Page 6 - Airlines

SpiceJet, Air India Express gets approved to operate flights from Kathmandu

Two Indian airlines have been allowed to operate regular flights to and from Nepal, according to the Himalayan nation's civil aviation authority. SpiceJet, which had regular flights to Nepal before the COVID-19 pandemic, and Air India Express, making its debut in the country, have received scheduled approval and slots from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), according to Hansa Raj Pandey, spokesperson at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). SpiceJet, which mainly flew from Delhi to Kathmandu before its hiatus, will operate daily flights, while Air India Express has received approval for two flights per day. Currently, Air India and Indigo conduct flights between Nepal and India. With the addition of SpiceJet and Air India Express, there will be four Indian airlines operating regular flights between the two countries. Meanwhile, maintenance work on the taxiway at TIA, which previously required flight suspensions, continued its service without halting flights

SpiceJet flight from Jaipur to Chennai lands safely after tyre gets damaged

Despite the ttyre issue, the flight crew continued to the destination after confirming that all other operations and aircraft parameters were normal

AI Express to expand virtual interline ties with foreign low-cost carriers

Air India Express plans to have more virtual interline partnerships with foreign low-cost carriers and to deepen its network. The Tata Group-owned airline aims to carry 30 million passengers in 2025-26, higher than 20 million passengers in the current financial year ending March 2025, according to its Managing Director Aloke Singh. Currently, the airline has a fleet of 103 planes comprising 67 Boeing 737s and 36 A320s, and operates around 485 flights daily. Elaborating on the network strategy, he said the airline has grown significantly and the focus is to deepen the network. Among other initiatives, Air India Express will look to have more virtual interline partnerships with foreign low cost carriers and there are six such partnerships at present, Singh said at a briefing on Friday. The virtual interline platform 'AIX Connect' enables travellers to book self-connected itineraries between flights of Air India Express and those of the partner airline. As it pursues growth ...

Air India to cut fares, add new jets and boost reach to woo diaspora

Air India, in order to enhance its appeal, has worked on reducing airport transfer times to within 180 minutes and is further streamlining the travel experience

Nearly 37 flights from India disrupted by Heathrow Airport shutdown

Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest in the world, handles approximately 1,280 flights daily, including around 37 to and from India

DGCA, IIT audit findings put Terminal 2 on the repair runway: DIAL

Delhi Airport has three terminals: T1 with a capacity of 40 million passengers per year, T2 with 15 million, and Terminal 3 (T3) with 45 million

Indians at forefront of Riyadh Air's 1.4 mn job applications: CEO Douglas

He mentioned that almost 93 per cent of the air traffic between India and Saudi Arabia is point-to-point, and there is a huge scope of increasing flight frequencies between the two nations

Adani's new $2.1 billion Navi Mumbai airport draws low-cost carriers

Tata Group's low-cost carrier Air India Express and smaller rivals SpiceJet and Akasa are also in discussions to eventually relocate all of their operations

Qatar Airways to place large wide-body aircraft order soon, says CCO

He added the contract would be announced next month, declining to say whether it will be signed with Airbus, Boeing

Airfare to rise not more than 1.5% if tariff proposal accepted: DIAL

"Overall, the average domestic ticket price will increase by no more than 1.5-2 per cent, while international fares will rise by 0.5-1 per cent," the CEO said

IndiGo to damp lease 3 more Boeing 787-9 for international expansion

Domestic carrier IndiGo on Wednesday said it will induct three more Boeing 787-9 planes in its fleet under a damp lease arrangement with Norse Atlantic Airways, as it prepares to launch flights to Europe from mid-summer this year. Currently, the Gurugram-headquartered airline operates two widebody Boeing 777 planes, wet leased from Turkish Airlines, to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai. Earlier this month, IndiGo had announced signing a deal for one Boeing 787 with Norse Atlantic Airways. The delivery of this first widebody B787 is on-track, and it is scheduled to start operations on the Delhi-Bangkok route from March 1, 2025, IndiGo said in the statement. IndiGo has signed "another firm agreement with Norse Atlantic Airways for damp lease of three Boeing 787-9 aircraft. These aircraft will be arriving in India in the second half of 2025 and will be serving long-haul routes out of India," it said. In a damp lease, the lessor provides the maintenance along with the aircraft but not th

SpiceJet posts Rs 26 cr profit in Dec quarter backed by high performance

Budget airline SpiceJet on Wednesday reported a profit after tax of Rs 26 crore for the three months ended December 2024, helped by overall improved performance. The carrier had posted a loss of Rs 300 crore in the year-ago period. "Total revenue surged by 35 per cent to Rs 1,651 crore, driven by strong passenger demand, improved yields and enhanced operational efficiency. Passenger Load Factor (PLF) stood at an impressive 87 per cent," the airline said in a release. Total revenue stood at Rs 1,077 crore in the 2024 September quarter. However, compared to Rs 2,149 crore reported in the three months ended December 2023, the total revenue is lower in the latest December quarter. The results for the third quarter of the current financial year was scheduled to be announced on Tuesday. However, the meeting of the company's board of directors, through video conferencing, started at 1.30 pm and ended only at 11.50 pm on Tuesday, according to a filing made to the BSE at 12.51 am on ...

Lenders to Go First to auction land parcels in March for recovery

About 94.7 acres on block; reserve price set at Rs 1,782 crore

Airlines warned as Chinese navy to hold live-fire exercises off Australia

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Friday afternoon that the time period for the Chinese navy exercises had expired, and it was unclear if live fire had been used

Hoax bomb threats to airlines jumped 13 times to 714 in 2024, shows data

Airports, too, bore the brunt of this chaos, with the number of bomb threats rising nearly six-fold to 299 in 2024, compared to a mere 51 the previous year

In talks with Go First lenders to rescue airline: Busy Bee Airways to NCLAT

Busy Bee told the appellate tribunal that it has met with the lenders and plans to meet them again this week. It also said that it has shared an updated proposal with the lenders

Azim Premji, Ranjan Pai family offices infuse capital into Akasa Air

The airline's net loss more than doubled in 2023-24, soaring to Rs 1,670 crore from Rs 744 crore in the previous year

Boeing expects Indian, S Asian airlines to add 2,800 jets in next 20 yrs

The US planemaker's previous rolling 20-year market forecast, issued last year, was for 2,705 jets

Budget 2025: Airlines see growth, accessible travel in modified UDAN scheme

Airlines on Saturday welcomed the proposal to modify UDAN scheme to provide regional air connectivity to 120 new destinations, saying the move will make air travel more accessible as well as help boost overall economic growth. Presenting the Union Budget for 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) has enabled 1.5 crore middle-class people to meet their aspirations for speedier travel. SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said the budget is forward-looking and middle class-friendly and aims to boost spending and stimulate development. "With the launch of a modified UDAN scheme that will introduce 120 new destinations and bring 4 crore additional passengers into the fold over the next decade, the aviation landscape in India is set for a transformative shift. This initiative will not only make air travel more accessible to remote regions but will also drive economic growth and tourism, further empowering local economies," he said i

Transfer passengers' share likely to double in 10 years, says BIAL COO

In an interview with Business Standard, he said about five years ago, the share of transfer traffic in the airport's overall traffic was about six per cent