Aviation Summary - Week#3 of July

                                           Aviation Summary – last two weeks

Back after a short break, which I took with my better half to explore the Leh-Ladakh regions of northern state of Jammu & Kashmir. It was sad to hear about the incidents of MH-17 and the geo politics around it, as I returned to telephone and internet coverage.

A lot of things on the network front, especially after the joint press conference by Etihad & Jet Airways. The focus apparently will be Network Planning for domestic routes and Jet will shy away from loss making routes. By stating this, I believe, Jet is inviting more trouble on the domestic front. Competition now knows how to make Jet run away from a route, just add capacity when they can in terms of aircraft availability and finances and make Jet leave the market and go. Classic case of is Bhubaneshwar, where there was minimal competition and Jet vacated the market, which it was dominant from Sahara days. The reason Jet has shown some profitability on the international sector is because they have been stable for a while, unlike the domestic scene where they tend to change their network every 3 weeks or so.

More network changes by Jet and others are covered here.

Jet Airways launches Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) & increases flights to Bangkok

Jetairways has increased focus towards East and there is some international expansion taking place including launch of a new station – Ho Chi Minh, the capital of Vietnam.

Jetairways will now have three flights a day between Delhi and Bangkok & Mumbai and Bangkok. It is surprising how Jet is being able to sustain Bangkok amidst the chaos caused by the Military rule and dip in tourist traffic.

9W64 DEL0910 -1445BKK1545 – 1715SGN D 737

9W63 SGN1815 – 1945BKK2045 – 2355DEL D 737

The third daily Mumbai – Bangkok flight will operate as below,

9W60 BOM1225 – 1810BKK D 737

9W61 BKK0815 – 1115BOM D 737

Jet Airways re-launches Chennai – Pune sector with services to Ahmedabad

Jet airways which pulled out of the Chennai – Pune sector in April, have decided to re-launch the sector effective mid-august. The flights earlier were operated by mainline Jet airways but will now be operated as Jet Airways Konnect service and would continue onwards to Ahmedabad.

9W2491 MAA0945 – 1130PNQ x6 737

9W2491 PNQ1200 – 1315AMD x6 737

9W2492 AMD1345 – 1500PNQ x6 737

9W2492 PNQ1530 – 1715MAA x6 737

Pune – Ahmedabad is operated by IndiGo and Spicejet with both operating the flight 6x weekly.

Pune – Chennai sector is crowded as well, with IndiGo operating triple daily, Spicejet & GoAir operating Daily and Air India operating 6x weekly

Jet airways gave a connection to Ahmedabad and Vadodara via Indore till recently from Pune.

Interesting question is where is this capacity coming from? It has come from cancelling flights on Chennai – Bengaluru – Indore route, which operates at below timings.

9W2390 MAA0945 – 1045BLR D 737

9W2390 BLR1115 – 1310IDR D 737

9W2391 IDR1340 – 1535BLR D 737

9W2391 BLR1615 – 1715MAA D 737

Notice the slots being same at a slot constraint airport like Chennai.

Air Asia launches second daily to Kochi & Goa; IndiGo takes the battle one level up

As Air Asia India announced launch of its second daily flight on Bengaluru – Kochi sector, IndiGo has responded by launching two more flights on this sector, taking their flights on this sector to 20x weekly each way. The second daily Bengaluru – Kochi flights are effective 14^th August.

I51129 BLR2140 – 2240COK D

I51130 COK2310 – 0010BLR D

I am expecting that these flights will soon be re-timed when the second aircraft arrives or pulled out completely.

The second daily flight to Goa from Bengaluru operates as below,

I51322 BLR0620 – 0735GOI D

I51323 GOI0805 – 0915BLR D

IndiGo will operate this new rotation effective 28^th August.

