While most of the European and American carriers which cancelled a few flights to Mumbai last week in response to the terrorist attacks
have resumed their schedules, Italy's flagship Alitalia continues to cut its links with the city.
Sources said, Alitalia has cancelled all its flights to Mumbai until further notice. "The airline has not started accepting bookings from Mumbai. It operates flights from Delhi and efforts were being made last week to route its citizens through that airport,'' the source said.
The bankrupt Alitalia had announced plans to reduce domestic and international flights last week and cited labour woes and the need to lay off workers as part of a rescue plan by Italian investors acquiring it. "But there were no plans to cancel flights to Mumbai. The Italian carrier cut links with the city after last week's attack,'' the source said.
Other airlines
like Lufthansa, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Air France etc which cancelled some of its flights on Thursday resumed normal operations by Friday. "Lufthansa's cockpit and cabin crew stay in Hotel Oberoi Trident. It was not known whether any of its crew were in the hotel at the time the attack,'' said an aviation source.
"Air France had about 15 of its crew trapped in Hotel Oberoi and so had cancelled Thursday's Mumbai-Paris flight. A special flight was operated on Friday to ferry its stranded citizens,'' said a source. While British Airways' Mumbai-London flights are being operated as per schedule, the British High Commission has deputed special staff at the airport to assist its citizens who have lost their passport or travel documents due to the situation in Mumbai. Temporary documents and certificates were being issued to help such passengers.
Source: indiatimes
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Jet Airways offers India-London mileage bonus
In India, Jet Airways' JetPrivilege frequent flyer programme has begun to offer its members who travel on the Mumbai/Delhi-London sectors (for return trips only) the chance to earn Double JPMiles between until 15th January 2009. The Double JPMiles offer is available for flights booked in First Class, Premihre (Business), and Economy, allowing JetPrivilege members to earn over 25,000 JPMiles for a First Class return ticket booked on the London route.
London-bound JetPrivilege members also earn an additional 500 bonus JPMiles when they book their travel online through the airline's web site, and another 250 bonus miles for using Jet Airways' web-based or SMS check in facilities.
Source:thewisemarketer
London-bound JetPrivilege members also earn an additional 500 bonus JPMiles when they book their travel online through the airline's web site, and another 250 bonus miles for using Jet Airways' web-based or SMS check in facilities.
Source:thewisemarketer
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
IndiGo India-Thailand Services for 2009
New Delhi-based budget carrier IndiGo has added Bangkok to its international itinerary with a possible start of scheduled air service between Thailand and India next year.
The Thai capital will be the airlines first overseas destination, however IndiGo plans to add to its international network after it fulfills the regulations requiring it to serve Indian domestic routes for three years before being allowed to fly overseas.
IndiGo, which took to the skies in August 2006, has been contemplating linking Bangkok with main Indian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, according to Pavin Sachaphimukh, chairman of Nancy Group Company.
The Bangkok-based travel management firm Nancy Group was recently appointed as IndiGo's passenger sales agent in Thailand, a move seen as groundwork preparations for its planned launch of air link with Thailand.
Thailand-India has been a high-potential sector for IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Enterprises, because of the continued robust traffic between the two countries.
Indian tourists have not been deterred by the global credit crunch and Thailand's protracted political problems, with as many as 800,000 Indians expected to visit this year, Mr Pavin pointed out.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the kingdom is the second most popular Asian destination among Indian tourists. Last year, 536,356 Indians visited Thailand, second only to Singapore, which attracted 749,000.
By planning to launch its services to Thailand, IndiGo plans to take advantage of the relatively untapped low-cost travel segment between India and Thailand to cater to budget-conscious travellers such as youths and students.
The two countries are currently served by four airlines: Thai Airways International, Jet Airways, Cathay Pacific and Air-India Express, which are altogether offering about 90 flights a week.
IndiGo is establishing a network of overseas agents, first tasked to sell tickets on its domestic routes now covering 17 cities in India.
The economic slowdown and decline in passenger numbers have forced several airlines to look at pruning costs including deferring deliveries of aircraft, cutting back on routes and laying off staff.
IndiGo officials, however, claim that they have been seeing healthy growth in passenger numbers and they have expressed that there are no immediate plans to defer delivery of any of the remaining 100 A320 family aircraft it has ordered from the European plane maker Airbus. The airline operates 100 daily domestic flights with 20 Airbus jetliners and plans to serve about 30 Indian cities by 2010, with a fleet of 40 A320s. IndiGo is due to receive all 100 Airbus jets by 2016.
Source:etravelblackboardasia
The Thai capital will be the airlines first overseas destination, however IndiGo plans to add to its international network after it fulfills the regulations requiring it to serve Indian domestic routes for three years before being allowed to fly overseas.
