GDC Technics and Air India announce intent to form strategic alliance partnership

GDC Technics, an industry leader in aircraft engineering & technical services, modifications, electronic systems, R&D, government services, and MRO services, announced a Letter of Intent ("LOI") was signed with Air India Engineering Services Limited ("AIESL")— the largest MRO in India and wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India— with the aim to form a long-term strategic alliance partnership in order to pursue MRO and modification opportunities for both the country's flag carrier, Air India, and other commercial aircraft throughout the region.

London Stansted went a little Bollywood for the launch of direct Dreamliner flights to Amritsar

• Air India service the only direct link between London and Amritsar
• New route latest step towards more long-haul services from London Stansted

London Stansted was filled with the sights and sounds of India on Thursday as a dazzling Bollywood dance troupe greeted passengers to celebrate the inaugural Air India flight to Amritsar.

The new three-times a week service, operated by a 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner offering both business and economy class, is the only direct service between London and Amritsar and the first-ever scheduled service from London Stansted to India.

The aircraft also featured a specially painted tribute to mark the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Dev ji, the founder of the Sikh religion.

Air India’s arrival is another positive step towards Stansted’s goal of developing a significant long-haul route network at the airport and joins the extremely popular twice-daily Emirates service to Dubai that launched last year.

London Stansted boosts global network with new service to India

London Stansted boosts global network with new service to India

The first-ever scheduled flights to India from London Stansted will take off later this month with the launch of Air India’s three-times a week service to Amritsar in the north-west of the country.

Flights start on October 31 and will be the only direct service between London and Amritsar, operated by state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliners offering business and economy classes.

Ken O’ Toole, CEO of London Stansted said "It is fantastic news that there will be a direct non-stop connection to Amritsar, Punjab from London Stansted Airport with Air India. Stansted is ideally situated to serve the Asian community in North and East London and across the East of England so we are delighted that Air India has recognised the customer demand for Amritsar."

Air India Cargo to Use Unisys Digistics to Create a Connected Cargo Ecosystem

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The system will leverage advanced analytics to integrate Air Waybill data with accounting system for prompt, accurate billing and better cash flow

Unisys Corporation announced that India’s flag carrier, Air India, will use the Unisys Digistics™ integrated logistics software suite to create a connected and automated cargo ecosystem for consistent and accurate data across the organization, from booking to accounting, to help improve cash flow for the airline while creating greater transparency around shipment status for the airline’s cargo clients.

Air Italy signs codeshare deal with Bulgaria Air

Image Air Italy

Last month, Air Italy and Bulgaria Air confirmed that had agreed on a codeshare deal that was designed to offer their respective customers much better connectivity over their networks.

Under the agreement, Air Italy’s “IG” code will be placed on Bulgaria Air flights between Milan Malpensa and Sofia, Varna and Burgas, with the first flights due to operate from March 31st. At the same time, Bulgaria Air will put its “FB” code on Air Italy flights between Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino, Naples, Olbia and Cagliari (Sardinia), Palermo and Catania (Sicily), and Lamezia Terme (Calabria).

An interline commercial agreement between the two carriers means Bulgaria Air’s passengers will benefit from single tickets for travel between Bulgaria and Air Italy’s US, Canada and Africa destinations operated from Malpensa: Miami, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco (both from April), Toronto (from May), Cairo, Dakar, Accra and Lagos.

Cash strapped Air India grounds 15 aircraft due to lack of spares

Whilst the Indian aviation scene is undergoing somewhat of a turbulent period in recent times, it has been disclosed that the national carrier, Air India has been forced to ground 15 aircraft - due to lack of spares.

The news came from the Indian government, aviation minister Jayant Sinha said that at the start of December, 10 Airbus A320, 3 Boeing 777 and 2 brand new Boeing 787 aircraft were out of service, on the ground, "for want of engines and spares". There is no clear indication of when all the aeroplanes would be in a fully serviceable state and able to fly again. It is another blow for the troubled airline that has seen debts mount as competition increases and revenues shrink in the marketplace. 