6E411 HYD0705 – 0810BLR D

6E411 BLR0840 – 0940COK D

6E422 COK1010 – 1110BLR D

6E422 BLR1205 – 1445CCU D

6E425 CCU1615 – 1850BLR D

6E425 BLR1920 – 2020COK D

6E412 COK2050 – 2150BLR D

6E412 BLR2220 – 2320HYD D

Air Asia launches two more destinations

Air Asia India tweeted about launching two new destinations, Jaipur and Chandigarh. This is an indication of their second aircraft being inducted soon, likely by end of August.

I51722 BLR0945 – 1220JAI D

I51723 JAI1245 – 1515BLR D

I51824 BLR1545 – 1840IXC D

I51825 IXC1905 – 2205BLR D

AirAsia India will become the only operator to fly non-stop from Bengaluru to Chandigarh and third operator after IndiGo and Air Costa to fly non-stop on the Bengaluru – Jaipur sector

Spicejet withdraws  aircraft from its fleet

Spicejet has withdrawn VT-SPS, a Boeing B737-800 aircraft (MSN 34905) from active service. The aircraft was named Mustard and was 2007 vintage. This aircraft was ferried to Istanbul on 17^th July. Sister bird, VT-SPJ, named Mint in the Spicejet fleet was ferried to Istanbul on 20^th June and has since been operating with Russian carrier Orenair as VQ-BUF.

Spicejet Cancels flights to Kabul

With growing threats, an occasion where aircraft, crew and passengers were at the airport when Kabul airport was attached, Spicejet has taken a decision to discontinue flights to Kabul. With this, only Air India will continue its Kabul flights, while a lot of Airlines based in Afghanistan continue to operate to India including the national carrier Ariana and private carriers, Safi and Kam.

Go Air goes double daily on Nagpur – Kolkata

GoAir, which recently launched flights from Nagpur to Kolkata, becoming only the second operator on the route, after IndiGo, has quickly increased frequency on the sector, offering a morning Kolkata – Nagpur and an evening Nagpur – Kolkata flight, which bothways is extended to Mumbai.

In the process, GoAir has added Kolkata as a new base, shifting one aircraft from Delhi. It has also pulled out of Delhi – Nagpur – Delhi sector. This flight will be its first connection between Kolkata and Mumbai, which it will now provide as a one stop via Nagpur

The airline is less likely to be noticed by larger rival IndiGo on the sector, since IndiGo has larger battles to fight in the south with Air Asia

The new flights of Go Air operate as below

G8 141 CCU0625 – 0815NAG D

G8 142 NAG2045 – 2225CCU D

GoAir defers delivery of its 20^th aircraft

As first images appeared of VT-GOS, Go Air’s 20^th aircraft with all white fuselage, there was speculation if GoAir would do something unique like spicejet. However, the aircraft was intentionally left white, so that it could be transferred to the lessor, which in turn has gone to Frontier airlines,USA.

There also were questions, on why GoAir intends to start international flights only in 2015 and not immediately. This answers it now, the 20^th aircraft is not in fleet and the 5/20 rule still exists.

Mumbai gets a new carrier

With Emirates launching A380 flights to Mumbai, it is now turn of Fly Dubai to add Mumbai on their network map effective Winter’14.

Flights will be operated 5x weekly and by recently launched dual class aircraft.

Tata – SIA aircraft takes to the skies

As MSN6223 A320 with Sharklets took to the skies on 10^th July, there were reports that this aircraft would be registered as VT-TTB and will be the first aircraft for the airline which is planning proving flights in September.

Aviation Weekly – 6th July to 11th July

IndiGo flight additions and flight timing changes

After possibly longest hiatus in the history of IndiGo, it is finally adding more flights on its network. This also comes along with a minor re-jig of timings on few of its flights and re-instating flights to Dubai at old flight numbers and timings, once the runway work is over by 20^th July.

New Flights

IndiGo is expected to take delivery of its next Airbus A320 with sharklets, MSN 6208, likely to be registered VT-IAP. The new induction will be a net addition to the fleet and an aircraft will be based in Kolkata(CCU) to start the new services.

The new rotation will operate the below flights effective 3^rd August.

