SpiceJet to fly overseas in Oct

Kalanidhi Maran-promoted low-cost carrier SpiceJet will add 13 aircraft to its fleet by 2013 besides targeting to ferry 85 lakh passengers by the end of the current financial year. The no-frills airline would be kick starting its overseas operations in October, said Kishor Gupta, director, SpiceJet. “Our Delhi-Kathmandu service will start on October 7 and Chennai-Colombo service will be unveiled on October 9,” he said adding, “We are starting with Saarc nations and Male and Dhaka are on our radar where we plan to start operations soon.” Speaking to newsmen after the Chennai-Madurai inaugural flight, he said the airline would start getting the 30 aircraft it had booked recently with Boeing by January 2014. The company had placed fresh order with Boeing for 30 more aircraft amounting to close to $2.4 billion.” “We will be having 45-46 aircraft by the time Boeing starts its delivery of aircraft from the 30-plane booking lot. We will be leasing out the six to seven aircraft by this December and another seven will be added in 14 months’ time. We will be, in a sense, doubling our fleet of aircraft from the current 22.” Gupta said the airline is not looking for any capex raising in the near future as the 13 aircraft would be on lease. “We won’t be facing any major fund outgo, but when Boeing starts the delivery by 2014, we would take a call on whether to raise funds.” He said the airline is looking to expand its existing domestic network as well as adding some more destinations. Destinations such as Thiruvanthapuram, Lucknow, and Indore may get included in the airline’s network. “We are targeting a 22% growth in our top line,” he said, adding “Spicejet’s on-time performance has been among the best in the industry.” Gupta said that he do

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Air India to start hub-and-spoke flights to connect global destinations

Air India is all set to introduce a daily hub-and-spoke flight from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi to Delhi effective October 31, to connect its non-stop flights to New York, Chicago, Toronto and Tokyo. Passengers originating their international travel from Chennai to New York, Chicago and Toronto, can travel daily by Air India Flight AI 643, leaving Chennai from Anna International Departure Terminal at 2010 hrs and reaching Delhi at 2305 hrs. Similarly from Bangalore, AI 623 will depart at 2010 hrs to reach Delhi at 2245 hrs, from Hyderabad AI 127 will depart at 2135 hrs to reach Delhi at 2340 hrs and from Kochi AI 693 to depart at 1935 hrs and reach Delhi 2245 hrs. The onward Flights AI 101 to New York will leave Delhi at 0040 hrs to arrive New York at 0645 hrs (local time), Flight AI 127 to Chicago will leave Delhi at 0105 hrs to arrive Chicago at 0700 hrs (local time) and Flight AI 187 to Toronto will leave from Delhi at 0125 hrs to arrive at 0745 hrs (local time) in Toronto. Air India’s daily code-share flights to Zurich and Vienna and thrice-weekly flights to Moscow, will also be connected to this hub-and-spoke flight with three and half hours transit time at Delhi. On the return direction, its flights from New York and Chicago will connect Chennai with a transit time of three and half hours at Delhi. The Flight AI 642 will leave Delhi at 2015 hrs and arrive Chennai at 2245 hrs. Similarly, Flights AI 622 will leave Delhi at 2010 hrs to reach Bangalore at 2305 hrs, AI 126 to leave Delhi at 1830 hrs to arrive Hyderabad at 2035 hrs and AI 692 to leave Delhi at 1945 hrs to arrive Kochi at 2255 hrs, says a release from the company.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Air India looks at ‘Premier Economy’ cabins on some routes

Air India wants to introduce a “premier economy cabin” instead of having a business class cabin on the Airbus A-330 aircraft that it will lease for some of its international flights. A premier economy class cabin is a scaled down version of the business class cabin offering more comfort than an economy class seat at fares that are less than those of a business class seat. Air France recently introduced its “Premium Voyager”, a cabin between economy and business class, offering 40 per cent additional space compared to an economy class and priority check-in at airports among others.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

IATA calls service tax on luxury air travel illegal

International civil aviation trade body IATA has criticized the finance ministry’s decision to impose service tax on international first and business class tickets since 2006, saying that “such taxes are illegal by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules.” The IATA director-general (DG) Giovanni Bisignani also termed the financial condition of Indian carriers as precarious, saying he was concerned about their $13 billion debt. Talking about the imposition of the aforementioned service tax by the Indian finance ministry — which he termed as illegal — the IATA DG said, “It is an embarrassing situation for such a relevant country as India is an ICAO Council member and a signatory to the Chicago convention. While pointing out that private Indian carriers are now reporting profits or shrinking losses after the recession, the IATA DG nevertheless said, “Indian carriers will still lose an estimated $0.4 billion this year. And I am concerned about their $13 billion debt. In a market as rich in potential as India, this precarious financial situation indicates that structural weaknesses must be addressed.”

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Virgin Blue And Etihad Airways Allowed To Ready Abu Dhabi Route

Virgin Blue Holdings gained interim approval Thursday from the Australian antitrust regulator for an alliance with Etihad Airways on flights to Abu Dhabi. The endorsement allows both airlines to prepare for an alliance and promote it to customers before a final ruling, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said. Virgin Blue’s chief executive, John Borghetti, said the carriers would begin sales Oct. 1. The airlines will operate 27 flights a week between Australia and Abu Dhabi, he said.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Jet to start flights to Milan on 5 December

India’s largest airline by passengers carried, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, will start daily nonstop flights from Delhi to Milan from 5 December, making Milan the 24th international destination on airline’s international network. Jet Airways will use Airbus 330200 aircraft to connect Delhi Milan route, the only one to offer direct air link on the India Italy route. A media statement said this flight will allow to connect other Italian cities such as Florence, Rome, Venice and Pisa. Mint had reported on Jet Airways’ Milan flights on 21 September.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Ryanair plans standing seats to cut costs

Irish budget airline Ryanair has a novel idea to cut costs. Standing seats at £4 a head. And how will it pay for these? By charging passengers a pound for using toilets aboard. The airline plans safety tests for the “vertical seats” early next year. Around the same time, it will also start charging passengers every time the toilet is used. According to its plans, the back ten rows of seats will be removed from the carrier’s 250 planes and replaced with 15 rows of vertical seats. Two toilets at the back could also be removed to free up even more space. Between 40 and 50 extra passengers will be able to travel on each flight if the plan gets the go ahead, enabling Ryanair to cut its own costs. The revenue generated from charging passengers to use the toilet would pay for the new vertical seating. In the new vertical seats, passengers will still be restrained with a seat belt which will go over the shoulder, and will adhere to all current safety regulations which apply to normal aircraft seating, the Ryanair spokesperson, Mr. Stephen McNamara, was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).