Air Asia planning introduction of new flights to India

Air Asia is in talks with the Government of India to introduce direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to various cities in India including Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar. Moses Devanayagam, Head (Operations), AirAsia said that efforts were on to introduce a direct flight to Abu Dhabi from Kuala Lumpur from October this year. The airline is also planning to introduce direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and UK, US, Australia, China, Japan and Korea. Devanayagam mentioned that the company initially launched operations with three aircraft and in a short span this has increased to 70 aircraft. He added that during the recently concluded Air Show in Paris, the company had placed order for procuring ten new version of A350 wide bodied and long-haul aircraft, which will be delivered to them in 2015-16.

Air India Express' domestic launch delayed to November

The country’s national carrier, Air India, has been forced to delay the start of its domestic low-fare service from this month to November as it’s in the middle of reassessing fleet plans. 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, part of the carrier’s revival strategy, could further lower ticket prices. The airline, seeking to emulate a recent move by Jet Airways, wanted to convert 10 Airbus A320 aircraft to an all-economy class configuration to launch its domestic low-fare service under the Air India Express brand by the middle of this month. The plan has been delayed by about two months as the airline reassesses its fleet. "The conversion has been put on hold," said an airline executive referring to the removal of business-class seats. Most of the 10 aircraft are on lease and will require permission from the lessors for conversion. "That is one hurdle," he said. The delay may harm Air India as the peak festival season will be over by the time the carrier begins the service.

Jazeera Airways to operate extra flights to Jeddah

Jazeera Airways, the fastest growing airline in the Middle East, announced that it is adding two additional weekly flights to its schedule for the Kuwait-Jeddah route, following consistently high demand for the service. From 16th September 2009, guests can fly Jazeera to Saudi Arabia's second city five days a week, on Monday to Thursday, and Saturday. The extra flights to Jeddah also complement the airline's existing twice-weekly service to the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Jazeera Airways' CEO, Stefan Pichler said, 'The Kuwait-Jeddah non-stop route has proven to be one of the most popular in our network, and we have added additional flights in response to the overwhelming demand of our guests.'

'The extra flights will cater to the growing number of business travellers between Kuwait and Jeddah. Increasing the frequency of flights to popular destinations like Jeddah is testament to our commitment to serving our guests' needs in the region.' Jazeera Airways currently operates a fleet of ten new Airbus A320s. Each aircraft is fitted with the airline's signature leather seating, while the Jazeera Plus (J+) cabin offers business travellers the highest standards of comfort, relaxation and a range of in-flight amenities. The airline flies to destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent.

Etihad Airways to open new premium lounge at London

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is to open a new premium lounge at London Heathrow airport as part of the airline's flights moving from Terminal Three to Terminal Four on 30 September 2009. First and business class customers and Etihad Guest Gold and Silver card holders will have access to the new lounge, conveniently located opposite the gates most commonly used by Etihad Airways for flight departures. The lounge gives passengers an opportunity to relax in style and enjoy a range of services and facilities. These include individual treatment rooms where therapists from Six Senses Spa will offer facials, foot and leg massages. Customers can also enjoy five-star dining facilities in the lounge with a selection of foods from around the world, all cooked in an open kitchen. A modern timber panelled business centre provides individual workstations and privacy for those with laptops.

Other features include a prayer room, a relaxing seating area with Poltrona Frau leather chairs and a bathroom and shower facilities for customers to freshen up in prior to departure. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways' chief commercial officer, said, 'We are proud that we will soon be offering one of the best customer lounges available at London Heathrow. Our new premium lounge at the airport represents a major investment and demonstrates the airline's continuing commitment to deliver world-class premium products and services to its first and business class customers on the ground as well as in the air.' Etihad Airways unveiled its first new premium lounge outside the UAE in July 2009 in Frankfurt, Germany. Etihad Airways also provides a complimentary limousine service for its first and business class passengers flying in and out of London Heathrow.

First class customers flying to London Heathrow are also the first to take advantage of the airline's new first class product. The airline's highly-anticipated new first class suite entered into service between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow on Wednesday 25 August. The new private suite provides first class customers with an extra-large leather seat, upholstered by world-renowned leather company Poltrona Frau, which extends to a fully-flat bed, 80.5 inches in length. Within the cabin customers also have access to a large and luxurious changing room with a full length mirror, wash basin and leather fold-down seat to allow passengers to freshen up at any time during the flight.

Air India aircraft's engine catches fire in Mumbai

An engine of a Riyadh bound Air India plane with 213 passengers on board caught fire when it was taxiing for takeoff at Mumbai on Friday. The fire was immediately put off and all passengers were safely evacuated, a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson said. Passengers reported noticing sparks from the engine after which the plane was grounded and all passengers evacuated via slides through the emergency exit. Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The incident took place at about 1015hrs. Although the exact age of the plane could not be immediately ascertained, it is clear that the Boeing 747 belongs to an old Air India fleet. Firefighters doused the flames on Mumbai-Riyadh AI flight 829. The 213 passengers were taken back to the terminal and are being sent by another aircraft to their destination, an Air India spokesperson said.