6E596 CCU 0730 – 1015BOM D

6E496 BOM1030 – 1145IDR D

6E496 IDR 1240 – 1340HYD D

6E496 HYD1410 – 1525PNQ x6

6E495 PNQ1555 – 1710HYD x6

6E495 HYD1740 – 1840IDR D

6E495 IDR1920 – 2045BOM D

6E595 BOM2125 – 2350CCU D

IndiGo will now operate 3x Daily flights on Mumbai – Indore sector, 1 less than the dominant carrier Jet Airways on this sector.

On the Kolkata – Mumbai sector, this is IndiGo’s 6^th Daily and direct flight, while it sells three more connections, each via Jaipur, Nagpur and Bhubaneshwar. Jet Airways operates 5 flights a day between Mumbai & Kolkata, while Air India & Spicejet operate 3 each. GoAir which operates to both Mumbai and Kolkata does not have a connection between the two cities.

On the Hyderabad – Indore route, IndiGo becomes the second carrier after Spicejet to operate a non-stop flight.  Kingfisher used to operate this route via Nagpur and Spicejet introduced this as a 4x weekly Hyderabad – Indore – Bhopal – Hyderabad and 3x weekly Hyderabad – Bhopal – Indore – Hyderabad routing, until they stopped operations to Bhopal and made the flight a Hyderabad – Indore – Hyderabad direct operation. Jet Airways offers this connection twice daily via Pune.

With a block time of just 1 hour between Hyderabad & Indore, I expect the On Time performance of this rotation to be severely affected.

Termination of existing Hyderabad – Pune – Hyderabad flight

With the induction of new rotation, IndiGo is terminating its existing Hyderabad – Pune flight which operates at below timings from the same day as it launched the new rotation

6E313 HYD1450 – 1600PNQ x6

6E313 HYD1545 – 1705PNQ 6

6E304 PNQ 1630 – 1745HYD x6

6E304 PNQ 1735 – 1850HYD 6

The terminated Hyderabad – Pune gap will be utilized to add flights on Hyderabad – Vizag sector increasing the frequency from existing single daily to double daily. It will also be a one stop flight from Delhi.

6E313 HYD1545 – 1655VTZ D

6E306 VTZ1725 – 1835HYD D

Its existing Hyderabad – Vizag flights are connected both ways to Mumbai.

Flight timings changes

One of the three daily flights on Delhi – Bhubaneshwar – Delhi sector has been advance by half an hour each way effective 16^th August.

6E 257 DEL0700 – 0900BBI 320 D

6E 256 BBI0930 – 1145DEL 320 D

6E 522 DEL1140 – 1245LKO 320 D (Delayed by 35 mins)

6E 521 DEL0730 – 0850SXR 320 D (Delayed by 30 mins)

6E525 LKO1315 – 1430DEL 320 D (Delayed by 30 mins)

6E 525 DEL1500 – 1620SXR 320 D(Delayed by 30 mins)

SpiceJet re-starts International expansion

Spicejet, has announced flights on the Bagdogra – Kathmandu sector effective 13^th August. Spicejet, which had pulled out flights and closed stations on the international sectors at the onset of the Summer Season, had announced that it would re-start some of those stations again later in the year.

However, the new flight puts the focus back on the blue skies concept – launching flights between sectors which are believed to have potential but are not served currently or have very low frequency and competition.

The flight would operate as below

SG47 IXB1355 – 1505KTM 135

SG48 KTM1605 – 1645IXB 135

This will also mean, they would launch an additional three weekly Kolkata – Bagdogra –Kolkata service as below

SG327 CCU1130 – 1225IXB 135

SG874 IXB1815 – 1920CCU 135

Spicejet had lobbied hard with the local government and the Air Force – which operates the Bagdogra Airport to extend watch hours to allow night landing and started multiple flights a day between Kolkata & Bagdogra, only to withdraw it in the short while.

Another short route which SpiceJet can look to operate from Kathmandu would be Varanasi, which Air India has been operating for a very long time.

