Page 6 - Flights

Australian PM Albanese defends himself from free flight upgrades accusation

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday said he had always acted in a transparent and appropriate way after a new book claimed that he had repeatedly requested free upgrades for personal flights on Qantas Airways. Albanese, who was transport minister in a previous government, was accused in a book released on Monday of developing an inappropriately close relationship with Alan Joyce, who was Qantas chief executive for 15 years until 2023. Qantas is Australia's largest airline and was state-owned until the 1990s. The Sydney-based airline is the country's flag carrier and must by law remain at least 51 per cent Australian owned. According to Qantas insiders, Albanese would liaise with Joyce directly about his personal travel, a published extract of the book said. The insiders were not named. Albanese said he had declared 22 free Qantas upgrades in a register of gifts to lawmakers valued at more than 300 Australian dollars (USD 197). He noted opposition lawmaker Paul ...

Over 25 domestic, international flights receive bomb threats on Friday

More than 25 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers received bomb threats on Friday, according to sources. An IndiGo spokesperson on Friday said 7 of its flights, including 6E 87 from Kozhikode to Dammam, got security-related alerts. The sources in the know said around 7 flights each of IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet got the threats while 6 flights of Air India received the threats. IndiGo's six other flights -- 6E 2099 (Udaipur to Delhi), 6E 11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E 58 (Jeddah to Mumbai), 6E 17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E 108 (Hyderabad to Chandigarh) and 6E 133 (Pune to Jodhpur) received the threats. "Flight 6E 2099, operating from Udaipur to Delhi, received a bomb threat. Following security agency guidelines, the aircraft was redirected to isolation bay before take-off and standard operating procedures were followed. All passengers were safely disembarked," the airline spokesperson said in a statement. In 12 days, more than 275 flights operated by the India

Bomb hoax calls to be made cognizable offence: Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu

A cognisable offence is one in which the police can arrest without a warrant and begin an investigation without court approval, typically involving serious crimes like murder or theft

Bomb threats: Delhi Police writes to social sites to get offenders' details

Intensifying its probe on the hoax bomb threats received by several domestic and international flights, Delhi Police on Thursday wrote to social media platforms seeking details of the accounts that posted threatening messages. Delhi Police on Wednesday registered an FIR in connection with the bomb threat to Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight carrying 180 people and also launched a probe in seven other similar cases reported at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport this month. A senior police officer said a dedicated team has been formed to probe bomb threat cases. A team of cyber cell of Delhi police, Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) has also been roped in for the probe. On Wednesday, police approached the social media platforms to suspend the handles that posted threatening messages and remove the posts. "It is suspected that the handler used VPN (Virtual private network) or dark web browser to set up the accounts on X and then posted the messages from more ...

Accused behind threat messages being identified: Civil aviation secretary

The issue of multiple hoax threat messages to various airlines, which have disrupted many Indian flights, came up before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday as the civil aviation secretary told parliamentarians that accused are being identified and action taken. Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam suggested in the meeting of the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, which is headed by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, that investigators have gathered some information and are taking action. They are working on a few other cases of such hoax messages, he added. He, however, cited the sensitivity of information due to the ongoing probe into the matter to decline to share more details, sources said. They said Jha raised the issue of the number of hoax threat calls that airlines have received in the past couple of days, leading to diversion of flights, including one bound for Chicago. At least 10 flights have been disrupted due to bomb threat messages, mostly on social me

2 IndiGo flights delayed, 1 Air India flight diverted due to bomb hoaxes

IndiGo flight 6E 57 was scheduled to operate from Mumbai to Jeddah

Three international flights from Mumbai receive bomb threats, say officials

Security agencies went into a tizzy after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats on Monday, with a New York-bound Air India flight getting diverted to Delhi. Apart from the Air India flight, two IndiGo flights -- one to Muscat and another to Jeddah -- also received bomb threats, as per officials. The IndiGo flights received the threats before they took off and the planes concerned were moved to isolation bays for security checks on Monday morning. Air India in a statement said, "Flight AI119 operating Mumbai to JFK on October 14 received a specific security alert and on instructions of the government's security regulatory committee was diverted to Delhi." "The aircraft is currently stationed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and all standard safety protocols are being diligently followed to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew on board," a senior (Delhi) police officer said. All passengers have disembarked and the aircraft was b

IndiGo's punctuality drops to 54% on Saturday due to systems outage

The airline's OTP between October 1 and October 4 was somewhere between 74.9 and 80.3 per cent, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's data

Merger in full swing: Air India group to introduce uniform crew policy

Some of the new policies have been welcomed by pilots and cabin crew, while others have sparked criticism

AIX Connect's merger into Air India Express is complete, says DGCA

Air India Express' fleet size has grown to 88 aircraft

Qatar Airways prohibits pagers, walkie-talkies on Lebanon flights

The airlines said that the restriction applies to checked and carry-on luggage, as well as cargo

Indian carriers soar on international routes but foreign rivals lead

On the popular India-Singapore route, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Scoot remain dominant despite competition from IndiGo, Air India (A-I), A-I Express, and Vistara

Malaysia Airlines plans to bring flights to more non-metro cities in India

Malaysia Airlines plans to fly to more non-metro cities in India as well as increase the frequency of flights to Ahmedabad and Trivandrum, a senior airline official said on Friday. The carrier, part of the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), currently connects nine Indian cities with Kuala Lumpur and operates 71 weekly flights to India. Dersenish Aresandiran, Chief Commercial Officer of Airline Business at MAG, said Malaysia Airlines plans to increase frequencies to Ahmedabad and Trivandrum. The airline also plans to operate to more non-metro cities in India where there are no restrictions due to bilateral flying rights, he told PTI on the sidelines of a briefing here. The bilateral flying rights between India and Malaysia, based on the number of seats airlines from either side can operate, is mostly utilised for metro routes in India. So, Malaysia Airlines can have more services to non-metro cities in the country as there are no restrictions of the bilateral flying rights. Currently,

Airfares rise as competition fades on domestic routes, shows data

Competition present on only 31% of domestic routes in April 2024, data show

Indian carriers almost catch up with Emirates on the Dubai route

According to Cirium, between April and July this year Emirates controlled more than half the seat capacity of 2.3 million and 36 per cent of the 9,410 flights

Cabin crew of SAS go on strike in Norway as wage talks break down

Some 120 SAS employees went on strike initially and the number is expected to grow in the coming days

Lakshadweep takes off, Maldives out of favour as flights, capacity go up

April-June passenger traffic to Indian island doubled from year-ago quarter

London bound Air India flight returns to Mumbai due to technical glitch

Air India has promised the passengers cancellation and complimentary rescheduling to another date

Revenue a second order effect over customer experience: Ixigo CEO

Online travel aggregator sets sights on doubling flight segment share and outpacing market growth

India needs more than 2 major airlines, says IndiGo's Rahul Bhatia

IndiGo will never be found guilty of gouging customers, he added