unrave wrote:

CAPA expects Indian domestic market to touch 150m passengers by 2019

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 712636.cms

By March 2019, that link shows LCCs adding 124 to 130 aircraft. Even with replacements, how will the market grow that slowly?

Lightsaber

CaliguyNYC wrote:

unrave wrote:

CaliguyNYC wrote:

And India needs more seats to DXB why?

For starters, even Indian carriers have exhausted their quota and would want more bilateral seats to expand.

So again, what does Indian gain again?

This is frankly a very narrow minded view of things. Whether we like it or not UAE is very important to India for trade, investments, defence and employment.

No one is saying to turn back the clock and reduce seats. India and the UAE are very well linked.Pax that want the joy of connecting through DXB have tons of options. There are plenty of unused seats with AUH and other emirates. If the allocate to all emirates then Indian carriers can have more usable seats and so can EK. That’s why the GOI suggestion makes the most sense. Also airfares between DXB and India are not high. EK is Just desperate to feed their international hub. Why is that India’s problem? The GOI has done a good job of connecting a ton of indian cities to the Middle East. Now it needs to help develop connectivity to EU, Asia, Africa, NA, Australia. Other than Europe, India has poor nonstop connectivity.

uh The Indian government should be focused on the benefits to the consumer NOT to the local Indian airlines ....

If EK wants to expand they should be allowed to it is only better for the customer.
airfares are not high? who makes that call? if airfares have the ability to go lower with greater supply it is better for the customer

Indian carriers are scared of EK because they are incompetent- the cannot provide the same level of service and be profitable
protectionism is terrible for the consumer and long term for the Airlines as well as they do not learn to adapt

The government needs to help develop ?!!!! are you kidding me

the government needs to get out.... AI is the biggest example of Indian government failure

all the best airports in India are run by private companies.

General Indian rule of thumb- the government is incompetent


What does India gain- more choice for the customer and more pressure on the incompetent Indian airlines that refuse to start nonstop flights
The government is for the people not for Indigo...

A question - Why have the new AI 77Ws (VT-ALW, and/or VT-ALV) been painted in AI colors and not left unpainted for the future retrofit into Air India One? I know one of them would be operating as a commercial airliner for AI but why waste paint money on the other(s) that would eventually get retrofitted?

JOYA380B747 wrote:

A question - Why have the new AI 77Ws (VT-ALW, and/or VT-ALV) been painted in AI colors and not left unpainted for the future retrofit into Air India One? I know one of them would be operating as a commercial airliner for AI but why waste paint money on the other(s) that would eventually get retrofitted?

Because thats not the way it is done in India. And despite the fantasies of some on this forum, it was never the plan.

What I think will happen is AI will place 3 77W's in "quick-swappable" rotations like BOM-HYD-JED-CCJ-JED-HYD-BOM or BOM-COK-RUH-CCJ-RUH-COK-BOM. 2 weeks before a VVIP flight, these 77W's will be pulled out and replaced with A321's or 787 on these rotations while the selected 77W's undergo a refit for VVIP travel. After the return from the special service, the 77W's are put back into rotation after re-re-configuration.

Just the way it is.

I suspect the difference this time will be that 3 of the oldest 77Ws will be equipped with a different layout for these duties. Maybe no first class, a denser business class (no lie flats) and all economy 3-3-3. More suitable for these short 4 hour segments. But I am speculating on this configuration part.

As per my information, the reconfiguration for VVIP service involves changes to layout ahead of the wing incorporating a private room for the VVIP and a meeting room. The rest of economy section is left untouched. And I guess extra powerful exhaust fans in the front section considering all the dhokla being consumed by the VVIP occupant these days.

Some modular electronics have been added for secure communication and EMP protection (???). When on VVIP service, these will occupy 3 container positions in the front cargo bay. As per my sources, 2 of them are locally developed while one package has been sourced from Israel (or Sweden?).

