Airliners-India.com

747-237 · Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 3:07 pm Post subject:

Air India Aug - Oct 2016 Delhi – London Aircraft Changes

Air India later this week is adjusting planned operational aircraft, which sees Delhi – London Heathrow service moving to all-Boeing 787 operation for the rest of summer season. From 29JUL16 to 29OCT16, AI111/112 service will be operated by Boeing 787-8, instead of 777-200LR aircraft. First Class service will no longer be offered during this period, however reservation was closed for a number of weeks prior to this aircraft changes.

AI161 DEL0230 – 0730LHR 788 D
AI111 DEL1400 – 1900LHR 788 D

AI162 LHR0945 – 2250DEL 788 D
AI112 LHR2130 – 1040+1DEL 788 D

Air India currently also operates AI115/116, the 3rd daily flight, which will be discontinued from 15AUG16.

Source: Airlineroute.net
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Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

Low season on the India-UK routes?

Or AI putting the 77L on another ULH route like DEL-IAD?

747-237 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:38 pm Post subject:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/tech-glitch-third-air-india-dreamliner-aircraft-grounded/story-cuPc2q1j2lfMnxzviAyWwM.html

Third Air India Dreamliner aircraft grounded

Jul 27, 2016

A snag-hit Air India aircraft that failed take-off from the Heathrow airport on Tuesday is among at least three grounded Dreamliner planes in the airline’s newest fleet of 21.

With no spare planes available, some passengers were put on other India-bound flights and others were sent to a hotel. An Air India spokesperson confirmed its London-Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight on Tuesday was cancelled owing to a “technical glitch”.

“Some passengers were accommodated on alternate AI flights to Delhi onward to Ahmedabad and for others hotel accommodation was provided,” said the spokesperson.

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747-237 · Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:00 am Post subject:

http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/air-india-bhopal-raipur-pune-flight-resumes-tomorrow/336187/

Air India Bhopal-Raipur-Pune flight resumes

August 2, 2016

Air India will re-start its Bhopal-Raipur-Pune flight from tomorrow after Defence authorities in Pune granted permission for the same.

Operations of the flight, launched on May 23, were stopped within four days after Ministry of Defence, which controls operations at the Pune Airport, discontinued the permission granted to AI for some reasons.

“The Defence authorities have now granted permission to Air India to restart the flights to Pune w.e.f. August 3,” an AI release said today.

According to AI’s Area Manager (MP-CG), Vishrut Acharya, the ATR-72 (70-seater) plane will be deployed on the route to provide much needed connectivity to Raipur and Pune thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from Bhopal.

The aircraft, AI 9865 will leave from Bhopal at 9.30 AM and reach Raipur at 11 AM. From Raipur, it will depart at 11.30 AM and reach Pune at 14.00 PM.

From Pune, the flight AI 9866 will take off at 14.30 PM and arrive at Raipur at 17.00 PM, and from there it will fly at 17.30 PM and arrive Bhopal at 19.00 PM, the release said.

Acharya said the response to the flight from the IT sector and students was overwhelming.

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747-237 · Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:00 am Post subject:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/air-india-to-operate-flights-to-medina/article8930999.ece

Air India to operate flights to Medina

August 2, 2016

The Haj operations from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) are scheduled to be operated from August 4 to August 7.

A release from MIA here said Air India flights would commence operations from MIA to Medina daily at 11.05 a.m. facilitating travel of the pilgrims from Mangaluru.

The old terminal building of MIA would be utilised for departure of Hajj pilgrims, Airport Director J.T. Radhakrishna, stated in a release.

Air India would deploy A-320 type aircraft for the Haj operations, to be operated via Sharjah.

The second phase of Haj operation would commence in September.

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747-237 · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:45 am Post subject:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Air-India-to-make-Delhi-San-Francisco-a-daily-flight-from-winter/articleshow/53587973.cms

Air India to make Delhi-San Francisco a daily flight from winter

Aug 7, 2016

Buoyed by the response to its nonstop connection between Delhi and San Francisco (SFO), Air India has decided to make it a daily flight from this winter. The Delhi-SFO route was launched last December as a tri-weekly flight. It has been getting high occupancy despite premium pricing over the one stop options given by Gulf, European, southeast Asian and American airlines.