The details of the grounded aircraft were revealed along with yet another supposed rescue package for the ailing carrier, which includes, shifting debts to a separate arm, a sale and leaseback on some aircraft, more fundamental cost-cutting exercise, more state investment and yet another attempted to sell off part of the airline. 

Many Indian aviation commentators believe that even if the carrier sells off all of its aircraft and takes them back on lease, the net income would not be sufficient to pay off the airlines debts and keep operating in its current state.

Meanwhile, the airline's Chairman and Managing Director, Pradeep Singh Kharola has sent a message to all of the carrier's staff asking for their help in turning the airline around. He asked them to optimise all possible utilisation of resources during this crucial time, saying 'We all have to tighten our belt, adopt strong fiscal discipline and streamline our functioning without compromising on our operational efficiency. At the same time, we need to generate revenue in every possible manner to stay afloat,' in the firm's in-house magazine.

Royal Brunei Airlines Launches codeshare flight to Mumbai, India with Air India

Royal Brunei Airlines has launched its daily codeshare flight to Mumbai, India with its latest codeshare partner Air India Limited (AI). The Bandar Seri Begawan – Singapore – Bandar Seri Begawan route will be operated by Royal Brunei Airlines while Air India will operate the Singapore – Mumbai – Singapore route. Both airlines have analysed a seamless connection for their guests with the following flight plan:

  Mr Karam Chand, Chief Executive Officer of RB said “We are very pleased to have partnered with Air India to provide our guests with more choices of destination. RB and Air India codeshare flights offer the best connection to Mumbai, India and vice versa and we believe will further enhance the tourism and business links between the two Countries.”

Mr Pradeep Singh Kharola, Chairman & Managing Director of AI said, “We are happy to establish codeshare partnership with Royal Brunei Airlines thereby expanding our network and offering wider connectivity to our esteemed passengers. This partnership launches Air India’s first services into Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei which will offer connectivity to Air India’s esteemed passengers travelling between India and Brunei.


Please note,   from 3rd April under the direction of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei from 3rd April, Brunei will introduce even stricter punishments including death by stoning as a punishment for homosexual sex and adultery. It is strongly advised that you check carefully before travelling to Brunei.

Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) petition the Government over the anti-consumer move by national carrier, Air India

Air India's recent decision to only sell its tickets via Travelport has caused concern not only among interline partners and travel agents it has also drawn the anger of the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) who have filed a petition to the Government on the anti-consumer move by the struggling national carrier. In a letter addressed to Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation and Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, highlights the arbitrary step that the national carrier Air India is looking to take with regards to its booking and distribution systems.

India's Tata group to buy Jet Airways?

During this last week, many stories appeared in the Indian newspapers and the financial press around that world that the Indian multinational conglomerate, Mumbai based Tata, was interested in taking over Jet Airways in some form or another. 

Various local media sources were reporting the deal between Tata and Jet Airways was so close to being completed that presentations were being made to each respective boards.  Such news sent the struggling airline's share prices skyrocketing to record levels.

The deal appeared to focus on the involvement of the joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, Tata SIA Airlines which already operates domestic carrier Vistara, which would effectively take over control of Jet. It would have been a deal that would have a deep and far-reaching impact on the aviation industry of India.

However, the brakes on such a deal have well and truly been applied, Tata issued a statement, “Over the last few days there has been growing speculation in the print and electronic media about Tata’s interest in Jet Airways. We would like to clarify that any such discussions have been preliminary and no proposal has been made.” 

While the brakes may well have been applied, the deal is not yet at a full stop, there are still investigations going on. Tata is still interested, possibly. Although, sources in the United Arab Emirates have indicated that Etihad Airways, who owns around 24% of Jet Airways is unwilling to sell its stake in the Indian carrier, at rock bottom prices. The Abu Dhabi based Etihad Aviation Group is thought to be interested in pursuing a joint venture arrangement for Jet, however, it will not be making a significant further investment in the Indian operation.