Etihad launches Kolkata in Winter schedule

Etihad is launching flights to Kolkata in winter schedule. The flights operated by narrowbody A320 aircraft, will be effective 15^th February’15. Etihad’s competition in the Gulf, Emirates & Qatar, already serve Kolkata.

The flights would operate as below,

EY256 AUH1110 – 1650CCU 320 D

EY255 CCU1830 – 2230AUH 320  D

Air India formally joins Star Alliance

21 year old airframe, MSN 432 Airbus A 320 with registration VT-ESF, inducted by erstwhile Indian Airlines in 1993 was colored in Star Alliance livery with the Star Alliance logo on the tail and the fuselage being full white with Star Alliance and Air India written for the ceremony to be held today to induct Air India into Star Alliance officially.

The ceremony is to be held at Delhi. The website of Air India started sporting the Star Alliance logo post mid night

Interesting snippets from Parliamentary Questions

Since the parliament is in session, there always is some interesting information which comes up from the questions which are asked on the floor of the house and the reply given by the honorable minister.

In one such answer, the minister answered that “Air Carnival” has been granted an Initial NOC to start Scheduled regional services in Southern region on 24^th June 2014. Similarly, ZAV airways has been given similar NOC on 30^th June 2014 for the East & North East Region. Only time will tell, how many extensions each of these apply for and if we would ever aircraft fly in their livery.

Capacity Increase by Air France to Bengaluru

Air France plans 4 class services to Bengaluru in Winter 2014. The existing A330 services will be replaced by 4 class B777-200ER, 6 times a week. Day 2 from Paris and Day 3 from Bengaluru will continue to be serviced by A330s.

 Tail Piece

There will not be any update to the blog until 26^th July. As I return from a short break, expect a lot of travel experiences and review of flights across IndiGo and Jetairways – full service and JetKonnect along with another experience of Delhi Airport. Hope all my flights go well; I make all the connections and have a safe trip.

Aviation Weekly Summary - 28June to 5July

Weekly Summary for 28^th June to 5^th July

New passenger initiatives under new government

While a detailed press release is available on the PIB website, AAI is taking a step forward with the QR technology, hitherto not used by them to address passenger grievances

Jetairways re-schedules flights to London, leading to chaos

Jetairways re-scheduled flights from Mumbai to London (9W118/117) to operate with a delay of over 12hours, for 1^st of July leading to a lot of chaos at London which was widely covered on twitter. Jetairways has been doing these changes on flights to London, and few times on flights to HongKong once every 2 or 3 months

IndiGo adds flights and reschedules some

Effective 15^th July 2014, IndiGo will add a new daily flight on Delhi – Pune – Delhi sector. The new flight would operate at below timings. Thus IndiGo will now operate 26x weekly each way.

6E143 DEL0505 – 0710PNQ D 320

6E142 PNQ0740 – 0945DEL D 320

The other flights operate as below

6E407 DEL0805 – 1010PNQ 6 320

6E407 DEL0835 – 1035PNQ x26 320

6E105 DEL1435 – 1640PNQ x6 320

6E401 DEL1805 – 2005PNQ D 320

6E102 PNQ1145 – 1400DEL x6 320

6E 406 PNQ1850 – 2100DEL x2 320

6E402 PNQ2035 – 2240DEL D 320

IndiGo will thus become the largest operator on the sector, where Air India operates 20x weekly with a mix of double bogey all economy A320s, A319s and A321s, Jetairways which operates triple daily full service flights, GoAir which operates triple daily and Spicejet which operates 13x weekly each way.

IndiGo is also adding second frequency on Mumbai – Indore – Mumbai sector effective 15^th July 2014

The new flight will be an extension of its Patna – Lucknow – Mumbai flight, which operates as Bangalore – Kolkata – Patna – Lucknow – Mumbai, the return flight would continue to Lucknow, thus giving a two way Lucknow – Indore connection with a longer routing via Mumbai. No other carrier gives direct Lucknow – Indore connection.

