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ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject: Spicejet News - part 2

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:36 pm Post subject:

The Q400 induction into delhi is now pushed back to mid July.

Following stations are seeing recruitment activity

ATQ
IXC
DED
DHM
PGH
JLR
KNU
UDR
HJR
Bikaner

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:39 pm Post subject:

I am surprised about PGH since to the best of my knowledge it would have restrictions to Q400. Even ATR 72 cannot operate only 42 can.

What is also strange is the choice of Bikaner, I have asked somebody to provide me info about Bikaner and what is its current state.

I had known that the ministry was ready to upgrade Kota if somebody wants to operate, but then nobody came forward.

A lot of traffic also moves between VNS and HJR and hence most of the players used to have or have a DEL VNS HJR and v.v routing, SG can try the same with its boeing but I guess they want to do a direct with Qs, which means they would be operational at IDR/BHO/HJR in MP. the IDR/BHO boeing flights which were pulled out will again be back with Qs

747-237 · F.Y.I. Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 10:43 am

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:53 pm Post subject:

Absolutely my fault .. Apologies ..shall take care that this doesnt repeat.

aapko hui asuwidha ke liye khed hai

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

Some of these routes would mean further trouble for Kingfisher, I guess - on DED, DHM and JLR, for instance. Bikaner is interesting - I had a visit to Bikaner with The Wife and Junior in September, 2011 (by train, of course). The Nal airport (BKB) was perhaps being developed then - this is an Air Force base, I believe. There is a sizeable Air force presence in the region, due to the proximity to Pakistan, I guess. I really do not know about how the loads will be, and I hope this does not end up like Mysore.
Cheers, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:58 pm Post subject:

Update on Bikaner

Its an IAF field and AAi is developing a small terminal capable of handling 75 arr/dep pax - which is essentially 1 ATR/Q load of people.

However, I believe that the runway would well accomodate A320/B737 ops because its with IAF.

The terminal is under construction.

Looks like SG has information on when it would be complete and thats really soon.

BKB is the code

BKB-JAI is < 300 kms
BKB - DEL is approx 400 kms

DEL-JAI is 232

So people do fly for those distances ex-DEL
Q400 should do good.

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

Ameya, Pantnagar has a major air base. I am completely blank about this - for my benefit, can you please tell me more about the restrictions at the airport?
Thanks, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:04 pm Post subject:

pantnagar doesnt have an airbase.
It is in uttarakhand and is a small AAI built airport.
KF operated services for a few days in late october and early november before the entire fiasco started.

The runway length might not be enough to operate Qs

Nimish · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:05 pm Post subject:

ATQ - Amritsar - should be perfect for connecting to DEL and perhaps an ATQ-IXC flight would also do well (to the capital and back).

IXC - Chandigarh plenty of traffic to be had from here, especially if they want to feed into their Boeing flights from DEL.

DED - Dehradun - Not sure

DHM - Is this Dharamshala? Dalai Lama territory - long journey from DEL by road, should be a good choice, especially for international connections from DEL

PGH - Pantnagar? Unique location. Good for tourist traffic to the Gharwal hills, not sure if there's much industry in that part of UP/ Uttarnchal though.

JLR - Jabalpur - quite a long haul, should be good to differentiate from the ATR Smile

.

KNU - Kanpur - major business center, but very efficient connectivity to DEL via the rail network.

UDR - Udaipur - plenty of tourist potential during from autumn to spring, but the summers can be plenty empty.

HJR - Khajuraho - again - major tourist traffic.

Bikaner - Not much tourist traffic here, but I presume it's primarily business/ VFR traffic being targeted here?
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Oops - I think I confused Pantnagar with...of all places, Gorakhpur.
Sorry, Ameya - thanks for pointing this out.
Cheers, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:34 pm Post subject:

Some more updates that I may share :

ATQ - Amritsar - should be perfect for connecting to DEL and perhaps an ATQ-IXC flight would also do well (to the capital and back).
=>Religare is starting a ATQ-IXC flight with B1900D

IXC - Chandigarh plenty of traffic to be had from here, especially if they want to feed into their Boeing flights from DEL.

DED - Dehradun - Not sure
=> Once upon a time was a cash cow for IT when it was monopoly, now they are triple daily, 9W is double daily and AI runs a airbus service. No room for growth but a lot of room to steal pax.

DHM - Is this Dharamshala? Dalai Lama territory - long journey from DEL by road, should be a good choice, especially for international connections from DEL
=> IT monopoly, they would be hit hard. Again a cash cow.