With Delhi-SFO becoming a daily option, AI has deferred its plans to launch Delhi-Washington nonstop from this winter, said a senior official. "We already have flights from Delhi and Mumbai to New York JFK and Newark (EWR). We will look at the Washington connection next year," the official said.

"All our US nonstop flights are getting healthy occupancy levels of over 80% and contribute almost one-fifth of our total revenue from international flights. In addition, from Independence Day onwards, we will have a one-stop flight to Newark from Ahmedabad via London," said the official.

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Caliguy · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:59 pm Post subject:

Finally AI making sensible decisions by choosing daily to SF instead of launching IAD. If AI has three 77L and many 77W, why can't they go daily to SF and launch IAD? Any update on the refresh of the 77L - will they put new J class seats when they take out First and add seats to Y? I hope they go for direct aisle access (even if it has reverse seats like BA). They should pick the highest occupancy configuration that still gives direct aisle access.

yashkhullar · Member Joined: 20 Nov 2014 Posts: 44

Caliguy · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:07 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

yashkhullar · Member Joined: 20 Nov 2014 Posts: 44

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

747-237 · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:07 pm Post subject:

http://www.bloombergquint.com/business/2016/08/10/air-india-inks-pact-with-spicejet-for-maintenance-facility-at-mihan

Air India Inks Pact With SpiceJet for Maintenance Facility at Mihan

August 10, 2016

Air India has finally succeeded in roping in private airline SpiceJet to use the maintenance repair overhaul facility at the special economic zone in Mihan, Nagpur. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Air India Engineering Services’ Chief Executive Officer HR Jagannath and SpiceJet vice president Arun Kashyap in the presence of top Air India officials on Tuesday.

With the signing of the agreement, SpiceJet will send its aircraft from the fleet of 42 planes to Nagpur MRO in immediate future, Kashyap told reporters during their visit to the MRO. Kashyap also said SpiceJet was in the process of acquiring 100 more aircraft in the days to come.

He said the first Spicejet aircraft was expected to roll in for MRO facility within two months. It was already sending its aircraft to GMR, Hyderabad, but now onward, SpiceJet will be using the MRO facility of Air India at Nagpur, he said.

Jagannath said after being formally handed over by aircraft manufacturer major Boeing International on December 29, 2014, the MRO started its maintenance operation from March this year and so far handled eight aircraft, while the ninth aircraft was on the pit. Spread over 50 acres of land adjacent to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, the Rs 600 crore MRO, which is connected by a 3.5 km taxiway, offers a world class facility.

It is carrying out maintenance facility of all types including ‘D’ check of wide bodied aircraft which is mandatory for an aircraft after flying for 3,000 days. A team of dedicated engineers and technicians are positioned to carry out a detailed maintenance of Boeing aircraft to make it air worthy.

The construction work of the MRO, funded by Boeing, commenced in March 2011 and completed in a record period of 3.5 years. It was finally handed over to Air India on December 29, 2014, and actual operations commenced from August 27 last year.

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Caliguy · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 8:10 pm Post subject:

yashkhullar · Member Joined: 20 Nov 2014 Posts: 44

abhijith16 · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 1:33 pm Post subject:

Air India Express to commence Chandigarh/Tiruchirappalli - Sharjah effective 15SEP.

1 daily Tiruchirappalli-Sharjah

IX613 TRZ0430 - 0720SHJ 73H D

IX614 SHJ2200 - 0340+1TRZ 73H D

3 weekly Chandigarh-Sharjah

IX187 IXC1815 - 2000SHJ 73H 146

IX188 SHJ1245 - 1715IXC 73H 146

From the same date, Varanasi-Sharjah will increase to daily

IX183 VNS1730 - 2000SHJ 73H x146
IX183 VNS1800 - 2030SHJ 73H 146

IX184 SHJ1050 - 1600VNS 73H x146
IX184 SHJ1150 - 1700VNS 73H 146
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747-237 · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:51 am Post subject:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/air-india-express-to-start-flight-service-to-sharjah/article8990047.ece

Air India Express to start flight service to Sharjah

August 15, 2016

International flight movements from Tiruchi are set to rise with the Air India Express deciding to operate a new service from Tiruchi to Sharjah next month.