Emirates flight diverted to Karachi due to bad weather in Delhi

An Emirates Airline aircraft flying from Dubai to New Delhi with external affairs minister SM Krishna on board was diverted to the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Thursday night due to bad weather in Indian airspace. Krishna, who was in Brazil on an official visit, had cut short his trip and was returning to New Delhi following the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash. "The pilot of the Emirates flight sought permission from Pakistani authorities to land in Karachi after bad weather developed over New Delhi. The aircraft was granted permission and landed in Karachi at 10.35 pm," Civil Aviation Authority spokesman George Pervez said. After waiting in vain for over an hour for weather to clear over India, the pilot decided to fly back to Dubai at 11.44 pm after the aircraft was refuelled, Pervez said.

Pervez said reports in the Pakistani media that the aircraft had developed a problem with its oxygen system were not correct. The total number of passengers on the flight could not be immediately ascertained. No passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft while it was on the ground in Karachi. An Emirates spokesperson said the Delhi-bound flight EK514 with 101 passengers on board, which had left Dubai at 15:40 hours (local time), was diverted to Karachi due to bad weather and had to return to Dubai. The passengers have been allocated seats on another flight EK510 which will leave Dubai at 04:30 local time. This will "impact the 180 passengers of flight EK513 leaving Delhi at 04:00 local time with economy class passengers reallocated seats on flight EK511 which departs at 11:00 local time.

DGCA issues guidelines to regulate onboard merchandise sales

Domestic flyers will have to wait for some time before they can buy gifts items like aircraft models, pens or watches while flying to their destination. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has for "safety reasons" asked domestic airlines to stop onboard merchandise sales with immediate effect. This order does not cover food and non-alcoholic drinks and their sale will continue as usual. A common practice abroad, in India, only a few airlines like IndiGo and GoAir offer onboard merchandise sales. SpiceJet and JetLite had this practice for a while earlier. A senior DGCA official said airlines were found to be using cabin crew for the onboard sale and claimed this was eating into their other more important safety-related duties on the anyway short-flying duration domestic flights.

"DGCA has not granted approval to any (domestic) airline to sell merchandise on domestic sectors, nor are such operations documented in operations manual of the airlines. It is felt that such actions of airlines are not conducive to safety of operations as being carried out now. Physical sale of merchandise goods on board in domestic sectors shall be stopped henceforth," the letter sent by joint DG A K Chopra to airlines says, while adding that airline must take prior permission for onboard sales on domestic flights. Low cost carriers are up in arms against this order. They point out that while safety duties of cabin crew is common to both LCCs and full service carriers, their crew just sells food, drinks and merchandise. "On the other hand, cabin crew of full service carriers will first give a cold or hot towel and soft drinks to passengers immediately on boarding. After takeoff too some snacks may be given before the main course. Some domestic airlines even have the crew brew fresh coffee on aircraft. So it's wrong to say merchandise sale eats into the cabin crew's time for safety duties," said a top official of an LCC.

DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi has called a meeting with airlines on this issue on Friday. "Onboard sale has not been banned. We just want the correct procedures to be in place for this. A meeting has been called on Friday and the safety rules for this will be in place very soon. Then domestic airlines can have onboard merchandise sale on their flights," Zaidi said. Clearly, LCCs see this move as targeting them while favouring full service airlines. However, Zaidi, who has ushered in huge amount of reform in DGCA, assured that the rules would be in place shortly.

Andhra Pradesh CM dies in helicopter crash

The helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and four others appeared to have exploded after hitting a hillock, said a senior official on Thursday. The bodies of all five people were charred due to the fire which engulfed the chopper after the crash and explosion. The bodies, found Thursday morning, were in a state of decomposition while the chopper was in pieces. "It appears that because of inclement weather and to avoid cloud formation, the pilot had taken a detour and in the process deviated from the regular flight path. From preliminary inquiry, it appears the chopper hit the cliff of a hillock, crashed into it and perhaps exploded," said Chief Secretary P. Ramakant Reddy.

The chopper had deviated 18 km to the east from the regular flight path. "On first examination we were communicated that the bodies were charred and getting into decomposition. The chopper was in bits and pieces, strewn all over on the peak of hillock, about 40 nautical miles from Kurnool town," he said, giving the first official account of the crash. He said five helicopters resumed search operations at 6.25 am on Thursday and a chopper sighted the crash site around 8.30 am. Since it was not possible for any of the search helicopters to land near the hillock due to trees, bushes and other obstructions there, commandos were air-dropped near the site.

Etihad Airways starts flying to Chicago

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways began flying to Chicago yesterday, its second route to the US. The 14 hour flight to Chicago O'Hare International Airport uses Airbus A340-600 aircraft. Etihad now has 55 destinations, including New York. James Hogan, Etihad Airways' Chief Executive, said Chicago was set to become a key part of its global flight programme.