6E339 BOM1530 – 1645IDR D 320

6E446 IDR1715 – 1820BOM D 320

Existing flight on Mumbai – Indore route for IndiGo continues to Raipur and onwards to Kolkata, both ways.

Jetairways is a dominant carrier on the sector, with 4 flights a day each way.

Spicejet adds flights for limited duration

Spicejet added additional frequencies on existing sectors effective 15^th June

SG628 IXE1635 – 1725BLR D 737

SG629 BLR1810 – 1905IXE D 737

Madurai – sudden spurt in flights!

As Air Costa launched flights on Chennai – Madurai – Chennai sector, Spicejet also added flights on this sector with additional flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays taking the tally to 14x weekly each way. Air India also added flights on this sector, which continue onwards to Mumbai

Why I don’t like Barbeque Nation any more

Barbeque Nation owned by the famous Sayaji Hotels of Indore, became a rage in India as it started covering city after city and opened store after another in a short span of time from 2006 onwards.

I was introduced to the concept when my family visited Barbeque Nation at Kalyani Nagar, Pune, sometime in 2008, I believe. What looked like an impressive restaurant, menu and concept, over the years is turning into a boring way of having food.

It has not been a sudden realization, but something which set in in a phased manner. After my visit to Barbeque Nation @ Sayaji Hotel pune, I thought I would let everybody know what my views are on these highly rated restaurants.

The concept indeed was good, natural extension of buffet meals, with well-designed tables and a combination of barbeque and buffet and desserts, which made it a popular joint from families to office parties to team lunches to friends get together. It soon got listed in top 100 restaurants in Asia, but I still have complaints!

The complaints range to just one area – menu and the choices. How many times have I, my family or my friends been to Barbeque Nation and returned with saying they have had – one chicken starter on the skewer, prawns, fish, tandoor chicken, mutton seekh, paneer tikka, corn cob, mushroom,  pineapple and some mix vegetables, followed by Cajun spice potatoes !

Sounds familiar? Yes, because that’s what you end up with a variation of one or two odd starters and all the above available in the same taste with a different name.

This is not it; the macaroni pasta salad, coleslaw salad and the whole bunch of 14-18 selections as part of the buffet remain the same too. What more, when you move over to desserts you will always find the Gulab Jamun in addition to ice creams and assorted pastries.

Then what is different than the last time – the answer is main course, which is not upto the mark in taste and variety of options on offer.

Will I go again to Barbeque Nation? Yes, if it’s a team lunch or an office party, where I have to be, but otherwise, I am not keen on eating the same stuff again by a different name

The Great Punjab Koregaon Park - Experiencing Authentic Punjabi food

In one of my earlier blogs reviewing food, I had mentioned how Western parts of Pune are deprived of good food options. A quick look at Zomato and Trip Advisor – both of these places where I am active contributor and it highlights the lack of options for gourmet food.

So one fine day, when we wanted to have authentic finger licking Punjabi food – it again meant making a trip to the other side of town and exploring some options. Outings to buffet at Sun n Sand, Taj, JW Mariott, Seasons in the last few weeks and months had not been fruitful in having an authentic Punjabi food experience, due to the way everybody have structured their menu – a mix of continental and Indian food options.

After some research, we decided to settle on The Great Punjab in Koregaon Park.

There would be many hotels by this name, but the famous ones are – The Great Punjab at Dadar TT, Mumbai (http://www.greatpunjab.in/index.htm) with 48 years of legacy and the logo and website is different than the one which is in Pune ( at Baner, Koregaon Park & Bandra in Mumbai) (http://thegreatpunjabbandra.com/ and http://www.thegreatpunjab.com/ ) which started operations in 1981 in Bandra. A little more research and I find out that it belongs to the same family who branched out to run two different chains of hotels.

I had made a reservation and was promptly attended to as we reached the restaurant, which is located at Lane#5, off North Main Road at Koregaon Park, this place has been around for many years and has a valet service though there is ample parking available in the lane if its late in the evenings. Currently, this area is facing the ire of civil authorities probably, since the work of concretizing the roads has not been completed for a long time.

