Page 2 - Air Travel In India

IndiGo Q4 results: Net profit doubles amid high demand for air travel

Set to offer business class by end of this year

Goa top summer destination; Puri, Varanasi lead in pilgrims: MakeMyTrip

Among international destinations, while Dubai remains the top choice, Baku in Azerbaijan, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and Nagoya in Japan are recording the highest growth in searches

Akasa Air now allows carriage of pets weighing up to 10 kg in cabin

Akasa Air passengers can now carry pets that weigh up to 10 kilograms in the cabin of domestic flights, with the airline on Wednesday saying the enhancement to its pet travel service has been done after taking customer feedback into consideration. In November 2022, the airline introduced the service wherein passengers have been allowed to travel on domestic flights with their cats and dogs in the cabin or cargo, based on their weight. "As part of the enhancements, Akasa Air now allows customers to travel with pets weighing up to 10 kg (including the weight of the container) in the cabin -- an increase from the previous limit of 7 kg. This change has been introduced keeping customer feedback in mind, reflecting the airline's commitment to continuously enhance its services to meet the evolving travel needs of its customers," the airline said in a release. In the cargo, pets weighing up to 32 kg are allowed by Akasa Air. According to the release, the airline has carried more than 3,20

Indians prepare for summer travel despite heat waves, soaring fares: Report

IMD expects May 2024 to record a higher than normal number of heat wave days in various parts of the country

Passengers may exit from departure gate; BCAS issues new airport guidelines

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has introduced new guidelines in case of flight delays and congestion at airports, ahead of the summer travel season

Over 44% passengers paid extra charges on booking flight tickets: Survey

As much as 44 per cent respondents in a survey complained that they had to pay extra charges to get a seat at the time of purchase of a flight ticket. Many of the respondents also reported paying between Rs 200 and Rs 2,000 as seat allocation fee, which can amount to 5-40 per cent of the air fare, LocalCircles, which carried out the survey, said in a statement. It also said there has been a very marginal improvement in the last 12 months in the ability of consumers to get a free seat when booking their flight. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and consumer regulator CCPA late last year convened a meeting of the airlines on the issue and questioned them about the alleged unfair trade practices and misleading claims of "free" web check-in, it said. The new survey, which received over 41,000 responses from consumers across 339 districts of the country, has focused on fliers' problems when booking for travel with family members, particularly young children, LocalCircles said. According

SpiceJet adds 10 aircraft to fleet ahead of busy summer schedule

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has finalised lease agreements for 10 aircraft to ensure seamless travel during the upcoming summer season

Supply chain issues to hit aircraft deliveries for Indian airlines: Report

Aircraft deliveries to domestic airlines are likely to be impacted amid the supply chain challenges being faced by aircraft and engine makers, a report said on Wednesday. In its report, credit rating agency Icra said Indian airlines have a total order book of around 1,700 aircraft, which is more than double the size of the current fleet. Supply chain challenges and engine failure issues remain the headwinds in the near term, Icra said in its mid-term outlook on the domestic aviation industry. "The deliveries, however, are likely to be gradual, spanning over the next decade, and will also be impacted by the current supply chain challenges encountered by engine and aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)," it said. India is one of the fastest-growing civil aviation markets and domestic air traffic is on the rise. Airlines have also embarked on ambitious expansion plans to cater to the increasing travel demand. Since February last year, Akasa Air, Air India and IndiGo togeth

India needs over 2,500 new aircraft deliveries by 2042: Boeing outlook

Backed by high traffic growth, India will need more than 2,500 new aircraft deliveries by 2042, Darren Hulst, Boeing vice-president of Commercial Marketing said on Friday. Addressing a press conference, Hulst said to meet rising passenger and cargo demand, South Asian carriers are projected to quadruple the size of their fleets over the next two decades and they will require more than 2,705 new airplanes to address growth and fleet replacement. "Over 92 per cent of that (2,705) or over 2,500 (aircraft India will need) by 2042. It is based on the (forecast given in) middle of the last year," he told reporters. "We project that carriers here (South Asia including India) will need more than 2,700 aircraft deliveries by the year 2042," he said, adding a similar composition of the fleet with more than 2,300 single aisle, nearly 400 wide body aircraft for long haul. According to Boeing, India is the only large economy, a large market in Asia that has evolved to pre-pandemic levels both .