Gulf Air to sell its Airbus A340 aircrafts

Loss making Bahrain's Gulf Air has commissioned Monaco headquartered Avinco, an aircraft trading, remarketing and sourcing firm, to sell or lease five of its A340-300s aircraft. The airline also has a further four A340-300s on lease. The decision marks the first major fleet decision since former Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali took over at the airline.

Travco to launch budget airline

Egyptian travel group Travco is in talks with a UAE firm to launch a new budget airline. 'Its going to be a joint venture with another UAE based budget airline and we will soon announce its launch,' Travco Chief Operating Officer Osama Bushra said. The airline venture is part of the company's continuing expansion in the hospitality business. Last month Travco bought Germany's Steigenberger Hotels.

Air Arabia receives IOSA registration

Sharjah based low-cost carrier, Air Arabia has announced it has successfully completed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), an internationally recognized evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. The 5-day audit covered Air Arabia's corporate organisation and management structure, flight operations, flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, ground handling, cargo operations and airline security.

Nas Air starts flights to Sana'a

Saudi Arabia's budget airline, Nas Air, has added the Yemeni capital, Sana'a to its network of international destinations. The first of 4 weekly flights will take-off from Jeddah to Sana'a on September 2, 2009. The Jeddah-Sana'a-Jeddah route will start with three weekly flights until September 19, 2009, after which it will increase to four flights per week taking off to Sana'a each Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

flyDubai to start flights to Djibouti

Dubai based low-cost airline flyDubai has added a second African destination to its network with the launch of service to Djibouti Ambouli International Airport. The new service will operate three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, departing Dubai at 0800hrs arriving at 1015hrs local time. The return flight will leave 45 minutes later at 1100hrs and arrive back in Dubai at 1515hrs local time.

Emirates to restart A380 flights to New York

Emirates expects its Airbus 380 flights will return to New York in the first six months of 2010, as passenger demand is anticipated to recover by then. The Dubai-based carrier is also eyeing expansion to other US cities including Washington, Seattle, Boston and Chicago, Emirates CEO, Tim Clark said. The airline had started New York service with the double-deck aircraft in April of last year, but had pulled it two months later and replaced it with the smaller Boeing 777.

EgyptAir signs deal with Rockwell Collins

EgyptAir has signed an agreement with US based Rockwell Collins to install an advanced detection system in five A330 aircraft with an option for three additional aircraft. The agreement includes Rockwell Collins' Multiscan Hazard Detection System, which analyzes and determines actual weather hazards, TTR-2100 Traffic Collision Avoidance System, as well as a full communications, navigation and surveillance suite including the GLU-925 Multi-Mode Receiver.

Qatar Airways signs maintenance deal with Lufthansa Technik

Qatar Airways has appointed Lufthansa Technik to perform C4-Checks on its Airbus A320 Family and A330 aircraft. A total of 24 C4-Checks programme will be carried out by Lufthansa Technik over two and a half years. The maintenance checks will be performed on nine Airbus A320-family narrow-bodied and 15 Airbus A330 wide-bodied planes.

Jazeera Airways to start flights to Abu Dhabi

Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways will fly direct to Abu Dhabi from October 25. Jazeera will be the first low-budget airline to operate non-stop flights to the UAE's capital. It currently operates non-stop flights to Dubai six times a week.

SpiceJet appoints Sharaf Travel as GSA in UAE

Sharaf Travel has been appointed as the first General Sales Agency for SpiceJet in UAE with immediate effect. As per an exclusive agreement, Sharaf Travel will promote, advertise and sell SpiceJet tickets to people residing in UAE. Mr. Salah Sharaf, Chairman of Sharaf Travel, said, 'It is an honour for Sharaf Travel to represent Spicejet, here in the region. We are very happy with this partnership and expect to meet the growing demand of travelers within the country.'

Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet Limited, said, 'With this step, we begin to expand our distribution footprint to Dubai and make SpiceJet tickets available through travel agents, for people living overseas. We believe that Sharaf Travel with their expertise and reach will be able to stimulate the market and encourage travel into India and SpiceJet.'

Lufthansa unveils new in-flight menu on Indian routes

German carrier Lufthansa unveiled a new in-flight menu to give its first and business class passengers on the India route a rich gourmet experience with Indian culinary delights especially crafted by two well-known chefs. Prawn curry masala, Tomato pappu (lentils), khade masale ka paneer (cottage cheese), lal mans (lamb) and Alleppey fish curry are some of the creations of Farman Ali and Surender Mohan, both of them master chefs with the Leela group.

"We aim to turn our flights into a truly special experience. This includes savouring the cooking skills of our famous 'Star Chefs'," said Axel Hilgers, Lufthansa's director for South Asia. "We cater to specific preferences of Indian customers. Together with our selection of world class wines and personal service, fine Indian dining above the clouds assures our guests a memorable journey," he said. The carrier operates 54 flights a week to seven Indian destinations and will celebrate its 50th anniversary of its operations to India later this year.