IndiGo, which took to the skies in August 2006, has been contemplating linking Bangkok with main Indian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, according to Pavin Sachaphimukh, chairman of Nancy Group Company.
The Bangkok-based travel management firm Nancy Group was recently appointed as IndiGo's passenger sales agent in Thailand, a move seen as groundwork preparations for its planned launch of air link with Thailand.
Thailand-India has been a high-potential sector for IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Enterprises, because of the continued robust traffic between the two countries.
Indian tourists have not been deterred by the global credit crunch and Thailand's protracted political problems, with as many as 800,000 Indians expected to visit this year, Mr Pavin pointed out.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the kingdom is the second most popular Asian destination among Indian tourists. Last year, 536,356 Indians visited Thailand, second only to Singapore, which attracted 749,000.
By planning to launch its services to Thailand, IndiGo plans to take advantage of the relatively untapped low-cost travel segment between India and Thailand to cater to budget-conscious travellers such as youths and students.
The two countries are currently served by four airlines: Thai Airways International, Jet Airways, Cathay Pacific and Air-India Express, which are altogether offering about 90 flights a week.
IndiGo is establishing a network of overseas agents, first tasked to sell tickets on its domestic routes now covering 17 cities in India.
The economic slowdown and decline in passenger numbers have forced several airlines to look at pruning costs including deferring deliveries of aircraft, cutting back on routes and laying off staff.
IndiGo officials, however, claim that they have been seeing healthy growth in passenger numbers and they have expressed that there are no immediate plans to defer delivery of any of the remaining 100 A320 family aircraft it has ordered from the European plane maker Airbus. The airline operates 100 daily domestic flights with 20 Airbus jetliners and plans to serve about 30 Indian cities by 2010, with a fleet of 40 A320s. IndiGo is due to receive all 100 Airbus jets by 2016.
Source:etravelblackboardasia
Friday, November 14, 2008
Air New Zealand Announces World First Flight to Take Off on December 3rd
The world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by a sustainable second-generation biofuel will take place on December 3, 2008.
The jatropha based fuel for the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 test flight out of Auckland, New Zealand, has been certified as suitable for use by Rolls-Royce.
Chris Lewis, Company Specialist - Fuels, at Rolls-Royce said the fuel is a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil.
"Laboratory testing showed the final blend has excellent properties meeting, and in many cases exceeding, the stringent technical requirements for fuels used in civil and defence aircraft. The blended fuel therefore meets the essential requirement of being a "drop-in" fuel, meaning its properties will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional Jet A1 fuel, which is used in commercial aviation today."
Air New Zealand's Chief Pilot and General Manager Airline Operations, Captain David Morgan, today announced the date and time of the flight.
"The two-hour test flight is scheduled to take off around 0900 on 3 December with the jatropha blend fuel to power one of our Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.
"Various procedures will be carried out during the test flight to confirm and measure the performance of the engine being operated with this fuel."
The test flight is a joint initiative between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP, a Honeywell company, as part of commercial aviation's drive for more sustainable air travel for future generations.
The jatropha oil Air New Zealand has sourced and refined for its test flight comes from South Eastern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania) and India. It was sourced from seeds grown on environmentally sustainable farms.
Jatropha is a plant that grows to approximately three metres high and produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil that is used to produce fuel. Each seed produces between 30 and 40 percent of its mass in oil and jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and otherwise non-arable areas, leaving prime areas available for food crops.
The partners have been non-negotiable about the three criteria any environmentally sustainable fuel must meet for the test flight programme. These are social, technical and commercial.
Firstly, the fuel source must be environmentally sustainable and not compete with existing food resources. Secondly, the fuel must be a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel and technically be at least as good as the product used today. Finally, it should be cost competitive with existing fuel supplies and be readily available.
The criteria for sourcing the jatropha oil required that the land was neither forest land nor virgin grassland within the previous two decades. The quality of the soil and climate is such that the land is not suitable for the vast majority of food crops. Furthermore, the farms are rain-fed and not mechanically irrigated.
The test flight partners engaged Terasol Energy, a leader in sustainable jatropha development projects, to independently source and certify that the jatropha-based fuel for the flight met all sustainability criteria.
Once received from Terasol Energy, the jatropha oil was refined through a collaborative effort between Air New Zealand, Boeing and leading refining technology developer UOP, utilising UOP technology to produce jet fuel from renewable sources that can serve as a direct replacement to traditional petroleum-based fuel.
About Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand offers more direct flights to the South Pacific than any other airline, including non-stop flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Vancouver to New Zealand, as well as Los Angeles non-stop to the Cook Islands and Samoa. Other popular destinations include Australia, China, Japan and Tonga. In addition to flying non-stop Los Angeles-London, Air New Zealand's newest route, between London and Hong Kong, now allows customers to fly round-the-world on one airline. Consistently rated among the world's best international airlines, Air New Zealand's most recent accolades include recognition by the Conde Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards, the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards and Business Traveler Magazine. United Mileage Plus, US Airways Dividend Miles and Air Canada's Aeroplan members earn and redeem mileage on select flights. Flight and vacation essentials can be booked on AirNewZealand.com. Flight and vacation bookings can also be made by calling 1-800-262-1234 in the USA and 1-800-663-5494 in Canada.
Source: Business Wire
The jatropha based fuel for the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 test flight out of Auckland, New Zealand, has been certified as suitable for use by Rolls-Royce.
Chris Lewis, Company Specialist - Fuels, at Rolls-Royce said the fuel is a 50:50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha oil.
"Laboratory testing showed the final blend has excellent properties meeting, and in many cases exceeding, the stringent technical requirements for fuels used in civil and defence aircraft. The blended fuel therefore meets the essential requirement of being a "drop-in" fuel, meaning its properties will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional Jet A1 fuel, which is used in commercial aviation today."
Air New Zealand's Chief Pilot and General Manager Airline Operations, Captain David Morgan, today announced the date and time of the flight.
"The two-hour test flight is scheduled to take off around 0900 on 3 December with the jatropha blend fuel to power one of our Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.
"Various procedures will be carried out during the test flight to confirm and measure the performance of the engine being operated with this fuel."
The test flight is a joint initiative between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP, a Honeywell company, as part of commercial aviation's drive for more sustainable air travel for future generations.
The jatropha oil Air New Zealand has sourced and refined for its test flight comes from South Eastern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania) and India. It was sourced from seeds grown on environmentally sustainable farms.
Jatropha is a plant that grows to approximately three metres high and produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil that is used to produce fuel. Each seed produces between 30 and 40 percent of its mass in oil and jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and otherwise non-arable areas, leaving prime areas available for food crops.
The partners have been non-negotiable about the three criteria any environmentally sustainable fuel must meet for the test flight programme. These are social, technical and commercial.
Firstly, the fuel source must be environmentally sustainable and not compete with existing food resources. Secondly, the fuel must be a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel and technically be at least as good as the product used today. Finally, it should be cost competitive with existing fuel supplies and be readily available.
The criteria for sourcing the jatropha oil required that the land was neither forest land nor virgin grassland within the previous two decades. The quality of the soil and climate is such that the land is not suitable for the vast majority of food crops. Furthermore, the farms are rain-fed and not mechanically irrigated.
The test flight partners engaged Terasol Energy, a leader in sustainable jatropha development projects, to independently source and certify that the jatropha-based fuel for the flight met all sustainability criteria.
Once received from Terasol Energy, the jatropha oil was refined through a collaborative effort between Air New Zealand, Boeing and leading refining technology developer UOP, utilising UOP technology to produce jet fuel from renewable sources that can serve as a direct replacement to traditional petroleum-based fuel.
About Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand offers more direct flights to the South Pacific than any other airline, including non-stop flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Vancouver to New Zealand, as well as Los Angeles non-stop to the Cook Islands and Samoa. Other popular destinations include Australia, China, Japan and Tonga. In addition to flying non-stop Los Angeles-London, Air New Zealand's newest route, between London and Hong Kong, now allows customers to fly round-the-world on one airline. Consistently rated among the world's best international airlines, Air New Zealand's most recent accolades include recognition by the Conde Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards, the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards and Business Traveler Magazine. United Mileage Plus, US Airways Dividend Miles and Air Canada's Aeroplan members earn and redeem mileage on select flights. Flight and vacation essentials can be booked on AirNewZealand.com. Flight and vacation bookings can also be made by calling 1-800-262-1234 in the USA and 1-800-663-5494 in Canada.
Source: Business Wire
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Best Air launches Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur services
Best Air started operating five flights weekly, flying on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur vice versa route every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, utilising MD83 aircraft with 162 seats configuration.
KLIA already has Biman Bangladesh Air operating seven flights weekly and GMG Airlines which operates seven flights weekly. Dato’ Seri Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports said: “Malaysia Airports is delighted to welcome Best Air to KLIA. Best Air’s confidence on the load factor between Kuala Lumpur and Bangladesh is evident by starting with five flights weekly, and we hope they will further increase their frequencies to fly daily to KLIA soon.”
Dato’ Seri Bashir added: “Passengers will benefit greatly in terms of connectivity and flying options as now KLIA has three airlines flying direct to Bangladesh. We expect the passenger movements between Malaysia and Bangladesh to increase based on these services.”