The future for Jet Airways is looking less exciting and promising as the hours' tick by so slowly, but whilst there isn't a deal on the table right at the moment, there are a number of parties watching from the sidelines, ready to take advantage of a bad situation.  

Air India sack operations director who turned up too drunk to fly jet to New Delhi

Arvind Kathpalia, Air India’s director of operations, failed two breath tests before he was scheduled to take controls of an Air India jet scheduled to fly from London Heathrow to New Delhi on Sunday, November 11th.

Air India is carrying out an investigation into his conduct but confirmed today that it had already fired Kathpalia. It is believed that he has also resigned from the board of the state-run airline and India's safety authority has taken away his pilots licence for three years. 

The airline says Amitabh Singh, executive director for training, will now take on the operations director’s responsibilities for the foreseeable future.  

This is not the first time that Kathpalia has allegedly been intoxicated and under the influence of alcohol when turning up for work. Most recently he had been suspended for a period of three months during 2017 for refusing to take breathalyser tests.

Air India crew of brand new A320neo land on wrong runway that was under construction at Male, Maldives

An investigation is underway into why the crew of an Air India Airbus A320neo landed on an unfinished runway at Malé Velana International Airport in the Maldives on 7th September.

The aircraft, registration VT-EXL, was operating flight AI263 from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport with 136 passengers onboard at the time of the incident. During the landing on the unfinished runway that was still under construction at least one tyre in the main gear deflated and there was some damage to the aircraft's braking systems. Following the landing, the aircraft had to be towed to a parking stand where all passengers disembarked safely. 

The flight deck crew of the aircraft have been grounded pending results of the investigation which is being carried out by officials from both the Maldives and India. 

Air India to restart Mumbai - Frankfurt route after a break of 8 years

Despite the deep financial troubles affecting most Indian airlines, the country's leading airline Air India has decided to relaunch service from Mumbai to Frankfurt.

Starting from 16th October the airline will operate a direct flight using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service, three times each week.

After a break of 8 years Air India is bringing the route back, much to the delight of some passengers, Ranjiv Kippi a businessman based in Germany has strong links with India told us, "The welcome return of this route will greatly benefit me, my family and my business, it will save both time and money for us." 

The proposed schedule for the new service will see the 787-8 leave Mumbai at 1000 arriving Frankfurt at 1400 local time. under flight number AI125. The return flight is numbered AI124 and departs Frankfurt at 1545 landing in Mumbai at 0415 the next morning.  The flights will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. 

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SriLankan Airline introduces a 20 minute gate deadline as the airline extends its codeshare deal with Air India

SriLankan has introduced a twenty-minute gate arrival cut off time to make passengers ‘Ready to Fly’. If passengers fail to arrive at the gate by that time they wil be offloaded, more on that later. 

In another recent announcement, SriLankan Airlines has confirmed it has extended its codeshare deal with Air India.  Under the deal, the airline will apply the Air India code to a number of flights from its home of Columbo. Air India will also add the SriLankan flight code to various departures from Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

Read on for the codeshare flights- 

After failing to find a buyer for Air India they revamp its business class!

In a surprise move the Indian Government has decided to revamp the first and business class offerings of the state-owned Air India, following its failed sell-off.

The Governent had hoped to sell the major stake it holds in the airline but received no bidders for the 76 percent chunk of the loss-making carrier. The government is committed to supporting the airline and to making it competitive, junior civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha said, adding Air India was also looking at flying to new destinations in Australia, Africa and even North America.

The unexpected revamp of the premier cabins will include an overhaul of the meal service is designed to attract more high-yielding passengers to its international flights. Currently, Air India only sells around 60% of the seats in business and first classes on its international flights and hopes the revamp will increase the load factor to around 80 percent.

Air India will start making the changes over the next two months and will include new meal services, passenger amenities and new uniforms for airline staff.  The changes could raise an additional 0 billion rupees ($147 million) per year, according to the carrier's chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola.

