Aviation

Snippets

Lufthansa ups frequency from Hyderabad

Lufthansa has announced the commencement of its daily non-stop fights between Frankfurt and Hyderabad from three times a week. In line with the announcement, it has launched an invitation offer to European destinations and the US. From 23 flights in 2003, the number of flights has gone up to 42 now, and it expects to add four more soon with another destination. The Lufthansa management is close to finalising plans for a centre possibly in Kolkata, and is also exploring options within Maharashtra, other than Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

BA plans more frequencies from Bangalore

The response on the new flight connecting Bangalore with London has led British Airways to advance its plans and add more frequencies out of Bangalore. The airline has made a number of announcements recently for the Indian customer, including the launch of double dailies in Mumbai and Delhi, effective April 2006. It will also increase the number of flights from Bangalore to London from five to six per week from May 2006. It will operate 42 non-stop flights (per week), compared to previous 35, between various cities in India and London Heathrow.

Jagson to start flights from Pondicherry

Delhi-based Jagson Airlines will be the first commercial airline, after 13 years, to begin operations from Pondicherry from this month. The airline, which will fly an 18-seater Dornier 228 aircraft, will link Pondicherry to Chennai, Tirupati and Bangalore, operating a total of six flights a day between the three sectors. Speaking to ETW, Vinod Malhotra, chief general manager, Jagson Airlines, said, "We realised that Pondicherry is the only state capital to have no air connectivity and there is heavy traffic from the Union Territory to Tirupati and Bangalore, which is a very fertile ground because of the extensive corporate travel. Initially, we will fly just one aircraft between the three sectors and want a hub at Pondicherry." Jagson is expected to start flying from the first week of April.

Air India Express begins TN-Dubai flights

Air India Express, the low cost arm of Air India, will connect Trichy to Dubai by June 2006 making it the first Air India Express flight connecting Tamil Nadu to Dubai. Presently, the airline is conducting a feasibility report at the Trichy airport. Airline sources said that it will begin operating four flights a week to Dubai. It recently started Chennai-Kuala Lampur and Chennai-Singapore with a frequency of six flights every week.

Qatar Airways unveils new look

Qatar Airways unveiled its new look, from new aircraft livery to innovative onboard products. The airline will now introduce redesigned livery on the newest addition to its rapidly-growing fleet - the Airbus A340-600 High Gross Weight (HGW) aircraft. The new A340-600 will also be equipped with a dedicated First Class lounge. To further simplify passenger travel, Qatar has also introduced e-ticketing for flights departing from May 1.

SpiceJet adds new generation Boeing to its fleet

SpiceJet introduced its first self owned Boeing 737-800 new generation blended winglet aircraft at the Mumbai airport with the Delhi-Goa-Delhi (via Mumbai) flight. Siddhanta Sharma, chairman, SpiceJet, said "We are proud to dedicate India's first blended winglet aircraft to our customers. This is the first in a series of 10 new generation Boeing aircrafts that SpiceJet has ordered. In addition to the present order of 10 Boeing 737-800s, we have also confirmed our options to buy 10 more of these advanced aircrafts."

Emirates to raise capacity to India

Dubai-based Emirates airline has announced plans to start services to Kolkata and Bangalore. The Kolkata flight launched on March 26 and the one to Bangalore on October 29, taking the number of its flights to India to 71. Emirates has a presence in six cities, the latest being a flight to Thiruvananthapuram since February 2006.