SpiceJet passenger gets stuck in lavatory mid-air, airline apologises

For almost an hour, a SpiceJet passenger was stuck inside an aircraft lavatory mid-air, a cabin crew slipped in a note saying "do not panic" and finally the passenger came out after an engineer opened the door on landing at the Bengaluru airport. Malfunctioning of the lavatory door led to the passenger getting stuck onboard the flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru on Tuesday. The flight was operated with a Boeing 737-8 aircraft. SpiceJet apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passenger and will also provide a full refund. As the passenger kept waiting in the lavatory, a cabin crew slipped in a note asking the passenger not to panic and that despite trying their best, the door could not be opened. "Do not panic, we are landing in few mins, so please close the comode lid and sit on it and secure urself as soon as the main door is open, engineer will come. Do not panic," the handwritten note widely shared on social media said. An official said the Directorate General of Civil Avia

The 10 best budget travel destinations for 2024; all details inside

The astonishing variety of travel places in India has to be seen to be believed. Tourists have given lifetimes to exploring the popular places and neglected corners of this incredible country

New FDTL norms will not affect Akasa Air's flight schedule: CEO Vinay Dube

The new mandate has increased weekly rest periods for flight crew to 48 hours in a week from the previous 36 hours

Delhi Airport chaos continues as dense fog delays 30 flights, cancels 17

Freezing temperatures and low visibility due to dense fogs in Indira Gandhi International Airport disrupt travel plans in north India for a second day; DGCA calls for real-time flight updates

DGCA to enhance regulatory capacity to induct more planes this year

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday said there are a total of 16 airlines in the country that are operating with 771 aircraft.The DGCA informed through an official statement on Thursday that in line with the anticipated increase in aircraft inductions in 2024, it was suitably enhancing its regulatory capacity to further speed up the regulatory approvals related to the induction of aircraft.It informed further that the DGCA grants Air Operator Certificates (AOC) to Airline Operators for undertaking Scheduled and Scheduled Commuter Air transport Services. As of December 31, 2023, there are a total of 16 AOC holders endorsed with a total of 771 aircraft, the topmost regulatory authority for flight operations informed.In addition, DGCA has permitted airline operators to induct 21 aircraft on a wet/damp lease basis in 2023 to cater for capacity shortfall due to the grounding of aircraft.Last year, the scheduled operators inducted a total of 112 aircraft in their fleet ...

Time-consuming training, pilot shortages causing fog-related flight delays

During the pandemic, only a few pilots could train on these simulators as these enclosed spaces carried a high risk of transmission, exacerbating the challenge with simulator availability today

Air travel favourable option during new year, no festival surge in fare

This adjustment in airfares can be attributed to airlines' efforts to rectify the missteps observed prior to Diwali, according to aviation industry officials

Eight out of ten fliers faced issues with Indian airlines, says survey

Major challenges identified include issues with in-flight services, boarding, check-in, baggage procedures, and poor aircraft interiors, including seats

Domestic air passenger traffic rose by 9% in November; crosses 1.27 cr

Domestic air passenger traffic rose 9 per cent to more than 1.27 crore in November, according to official data released on Friday. Last month also saw daily air traffic touching new highs multiple times. IndiGo remained the country's largest domestic carrier but its market share declined to 61.8 per cent in November from 62.6 per cent in October. However, none of the scheduled carriers had an On-Time Performance (OTP) score of more than 80 per cent in November. Official data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday showed that airlines flew 1.27 crore passengers in November compared to 1.17 crore in the year-ago period. This marks a growth of 9.06 per cent on an annual basis. "Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-November 2023 were 1,382.34 lakhs as against 1,105.10 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering annual growth of 25.09 per cent and monthly growth of 9.06 per cent," DGCA said. The domestic

Delhi-Bangkok flights cheaper than air travel to Northeast: Tour operators

Expressing regret that the cost of domestic airfares to pristine destinations in the northeast is costlier than airfares to Thailand, travel agencies and hotel operators urged the government to intervene in the matter. The airfare from Delhi to Bangkok as on December 1 (one-way) is Rs 11,470 whereas flights from Delhi to Shillong cost around Rs 14,974, travel agents claimed. This was discussed at length at the B2B meet at the International Tourism Mart here on Wednesday. Entrepreneurs from the tourism industry from all the NE states agreed that airfares from Delhi/Mumbai to Bangkok is cheaper than those to Shillong or Agartala or any of the state capitals of the region. "We understand this is due to number of travellers going to Bangkok. We want the government of India to intervene and put a cap on this because it is unfair that domestic fares are costlier than international destinations," a Guwahati-based tour operator said. Meanwhile, the Union tourism ministry has sanctioned ov

Latest LTC rules that govt employees should know before booking air tickets

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued modified instructions for booking air ticket for central government employees to help settle claims and avoid misuse of LTC