"It is a surprise that they are going to be spending more money on a service that is already failing, but they have little choice as no company wants to invest in an airline that has such vast debts and little chance of returning to profit within the foreseeable future" our chief correspondent Jason Shaw said on Saturday. 

Air India sale halted

The Indian Government has called a halt to its plans to sell off the 76 percent stake it holds in troubled state-owned airline, Air India.  The reason, simply a complete lack of interest from any viable bidders -  yes it seems no-one wants to take on the massive loss-making carrier.

No bidders for Air India

The Indian government confirmed the situation on Wednesday after advising that the sales offer had failed to attract any buyers for the debt-laden national carrier. “We ran a disinvestment process where we made it very clear what type of bid we were interested in receiving. Nobody expressed any interest ... that process right now is over so we have to move forward and consider other alternatives,” Junior Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha told the media at a briefing.

No bids for Air India......yet!

The Indian government says it has not yet has not received any bids so far for its stake in the state-run carrier Air India.

Speaking to local media the Indian Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey confirmed that no bids had yet been received for the 76% stake the government has in the finically troubled national airline.  Additionally, the government has also said that the deadline, which had already been extended from 14th May to 31st May would not be extended any further. 

"Air India is riddled with debt, it has been mismanaged for a number of years and despite having an impressive network and reasonably good onboard service, at least on its international flights, it isn't an attractive proposition for outside investment and anyone thinking about putting money into the ailing airline should know there is no quick fix and would have to be in it for a long time." Our chief aviation correspondent, Jason Shaw, said on Wednesday. 

Air India Aircraft Hits Ground Vehicle

Photo HT

An investigation has been launched after an arriving Air India aircraft hit a parked ground vehicle at Delhi on Friday.

The incident occurred at around 9.40pm local time on Friday evening when  the aircraft that had recently arrived from Vadorara was manoeuvring into its parking bay C33.

The aircraft's number 1 engine (port side) struck the stationary ground cooling unit which then scraped along the side of the engine a short distance.  Even though the damage to both engine and ground unit is understood to be minimal and mostly cosmetic the airline has instigated its own high-level investigation into the incident.  This is, according to Air India in addition to and independent of any other investigations by regulatory authorities.  “The committee will submit the report within seven days. This committee is apart from other committee constituted by other regularity bodies,” said a spokesperson of Air India.

Air India's First Flight to Copenhagen

Air India celebrated in style today at the launch of the airline's first flight to Copenhagen from Delhi on a brand new Dreamliner aircraft.

The service had an 80% load factor and was crewed by an all-female flight crew.  Part of the celebrations included the lightening of a ceremonial lamp to mark the inauguration and flower garlands festooned checking and gate areas. 

Commenting at the ceremony for the launch of the new services, Air India chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal said: “With this new service, we expect to cater to the majority of traffic between Copenhagen and Delhi... We have also received good cargo load for the sector.”

The new route is operated with a state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is expected to fulfil a growing need in the Scandinavian market for low-cost travel to India. 

The new service to Copenhagen is the 11th non-stop European destination for Air India and it now operates to 44 international gateways. 

Ethiopian and Air India Aircraft Collide

It could have been a catastrophic disaster two airliners came so close together their wings collided at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport very early on Wednesday morning.

According to airport officials the incident occurred when an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft was being pushed back from stand 87 at 2.25am.  It struck the wing of an Air India's Airbus A320 that was stationary.

Air India Govt Stake for Sale.

India's Cabinet has approved a plan to sell a stake in the debt-ridden national airline, Air India.

The finance ministry said Wednesday that the government has agreed in principle to sell part of its holding in the airline, which has struggled to become profitable as competition from a number of low-cost airlines has grown.

It said in a statement that a government committee will be formed to work out the details of the sale, including the size of the stake the government will offload.

The committee will decide how to deal with Air India's massive 520 billion rupee ($8 billion) debt.