Air India will get a one-time grant of 750,000 euros from Israel for launching direct flights between New Delhi and Tel Aviv. The Ministry of Tourism will approve a grant to Air India in response to their request and according to the conditions of the directive, which includes a grant of 250,000 Euro per weekly flight, up to a total of three weekly flights

http://www.financialexpress.com/infrast ... t/1054604/

AI to start BOM SFO and make DEL SFO daily flight. So this will be the third USA route from Mumbai after NY, Newark.

IndiGo grounds three A320 neo planes on engine woes

The grounded aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney engines and the move follows a directive from European aviation safety regulator EASA.

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/pmP7J ... -woes.html

IndiGo has confirmed that A320 neo deliveries are stopped till further notice

Kashmon wrote:

CaliguyNYC wrote:

unrave wrote:

For starters, even Indian carriers have exhausted their quota and would want more bilateral seats to expand.


This is frankly a very narrow minded view of things. Whether we like it or not UAE is very important to India for trade, investments, defence and employment.

No one is saying to turn back the clock and reduce seats. India and the UAE are very well linked.Pax that want the joy of connecting through DXB have tons of options. There are plenty of unused seats with AUH and other emirates. If the allocate to all emirates then Indian carriers can have more usable seats and so can EK. That’s why the GOI suggestion makes the most sense. Also airfares between DXB and India are not high. EK is Just desperate to feed their international hub. Why is that India’s problem? The GOI has done a good job of connecting a ton of indian cities to the Middle East. Now it needs to help develop connectivity to EU, Asia, Africa, NA, Australia. Other than Europe, India has poor nonstop connectivity.

uh The Indian government should be focused on the benefits to the consumer NOT to the local Indian airlines ....

If EK wants to expand they should be allowed to it is only better for the customer.
airfares are not high? who makes that call? if airfares have the ability to go lower with greater supply it is better for the customer

Indian carriers are scared of EK because they are incompetent- the cannot provide the same level of service and be profitable
protectionism is terrible for the consumer and long term for the Airlines as well as they do not learn to adapt

The government needs to help develop ?!!!! are you kidding me

the government needs to get out.... AI is the biggest example of Indian government failure

all the best airports in India are run by private companies.

General Indian rule of thumb- the government is incompetent


What does India gain- more choice for the customer and more pressure on the incompetent Indian airlines that refuse to start nonstop flights
The government is for the people not for Indigo...

It’s a balance between the consumer and developing local business and jobs. Every govt stops cheap imports from flooding the local market and killing local manufacturing (dumping). Competition is good, seat dumping is not. And btw, the ME3’s goal is to push prices down, have the competition leave and then raise fares. Look at Pak hardly the bastion of low fares thanks to the ME3. So the govt is doing the right thing by ensureing there are a variety of airlines all competing. That is what benefits the consumer - choice. And the govt should absolutely ALSO be trying to increase aviation jobs. They are relatively good jobs in India. Inbound tourism also matters (out bound, not so much). Remember Dubai’s goal is using aviation to develop Dubai into a global city. Why is India wrong in trying to do the same? Because you want $100 fares to fly from TRV to DXB?

Private airport operators urge government to bar AAI from bidding for PPP projects

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 894992.cms

Should be a no brainer actually. The last thing you need from a PPP airport is AAI's quality.

IX is increasing it's presence at Madurai from this Summer by adding 3x frequency between Madurai and Singapore, with the flight coming from Cochin.

IX-484 -- COK 11:10 IXM 11:55 - 13:10 SIN 20:10

IX-483 -- SIN 21:15 IXM 23:05 - 00:15 COK 01:00

January 2018 traffic grows at 19.6%, making it the 41st consecutive month of double digit air traffic growth.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 949322.cms

nmraja wrote:

IX is increasing it's presence at Madurai from this Summer by adding 3x frequency between Madurai and Singapore, with the flight coming from Cochin.

