AirAsia India will only act as a feeder for its siblings and parent: http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ ... nal-launch

Plans to go international by Autumn 2018

anshabhi wrote:

Today is Surat's day. Apart from above AI STV-DXB flight, apparently SG is launching these:


Congrats Surat. Seriously I could never expect it to develop sooo rapidly. I am still unable to believe this. From 2 daily flights a month earlier, STV will have 10 daily flights a month later.

Aye! Good for Surti's. Great to have connectivity and with their affluence, should see some decent loads.

Surti's might do well to realize that all these routes would take a lot longer by road/rail; hence, they may do well to tone down their demands for more flights to BOM! But great for Surat (& India) for secondary cities to develop.

What aircraft???

Q400^^

Qatar Airways' proposed Indian airline catches speed, to review BLR,DEL & BOM airports.

A delegation from Qatar will review the facilities at major Indian airports as it's national carrier prepares to start an airline in India.The civil aviation ministry has informed airports in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi about the impending visit. Names of delegates have not been shared but could include representatives of Qatar Airways as well.

"We have been informed that 6-8 delegates from Qatar will be reviewing facilities at major airports," said an executive from one of the airports. The visit was expected to begin from next week but may have been rescheduled. Qatar Airways declined to comment on the topic. Embassy of Qatar in New Delhi too was tight-lipped about the matter.

Last month, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker announced plans to launch 100 per cent foreign owned airline in India in partnership with Qatar Investment Authority. According to media reports, Qatar Airways is likely to select Bengaluru as it's base and has appointed an executive search firm to recruit staff for its proposed Indian airline.

Qatar Airways, one of the three big Gulf airlines, has been trying to expand its presence in India but its growth has been constrained because of limitation of traffic right. Rival Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, has gained and become the fastest growing foreign airline in India, following its investment in Jet Airways in 2013. Over the past few years, Qatar Airways has been stepping up its investments. It is purchasing 49 per cent stake in Italian carrier Meridiana. In December 2016, Qatar Airways bought 10 per cent stake in Chile’s LATAM Airlines.

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 408_1.html

I am not in favor of QR's entry in India's Domestic market.

anshabhi wrote:

I am not in favor of QR's entry in India's Domestic market.

Agreed - no reason at all for India to whore itself out to the middle east even more. Didn't Praful already take care of that? Don't Indians have any pride?

anshabhi wrote:

I am not in favor of QR's entry in India's Domestic market.

I agree completely...... The likes of 9w, 6e etc are doing a good job and they along with AI should be helped by cutting the red tape....

Any idea on when LH is launching the A350 to Mumbai? I remember reading that it was to be in April of 2017. I have to go to Mumbai anyways, so I might as well snag an A350 connection via MUN.

noble6p wrote:

Any idea on when LH is launching the A350 to Mumbai? I remember reading that it was to be in April of 2017. I have to go to Mumbai anyways, so I might as well snag an A350 connection via MUN.

From day after tomorrow onwards.

https://facebook.com/LufthansaIndia/pho ... 920409907/

Springs are here!

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oKIPEfalYDRF8H1WE

SkyScanner unserved route of the week: Manchester to Mumbai

http://www.anna.aero/2017/04/12/manches ... -the-week/

AirAsia Indonesia will Launch several Jakarata-India routes this May:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017 ... -year.html

Singapore Airlines may operate A350 to India this year.


http://www.thehindu.com/business/Indust ... 113678.ece

So SQ believes Indian market is premium enough for their premium heavy A350s

http://economictimes.com/industry/trans ... 269139.cms

EY partnership is not doing any good to 9W, it seems.

Your link is not working.

And not just Gulf routes: IndiGo has been eating Jet Airways' lunch across India. Numerous smaller city airports (BBI for instance) that were once 9W fortresses have slowly turned 6E strongholds.

updated link IndiGo flies high in the Gulf route

I believe Jet also withdrew from some markets because EY wanted to maximize its routes to India. EY has restrictions on the airports it can serve. So its letting 9W serve secondary cities that it doesn't have access to, while increasing its flights to ones where it has access.

unrave wrote:

Your link is not working.