PGH - Pantnagar? Unique location. Good for tourist traffic to the Gharwal hills, not sure if there's much industry in that part of UP/ Uttarnchal though.
=> PGh is the only airport in the area which can service to Nainital belt and also PGH has a huge industry including a big Tata plant, because U'khand has attracted industry in this belt - 0% tax for some 5-7 years types.

JLR - Jabalpur - quite a long haul, should be good to differentiate from the ATR Smile

.
=> Again the idea is to get edge over IT by putting a Q.

KNU - Kanpur - major business center, but very efficient connectivity to DEL via the rail network.
=> Only AI operates, hopefully AI can pull out.

UDR - Udaipur - plenty of tourist potential during from autumn to spring, but the summers can be plenty empty.

HJR - Khajuraho - again - major tourist traffic.

Bikaner - Not much tourist traffic here, but I presume it's primarily business/ VFR traffic being targeted here?
=> Bikaner, also sees some tourist traffic and with the oil fields now around, would have good potential

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

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:42 pm Post subject:

Yes
Many a times IT has operated ad hoc A320 load restricted A319 ful load flights to DED Jolly Grant

IC had A319 flights, which have been recently shifted to CR7. 9W continues to operate B737s with 9W 307/334 routing with two way connection to BOM.

Like many other routes in the country, the exponential capacity increase killed the route for the airlines. But then why should the pax pay 6k+ min fare for a 1 hour ride on ATR 72 and when you are selling at that fare, others are bound to get attracted.

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

Ameya, thanks for clearing my ignorance on this. I guess my ignorance stems from some time around 2006, when the only flights to Jolly Grant were ATR ones (I had gone there to spot a plane, but as usual, arrived late!). Hence, a few questions. At that time, there was a plan to make Jolly Grant a mini cargo hub for the North. There were plans for runway extension, since the combination of the altitude and thinner air, and insufficient runway length did not permit anything else but an ATR-42/72. Thanks a lot!
Cheers, Sumantra.

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:57 pm Post subject:

That long back, I suppose it was only DN operating that route. Then its not about planned ops of ATR 42 or ATR 72. Its about which plane is available - send it !

The runway was capable of handling an occasional A319 in 2009. By 2010, night landing was operational and certified along with the runway extension and some terminal extension. In Summer 2010, 9W and AI entered DED which led to massive loss to IT - which till then had 6k + fares on the route.

I have wished going there but never managed, hopefuly next holiday is in the hills, its probably the only hills I havent seen so far and offcourse J&K.

ameya · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject:

As for the cargo thing, every place with a small air strip wants to be a cargo hub.

We would soon be a nation for all hubs and no spokes and may be no airlines as well. Imagine the airports who want to be cargo hubs
DEl/BOM/LKO/JAI/NAG/HYD/BLR/MAA/CCU/COK

And for every private airport proposed - GOI/AMD/Kannur - they intend to make it a cargo hub.
Today there is a article about making IXU the cargo hub.

I have no clue how all would be hubs. The smarter choice would be to build a nice low cost, single runway airport whereever needed.

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

Yes, Ameya - there were two daily IT ATR flights. And yes, it could be an ATR-42 or an ATR-72, depending on the load. Somehow, I also seem to remember Air India operating an ATR-42 to DED - obviously, later. I had planned to take an official trip on Air India, which did not work out, much to my disappointment. This would be in October 2010, or so. Quite some time back, The Wife's father had a Do-228 flight to and from Jolly Grant, with a lady captain in the front office.
Ameya - the only hills you haven't visited are the Doon valley, and J&K - wow! Doon for me, was quite a disappointment. The Wife and her family are from there, hence this little bit of interest in Jolly Grant, and the surroundings. The Wife's father also mentioned that Jolly Grant is in fact a wee bit closer to Haridwar than Dehradun. Most of the sites in and around Doon are too commericialised for my liking. Thanks once again, for all this information, Ameya!
Cheers, Sumantra.

theflyingsikh · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 3:27 am Post subject: From Business Traveller

Spicejet announced six new routes today as it held a conference in Dubai to mark the start of daily Mumbai and Delhi flights to the Gulf city on B737-800s yesterday.

Riyadh, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Male and Kabul are due to be launched before the year end, with the majority served from Delhi.

It marks a significant change in strategy for the low-cost airline, which currently only flies to three international destinations (Kathmandu, Colombo and Dubai).

CEO Neil Mills said the carrier, which currently operates 42 aircraft, would also add 10 more services in India, which will swell its domestic network to 44 points. It isn't finished in Dubai either, with plans afoot to connect Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Asked whether the market can sustain so many scheduled and low-cost services between India and the Gulf - competition is intensifying with Indigo in expansive mood too (click here) - Mills said there was a lot of "pent-up demand" between both regions. He said it has recorded 85 per cent load factors for its first flights, which went on sale June 8.