The restaurant has a mezzanine floor with two staircases at the ends and seating – mix of couch & chairs on the ground floor. We were seated comfortably next to the wine cellar – which are one of the better tables with a lot of space in between them, unlike the couches.

One good thing you notice about this place is that their menu is inclusive of the bar menu and the food menu, and one does not struggle to juggle between the multiple menu cards that come your way. The first page of the menu, lists out the meaning of Punjab – a nice read!

We were a family of four, and the order was varied – Antiquity Blue Large (Rs.500), Fresh Lime Soda (Rs.95), Ginger Lemon(Rs.130) and Chicken Soup (Rs.180) along with Masala Papad (Rs.80). They have something known as Kadak Roomali, which is a large papad shaped as a basket and sprinkled with Tomato, Capsicum and Onion – but having tried that before and not liked it, we opted for the normal Masala Papad.

Paneer Tikka Methi (Rs. 390) was the starter we chose along with our drinks and soup. While the soup, drinks and Papad were good, the starter wasn’t on the expected lines. It looked like some Methi (Fenugreek) stuffed between Paneer, but neither the paneer not the Methi had taste.

Main course comprised Dal Tadka (Rs 270), Vegetable Kadai (Rs. 380), Rotis (Rs.45 each) and Steamed Rice (Rs.190). The food tasted well, with the Dal served in bowls and Veg. Kadai having distinct gravy with just the right amount of spices.

All the main course fare was served with Onions and Pickle.

The whole experience cost us around Rs. 2500 but after a long time, it was an authentic Punjabi fare that we enjoyed over the last weekend.

I would definitely rate this place higher than most of the places claiming to serve authentic Punjabi food in Pune and keep it high on the list of places to visit again in future.

Weekly Indian Aviation Summary - 22June to 27June

Summary for Week 21^st June to 27^th June

Air India inducted into Star Alliance

The Star Alliance Chief Executive Board, which met on 23^rd June in London, approved the induction of Air India into the alliance. It will formally come in place from 11^th July,2014 when member benefits will be extended.

Air India is the first airline from India to be part of any alliance, largely described as a missing link by all the alliances. The closest any airline came to joining the alliance before last attempt of Air India was Kingfisher Airlines, which went into a holding pattern just before joining One World, which was scheduled sometime in March’2012

The aviation fraternity is looking forward to the Dreamliner with Star Alliance logo and livery

Air India launches flights to Moscow

Air India will launch flights to Moscow-DME from 18^th July 2014. The flights will be operated 4x weekly on Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

AI155 DEL 0155 – 0615DME x247 788

AI154 DME 0820 – 1530 DEL x247 788

Air India code-shares with Aeroflot on its daily Delhi – Moscow-SVO flights which are operated by Airbus A330. The new flight will connect both ways to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai , Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow.

Moscow has three airports, Sheremetyevo – the hub of national carrier Aeroflot , located towards the north west of the city; Domodedovo – the hub for S7, located south east of city and Vnukovo – the hub of Transaero, located towards the west of the city.

While I expected Air India to operate to Sheremetyevo and expand its code-share with Aeroflot for connectivity in Russia, it has chosen to fly to Domodedovo, where most of the western countries fly along with the Star Alliance members.

Spicejet to reduce frequency on certain sectors

Spicejet, could be sending one more aircraft to Europe on lease, going by its schedule.

It is set to reduce flights on few sectors effective 15^th July’14

SG886 DEL0535 – 0750IXB D 737

SG887 IXB0820 – 1045DEL D 737

SG887 DEL1120 – 1240SXR D 737

SG864 SXR1315 – 1420DEL D 737

Spicejet will continue to serve these sectors, with 1 direct and 1 flight via Guwahati on the Delhi – Bagdogra sector, 3 direct flights on Delhi – Srinagar sector, in addition to two via ( one each via Chandigarh & Jammu).

Flights on Delhi – Goa sector are being reduced effective 30^th June.

