In Brief

A-I Start Off Toronto Service

The national carrier after a gap of eight years re-started their service to Toronto with three flights a week from Delhi to Birmingham and Toronto via Amritsar in May. The state-of-the art Boeing 777-222 ER aircraft is being used on the route on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. With this reconnection, the state of Punjab would certainly benefit from the direct and convenient services. The introduction of the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto service will take the number of flights operated by Air-India to Britain from 18 to 21 a week.

The national carrier also plans to add three more flights - on the Delhi-Dhaka-Kolkata-London sector from June 18 - to increase its flights to Britain to 24 a week.

Kingfisher Takes To The Skies

The low cost phenomenon is finally taking off in India, Kingfisher Airlines finally commenced its operations on the Bangalore-Mumbai route. Having announced the fare structure on its Mumbai-Bangalore route launched on May 9, 2005, it began operations with a double daily service in both directions and from May 20 increased the service to thrice daily in both directions. In order to simplify things, the airline is operating under three fare levels for all flights. A total of 33 brand new Airbus aircraft on order 10 A320s and three A319s are on firm order, with options for buying a further 20 aircraft. All aircraft are powered by International Aero-Engines (IAE) V2500-A5.

Air Deccan To Set Up Training School

Air Deccan has announced its intent to set up an international standard school for training pilots, engineers and aircrew. The need has risen from the current spate of poaching of its aircrew including co-pilots and engineers by competitors. The airline decided to meet the problem head on. The institution that has an overall investment around US$ 25 million would not only meet the captive requirements of Air Deccan but also provide training facilities to other airlines in India and abroad.

MH Eyes Potent India, China Markets

With the positive growth trend in the Indian aviation, Malaysia Airlines is one of the airlines which plans to cash in on this sector. In a recent development, officials of the airline revealed their plans to expand its Indian operations in a big way in a bid to get closer to the estimated 30-crore prospective Indian flyers.

The opening up of the skies for Indian domestic carriers have in fact opened the doors for more negotiations for traffic rights, wherein the airline expects to get four traffic rights in the next two years. Malaysia Airline has daily flights to Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi and thrice a week trips to Bangalore and Hyderabad, has also introduced flights from Ahmedabad and Kolkata in January. Plans are afoot to launch three flights to Kochi and Trichy to cater to the huge inbound customers as early as November. Another sector is Punjab, wherein a commercial aviation study for thrice a week flights from Amritsar by November has been completed. The target is to have 40 flights by the end of the year keeping in line with its long-term growth plans for India.

Increased India-Pak Flights On The Anvil

The recent launch of the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight saw a lot of promises for the aviation sector. The civil aviation minister, Praful Patel was also keen to link more destinations in Pakistan by its national carrier, but was unable to do so because of restrictions on increasing air connectivity despite improvement in bilateral ties. On the issue of increasing flights to Pakistan, India was keen that more carriers, including Air-India and private airlines, fly to destinations in Pakistan like Karachi and Lahore, but there were some limitations. Air-India has announced its intent to launch services to Lahore and Karachi, besides Indian Airlines which was already operating to Lahore.

Air France Plans Bangalore Frequency

In a bid to increase its flights into India, Air Franc has announced its intent to start operating five flights a week out of Bangalore from October 31 2005, that would take the airline's weekly services out of India to 26. Currently, the airline operates only out of Delhi and Mumbai but certainly sees Bangalore as big potential. For the other southern markets especially Chennai, it services the market with a code-share on Delta Air Lines, its Sky Team Alliance partner.

Lufthansa, Connexion by Boeing Value In-Flight Service

Lufthansa and Connexion by Boeing announced their partnership to provide high-speed, in-flight Internet access. Based on research conducted with passengers, the FlyNet® portal, which includes Internet access from Connexion By BoeingSM, is helping passengers to not only be productive in flight, but is also affording them with new entertainment options.

In an early sampling of approximately 1,600 passengers who have used the Connexion by Boeing service, research showed the following: two-thirds of passengers are very satisfied with the overall service and 93 per cent are either satisfied or very satisfied. One out of three customers surveyed has used the service two-to-four times already and the top four usage applications are sending and receiving e-mail, accessing the Internet for general information, accessing company intranets and using the Internet for financial service transactions. While lastly, 85 per cent indicated the availability of high-speed Internet access would have an impact on their future choice of airlines.

Air Sahara Maiden Journey To Changi

Air Sahara's maiden flight to Singapore was well received with great expectations as more passenger traffic between Singapore and India is expected and Changi Airport is poised to handle the fast growing passenger traffic between Singapore and India, this year.

Said Wong Woon Liong, director-general of civil aviation, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), "The airline's entry into the Singapore-India market occurs at a most opportune time, given the fast growing traffic between our two countries. In 2004, traffic between Singapore and India grew by 21 per cent as compared to pre-SARS level in 2002. For the Singapore-Delhi sector alone, traffic grew by some 23 per cent in 2004, as compared to 2002." A ceremony was held to welcome Air Sahara's president, Rono Joy Dutta, and his delegation on-board the maiden flight. Air Sahara will operate 14 weekly flights between New Delhi and Singapore.

Gulf Air Introduces Four Non-Stop Flights To London

Gulf Air will soon introduce four more non-stop flights between Muscat and London. Following the success of the daily, non-stop flights from Muscat to London Heathrow, the new flights will further reinforce Gulf Air's position as the biggest operator to the Gulf from Heathrow. All flights will be on Gulf Air's luxurious ultra-long haul Airbus A330 aircraft, which are currently undergoing a major refurbishment programme as part of a US$10 million upgradation programme.

WiFi Internet Service At Doha Airport Lounges

Qatar Airways recently launched an innovative high-tech service for its passengers, providing them with wireless Internet access at Doha International Airport. The new service allows passengers to browse the Internet through personal laptops without connecting to a phone line. The new free of charge service is available in both the First Class and Business class lounges, in addition to the Oryx lounge at Doha International Airport. This service is also available for economy passengers who are using Al Maha "Meet and Assist" services. Wireless Internet access will enable passengers to connect directly to the Internet through laptops, which are equipped with wireless connections, or through using a wireless modem card available through Al Maha services, or the airport First and Business class lounges.

SpiceJet, KLM Tie-Up

SpiceJet, that recently commenced its services entered into a strategic tie-up with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) that will see the oil major become the airlines major re-fuelling partner in India. The airline has also entered into an agreement with the Dutch airlines, KLM, for maintenance support.