Air India has already conveyed the information regarding operation of its new service in the Tiruchi – Sharjah sector to the airport authorities here. The airline will start a daily service to Sharjah from September 15 onwards, Tiruchi airport sources said. The single service to Sharjah will be operated in the early hours from Tiruchi airport which has witnessed an upswing in overseas passenger and freight movements over the years.

Air India’s decision to launch a new service comes at a time when there have been persistent demands from the travellers of the central region seeking direct flight connectivity to more West Asian destinations from Tiruchi. Presently, Dubai is the lone West Asian destination which is directly connected to Tiruchi with Air India Express operating a daily service.

Amid heavy demand for more operation of flight services to major West Asian destinations, the Tiruchi airport authorities a couple of months ago made a strong pitch to Air India authorities to operate flight services to Sharjah and Kuwait from Tiruchi.

Although there were flight services in the Tiruchi – Abu Dhabi, Tiruchi – Sharjah and Tiruchi – Kuwait sectors a few years ago, they were all withdrawn much to the discontent of the travel industry and passengers. A huge chunk of workforce from the central region and southern districts are employed in various places in West Asia. The absence of overseas flight services to key West Asian destinations from Tiruchi has necessitated passengers to travel via Chennai airport or from airports in Kerala or travel to Colombo from Tiruchi for onward connectivity to countries in West Asia.

Airport sources strongly feel that overseas passenger movements at Tiruchi airport would rise with the Air India deciding to operate a new service to Sharjah.

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747-237 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 7:44 am Post subject:

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-air-india-to-fly-solo-for-airframe-mro-2245509

Air India to fly solo for airframe MRO

16 Aug 2016

About six months after inviting expression of interest (EoI) from private players for operating and managing the airframe branch of its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Mihan in Nagpur, national carrier Air India has now decided to operate it on its own.

The company now thinks that it can do the job better than the private players.

"We will be running it on our own and can do it better than any private player as we have decades of experience," said a senior executive at Air India Engineering Services Ltd, a subsidiary of national carrier Air India during an interaction with dna.

The company had in February issued a public advertisement stating, "Expression of interest from interested parties having technical/ financial capabilities for operating and managing Air India's Air Frame MRO which is already set up in Nagpur and functional on a revenue-sharing basis or any other viable business proposal."

The MRO was set up by aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing at a cost of over Rs 600 crore as part of its memorandum of understanding with Air India in bargain for purchasing of over 100 aircraft in 2006. However, the MRO project at the special economic zone of Mihan in Nagpur got delayed for several reasons including land acquisition. Boeing has already handed over to the MRO project to AIESL but refused to be a partner in its operations, even though there was a specific request made in this regard by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

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747-237 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:10 pm Post subject:

Air India has inducted three new ATR turboprop planes to serve the domestic route expansion, "orders for ten more are expected to be placed in the next week to 10 days."

The airline has also placed orders for 30 Airbus A-320s, six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and three Boeing-777s.

Over the next four years, "We will either buy or lease a total of 115 aircraft (of different types) and retire 15 old ones. So we will add 100 planes in this period," the officials said.

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/airlines/20160816_service.html
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747-237 · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:01 pm Post subject:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/Air-India-mulls-daily-Surat-Mumbai-operation-from-September-1/articleshow/53732081.cms

Air India mulls daily Surat-Mumbai operation from September 1

Aug 17, 2016

Air India is all set to provide daily flight connectivity between Surat and Mumbai and introduce Airbus in the morning schedule of its operation between Surat and Delhi from September 1.