IX-484 -- COK 11:10 IXM 11:55 - 13:10 SIN 20:10

IX-483 -- SIN 21:15 IXM 23:05 - 00:15 COK 01:00

Way to go IX. I have been expecting a day time flight to SIN from IXM for a long time.
Can you also cite the reference plz? I couldn't come across on the internet.

Is there any news regarding flights from IXM to KUL?

unrave wrote:

Private airport operators urge government to bar AAI from bidding for PPP projects

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 894992.cms

Should be a no brainer actually. The last thing you need from a PPP airport is AAI's quality.

Sounds like protectionism and crony capitalism to me. Why shouldn't AAI bid for PPP projects, especially when the actual construction is tendered out anyway? I haven't see the new terminals in MAA, but I have seen the new terminal at CCU and it is quite good. There are issues w.r.t. cleanliness and availability of carts, but technically that is outsourced to private contractors and AAI doesn't actually manage those employees, so I don't know what AAI can do other than fine and perhaps bar the contractors for not meeting service obligations.

In contrast, only BOM and COK has been success stories for the private operators. DEL has been mismanaged, going from a masterplan to construct 4 new interconnected terminals (T3,T4,T5 and T6) to having to having one new Terminal T3 and refurbishment of old T1 and T2 terminals. BLR is already bursting at the seams and if I remember correctly, the second terminal construction hasn't been started yet. So how are private airport operators in India substantially better than AAI?

MAA international is a Joke compared to BLR and HYD.long lines .poor amenities and long walks from gate to Immigration while Desi 's with contacts zooms in electric carts.
In addition Local political parties prevent expansion by blocking land acquisition.And so we suffer,In and Out of MAA>

devmapper wrote:

So how are private airport operators in India substantially better than AAI?

For starters, stuff like glass ceiling collapses don't occur in private airports, and definitely not the 70+ times that we have seen in MAA. The difference in quality between the AAI built airports and private airports is stark.

DEL's master plan has been tweaked because the growth has been much higher than expected. The airport has grown from ~28m to 63m in 7 years. BLR is proceeding with the phased expansion of terminals and runways.

In my opinion the role of AAI should be restricted to running remote/unprofitable airports using the money from its revenue share of the private airports.

studentdrbev wrote:

Way to go IX. I have been expecting a day time flight to SIN from IXM for a long time.
Can you also cite the reference plz? I couldn't come across on the internet.

Is there any news regarding flights from IXM to KUL?

Here you go: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mad ... 769794.ece

IXM is not part of the ASEAN bilateral so the only hope is to wait for Air Asia India to begin their international operations.

Vistara Launches Delhi - Madras flight, It will also start Madras - Port Blair from 1st March.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 931485.cms

unrave wrote:

IXM is not part of the ASEAN bilateral so the only hope is to wait for Air Asia India to begin their international operations.

Is it the same and only reason that no Indian carriers fly to Malaysia? I have noticed only Malaysian carriers like AIrAsia Berhad, Malindo, Malaysia Airlines and Indonesian carrier Batik connect Indian cities to Malaysia.

Twice daily nonstops: Air India looks at SFO on weekends and to Australia thrice a week. DEL-LAX no longer in plans.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 962557.cms

Not sure if posted here, but seems like Vistara will base 3 more aircrafts in BLR(1 at present) & begin AMD & COK services from the city.

killswitch13 wrote:

Twice daily nonstops: Air India looks at SFO on weekends and to Australia thrice a week. DEL-LAX no longer in plans.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 962557.cms

6 times weekly from Delhi and 3 weekly from Mumbai are their plans for San Francisco. This is a good way of utilizing both hubs. They have to somehow time the Mumbai one at around 1:30 am so that they can use the same domestic bank feeding their Newark flight. Well they have their own lounge at SFO.

binayak wrote:

killswitch13 wrote:

Twice daily nonstops: Air India looks at SFO on weekends and to Australia thrice a week. DEL-LAX no longer in plans.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 962557.cms

6 times weekly from Delhi and 3 weekly from Mumbai are their plans for San Francisco. This is a good way of utilizing both hubs. They have to somehow time the Mumbai one at around 1:30 am so that they can use the same domestic bank feeding their Newark flight. Well they have their own lounge at SFO.