And not just Gulf routes: IndiGo has been eating Jet Airways' lunch across India. Numerous smaller city airports (BBI for instance) that were once 9W fortresses have slowly turned 6E strongholds.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ind ... 269139.cms

Among other things, tussle between Indian & expat pilots is increasing in 9W:
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Indust ... 133114.ece

Caption This:


Nivedita Bhasin's daughter, becomes an IndiGo captain.
(the world's youngest female jet captain & first female B787 captain, with AI. her husband Mr Rohit Bhasin is also an AI B787 captain.)

https://twitter.com/nivedita_bhasin/sta ... 73/photo/1

A family of captains.

The mile high family.

We communicate via ATC.

unrave wrote:

A family of captains.

The mile high family.

We communicate via ATC.

Oh!! You are an ATC? You never told me!!!

Salute and Love You!!

9W announces Bengaluru-Amsterdam and Chennai-Paris CDG effective 29OCT17

9W236 BLR0225 - 0835AMS 330 D

9W235 AMS1050 - 0040+1BLR 330 D

9W128 MAA0145 - 0810CDG 330 D

9W127 CDG1010 - 0015+1MAA 330 D

Read Zoom Air didn't file summer schedule. One season pony???

Is Nivedita Bhasin still with AI or retired or sidelined? Haven't seen her much in AI's women's day coverage.

blrsea wrote:

updated link IndiGo flies high in the Gulf route

I believe Jet also withdrew from some markets because EY wanted to maximize its routes to India. EY has restrictions on the airports it can serve. So its letting 9W serve secondary cities that it doesn't have access to, while increasing its flights to ones where it has access.

Puff pieces like these for Indigo regularly appear in the media - usually written by Anirban or Sindhu. These stories dont hold up to an honest perusal of hard facts.

Despite the rampdown, Jet still has more capacity deployed to the Gulf market on their own metal than Indigo - over 50% more. They have ramped down by 14% mainly to free up aircraft for domestic routes by letting partner Etihad fill in on the routes it has withdrawn. Also AIX has increased capacity on these routes as well, a fact plain ignored by Anirban.

Indigo does adopt capacity-dumping tactics on domestic routes that puts other carriers on the defensive. But 9W on the whole has adopted well.

BawliBooch wrote:

Puff pieces like these for Indigo regularly appear in the media - usually written by Anirban or Sindhu. These stories dont hold up to an honest perusal of hard facts.

Did Anurag left Bloomberg for LiveMint?

dtw2hyd wrote:

Read Zoom Air didn't file summer schedule. One season pony???

Is Nivedita Bhasin still with AI or retired or sidelined? Haven't seen her much in AI's women's day coverage.

Not really sidelined. She is in active service. One example:
https://www.pressreader.com/india/busin ... 7995694298


@unrave. I always have a question: Why do ATCs remain in India? I mean you can easily get 5 times the salary, and a much better accommodation only 4 hours away.?

Jet Airways launches DAILY Bengaluru-Amsterdam flight wef 29th OCT 2017 using the Airbus A330 aircraft. Flight details as follows
9W 236 BLR-AMS 0225 0835
9W 235 AMS-BLR 1025 0040
This flights will be operated in conjunction with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, with each airline placing their respective codes on the service.

Chennai-Paris
9W 128 MAA-CDG 0145 0810 A330
9W 127 CDG-MAA 1010 0015 A330
Chennai-Paris will be operated FIVE(5)days a week.Both Air France and Delta Air Lines will be codeshare partners on this flight.

Bookings open 20th April

March traffic report is here: http://dgca.gov.in/reports/Traffic_repo ... 032017.pdf

MoM growth slows to 14.91%, YoY to 18.48%.

^^ Is it remotely related due to the Airport closures at BLR & BOM??
Just curious

anshabhi wrote:

http://economictimes.com/industry/trans ... 269139.cms

EY partnership is not doing any good to 9W, it seems.

Without EY partnership, 9W would have been out of business. Indian journalist, besides writing a few words of english, seem to have problems.

Now regarding tactics, unlike EK, EY has lots of small planes. Might as well deploy them on India routes, enable 9W to withdraw from some of them and redeploy them either on domestic or far-east. And unlike AI, 9W does not have a sugar-daddy in Govt of India. So they would be wise to use their assets judiciously.

