Page 28 - Air India

IndiGo among worst airlines globally: How claim processing impacts ranking

Take a look at the top 10 best and worst-performing airlines of 2024

Air India Express announces launch of 4 new routes from Bhubaneswar

Air India Express on Tuesday announced the launch of four new routes from Bhubaneswar as a part of the airline's expansion plan in eastern India. These services will connect the Odisha capital to Jaipur, Lucknow, Kochi and Patna, the airline said in a statement. This expansion reinforces Bhubaneswar's connectivity to key regional and cultural centres across India, it said. The services to Jaipur and Kochi will commence on January 3, 2025, followed by the launch of flights to Lucknow on January 4 and Patna on January 15, the statement said. Bookings are now open. The Bhubaneswar-Jaipur flight will operate four days a week - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while the Bhubaneswar-Kochi and Bhubaneswar-Patna flights will operate daily. The Bhubaneswar-Lucknow flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Additionally, the airline showcased Odisha's cultural heritage with its 'Ikat livery', beautifully displayed on one of its newest aircraft, the airline statement

Artistes voice concern over Air India baggage rule, extra seat issue

The enforcement of a rule by Air India that restricts carrying large musical instruments as cabin luggage has Indian artistes concerned who flagged the larger issue of baggage mishandling that allegedly ails all airlines across the board. Days after Zubin Balaporia, keyboardist of Indus Creed band, took to Facebook against Air India's extremely discriminating policy. Other musicians have also shared their concerns about the way musical instruments are handled by airlines, resulting in damaged or lost luggage at times. Earlier we were allowed to carry a guitar on board. Now they have stopped this and are asking musicians to pay for an extra seat for the guitar. This is ridiculous. Vistara used to allow guitars on board and IndiGo still does. Come on Air India - TATA Group. Why have such a mercenary attitude. Surely you help in promoting the arts. Have a heart and regain your soul," Balaporia wrote on the social media platform. Meanwhile, a statement by Air India to PTI clarified that

'Pilots are mentally strong:' Air India pilot's uncle refutes suicide claim

Family members of the Air India pilot found dead at her Mumbai home have alleged that her boyfriend would humiliate her publicly, harass her mentally and extort money

Air India sale: 20% discount, no convenience fee, extra savings with UPI

Bookings under sale are open from 0001 hours IST of 29 November 2024 to 2359 hours IST of 02 December 2024, for travel until 30 June 2025 (except for flights between India and Australia, North America

Alcohol-related incidents on Air India flights down in past two years: CEO

He also highlighted the addition of around 9,000 new employees during this period, which significantly reduced the average age of staff from 54 to 35. The average age of cabin crew is now 28

India will have more than two major airlines: Air India CEO Campbell Wilson

Tata group's airlines to add 100 planes to fleet by 2027, says Campbell Wilson

Air India transformation is Test match, not T20; more work to do: Campbell

Air India's transformation journey is a cricket Test match and not a T20, and currently, it is like lunch on the third day of a Test match, the airline's Chief Campbell Wilson said on Thursday. Tata Group-owned Air India has embarked on an ambitious five-year transformation plan 'Vihaan.AI' and little over two years of the programme has been completed. "I acknowledge that we are not ultimately where we aspire to be and we have some work to do... There is a reason why Vihaan.AI programme is for five years... We are little over two years... the first years have been a good start," Wilson, who was born in New Zealand and took over the reins of Air India in 2022, said. "It is a Test match and not a T20, we are at about lunch on Day 3," Wilson, the CEO and MD of Air India, said during a select media briefing. A Test match is for five days while a T20 gets completed in less than four hours. Since Tatas took over Air India in January 2022, it has consolidated the airline business -- Air

Air India sees growth from domestic, short int'l flights in 2025: CEO

Air India will see most of the air traffic growth coming from domestic and short-haul international operations in 2025 as more narrow-body planes are joining the fleet and legacy wide-body aircraft will be going for retrofit next year, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Thursday. The Tata Group-owned airline, which has embarked on a five-year transformation journey, expects to have a fleet of 400 planes by 2027. Currently, the total fleet strength of Air India Group, including Air India Express, is around 300 aircraft. During a select media briefing, Wilson, who has been at the helm of Air India for more than two years, said the airline group has a domestic market share of around 29 per cent and 55 per cent on the metro to metro routes. On top 120 domestic routes, the market share is about 40 per cent, he said. According to him, the retrofit of legacy wide-body aircraft will start in early 2025. "We had hoped to start retrofit of 787s and 777s by now. Unfortunately, the

Flying Air India? You can have the Vistara experience on 5 prime routes

Such flights will operate with 'AI'-prefixed four-digit flight numbers beginning with '2', such as AI2999 from Delhi to Mumbai.