It doesn't mention BOM anywhere !!

unrave wrote:

devmapper wrote:

So how are private airport operators in India substantially better than AAI?

For starters, stuff like glass ceiling collapses don't occur in private airports, and definitely not the 70+ times that we have seen in MAA. The difference in quality between the AAI built airports and private airports is stark.

I thought MAA terminals were built by private contractors.

unrave wrote:

DEL's master plan has been tweaked because the growth has been much higher than expected. The airport has grown from ~28m to 63m in 7 years. BLR is proceeding with the phased expansion of terminals and runways.

So the private operator is so incompetent that they could not get construction started on T4 (which was to be completed by 2016) and instead goes for a stop-gap upgrade of T1. Brilliant!! How will they cope with the projected massive increase in passenger numbers by 2020?
T4 was to have been an international terminal that could have provided a sterile area for Indian airlines to bring in transit passengers through. Perhaps the airlines could have even lobbied the MHA to not require transit visas for people stopping over for less than 6 hours if they had a sterile transit area in T4.

unrave wrote:

In my opinion the role of AAI should be restricted to running remote/unprofitable airports using the money from its revenue share of the private airports.

That is the very definition of crony capitalism. It privatizes the profits and socializes losses. If you don't want AAI as a government owned entity from managing profitable airports, then they shouldn't be expected to handle unprofitable airports.

killswitch13 wrote:

binayak wrote:

killswitch13 wrote:

Twice daily nonstops: Air India looks at SFO on weekends and to Australia thrice a week. DEL-LAX no longer in plans.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 962557.cms

6 times weekly from Delhi and 3 weekly from Mumbai are their plans for San Francisco. This is a good way of utilizing both hubs. They have to somehow time the Mumbai one at around 1:30 am so that they can use the same domestic bank feeding their Newark flight. Well they have their own lounge at SFO.

It doesn't mention BOM anywhere !!

BOM has runway restrictions (due to the presence of illegal hoardings in the flight path) which means long-range aircraft have to take off with lighter loads. For example, the BOM-EWR often flies without a portion of the luggage. It is unlikely any aircraft today would be able to safely takeoff from BOM loaded with enough fuel to make BOM-SFO work.

devmapper wrote:

I thought MAA terminals were built by private contractors.

This is the airport that we were promised when MAA expansion began in 2011. What we got was a poor replica with shoddy construction and half the facilities missing. AAI cannot wash its hands by laying the blame on the construction companies. As the project coordinator it was their job to ensure the airport was built to acceptable standards, and they failed miserably at it.

I do not know the reasons behind the delay in the construction of T4, someone who follows DEL development more closely might have an answer, but this much is true - privatisation of both DEL and BOM have transformed them form dingy tin sheds to world class airports.

That is the very definition of crony capitalism. It privatizes the profits and socializes losses. If you don't want AAI as a government owned entity from managing profitable airports, then they shouldn't be expected to handle unprofitable airports.

No, it is not. I am sure you are aware of AAI's revenue shares from DEL (45.99%) and BOM (38.7%) - not profit shares, but straight revenue shares - that form the bulk of AAI's income. Given the traffic growth witnessed over the last 10 years, more number of Indian airports would have become profitable, so it is in everybody's interest if those airports are handed over to private operators and AAI uses the revenue share to run the otherwise unprofitable airports. This ensures that fliers to the profitable airports get access to better quality amenities and facilities, while taxpayers need not subsidise the smaller airports.