Best Air obtained License in 2006 from Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh to operate Passenger Service in the International & Domestic Sectors. Best Air will start with a fleet of two B-737 aircraft to operate in the Regional Destinations such as Kolkata, Jaipur, Bangkok and Kunming; Domestic Destinations like Chittagong and Sylhet. The second phase will include Far-East, Middle-East, Europe and USA by using Wide Bodied Aircraft.
Source:indiaaviation.aero
KLIA already has Biman Bangladesh Air operating seven flights weekly and GMG Airlines which operates seven flights weekly. Dato’ Seri Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports said: “Malaysia Airports is delighted to welcome Best Air to KLIA. Best Air’s confidence on the load factor between Kuala Lumpur and Bangladesh is evident by starting with five flights weekly, and we hope they will further increase their frequencies to fly daily to KLIA soon.”
Dato’ Seri Bashir added: “Passengers will benefit greatly in terms of connectivity and flying options as now KLIA has three airlines flying direct to Bangladesh. We expect the passenger movements between Malaysia and Bangladesh to increase based on these services.”
Best Air obtained License in 2006 from Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh to operate Passenger Service in the International & Domestic Sectors. Best Air will start with a fleet of two B-737 aircraft to operate in the Regional Destinations such as Kolkata, Jaipur, Bangkok and Kunming; Domestic Destinations like Chittagong and Sylhet. The second phase will include Far-East, Middle-East, Europe and USA by using Wide Bodied Aircraft.
Source:indiaaviation.aero
Monday, November 3, 2008
Air India Express raises connectivity at reduced fare
The economy class carrier, the Air India Express, will enhance its connectivity to Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Mangalore from Nedumbassery airport at a reduced fare of Rs 999. The fare is inclusive of all taxes in the winter schedule which commenced on October 26, said Air India Deputy Manager (Corporate Communications) Aby George.
The Air India will increase the daily direct flight service in the Kochi-Damam sector leaving Kochi at 7.45 am. It was operating only two services in the sector in a week during last summer.
The Air India Express has increased its service in the Kochi- Sharjah sector operating 10 flights in a week. In an effort to standardise the flight schedule, the daily flight to Sharjah was fixed at 9.15 am and to Dubai at 7.15 pm.
The fare could be brought down by 20 percent following the introduction of service by the low-cost carrier - Air India Express - to Kuwait.
The airline has plans to augment the quality of service in its no-frill Air India Express flight by serving vegetable hot meals on board. With this, the Air India Express will become the only lowcost carrier to offer free food at the given rate, said Aby George.
The Air India Express will serve dishes like vegetable biriyani, vegetable pulao and other hot meals for its passengers.
The Air India Express will be the major service provider from Kochi in the international sector with 42 landings a week. The Air India and Air India Express flights have made changes in the schedule to facilitate the re-carpeting work of the runway at the Nedumbassery airport. The departure of the Riyadh-bound flight was changed to 7.30 pm and Damam flight to 7.45 am.
HAJ OPERATIONS
The Air India operated its first charted Haj flight from Kochi on Friday carrying 420 passengers. It was a 747-type aircraft.
AI also plans to operate its second charted flight, an A-310-type aircraft, carrying around 200 pilgrims on Monday.
The AI will also operate two more flights on November 10, Aby George said.
Source://expressbuzz.com
The Air India will increase the daily direct flight service in the Kochi-Damam sector leaving Kochi at 7.45 am. It was operating only two services in the sector in a week during last summer.
The Air India Express has increased its service in the Kochi- Sharjah sector operating 10 flights in a week. In an effort to standardise the flight schedule, the daily flight to Sharjah was fixed at 9.15 am and to Dubai at 7.15 pm.
The fare could be brought down by 20 percent following the introduction of service by the low-cost carrier - Air India Express - to Kuwait.
The airline has plans to augment the quality of service in its no-frill Air India Express flight by serving vegetable hot meals on board. With this, the Air India Express will become the only lowcost carrier to offer free food at the given rate, said Aby George.
The Air India Express will serve dishes like vegetable biriyani, vegetable pulao and other hot meals for its passengers.
The Air India Express will be the major service provider from Kochi in the international sector with 42 landings a week. The Air India and Air India Express flights have made changes in the schedule to facilitate the re-carpeting work of the runway at the Nedumbassery airport. The departure of the Riyadh-bound flight was changed to 7.30 pm and Damam flight to 7.45 am.
HAJ OPERATIONS
The Air India operated its first charted Haj flight from Kochi on Friday carrying 420 passengers. It was a 747-type aircraft.
AI also plans to operate its second charted flight, an A-310-type aircraft, carrying around 200 pilgrims on Monday.
The AI will also operate two more flights on November 10, Aby George said.
Source://expressbuzz.com
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