At present, AI operates daily morning flight between Delhi and Surat using CRJ70 aircraft, Surat-Mumbai flight for three days a week and daily Airbus operation between Surat and Delhi in the evening.

Paatil, who was present at the Ekta Chain event, said, "The AI chairman is impressed with the traffic potential at Surat. Thus, the AI plans to introduce Airbus-319 in its daily Delhi-Surat-Delhi operation in the morning and daily flights between Mumbai and Surat from September 1."
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747-237 · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:30 am Post subject:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/angry-air-india-passengers-tweet-about-broken-seats-and-unusable-toilets/story-pAOwXAdlNr852FHsxQ2eAO.html

Poor cabin maintenance on Boeing 747s and B777-300ERs has drawn flak, said cabin crew sources. For instance, in the B747 named VT-EVA emergency buttons in 7 out of 14 toilets do not work.

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747-237 · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 2:22 pm Post subject:

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/air-india-sits-up-and-takes-note-of-bad-seats/17545155

Air India sits up and takes note of bad seats

Look forward to better seating as Air India seems to have decided to pay attention to the interiors of its aircraft. During checks, officials realised that out of the 66 international aircraft that they fly, the seats of a good 40 per cent were unserviceable, causing inconvenience to passengers.

Sources said that the seats were in a terrible condition especially for those who have to travel for over 9 hours. Problems ranged from non-reclining seats to torn seat covers, also non-functioning television screens behind the seats. AI plans to rectify these issues and to improve other in-flight matters including interiors, luggage racks and air-conditioning system.

“Due to shortage of funds, the cabin services were not given priority, but the new CMD has decided to take it on par with other engineering issues and maintenance of the aircraft,” said a senior Air India official. For a passenger, in-flight services like seats, the curtains, carpet and washroom facilities are very important especially during long journeys. The official also confirmed that the engineering department of the airline has been given the target of year-end to completely makeover the seats. The official said that 40% of the international aircraft had unserviceable seats over a period of time.

When speaking to engineering officials about the reason for frequent issues faced by the airline towards the maintenance of seats, it was learnt that many of the seats also develop mechanical errors and then need immediate repair. An official from the Engineering Department explained, “ Initially whenever such complaints went to the vendor, he wasn’t able to supply the spare parts due to the credit hold. However, these unserviceable seats have increased to a considerable number since July.”

When asked about the common reasons that lead to unserviceable seats in an aircraft, a senior official from the Engineering Department at Air India Maintenance and Overhaul Facility (Nagpur) explained, “Small things like wrong use of hand held controls, or even a pen falling inside the reclining seat spoil the mechanism of a seat. This makes the seat unserviceable and requires repair.”

The airline has also decided to monitor its entertainment materials every month instead of once in two months. Previously Air India had issues with its TV screens which remained blank; most of the time due to technical issues. But now, they will be testing these screens every month.

Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India said, “We are an airline that strives to live up to passengers’ expectations and are keen to make them realise this. These initiatives taken for the betterment of the services for passengers will not only make them believe us more, but also help us win them over again. The focus is to have better seat quality, proper reading lights and galleys and other interiors.”

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747-237 · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:51 am Post subject:

http://defenceaviationpost.com/air-india-offers-chance-get-back-expired-miles/

Air India offers a chance to get back your expired miles

August 20, 2016

Air India has launched a new scheme to help passengers extend miles that have lapsed since 2008. The milies can be extended at a rate of Rs 0.60 per mile for a shelf life of six months from the date of extension.

“This scheme is effective for a window of two months only from August 2 till September 30,” said an AI official.

“Members may opt for extension of expired miles or part thereof that would be extended for a shelf life window of six months for a maximum validity of 31 Mar 2017 whichever falls earlier. If the member resides outside India, the calculated amount in Rupees shall be converted into local currency and payment obtained. Same may be reflected at the time of miles in the system page,” the airline said.

The tickets issued by redeeming these extended miles shall be valid for one year from the date of issue for travel. In case such tickets are cancelled, the miles shall not be refunded back to member`s account. However taxes will be refunded.

