the owner for their continuous support."

Swiss-Belhotel Doha is the group’s first property in Qatar and is the result of a management agreement between Abdullah Al Majid Est and SBI. It is situated five minutes from the international airport, and located between the banking district and the old Doha city centre. The 165-room hotel and 78 serviced residences have been designed in a 16 floor twin-tower configuration with one tower dedicated to residential living spaces and the other, hotel rooms, suites and facilities with a luxury shopping mall.Meanwhile, Swiss-Belhotel Resort Masirah Island is a four-star deluxe resort located 15 km off the southeast coast of Oman with miles of isolated beaches and known for its wildlife. It hosts all four of Oman’s nesting species of turtles and is famous as home to the largest population of loggerhead turtles. The island is diverse and offers a wide range of nautical sports with excursions in the nearby deserts and hills. An array of restaurants, bars and recreational facilities are ready to welcome its guests to Swiss-Belhotel Resort Masirah Island.