He said it could have flown to Dubai "six or seven months ago", but was impeded by paperwork issues, adding the hold up was more at the Indian end than Dubai.

He scotched reports that Etihad and Qatar Airways were considering taking a stake in the airline. "There has been some initial discussion but the FDI rules to facilitate it don't exist."

Dubai fares are priced AED377 excluding taxes. Hot food is available on board on a chargeable basis.

For more information visit spicejet.com

Report by Dominic Ellis
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ameya · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:14 am Post subject:

AI and 9W launched in late March'2010.
By Oct'10 - Winter schedule, 9W was double daily on ATR.
AI then shifted to A319 ops with continuation from BOM. With multiple points to be touchd by BOM/DEL planes, they reverted to CR7 lately.
9W went from 2 ATR to 1 ATR + B737 ops
and IT in its consolidation phase went on to 3 ATRs and now they have the advantage of last flight out.

ameya · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:18 am Post subject:

Last heard, Kabul would be online first. RUH will be tapped from BOM and DEL.

I suppose same would be the case with BKK.

HKG/Guangzou might be from DEL.

SG is now picking up after boarding the bus late, new destinations would really be a game changer.

Both 6E and SG have not yet touched DAC.

If and when IT comes back with internal funding or some other funding, it will be very very difficult to get hold of these markets again. As it is they were present noticably only in BKK and DXB and that now is flooded by others.

While there would be demand of FSC on these routes, in todays era you end up pricing yourself few hundred rupees above the LCCs on all routes and that doesnt help recover your costs

ameya · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:01 am Post subject:

First flight to DXB was operated by VT-SZA their latest bird

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Ameya any update on ATQ and IXC , if they are scheduled to start and by when

What are expected time slots

I assume all flights will be on a q400 from DEL

Karan

ameya · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:05 am Post subject:

I am still not able to get the exact date, all I know is now the plan

IXC will be connected with BOM.

The flight would do BLR-BOM-IXC-BOM-BLR

BLR-BOM - unthinkable 5:15/5:25 type dep
BOM-IXC : 7:20 dep and back the same way, this will give two way connectivity to BLR

BLR-IXC has been a decent market and BOM-IXC is one of the cash cows for airlines, currently operated by 9W, IT and G8

AI operates one stop via DEL.

Q400s would have double daily DEL-IXC-DEL flights and may be triple daily till some of the other airports become operational.

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

747-237 · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:37 pm Post subject:

SpiceJet have taken delivery of 5 new Q400s, which are on their way home today: VT-SUH, VT-SUI, VT-SUL, VT-SUM, VT-SUO.
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ameya · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:41 pm Post subject:

I find it hard to believe, why DGCA would reject slots on grounds of security and that too at either BOM or ATQ

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Nimish · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:24 pm Post subject:

ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:02 am Post subject:

Slot co-ord at ATQ is handled by AAI. I can confirm that in last 4 years, IT has not filed for a direct BOM-ATQ flight.

AI had filed for a BOM-ATQ flight and has plans to operate once they get additional night parkings in BOM.

On the other part, is CCJ/COK also on the list of having more international flights than domestic ?

ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm Post subject:

Spicejet is starting booking of their Qs from DEL anytime now.

ATQ and IXC would be online first and then the rest

keep checking for more updates

aeroblogger · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:36 pm Post subject:

ameya · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:52 pm Post subject:

ATQ to DEL and IXC to DEL and SXR was online for a while, the connections were being shown in the drop down but booking wasnt available.

It has been pulled out again

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Found a pic of SG's inaugural DXB run, this is SZA.

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Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

ameya · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:23 pm Post subject:

Trying to answer most of your questions.

ATQ is available at all hours so this logic of a specific hour might not apply. besides as I said, I am in a position to confirm that this was not in last 3.5 years atleast.

The procedure is - request all concerned - AAI/IAF/Navy/JV airports , finalise slots from them and take it all to DGCA which is nodal agency

As for BOM-ATQ on AI, MIAL would allot 3-4 night parkings to AI as part of the land swap deal and thats when they might operate, offcorse depends on the CMD then !

Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Good to know thanks for answering the questions

Karan

ameya · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:15 pm Post subject:

First flights out

2221 DEL ATQ 6:40 8:05
2221 ATQ SXR 8:25 9:20
2221 SXR ATQ 9:45 10:45
2222 ATQ DEL 11:05 12:30

2113 Del ATQ 14:15 15:35
2114 ATQ DEL 15:55 17:20

ameya · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:21 pm Post subject:

Flights effective 12th July