In case tickets have been issued by using a combination of extended miles and valid miles, the valid miles will be credited to the member`s account in case of refund of the ticket, AI said.

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Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

747-237 · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:09 pm Post subject:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/boeing-says-787-aircraft-helps-air-india-log-operating-profit-116082200769_1.html

Boeing says 787 aircraft helps Air India log operating profit

August 22, 2016

Boeing on Monday has claimed that its fuel efficient 787 aircraft has helped Air India to achieve operating profit.

On sidelines of an Indo-American Chamber of Commerce event in Mumbai, Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president (sales) for Boeing Asia-Pacific said, "The 787 aircraft is a key part of Air India's turnaround strategy. Air India has been able to reduce loss and enhance profitability, owing to fuel savings and low maintenance cost offered by the aircraft."

Air India had achieved an operating profit of over Rs 100 crore in the financial year 2015-16, benefiting from low fuel price. The airline's accounts are yet to be audited and other financial details are not in public domain. This will be the company's first operating profit since its merger in 2007.
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747-237 · Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:51 pm Post subject:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Now-full-flat-bunkers-for-AI-crew-to-rest-on-long-haul-flights/articleshow/53885955.cms

Now, full flat bunkers for AI crew to rest on long haul flights

Aug 27, 2016

Air India cabin crew on long haul flights will now get bunks to sleep on, instead of just being on seats during their rest period. The airline has told the Directorate general of Civil Aviation that bunks for "horizontal rest" will be provided on all flights with a flying time of 11 to 16 hours and above that are operated from Mumbai and Delhi. This includes mainly its nonstops from India to United States and eventually on India/Australia flights with the induction of new Dreamliners with bunks.

For long haul flights, airlines are required to take augmented crew so that they can work and rest in rotation, thereby ensuring fully alert personnel in the cockpit and the cabin. Till now, AI — the only Indian carrier to have long haul flights as Jet flies one stop via Europe to Canada — used to make its crew rest by seating them on business class seats, subject to availability, to give them a 'horizontal' (read full flat bed) rest.

This was a problem mainly on AI's Dreamliners (Boeing 777) which operate nonstop to Australia as many of the Boeing 777s deployed for USA have bunks. Earlier this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had set new rules for flight duty and time limitation (FDTL) of cabin crew.

AI chief Ashwani Lohani asked the airline's head of cabin crew, Captain D X Pais who is a senior pilot, to come out with rest rules for the cabin crew under the new DGCA guidelines. "Our scheme improves upon productivity of crew. It incorporates better rest facilities on board long haul flights to make sure the crew is ready to face any eventuality, and also remain fresh and agile for better service," said a source. The new scheme will come into force from September 1.

The Dreamliners AI inducts now will also have six bunks each and will be deployed on Australia route. The Dreamliners' other flights are to Europe and Southeast Asia, with a flying time of less than nine hours. "A fully rested crew will ensure better safety compliance during an emergency and also enhanced inflight services," said an official.

The new rules also provide longer rest at home to enable them to meet social committments, the official added.

For crew, airlines count the actual work period three to four hours before the flight which keeps in mind the time taken to reach the airport and then remaining there for some time before getting on board the aircraft.
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747-237 · Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:14 pm Post subject:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/ai-will-soon-fly-over-pacific-ocean-to-san-francisco-to-save-fuel/articleshow/53897799.cms

AI will soon fly over Pacific Ocean to San Francisco to save fuel

Aug 28, 2016

Saving significant fuel costs and time, Air India will soon start flying over the Pacific Ocean region for its lucrative direct services to San Francisco from here with aviation regulator DGCA approving the new rout.

The regulatory nod comes as a boost for the national carrier, which would be doubling the frequency of its Delhi-San Francisco direct flights to six per week from November.

Air India would also be the first Indian carrier to operate on the Pacific region route where weather conditions and speed of winds would help the airline in reducing fuel burn and the overall journey time.

Officials said the route would be a "win-win situation" for the carrier as well as passengers as it would save crores of rupees worth of fuel costs and also reduce the flying time by up to three hours.