*Rumour*
Gulf Air is returning back to Bengaluru with daily flights from 1st May 2018. Currently BAH is one of the Unserved Destination from the city

I have earlier mentioned it in the thread that air India will start Mumbai San Francisco when the same was published by four newspapers. They had one 777 and they could either start three services from Mumbai or one more service from Delhi. They have chosen the first one. The articles being published by newspaper in the past one month about AI if related properly will reveal that 3 services from Mumbai is what AI is looking for.

The hoardings near Mumbai runway have been removed long back
Mumbai Newark air India flight now operates just like any other and is profitable also.

sand26391 wrote:

*Rumour*
Gulf Air is returning back to Bengaluru with daily flights from 1st May 2018. Currently BAH is one of the Unserved Destination from the city

Not a rumor!
GULF AIR to launch DAILY flights btw Bengaluru & Bahrain from 1st MAY using A320 aircraft. Bookings open on GF website.

On Mon,Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun
GF282 BAH 2045 0335 BLR
GF283 BLR 0425 0635 BAH

On Tue & Thur
GF281 BAH 1415 2105 BLR
GF280 BLR 2200 0010 BAH

That makes BLR the seventh destination for GF. Does anybody know what the current bilateral seat entitlements are between India and Bahrain?

Air India increases DEL-SFO

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... ce-in-s18/

AI173 DEL0400 – 0700SFO 77L x2
AI183 DEL1800 – 2030SFO 77L 257

AI184 SFO0100 – 0600+1DEL 77L 136
AI174 SFO1130 – 1615+1DEL 77L x2

VTORD wrote:

Air India increases DEL-SFO

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... ce-in-s18/

AI173 DEL0400 – 0700SFO 77L x2
AI183 DEL1800 – 2030SFO 77L 257

AI184 SFO0100 – 0600+1DEL 77L 136
AI174 SFO1130 – 1615+1DEL 77L x2

So BOM-SFO doesn't happen anymore

Yes you are right. What to do you say. This was the article I was talking about.
https://m.timesofindia.com/business/ind ... 792744.cms
If newspapers publish wrong information and this one was claimed by a senior official of AI. Things must be published only once they are final. We don't want to know about their plans.
Being a resident of Mumbai I was excited that my home airport is getting a route to West coast of USA. Well this is a lesson not to trust any newspaper article about new routes till the bookings for the same start. Even last year there were articles about air India starting BOM FRA and BOM JNB but no movement from their side.

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

binayak wrote:

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

Another useless route is starting today. Amritsar to Birmingham. Another political stunt.

binayak wrote:

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

Privatisation can't come soon enough for this sorry excuse of an airline. However, I don't think anybody who buys AI is going to expand its international network out of BOM. That will have to wait till 9W figure out what to do with their 787s on order

unrave wrote:

binayak wrote:

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

Privatisation can't come soon enough for this sorry excuse of an airline. However, I don't think anybody who buys AI is going to expand its international network out of BOM. That will have to wait till 9W figure out what to do with their 787s on order

9W has been a big letdown. When it had a favourable civil aviation minister who killed AI routes for it , and did all their bidding, they couldn't strategize properly and let Indigo walk all over them. At one time, they were the dominant domestic airline in India. Now, they are 2nd position by a huge margin and still appear clueless.

Agreed. Their route planning was simply incompetent to plan an international expansion. I think they became too confident with their domestic success and tried to replicate it overseas, but you can't bribe a foreign carrier out of competition. At one point they even operated such ridiculous routes as BOM-PVG-SFO, then the GFC happened and it is all history.

It's impressive how quickly SFO was increased to nine weekly flights. Was Emirates number one on this market before direct flights were introduced? Does AI offer convenient connections on both ends?