@anshabhi: That was my attempt at humour to your post asking to caption the image. I am sorry about the confusion. I am not an ATC (or connected to aviation in any manner).

NATO posted professionally produced YouTube videos of loss comm intercept, guess which airline??

Pilot in slo-mo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFKpHB2IHCQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntXO02wax84

unrave wrote:

@anshabhi: That was my attempt at humour to your post asking to caption the image. I am sorry about the confusion. I am not an ATC (or connected to aviation in any manner).

That being said, my vote is for caption #3!

vadodara wrote:

Now regarding tactics, unlike EK, EY has lots of small planes. Might as well deploy them on India routes, enable 9W to withdraw from some of them and redeploy them either on domestic or far-east. And unlike AI, 9W does not have a sugar-daddy in Govt of India. So they would be wise to use their assets judiciously.

Oh please, the GOI has been a better sugar-daddy to 9W than AI. Forget the decade-long marginalization of AI, when 9W had almost mismanaged itself to bankruptcy, the GOI passed laws to allow foreign ownership of domestic airlines within a week. They also sweetened the deal by awarding a significantly large increase in seats allowed to Abu Dhabi.

Funny how 9W owners opposed privatization of AI to Tata-SIA in 2001 by complaining about foreign ownership of domestic airlines.

@unrave oh alright!
AirAsia Indonesia:
The carrier's CEO Dendy Kurniawan told the Jakarta Post in an interview this week that a 7x weekly Denpasar- Mumbai Int'l , India, via Kuala Lumpur Int'l , Malaysia, service would commence from May 19 onwards.
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... sion-plans

devmapper wrote:

vadodara wrote:

Oh please, the GOI has been a better sugar-daddy to 9W than AI. Forget the decade-long marginalization of AI, when 9W had almost mismanaged itself to bankruptcy, the GOI passed laws to allow foreign ownership of domestic airlines within a week. They also sweetened the deal by awarding a significantly large increase in seats allowed to Abu Dhabi.

Funny how 9W owners opposed privatization of AI to Tata-SIA in 2001 by complaining about foreign ownership of domestic airlines.

Fair enough; didn't go that far 'back in time'. Naresh Goyal's old connections may not be that influential these days. Perhaps, that explains a more commercial mind-set.

Navi Mumbai airport gets final environmental clearance, first flight expected by 2019 end:

The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on Friday granted the crucial stage II forest clearance for the Navi Mumbai international airport (NMIA), paving the way all the work on the ground such as cutting and levelling of Ulwe hill, changing the course of the river and rehabilitation of projected-affected people (PAPs).


http://m.timesofindia.com/city/navi-mum ... 307071.cms

Why no Cargo Airline launches in the country.

SpiceJet pips AI to become 3rd largest airline!!



http://m.timesofindia.com/business/inte ... 296851.cms

Looks like AI is hiring more pilots for their WB operations.

AI to hire 80 co-pilots for wide-body Boeing planes

blrsea wrote:

Looks like AI is hiring more pilots for their WB operations.

AI to hire 80 co-pilots for wide-body Boeing planes

According to that article, AI needs atleast 370 co-pilots and currently has only 170. Really? Is the pilot shortage so severe?
It has 15 B777 and 23 B787, with 3 B777 & 3 B787 to join soon.

In another very interesting news,
Embraer, Air India to set up MRO in Secunderabad

Embraer wants to set up base in Secunderabad for entire Southeast Asia region. Mind you, no Indian airline operates any Embraer aircraft.
This facility is intended for business jets.

Sorry, I can't stop but this is indeed an achievement of Modi govt. From the days when Indian airlines used to go abroad for MRO, now a foreign company wants to set up MRO base in India, for the entire Southeast Asia region.

Last year, the government in its Civil Aviation Policy offered infrastructure status to the MRO industry and promised several incentives to develop India as a hub for these services.

The sops included exemption from customs duty for procuring aircraft maintenance tools.

The policy also allowed foreign aircraft brought to India for MRO work to stay for a period of six months, which can be extended after permission from DGCA.

Increasing bilaterals with Dubai is stuck due to debate between whether to increase it incrementally immediately or to first frame a national bilateral policy before increasing.

