Passengers to pay a fee to fly out of the Delhi Airport

The government of India has approved a temporary fee of Rs. 200 (around $4) per passenger on all domestic flights and Rs. 1,300 (around $26) per passenger on all international flights. The fees will be charged starting March 1st 2009 and is supposed to be for 36 months only. The fees collected will directly be used to pay the developers for the current development projects and is expected to cover the estimated shortfall of Rs 1,827 crore (around $365 mil)

Similar fees had been already enforced for India’s Hyderabad and Bangalore  Airports.

From Hindustan Times -

The development fee will be paid to the Delhi International Airport
Ltd (DIAL), which has the Bangalore-based infrastructure major GMR and
the state-run Airports Authority of India as principal promoters.

The company has been mandated to upgrade and modernise the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

“The development fee, which is being levied purely on an ad hoc
basis, is inclusive of all applicable taxes and is for a period of 36
months only,” an official communique from the civil aviation ministry
said.

The government or the designated regulator will determine the final
development fee, based on final cost estimates presented by the
developer, for which Aug 31 has been set as the deadline, the
communique said.

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Good News Everyone: Mexicana to start direct flights to London and Mardrid!

January 17th 2009, Mexicana (or Compañía Mexicana de Aviación) will launch twice-weekly flights from Mexico City to London’s Gatwick Ariport (return flight leaves London at 10:30am and arrives in Mexico City at 17:35p). The airline will be using a Boeing 767-200ER for the service. Mexicana’s plans are to fly to Sao Paulo Grarulhos (GRU), London (LGW)
and Madrid (MAD). “The arrival of a second -200 the following month will allow it to
double the frequency. The aircraft also will be used on a new
five-times-weekly Sao Paulo Guarulhos service scheduled to start Dec.
10.” The Madrid flight is supposed to start in February
2009 (on Airbus A330).

“Passengers on these flights will enjoy bed seats, an exclusive
in-flight meal prepared by Mexican chef Enrique Olvera and a select
list of handpicked Mexican wines.”

Mexicana is Mexico’s largest airline and is the first airline that was established in the country. It has been Mexico’s national airline since 1924.

From ATWOnline -

Mexicana has been hit by the current industry downturn like many
carriers, but it remains in “adequate” financial health and is focused
on a long-term plan that includes oneworld entry and the launch of its
first European services early next year, CEO Manuel Borja said
yesterday at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun.
All three routes are underserved, he said. The GRU and LGW flights
largely will cater to corporate customers, with a “small percentage” of
leisure travelers, while MAD is “more of a mix.” He conceded that MX
will post a “small” loss in 2008 but expects a “neutral” 2009.

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Air Arabia: Fly for free on October 28 2008

In celebration of their 5th anniversary, the Sharjah (UAE) based low cost carrier, Air Arabia, announced that all of the passengers flying on October 28th 2008 will fly for free. The airline started its operations on October 28th 2003 with the “first flight from Sharjah, UAE to Bahrain International Airport“. Check the announcement from the airline’s website.

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Hurray!!! Qantas starts LAX service with its Airbus A380

Today Qantas became the first airline to fly a commercial flight to USA (Los Angeles) on the world’s largest commercial aircraft, Airbus A380. The current flight numbers for the the Airbus A380 are QF 11 and QF 12. The flight will allow passengers to fly Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD) or Brisbane (BNE). The airplane will also fly a weekly flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles.  Currently the airlines is running a limited seat pricing for a round trip on the Airbus A380 for less than $1000.

The flight landed at LAX on runway 25L in the South Airfield at 7:26 am. After landing the plan head over to Tom Bradley International Terminal for arrival procedures.

The A380 Welcome Party

The flight was welcomed by “Qantas Ambassador-at-Large John Travolta, Australian
entertainment legend Olivia Newton-John and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R.
Villaraigosa.

“

Features of the Qantas Airbus A380 (from Market Watch Article)

• 14 single private suites in First Class featuring a 17 inch LCD wide screen video monitor, a unique touch screen control unit, and a seat (manufactured by B/E Aerospaces’s VIP jet group) that swivels into a comfortable armchair and a fully flat, extra long and wide bed;
• the next generation of Qantas’ award-winning sleeper seat Skybed in Business Class, which now offers an extra long and fully flat bed with ergonomically enhanced cushioning, a larger in-arm entertainment screen, additional storage options and more privacy;
• a private lounge area in the upper deck Business Class cabin featuring leather sofas, a self-service bar, large video monitor with laptop connectivity and a feature display cabinet;
• Premium Economy seats by Recaro, with fully adjustable, in-arm, digital wide screen television monitors, and a self service bar dedicated to the upper deck Premium Economy cabin;
• Recaro seats in Economy Class featuring a sliding base that moves with the seat back to create a more comfortable, ergonomically tested position to aid sleep and eliminate pressure points and a foot net to stop sliding during sleep;
• four self-service bars in Economy Class; and
• state-of-the-art Panasonic inflight entertainment system with more than 100 on demand movies, 500 television selections, up to 1,000 audio CDs, 30 PC style games, and a selection of audio books, language tutorials, destination information, business education and radio channels.

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V Australia postpones Launch

V Australia, Virgin Blue’s long-haul offshoot, was supposed to launch its service from Sydney to Los Angeles on December 15th, but due to the strike at Boeing headquarters has forced the launch until February of next year!

The airline has suspended advanced sale of tickets for travel December 15 2008 to February 28th 2009.

The strike is very unfortunate! The way the airlines work is that they use the delivery date for new airplanes to add new flights and sell tickets in advance. Any delay in delivery date means loss of revenue for the airlines. The aircraft manufacturer might have to pay delay costs to the airlines (depends on the contract). This seems to be a big opportunity for Airbus (Airbus had problems with A380 and A350 deliveries which now seem to be on track).  