SG846 DEL1535 – 1810GOI D 737

SG847 GOI1840 – 2105DEL D 737

Spicejet will continue to operate double daily on the Delhi – Goa sector

Air Costa increases frequency on Hyderabad – Chennai sector

Air Costa, which is inducting capacity in the southern markets, is increasing frequency on Hyderabad – Chennai sector w.e.f 3^rd July.

The new flights would be at below timings

LB667 HYD0900 – 1020MAA D ERJ

LB656 MAA1945 – 2045HYD D ERJ

Summarizing the last week in Indian Aviation

After being out of action due to a bout of viral fever, and being busy for an entire week before that meant that I could not complete the piece of blog I had started writing. The one about who leads the domestic market share at Delhi. While I will take some more time to complete it, I thought of starting another series here – which comes with a small bit of history with it.

When I completed my MBA and joined work, with “the” premium carrier in India in those times, I had come up with a weekly newsletter, which would summarize what happens in the aviation space – mainly related to networks, new flights, cancellations and big announcements for the week gone bye. Difficult to say, it was popular, but it certainly was useful for many and people still remember those newsletters when I meet them once a while. Thus came a thought of replicating the same idea on the blog.

To be very honest, this will only be a collection of network related news gathered from multiple points including sources and would have been published on multiple forums and social networking sites before it comes here.

Summary for Week 14^th June to 20^th June

Spicejet to continue with the seasonal wet-leasing of its aircraft

Spicejet, like last year, will again send few of its aircraft to Europe (SmartWings) to be operated for the charter services as part of a wet-lease deal. VT-SPQ has already left Delhi for Prague on 18^th June and operated its first flight as QS1082 between Czech capital - Prague and the Croatian resort town – Split on 20^th June

New Destination for AirCosta

Vijaywada based startup carrier AirCosta with its fleet of E-170 and E-190 jets is adding Madurai(IXM) as its 9^th destination.

Flights will be from Chennai and effective 3rd July

LB 642 MAA1645 – 1805IXM x26

LB 642 MAA1715 – 1810IXM 26

LB 643 IXM1825 – 1925MAA x26

LB 643 IXM1830 – 1925MAA 26

New Destination for Air Asia India

As Air Asia took wings last week with flights between Bangalore & Goa and started flights between Bangalore & Chennai, it announced its 4^th Destination – Kochi. Flights will be effective 20^th July – which is a very long lead time and the flights would operate at timings mentioned below .

I5-1123 BLR0855 - 0955COK 320 D
I5-1124 COK1020 - 1120BLR 320 D 

This will increase the utilization of its sole aircraft to 8 flights a day, all of almost an hour each.

GoAir adds flights to Chandigarh and seasonally discontinues flights to Port Blair

GoAir, is adding a third flight on Mumbai-Chandigarh route effective 3^rd July. GoAir will be joined by Indigo – which already operates triple daily on this sector.

The new flight operates 5x weekly as below

G8 389 BOM1215 – 1430IXC 320 x23

G8 388 IXC1500 – 1725BOM 320 x23

This comes, as Go Air pulls out of PortBlair during the monsoon season where it provides connectivity from Mumbai – Via Chennai and Delhi – Via Kolkata. Flights to Port Blair resume from 1^st October’2014

IndiGo adds flights on Chennai – Pune sector

IndiGo, which recently launched its 500^th daily flight, when it started the second Delhi – Jammu flight, has launched additional flights on the Chennai – Pune sector. The airline now operates 19 departures a week, each way and offers maximum seats on the sector amongst all the carriers operating.

The new flight operates at below timings.

6E529 PNQ2250 – 0035MAA 320 D

6E385 MAA2155 – 2330PNQ 320 D

It may be noted that Jet Airways pulled out of this sector in April.

 KIA announces policy to attract airlines

Largely seen as a policy to give sops to Air Asia India, which recently shifted its hub from Chennai to Bengaluru, the management at Bengaluru airport has come up with a policy to attract airlines to set up base at Bangalore. Currently, only Air Asia qualifies for the benefits.