Page 24 - Airlines

Relief for domestic fliers as ticket prices fall by 8% in festive season

The price reduction in airfares comes at a time when airlines are incurring higher costs, including jet fuel and airport charges

Asian airlines eye growth as int'l passenger traffic soars by 171% till Oct

As the international air passenger traffic grew by 171 per cent in the first nine months of 2023, a top airline association on Thursday said it looked forward to celebrate growth of the industry and focus on sustainability. Ahead of the 67th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) to be held here on Friday, the Association said, the number of international air passengers in Asia Pacific reached 79 per cent of 2019 levels in September 2023, behind other regions given that borders in Asia fully re-opened only six to 12 months after the rest of the world after the pandemic induced lockdowns across nations. Nevertheless, demand is robust, with international air passenger traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) growing by 171 per cent in the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, AAPA said. Seat capacity measured in available seat kilometres increased by a comparatively slower 130 per cent in the first nine months

IndiGo parent's shares drop after airline warns of more groundings

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Shares of IndiGo fell 1.5% on Wednesday after the airline warned that more planes could be grounded due to the latest troubles with Pratt & Whitney engines, leading to the potential withdrawal of nearly a quarter of its fleet. India's top airline, listed as Interglobe Aviation, said late on Tuesday it sees groundings of its Airbus in the range of "mid-thirties" due to a powder metal issue, days after it said about 40 planes were pulled out of service for a separate problem with the engines. Both combined would add up to about a quarter of its total fleet of 334 planes - a large number of which are fitted with Pratt engines. The troubles come at a time when India's air travel market is rapidly growing. India saw a 29% rise in domestic passenger numbers in September from a year ago, and airlines like IndiGo and Air India stand to gain the most with smaller rivals like Go Air facing bankruptcy and upstart Akasa Air contending with a pilot shortage.

Southeast Asia woos Indians with more flight seats and free visas

What was striking about Q3 2023 was that the number of airline seats between China and southeast Asia was 53 per cent of the 2019 levels, or 4.24 million seats

Off-duty pilot onboard Alaska Airlines flight attempts to disable engines

A 44-year-old man, Joseph David Emerson, was booked on 83 counts of attempted murder and endangering an airplane, according to Multnomah County Sheriff's Office booking information in US

Delhi-bound flight makes emergency landing in Mumbai over bomb threat

A Delhi-bound flight of Akasa Air with 185 passengers on board made an emergency landing at the Mumbai international airport on Saturday after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on the plane, which later turned out to be a hoax, officials said, adding he has been arrested. After taking off from Pune, a passenger, identified as Pallav Ajay Tyagi, started shouting that there was a bomb on the flight, which caused panic among passengers, a police official said. The airline spokesperson said, "Akasa Air flight QP 1148, flying from Pune to Delhi at 00:07 hours on Saturday and carrying 185 passengers and six crew members on board, received a security alert shortly after take-off. "As per the safety and security procedures, the plane was diverted to Mumbai. The Captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 00:42 hours". A representative from the airlines later lodged an FIR against Tyagi at the airport police

Looking at a mix of int'l destinations, not just West Asia: Akasa Air CEO

(Pilot row) one of the things we didn't plan for because it is unimaginable, says Vinay Dube

Airline dead set against no-poaching pact for pilots: Akasa Air CEO

Akasa Air might be slowly coming out of the turbulence caused by sudden pilots' exits but the airline's chief Vinay Dube is "dead set against" the idea of having any kind of no-poaching agreement between airlines, asserting that it will not be right. The airline, which has been flying for more than a year, has more than 450 pilots and the number will go up as it expands the fleet from 20 aircraft now. "We had about 330 pilots in April. Approximately, 40 went away without (serving) notice period or with one day, two days or less than 24 hours. Today, we have little over 450 pilots... between April and today, we have probably added about a third of additional pilots despite a small number leaving," Akasa Air Founder and CEO Vinay Dube told PTI. Following the sudden exit of pilots, many of whom apparently joined another carrier, Akasa Air had to cancel some flights in July and August. The carrier's market share also took a hit due to the cancellations. Also, the airline has initiated

Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight returns to Singapore due to 'baggage error'

An IndiGo flight en route to Bengaluru returned to Singapore after take-off on Tuesday morning as the airline had forgotten to offload the baggage of passengers of an earlier flight. "We acknowledge the baggage error on the part of our service partner at Singapore airport with respect to flight 6E 1006 operating from Singapore to Bengaluru, due to which the flight returned to origin. The passengers were kept informed of the delay and served refreshments," the airline said in a statement. Some social media users complained about the incident. Tagging IndiGo, a user on X said, "Congratulations on achieving the impossible... Singapore Bengaluru flight at 5 40 am made to turn back coz you guys forgot to offload luggage from incoming flight". Another X user said there was mismanagement at Singapore airport. "@IndiGo6E horrible mismanagement at Singapore airport!6E1006 was in the air for 1.5 hours, from SIN to BLR, landed back in Singapore bec you all mixed up baggages of various ...

Spicejet, lessor reach interim settlement, next hearing in February

SpiceJet is supposed to pay over $2 million to the engine lessor by January according to settlement terms

Wadias likely to leave Go First, show no intent to bid for grounded airline

Cash-strapped Go First filed for bankruptcy in May, blaming 'faulty' Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its fleet

Pilot licence now valid for 10 years, says civil aviation ministry

These licences will be issued to pilots at the time when their pilot's licence is up for renewal

Delhi HC allows Go First lessors to deploy security around aircraft

The order was passed on the lessors' plea to allow them to maintain their aircraft. The next hearing is on October 19

Malaysian carrier MyAirline abruptly suspends ops, passengers stranded

Malaysian budget carrier MyAirline abruptly suspended operations Thursday, citing financial pressures less than 11 months after it took to the skies. The unexpected announcement on social media caught many by surprise and left angry passengers stranded at the airport. The airline apologised for the extremely painful decision but said significant financial pressures made it necessary to temporarily halt operations pending shareholder restructuring and recapitalisation of the company. We have worked tirelessly to explore various partnership and capital raising options to prevent this suspension. Unfortunately, the constraints of time have left us with no alternative but to take this decision, its board of directors said in the statement. The move came just days after the airline said it was in advanced stages of finalising a strategic partnership. Local media reported that the suspension signalled that those talks may have collapsed. The airline began flights last December with a fle

India outpaces peers in recovery of int'l flight capacity, report reveals

Among the top ten international markets for India in August 2023, six have surpassed their pre-pandemic capacities

Jindal Power submits expression of interest for insolvent Go First

Go First's resolution professional invited EoIs for the carrier's sale in July. Sources have confirmed that JPL has filed an EoI for Go First in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

Be selective in consumption stocks ahead of ICC World Cup, say analysts

Headwinds for the airlines and QSR sectors, analysts believe, could outweigh the positives in the form of a demand uptick

Air India to open second hub in south India in a bid to improve operations

The hub may come up in Bengaluru or Hyderabad and will work primarily to strengthen its operation in Mumbai

Air India Kochi-Gatwick flight gets cancelled due to technical fault

An Air India flight from Kochi to Gatwick was on Sunday cancelled following a technical fault in the aircraft that was noticed just minutes before it was set to take off, an airline source said. The AI 149 flight, which was scheduled to take off with 252 passengers on board at 2.15 pm, returned from the taxiway at 2.30 pm and everyone was deboarded as the aircraft was checked for the cause of the technical fault, the airline source said. As the aircraft was not found fit to undertake the flight today, it was cancelled and those not wishing to reschedule their trip or avail of seats in other airlines were issued a full refund and an appropriate monetary compensation, the source said. "We are trying to accommodate passengers (those who do not want to cancel their tickets) on other airlines and have arranged hotel accommodations for them as well as those who are unable to return to their homes today," the source said. "Since Air India accords top priority to safety issues, our ...

Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy would reduce airlines' costs

There could be a more than $100 billion global market for such medicines, with sales climbing quickly through the end of the decade