Approving the request from Air India for services through the new route, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a detailed operational circular.

Even though the route would be almost 1,400 km more compared to the current trajectory where the flight flies over the Atlantic, there would be significant saving on fuel and journey time due to powerful tailwinds.

"The Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, used on the Delhi-San Francisco route by Air India will get only strong tailwinds on its eastward journey and cut flying time by up to three hours," a senior pilot said.
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747-237 · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2016 5:48 am Post subject:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/air-india-express-turns-profitable-for-the-first-time/articleshow/53988077.cms

Air India Express turns profitable for the first time

Sep 03, 2016

Air India Express has turned the corner by reporting net profits for the first time since it started operations in April 2005.

The airline reported a profit of Rs 362 crore during the 2015-16 fiscal, helped by lower fuel prices and improved revenues over the past year on the back of flying more people per flight. The airline had incurred losses of Rs 62 crore during the 2014-15 fiscal.

The airline's board approved the audited financial results on Wednesday. K Shyam Sundar, chief executive officer of Air India Charters Ltd, the subsidiary that operates Air India Express, told ET that the turnaround could be achieved on the back of improved operations.

"This turnaround should be attributed to the sustained efforts of all the Air India Express employees and the tremendous trust placed on us by our valued passengers. In purely business terms, the positive net outcome may be attributed to record levels of aircraft utilisation, PLF (Passenger Load Factors) and yields achieved in the year. Of course, low ATF rates also helped," Sundar to ET.

The financial results show that the airline's biggest benefit came from reduced oil prices that led to a 28.6% reduction in fuel during the FY16 fiscal from FY15. The overall reduction in cost was to the tune of 4.7%. The low-cost carrier, which operates a large part of its flights on the Gulf routes, also saw 11.3% increase in revenues.

The increase in revenues came by flying more people per flight and all so utilising its aircraft more to operate more flight with the same fleet. An airline official, who did not wish to be identified, said that the airline has registered such huge profits after paying about Rs 240 crore as revenue share to its parent Air India. According to the agreement between the two, AI Express has to share about 11% of its revenues with Air India for using its brand name.

"The major addition to the revenues came from earnings of Rs 56 crore from ancillary revenues, which were almost zero in FY15. We earned Rs 46 crore from excess baggage charges and Rs 10 crore from advance seat selection charges," said the official, who requested anonymity.
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747-237 · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2016 6:02 am Post subject:

Air India Express has added a new 737-800 to the fleet today, as VT-GHD.
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abhijith16 · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:39 am Post subject:

The_Goat · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:16 am Post subject:

747-237 · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:22 am Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

GF1011 · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 87

VT-ALG was pulled out of service for a bit after the aerobridge collision incident at BOM. I Guess its back now..

747-237 · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:52 pm Post subject:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/air-india-express-mulls-domestic-operations-116091200707_1.html

Air India Express mulls domestic operations
September 13, 2016

Air India Express (AIE), the no-frills brand of Air India, is exploring a foray into the domestic market.

AIE presently serves migrant labour and business traffic between India and West Asia. Its main bases are in Kerala and it is preparing for expansion. That could include flights on domestic routes. While the immediate focus is on growing its business in established markets, it is hiring a consultant to prepare a network plan and evaluate all potential routes, domestic and international, which could be served profitably.

“The consultant’s report is expected in three to six months,” said chief executive officer K Shyamsundar.

Currently, AIE has 21 Boeing-737 planes. It will add four aircraft by December 2017, including two this year. Shyamsundar said the new aircraft would be used to expand services on the Gulf routes, especially Kozhikode-Saudi Arabia and Lucknow-Saudi Arabia. A

lso, by end-December, it will begin plying on the Kolkata-Singapore and Delhi-Dhaka routes. The airline is also evaluating whether to expand services to Southeast Asia, where it only connects Singapore and Kuala Lumpur at present. A Delhi-Teheran service is also under consideration.