From Herald Sun -

Virgin Blue
said Boeing had advised it of the delay and said it cannot predict the
duration of the dispute at its Seattle plant and therefore could not
guarantee the delivery date of V Australia’s launch aircraft.
V Australia has three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in the advanced stage production at the plant.
Virgin
Blue said it had a revised the V Australia launch date and expects its
offshoot to commence services on February 28, 2009.

V Australia’s Executive GM Scott Swift said – (from here)

In a letter to passengers with tickets booked, V Australia executive GM Scott Swift said the carrier was “very sorry to have to tell you” of the deferred launch.

“Boeing has advised us that it cannot predict the duration of the strike. It is in these circumstances that we feel we have no choice but to delay our V Australia launch and have nominated a revised V Australia launch date of 28 February 2009 to protect the interests of our Guests,” said Swift.

“We are one of a number of airlines impacted by the strike. V Australia has three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in advanced production at the factory. The strike has no bearing on services operated by Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue or Polynesian Blue,” he said.

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Kingfisher Airlines gets permission to fly to UK

Kingfisher Airlines (merged into Deccan Aviation) became the second major private Indian Airlines after Jet Airways to get the permission to fly to foreign destinations. The aviation ministry of India has approved the airlines for seven flights a week between Bangalore and London on a Airbus A330 from August 26th 2008.

Kingfisher Airlines is run by Vijay Mallya who seems to be the Sir Richard Branson of India.

From Wikipedia – “Kingfisher is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from Skytrax, along with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.“

From Press Trust of India -

“According to guidelines an Indian
carrier can fly abroad only after serving the domestic market for five
years and having a fleet of 20 aircraft.


Kingfisher Airlines was merged into Deccan Aviation with the
sanction of the Karnataka High Court. Following this, all the 43
aircraft on the Scheduled Operators Permit (SOP) of Kingfisher were
transferred and endorsed on the SOP of Deccan Aviation with the
approval of the DGCA.”

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Good news everyone: More flights to Thailand/brazil from Australia

Brazil is the most popular South American destination for Australian travelers and Thailand is Australia’s 6th largest destination.

Under a new federal government (Australian) agreement, flights to/from Thailand will immediately increase from 35 per week to 40 per week and 45 per week starting March next year. Also flights to/from Brazil will increase from 7 to 14 flights a week.

This means that since the capacity will increase, hence the ticket prices might be cheaper (though it depends a lot on oil and competition).

From Sydney Morning Herald -

“From March next year, the maximum number of seats on flights
between Australia and Thailand will reach more 1.87 million
annually, 28.6 per cent more than were available under the old
bilateral aviation arrangements, Transport Minister Anthony
Albanese said.”
“”The removal of most restrictions on air routes between
Australia and Brazil will, over time, provide more choice for
travellers … and allow our airlines to take advantage of the
rapidly growing economies of South America,” Mr Albanese said in a
statement.”

Great Book on Thailand -> Thailand (Country Guide)

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SriLankan Airlines adds flights from Heathrow to Maldives

Starting October 26th 2008, SriLankan Airlines, national airline of Sri Lanka and previously know as Air Lanka, will start a new flight between London’s Heathrow Airport and the island nation (and luxury holiday location) Maldives.

From Skyscanner -

“Chanaka Olagama, manager of Sri Lankan Airlines’ UK and Ireland
operations, said: “We recognise the need to introduce this non-stop
service for such a popular holiday destination.

“Customers’
needs are our priority and we believe that this new direct service will
provide a time-effective way to travel in style and comfort to their
paradise location.”"

Taj Exotica Maldives

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British Airways Launched Open Skies Airlines

British Airways is launching a subsidiary called “Open Skies Airline” that will be a transatlantic luxury-service airline. The airline is taking advantage of the transatlantic “open skies” agreement(or EU-US Open Skies Agreement between European Union and United States.

The first flight starts today, Thursday June 19th 2008 from Paris’ Orly airport to New York’s JFK airport. The aircraft flown will be a Boeing 757 with just 82 seats. “There will be 24 passengers in business class, where their seats will
convert into fully-flat beds, while the premium plus passengers will
have extra legroom. The economy section will consist of just 30 seats, allowing passengers more room and more service.” (from here). More on the seats configurations – Read here

BA is considering other European destinations like “Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan” for the subsidiary airline.

British Airways seems to be following the business model of all-business transatlantic flights of now-bankrupt airlines Silverjet, MAXjet and Eos.

Excerpts from RTE Business –

“The open skies deal between EU and the US came into effect at the
end of March 2008 after years of negotiation. Before, it would not have
been possible for BA or any other EU carrier to fly direct to America
from a destination outside their own country. The deal has also allowed any EU or US airline to use Heathrow Airport in west London for flights to America.“

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India’s Aviation Minstry likely to relax Criteria to fly International

An article in CNN-IBN, an Indian News Network, claims that Civil Aviation Ministry of India is considering scrapping the minimum five year domestic operations criteria for starting flights to/from International destinations. In the last 4 years, India has seen the start lot of new airlines that fly within the country like – SpiceJet, Indigo, Paramount, GoAir, Kingfisher etc.. These airlines currently do not qualify to fly international due to the five year rule. It should be good news for Vijay Mallaya (Kingfisher Airline’s Chairman) who is eager to start direct flights to US.

Instead of the five years rule, “It will be replaced by technical criteria, the number and the kind of
aircraft needed for international flights, pilots with the right flying
experience and other personnel and international compliance norms.” (from here).

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