BUSINESS
Air Canada ups India game; Air India needs planes to match it
Canada has a huge Indian diaspora and many fly here to escape that country’s harsh winter. While airlines based in North America and Europe are barred from flying over Russia, Air India faces no such restrictions and this has given it a tremendous edge. But it needs planes to take advantage of the situation.
BUSINESS
SpiceJet, curiously, is not flying metro routes. Why is that?
The airline has delayed Q4FY22 and full-year FY22 results citing a ransomware attack so the latest financials are not known. But in the third quarter—the best post-COVID lockdown—the airline clocked a revenue of Rs 2,259 crore.
BUSINESS
To take on IndiGo, the Tatas have no option but to merge Vistara with Air India
Even combined, Air India, Air India Express and AirAsia India will be no match for IndiGo. But that changes the moment Vistara’s network is added to the Tata group airline mix.
BUSINESS
Come September, the two-airport model will take off in India
As airlines offer flights to Dabolim and MOPA, it would be interesting to see if airlines can raise prices for flights to Dabolim because it is closer to hotels and premium resorts, as well as how far would private operators go to attract traffic to a new airport.
BUSINESS
Sri Lankan crisis hands Indian airlines an opportunity on a platter, will they grab it?
SriLankan Airlines, which the government is reportedly seeking to sell as it battles the country’s worst economic crisis, presents Indian carriers an opportunity to fly to Seychelles, Mauritius and other Indian Ocean island destinations beyond Male in the Maldives.
BUSINESS
Stage set for a four-way Indian race in the skies as Jet Airways, Akasa wait in the wings
The two airlines will be looking to scale up to 20 aircraft to become eligible to fly on international routes; for Air India, it’s time to get its act right with its fleet and expand to keep IndiGo at bay.
BUSINESS
IndiGo’s losses widen on higher fuel costs and rising COVID-19 cases in last quarter of FY22
The high cost of fuel and a sliding rupee, along with the war in Ukraine has been the bane of IndiGo, like many other airlines across the world
BUSINESS
Akasa Air reveals its plane. What's next?
Route selection determines whether an airline flies in the red or is in the black and Akasa Air’s route choices will be closely watched
BUSINESS
IndiGo's new CEO Pieter Elbers will have his task cut out
Like Campbell Wilson, who takes over as Air India CEO and MD in June, Elbers comes with vast experience in one company and one culture with assignments across the world, except India. That makes adjusting to the Indian environment, regulations and culture a challenge — especially when it is one of the most brutal markets in the world.
BUSINESS
IndiGo Q4 Preview: Can the airline report profit for the second quarter in a row despite input cost pressure?
Aviation fuel prices are double their levels in the past year and have steadily increased sequentially in almost all months of the previous financial year.
BUSINESS
Tata Sons picks new CEO to helm Air India after İlker Ayci setback
The experience Wilson brings to the table from the years he has spent at the Singapore Airlines Group looks to be more relevant than what Ayci could have brought and the added advantage of his coming from a Tata Sons partner airline would make things simpler.
BUSINESS
Jet Airways: One step closer to creating history
The proving flights of Jet Airways, in its new avatar, have taken to the skies. After a minimum of 5 such proving flights are flown without any adverse events, the airline can receive the Air Operating Permit (AOP).
BUSINESS
Long flights on narrow-body planes a step closer to reality, will passengers embrace them?
As Qantas published the list of cities the XLR can fly to, the focus quickly shifted to the usual debate of narrow-body vs, wide-body and whether the XLR will be successful in India. IndiGo has been open about its ambition to fly to London, but has also been wary of inducting wide-body aircraft.
BUSINESS
AirAsia India deal by Tata-run Air India would put the most troubled airline in India out of its misery
We take a look at the implications of the Tata-owned Air India’s move to acquire the Tata-owned AirAsia India
BUSINESS
Only 4 of top 51 airports cross pre-pandemic mark
For the top 20 airports, the average recovery in the last financial year was only 63.27% against FY 2019-20. The drop was largely because of the deadly second wave of COVID-19 in April-May of 2021.
BUSINESS
Airline sales are back in time for the summer, but there is a catch!
How attractive are the flurry of reduced airfares launched to coax passengers?
BUSINESS
On the comeback trail, Jet Airways creates a flutter with talk of a hybrid seat configuration
In a cost-conscious market like India, airline revenue is under severe pressure and ways to keep the costs low will decide the fate of Jet Airways as it attempts to become the first Indian airline to stage a comeback after shutting down
BUSINESS
Bengaluru undisputed number two in connectivity, Mumbai maintains passenger numbers
Bengaluru has overtaken Mumbai in the count of destination that airlines connect with the southern Indian city, and could come very close to the country’s financial centre in terms of domestic traffic when complete normality is restored in the aftermath of the pandemic.
BUSINESS
TATAs need more planes for Air India
The March summary report gives an indication that the B747s have been transferred to Air India and do not remain with Alliance Air. It is a given that the group will have to pump in a lot of money for fleet improvement. But the A319s and A321s are old. Will the group retire them and look for a simplified fleet of all A320neos eventually?
BUSINESS
Bengaluru the default southern gateway, IndiGo the partner of choice as Qantas expands India operations
Bengaluru comes of age as the Australian carrier picks the city over Mumbai as its second destination in India, and IndiGo fills the void left by Jet Airways.
BUSINESS
The longest and shortest routes in Indian aviation and the airlines flying them
IndiGo may be the market leader, but it is Air India that flies both the longest and shortest routes in the country
BUSINESS
IndiGo flies to 75% of India’s operational airports but has 50% market share
The slip in market share in February indicates the competition has started deploying additional flights. But with three out of four operational airports within India covered, IndiGo is now eyeing international skies
BUSINESS
Northern Summer schedule is out, with 25,309 weekly departures
The DGCA has not uploaded the schedule of TruJet, as the airline has once again suspended operations. The schedule also puts the spotlight on all airports where only a single airline operates. Suspension of that airline or a commercial decision to discontinue the route would mean that airport getting disconnected from the air map of the country.
TRENDS
Explainer: How do aircraft tracking sites do their job?
Even before official confirmation of the crash of a China Eastern flight, aviation geeks and experts were on flight tracking websites for a glimpse of the flight’s fatal descent. Moneycontrol explains how these websites work.