AIE expects its capacity and operating revenue to increase 25 per cent in 2016-17. The net profit was Rs 362 crore in FY16, its first annual profit since launch of operations a decade earlier. In FY15, it made a loss of Rs 61 crore.

Profit was aided by the decline in jet fuel cost and increase in revenue. “Our passenger revenue grew by Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,917 crore, the load factor was up one percentage point to 82.3 per cent and we increased our fleet utilisation,” said Shyamsundar.
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747-237 · Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 9:22 am Post subject:

http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/news/Lucknow-to-Saudi-Air-India-flights-soon/2016/09/17/article3622892.ece

Lucknow to Saudi Air India flights soon

17th September 2016

Air India has decided to introduce a direct flight from Lucknow to Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia from October, to meet a long-standing demand of people in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The flights will be operated thrice a week.

The sale of tickets would commence once an announcement is made in this regard, said an Air India official. Passenger traffic to Saudi Arabia has risen exponentially over the years, especially the Haj traffic. Since UP contributes to a sizeable portion of this traffic, the direct connection would be a win-win proposition for passengers and pilgrims alike, who used to travel to Saudi via Delhi, the official said.

The move to introduce the international flights comes amidst the national carrier’s proposal to offer connectivity from Lucknow to Dehradun, Patna and Delhi, considering the huge demand on these routes.

The Lucknow-Dehradun sector is currently serviced by private carriers such as Indigo and SpiceJet but with one stop in between, consuming four to five hours for a one-hour flight distance. The government carrier Air India could hugely benefit with a direct service as there is a growing demand on the sector.

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indopaki · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 479 Location: Pakistan

What happened to Saudia's Lucknow service?

abhijith16 · Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 7:31 am Post subject:

indopaki · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 479 Location: Pakistan

Deleted off topic post.

abhijith16 · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:45 am Post subject:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3797181/MY-BIZ-Air-India-expand-foreign-operations-increasing-flights-Europe-Australia-Gulf.html

Air India to expand its foreign operations by increasing flights to the US, Europe, Australia and the Gulf

National carrier Air India is going full-throttle to expand its foreign operations.

The national carrier has plans to launch new flights to all major cities across the US and Europe as well as in West-Asia, Gulf, East-Asia and Australia in the Pacific region over the next year

Air India plans to increase the frequency of flights where demand is surging.

Ashwani Lohani, Air India Chairman and Managing Director told Mail Today: "We are increasing our thrice-a-week flight to San Francisco to six days a week and for our direct connect Melbourne and Sydney are soon going to become five day-a-week schedule instead of the earlier three and four days schedule respectively."

With 21 new 787 Dreamliners in place and six more to arrive soon, Air India is venturing more into the foreign markets.

There is also a compelling reason for Air India to expand its foreign market share, in order to sustain the tough competition from Emirates, which has an almost equal market share in terms of flyers going abroad from Indian cities.

"We are soon connecting to Madrid in December and may open up our new destination in the United States on East Coast in Washington DC in April 2017.

"And in between that, we are planning to start another sector which could either be Copenhagen or Stockholm - to cater to traffic to Scandinavian countries. This operation may work out by January to February 2017," Lohani said.

"There are a few new destinations, considered to be favourite of Indian tourists which will be included in the new plan. Nairobi is one such destination and we are looking at the market input and will take a call on that soon."

Battling initial hiccups and snags affecting its Dreamliners, the national carrier is steadily raising its foreign market share.
There is also a compelling reason for Air India to expand its foreign market share, in order to sustain the tough competition from Emirates

There is also a compelling reason for Air India to expand its foreign market share, in order to sustain the tough competition from Emirates
Air India’s Director (commercial) Pankaj Shrivastava adds: "The demand is growing for Air India-when we launched our Vienna sector, we were almost booked for three months, last season. This prompted us to venture into European destinations."

Interestingly while India plans a direct port-to-port link with Iran, Air India is planning a direct flight to Tehran.
"Most flights are via Dubai… a direct connection between Delhi and Tehran or Mumbai and Tehran is needed with demand growing from budget and skilled workers going there," Lohani said.

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