If the Draft Civil Aviation Policy, 2015, takes off in its original form, then fliers on major domestic routes will have to start paying 2% more on their fares as regional connectivity fund (RCF) charge from January 1, 2016. The smaller regional and underserved routes, known as Category IIA and Category III sectors, will be exempt from this levy. Another major highlight for the domestic air...
India plans to impose a 2 percent levy on most domestic and international airline tickets, raising funds to improve regional air travel infrastructure as part of a proposal to get more Indians flying. Releasing the government's draft aviation policy, civil aviation secretary R.N. Choubey said the tax may raise about INR15 billion rupees (USD$230 million). Funds will go towards reopening hun...
The civil aviation ministry on Friday will announce India's new civil aviation policy, which has been under discussion for over a year and aims to provide wings to the country's 300 million-strong middle-class, officials said. "The focus of the policy is going to be on reducing the cost of operations for airlines and providing affordable regional connectivity across the countr...
A woman passenger was not allowed to board an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to New Delhi on Monday morning as staff members of the private airline found her "inappropriately dressed". According to co-passengers, the woman, who was wearing a dress, missed her flight, though she was accommodated on a later flight after she reportedly changed into trousers. While IndiGo confirmed t...
Ultra-long, non-stop flights are set to rule the skies again. Over the past few weeks, major airlines have announced dizzyingly long flights that will go halfway round the earth without kissing it midway. Air India will fly the over 17-hour Delhi-San Francisco route from December 2. The Maharaja was planning a non-stop on the Bengaluru-SFO route, which at 18 hours would have been the world...
The initial public offer (IPO) by InterGlobe Aviation could have been an open-and-shut buying opportunity for investors. The company operates IndiGo Airlines — the country’s largest and most profitable air carrier. The airline seems set to continue its strong growth in the high-potential Indian skies. Also, the asking price for the issue, while not cheap, seems justified. But these pos...
Indian low-cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo is looking to raise up to $500 million in its upcoming IPO to cut its debt and fund its recent $26 billion aircraft order. Slated for end October, the IPO will place some 12% of the company's shares into the market. IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said the offering would help the airline capitalize on its previous successes in the competitive domestic...
Boeing has delayed deliveries of six Dreamliner aircraft to Air India by more than two years and the airline has decided not to seek compensation. "The deliveries will now begin from November 2016 and go on till August 2018," said a senior Air India official, who did not want to be identified. According to the earlier schedule, deliveries were to start from July 2015 and go on...
Rolling out freebies to its domestic flyers and business class passengers, national carrier Air India on Saturday offered four schemes, including 25 percent flat discount to women travellers, due to high air travel demand during the festive season. Air India offers four schemes to the executive class passengers flying the domestic sectors as part of the super festival bonanza, the airline said...
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd. is making money again and plans to order new aircraft worth billions of dollars in the next five months, said its chairman. As the once-struggling airline gets set for a new round of expansion, it could order more than 200 aircraft by the end of March. It is in advance stages of discussions with Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE for passenger jets...
Dynamic International Airways LLC launched a $97.7 million breach of contract lawsuit against Air India in New York Federal Court. Air India sub-contracted Dynamic International Airways LLC (a/k/a Dynamic Airways or Dynamic) for the year 2013 and 2014 for carriage of holy pilgrims from India to Saudi Arabia round-trip. Dynamic carried 47,976 passengers for Hajj 2014 and c...
Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd. (GVHL) has signed a PBH contract for its H130 light helicopter, benefiting from Airbus Helicopters' redefined customer service offer called HCare which was introduced early this year. GVHL's H130 will be covered by the HCare Smart PBH service, which has been developed with careful consideration of the support required by operators of light helicopters. The HC...