IndiGo is in talks to launch DEL-BEG flights after Serbia became the only European country to abolish visas for Indian citizens.

http://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/02/ind ... mment-form

I had a question.
Can't Air India use B77W on LKO DEL route for AI 991?
This flight operates from LKO to DEL on A321 and further to JED on B777. LKO is perfectly capable of handling B777 and traffic is also not a problem as migrant workers from UP and Bihar may find it easier to fly from LKO. Saudi also operates A330 from Riyadh to Lucknow.
Also why can't there be direct AI flight between LKO and Middle East?

Blerg wrote:

IndiGo is in talks to launch DEL-BEG flights after Serbia became the only European country to abolish visas for Indian citizens.

http://www.exyuaviation.com/2018/02/ind ... mment-form

Interesting. Didn't know Serbia has abolished visas for Indians. Will a A321neo be able to do DEL-BEG?

Blerg wrote:

It's impressive how quickly SFO was increased to nine weekly flights. Was Emirates number one on this market before direct flights were introduced? Does AI offer convenient connections on both ends?

it could have been LH or CX as well....

Blerg wrote:

It's impressive how quickly SFO was increased to nine weekly flights. Was Emirates number one on this market before direct flights were introduced? Does AI offer convenient connections on both ends?

Air India offers connections at only DEL end and not San Francisco end. United airline does not cooperate with them. I tried to book LAX from their website but there were no results although they have a flight to the west coast.

unrave wrote:

Agreed. Their route planning was simply incompetent to plan an international expansion. I think they became too confident with their domestic success and tried to replicate it overseas, but you can't bribe a foreign carrier out of competition. At one point they even operated such ridiculous routes as BOM-PVG-SFO, then the GFC happened and it is all history.

Incompetent? Bro 9W was doing just what any other ambitious airline would. It was mainly 6E and not them who led to AI's downfall. Remember during that time ME3 were at dormant stage and there was no big competitor. Their service standards were better than the European ones. Routes like BOM PVG SFO were not ridiculous. Only one stop routes to USA from India were prevalent at that time. That route could have worked well if jet airways would have been in any alliance at that time. Both BOM PVG and PVG SFO were high demand. Every route planned by jet had some reason be it this one or DEL MXP. At least they did not launch something like ATQ BHX!!!!

unrave wrote:

devmapper wrote:

DEL's master plan has been tweaked because the growth has been much higher than expected. The airport has grown from ~28m to 63m in 7 years. BLR is proceeding with the phased expansion of terminals and runways.

Is 63m the latest official data, because as far as I know it was 57m last financial year.

JOYA380B747 wrote:

Is 63m the latest official data, because as far as I know it was 57m last financial year.

63m is the official pax count for CY2017. For FY 2017-18 it is likely to be ~66m

killswitch13 wrote:

binayak wrote:

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

Another useless route is starting today. Amritsar to Birmingham. Another political stunt.

These are routes with 'real' traffic; Air India is so incompetent that it is unable to make money. So long as it survives on the tax payer's dime, it has no cause to complaint.

If AI want's to have the right 'not to serve' a particular market, that is reasonable request. However, it should require:
a) no restrictions whatsoever for competing airlines to serve overseas
b) not being bailed out by tax payer's money

vadodara wrote:

killswitch13 wrote:

binayak wrote:

Well one thing I don't know whether you all have noticed or not now all of AI USA routes are making money except one. It's the AMD LHR EWR one. I think unless politics is not removed from the airline, it won't come back on track. We had an entire thread on that route and it was obvious that such politically motivated routes are not for profits but are just to please our PM.

Another useless route is starting today. Amritsar to Birmingham. Another political stunt.

These are routes with 'real' traffic; Air India is so incompetent that it is unable to make money. So long as it survives on the tax payer's dime, it has no cause to complaint.

If AI want's to have the right 'not to serve' a particular market, that is reasonable request. However, it should require:
a) no restrictions whatsoever for competing airlines to serve overseas
b) not being bailed out by tax payer's money

Sorry but those routes just have few low yielding VFR traffic only. If they really had good traffic, then many other airlines would also have tried to serve them. The main reason for their failure is lack of business traffic.