Air India urination case: SC exhorts Centre for guidelines on unruly flyers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre and aviation regulator DGCA to frame more comprehensive guidelines to control unruly air passengers and observed "something creative" had to be done. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan was hearing a plea filed by a 73-year-old woman, on whom a male co-passenger allegedly urinated in an inebriated condition on board an Air India flight in November, 2022. The septuagenarian sought directions to the Centre, the DGCA and all the air carriers to frame a standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with similar incidents. The bench, hearing the plea, asked Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to instruct the authorities concerned to examine and suitably modify the existing guidelines on unruly passengers, in line with the international norms. Interestingly, Justice Viswanathan shared his own experience while travelling with Justice Surya Kant when they encountered a similar incident. "We had a recent experience. Two passengers w

Air India Express increases flight operations from NE destinations

Low-cost airline Air India Express has announced an increase in flight operations from three major destinations in the northeast Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal as part of its winter schedule. This is part of the airlines' expansion of winter services across the country, it said in a statement here. Air India Express has increased its operations to 106 weekly flights from 63 last winter, from Guwahati. It provides direct connectivity to eight domestic destinations of Agartala, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur and Kolkata. The airline also provides one-stop connectivity to 18 domestic destinations and six international destinations from Guwahati. In Imphal, the airline hiked its weekly flights to 34 this season, an addition of 20 over last winter, the statement said. Since adding Agartala as a station in September 2024, the airline has increased its flights from 14 to 21 weekly, and connects two destinations Guwahati and Kolkata directly. It also offers one-s

Air India to offer integrated aircraft maintenance engineering programme

Air India on Friday said it will set up a Basic Maintenance Training Organisation (BMTO) that will offer an integrated aircraft maintenance engineering programme and the facility will be operational in mid-2026. The BMTO will be housed close to Air India's new 12-bay Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Bengaluru that will be operational in early 2026. The Tata Group-owned airline has inked an agreement with Bengaluru Airport City Ltd (BACL), a subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), to develop a build-to-suit facility for the programme. "The purpose-built campus, spread over 86,000 square feet at Bengaluru Airport City, is expected to be operational by mid-2026," a release said. The programme will include two years of in-classroom academic course work followed by two years of practical on the job training at the MRO. According to the release, the programme is designed to meet Air India's growing fleet maintenance requirements and provides specialis

Air India to set up aircraft maintenance training institute in Bengaluru

Air India on Friday said it is setting up a Basic Maintenance Training Organisation (BMTO), which will offer an integrated 2+2 years Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) programme certified by the Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The Air India BMTO is a step towards building a robust, future-ready aviation ecosystem in India, the company said. It will serve the ambitions of the airline as it moves ahead in its transformation journey, strengthening the availability of aircraft maintenance engineers as Air India expands its fleet, making it self-reliant, it said in a release. Air India has signed an agreement with Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL), a subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), to develop a build-to-suit facility for the AME programme that will feature modern classrooms, well-equipped laboratories for practical training and a team of qualified trainers. The purpose-built campus, spread over 86,000 square f

Over 370 flights delayed at Delhi airport as smog engulfs national capital

According to Flightradar24 data, till 2 PM, about 110 arrivals were delayed at the national capital's airport. Moreover, about 269 departures were also delayed at this airport

Air India-Vistara will deliver on 'sky-high expectations': N Chandrasekaran

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said the best qualities of Vistara are being brought to Air India, which was in decline for a number of systemic reasons when Tatas took over the airline two years back, and fulfil the "sky high expectations". "We are fully aware that expectations for the new Air India are sky high. We expect nothing less, and we expect to deliver nothing less," he said and asserted that the merged entity will be ready for the country's coming aviation revolution. Nearly two years after announcing the merger, the integration of Vistara with Air India was completed on November 12 and Singapore Airlines now has a 25.1 per cent in the enlarged Air India. Vistara was jointly owned by Tatas and Singapore Airlines. "Given our ambitions, this merger should be seen as part of a journey. Different parts of the business were at different points of maturity when the merger commenced, so they will take time to fully align," Chandrasekaran said in a LinkedIn ...

IndiGo, Air India cancel flights to Bali due to volcanic eruption

IndiGo and Air India on Wednesday cancelled their flights to Bali due to ash clouds from a volcanic eruption in the Indonesian island. The Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano located in a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted earlier this month and has resulted in ash clouds. These clouds could pose a threat to flight operations and as a result, many airlines have cancelled their services to Bali. "#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to a recent volcanic eruption in #Bali, flights to/from the region have been cancelled, as ash clouds may impact air travel," IndiGo said in a post on X. The airline operates a daily flight from Bengaluru to Bali. An official said Air India has cancelled its Bali flight. It operates a flight every day from Delhi to the Indonesian island. The service was being operated by Vistara, which has now been merged with Air India.

Air India-Vistara merger completed; Singapore Airlines gets 25.1% stake

The merger with Vistara will enable Air India to operate 5,600 weekly flights connecting 90 destinations with a fleet size of 208 aircraft

AI-Vistara merger now a reality; SIA to invest Rs 3,195 cr in merged entity

Marking a significant consolidation in the fast-growing Indian aviation space, Air India on Tuesday completed the Vistara merger to create an integrated airline, partly owned by Singapore Airlines, that will be flying over 1,20,000 passengers daily and connect more than 90 destinations. The completion of the much-awaited amalgamation, which was announced in November 2022, comes within six weeks of the integration of Air India Express and AIX Connect. The two mergers have created a full service carrier and a low-cost carrier of scale for the Tata Group, which is seeking to establish a "world class global aviation company with an Indian heart". Earlier in the day, the nearly 10-year-old Vistara -- a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines -- flew into the sunset and its last flight was from Delhi to Singapore. As part of the merger, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will invest an additional Rs 3,194.5 crore in the enlarged entity. The enlarged Air India will operate over 5,600 wee

Air India-Vistara merger complete; new entity to run 5,600+ weekly flights

Air India-Vistara merger: The combined airline will service 103 domestic and 71 international routes