Kingfisher Airlines to launch Kolkata-Bangkok flight

Kingfisher Airlines announced the launch of daily direct flights between Kolkata and Bangkok from August 14, 2009. After London, Colombo, Dhaka and Dubai, Bangkok will be the fifth international destination on the international route network of Kingfisher Airlines. The launch of this new route will mark the first time that Kingfisher Airlines will be commencing operations from India to South East Asia. The flights between Kolkata and Bangkok will be operated using the A320 family of aircraft featuring Kingfisher Class, the premium economy service from Kingfisher Airlines. The award-winning Kingfisher Experience includes onboard comforts so that guests are able to relax in most comfortable seats in the sky with a wide seat pitch and ample room to stretch their legs.

Moreover, the delectable cuisine will ensure that guests have a wide spread of mouth-watering options and a perfect accompaniment from a selection of wines and spirits on board. The In-Flight Entertainment system offers enthralling world-class entertainment with a personal system on every seat featuring the latest blockbuster movies, English and Hindi TV programmes and Kingfisher Radio. The flights are conveniently timed with the flight from Kolkata, IT 021 leaving at 11:20 am and reaching Bangkok at 3:15 pm, local time. The return flight, IT 022 will take off from Bangkok at 4:30 pm and reach Kolkata at 5:45 pm. Kingfisher Airlines’ flights will operate from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Spicejet to offer more connections on its network

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which currently flies to 18 cities, has added 23 more connections within its existing network, the airline said. Passengers can now travel to these new destinations that include Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Bagdogra through interconnecting flights within the Spicejet network. "We now offer 47 connection flights nationwide. Earlier this year we introduced the option of booking on single PNR for interconnecting flights. The overwhelming response to this has encouraged us to offer more connections," said Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer of SpiceJet. Now a passenger travelling from Kolkata can reach Srinagar via Delhi within six-and-a-half hours through interconnecting flights.

Jet Airways starts flights to Riyadh

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today launched its inaugural service to Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. The new flight was inaugurated by Mr. Saroj K Datta, Executive Director, Jet Airways, in the presence of Jet Airways management and staff at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. This is the airline’s second service to Saudi Arabia, complementing the airline’s existing daily Mumbai-Jeddah service. The airline offers four services a week on the Mumbai-Riyadh-Mumbai sectors, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays respectively, aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

On Mondays, flight 9W 524 will depart Mumbai at 1725 hrs, and will arrive in Riyadh at 1900 hrs. Flight 9W 523 will depart Riyadh at 2000 hrs, and will arrive in Mumbai at 0225 hrs. On Tuesdays, flight 9W 524 will depart Mumbai at 2225 hrs, and will arrive in Riyadh at 0001 hrs. Flight 9W 523 will depart Riyadh at 0100 hrs, and will arrive in Mumbai at 0725 hrs. On Thursdays and Saturdays, flight 9W 524 will depart Mumbai at 1930 hrs, and will arrive in Riyadh at 2105 hrs. Flight 9W 523 will depart Riyadh at 2205 hrs, and will arrive in Mumbai at 0430 hrs. With the introduction of this new flight, Jet Airways now flies to 8 cities in the Gulf, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Riyadh.

According to Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, "Saudi Arabia is a very important market for Jet Airways on account of the large volume of traffic to the Gulf Kingdom, to and from India, and an important addition to the airline's growing Gulf network. With the launch of our second daily service to Saudi Arabia, we are confident of further reinforcing our position as among the leading carriers on the Indo-Gulf sector." Jet Airways will also launch a new, daily service to Dubai from Hyderabad, its fifth daily service to the Gulf emirate and second from Southern India; as well as its second daily service to Bangkok from Mumbai, effective August 16, 2009; in addition to a new Kochi-Sharjah service, effective September 1, 2009.

Air India to convert 10 Airbus aircraft to low cost variants

India’s flag carrier, Air India, is converting 10 Airbus aircraft to an all-economy class configuration as it prepares to start its domestic low-fare operations under its Air India Express brand by mid-September, two airline executives said. Air India, run by National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, currently operates Air India Express as its international low-fare carrier. Its entry into the domestic low-fare aviation market could further lower ticket prices. Rival full-service carriers Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and Jet Airways (India) Ltd, India’s largest private airlines, have already shifted at least half their fleets to all-economy flights as they fight competition from discount airlines such as SpiceJet Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd-run IndiGo and Go Airlines (India) Pvt. Ltd run GoAir.

"A decision has been taken to convert old aircraft to all-economy class and they will fly under Air India Express," an Air India official said. The 10 aircraft to be converted date back to between 1989 and 1994 and have 148 seats each. Over the next two months, these will be redesigned to have 168 seats, he added. The conversions will take place at the Mumbai and New Delhi airports, two key bases for the carrier. To start with, seven aircraft will be converted and tickets can be purchased from the Air India Express website.

SpiceJet launches 'Freedom Offer' for defence personnel

SpiceJet, India's preferred low fare airline, announced the launch of Freedom Offer to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of India's independence. This special offer, open only to Indian Armed Forces and personnel of paramilitary forces (BSF, CISF, CPRF), offers a 100% discount on base fare. This limited seat offer can be purchased on spicejet.com with immediate effect for travel between August 1 and September 30, 2009, across the entire spiceJet network. Passenger Service Fee, relevant airport taxes and fuel charge will apply. SpiceJet is the only private airline in the country offering this special benefit. The special offer is open to serving and retired defence and paramilitary personnel and their family members with valid ID card.

Speaking on this Sanjay Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, SpiceJet Limited said "This is to express our sincere thanks to the men and women whose tireless efforts allow us to enjoy our freedom and exercise our choices. We want to recognise them and their contribution." he concluded. To avail of this offer, guests need to log on to spicejet.com, and book their tickets. All guests need to present their identity card at the time of check-in. Bookings made under this offer cannot be rescheduled or cancelled. The offer is not valid for bookings for infants.