Divergent views within Aviation Ministry ensures impasse on India-Dubai route seat addition issue

The aviation ministry has been unable to allow airlines to add flights on the India-Dubai sector owing to junior minister Jayant Sinha's insistence that the government first formulate a long-term plan on bilateral flying rights.

Sinha feels certain Middle East carriers have been using traffic from India to create airport hubs in their home bases at the country's cost, and is opposed to an immediate increase in bilateral flying rights.
...
Aviation ministry officials, including minister Raju, feel that flying rights to Dubai should be increased as both sides have exhausted their quotas. Also, many Indian carriers are waiting to add flights to Dubai.

Raju told ET that bilateral flying rights should be increased immediately and a long-term plan can be formulated later. "The aviation policy says that unless our carriers reach 80% (of rights), we will not have negotiations with any country on bilaterals," he said. "In this case, carriers from both sides have utilised much above 80%."

The current policy, he said, has been formulated by the cabinet and there is no reason why it shouldn't be implemented. "We can always make a long-term plan on bilaterals, but the cabinet of the day has approved this policy that allows negotiations only after 80% seats (are) utilised. Also, we have worked a lot in ensuring that our carriers get slots at Dubai airport and that has helped our carriers. We can always make a comprehensive plan but bilateral entitlements should be negotiated. As it is, we are allocating incremental rights, taking into account their performance in the next two years," Raju told ET.

Direct flight to Dubai will ease the connectivity woes of several small cities in India. Hope this issue gets resolved soon and more points of call are allowed for Emirates.

It is interesting to know now AI claims it has WB pilot shortage, unless lot of pilots are retiring this cannot be true based on 2015-16 data.

During last FY, AI had 308 B777 pilots and 291 B787 pilots. At 840 hrs/year AI had under utilized 66 B777 pilots and 35 B787 pilots.

In fact only 2 B777 pilots worked more than 840 hrs during last year. AI management said, because of FDTL rules they couldn't utilize the crew to full extent.

IndiGo announces its next round of international expansion with the following routes:

Bengaluru-Singapore effective 30JUN

6E073 BLR2120 - 0430+1SIN 320 D
6E058 SIN0530 - 0800BLR 320 D

Chennai-Doha effective 20JUL

6E1707 MAA0030 - 0245DOH 320 D
6E1706 DOH1430 - 2130MAA 320 D

Kozhikode-Doha effective 20JUL

6E1711 CCJ1135 - 1330DOH 320 D
6E1712 DOH0345 - 1030CCJ 320 D

A thread on the subject went unanswered despite over 200 views so asking here, do you think Jetstar could setup an Indian subsidiary?

Under Alan Joyce the Qantas group have been extremely conservative, so I don't think they will be interested in the Indian market. Even if they do, they will not be able to make a dent in the domestic market (Indigo will eat them up) nor do they have a strong hub where they can provide meaningful connections to Indians. Their Singapore operations is much smaller than Air Asia in KUL, so they cannot hope to be feeder airline like I5 intends to become once they start international operations.

Anybody can start an airline but environment doesn't help to succeed.

AFAIK, main missing link is ability to borrow affordable working capital loans freely. Either most assume it is like any other country or think they will be able to manage with available local sources.

Don't assume you can micro manage the airline from outside, irrespective of whether you like or trust your local management.
Don't assume you can wire transfer money as needed.

Only guaranteed way an investor can succeed is to start an airline with $1B - $2B initial capital.

A non-av equivalent example, any one can get pregnant, can they deliver a healthy baby and survive. India still has high infant mortality rate as far as airlines goes.

Cebu Pacific and Philippines Air Asia are seeking rights to serve India, Philippine Airlines might lose theirs if CP gets it, which is what they are trying to do according to Flightglobal.

CanadaFair wrote:

A thread on the subject went unanswered despite over 200 views so asking here, do you think Jetstar could setup an Indian subsidiary?

Ideally, they should since the law permits it.

However, the major issue is most airlines are rehasing routes out of BOM/DEL with the exception of Indigo. The markets that are underserved are: a) Tier-II cities b) connectivity to SE Asia and beyond. The ME3 take care of connectivity fairly well to West of India.

Perhaps, Jetstar should ponder those 2 markets. SQ is not exactly set-up to operate in a value market like India. I suspect they may find some easy pickings.