Aerospace Diary

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Established Indian carriers like SpiceJet and Air India will now face tougher competition on both domestic and international routes. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] May 13, 2014, 3:00 PM Indian airlines are facing stiffer competition and downward pressure on air fares with 40 new aircraft due to join the country’s fleet, taking the total capacity to around 400 jets by year-end. Existing carriers are now facing new competition in the shape of AirAsia India , which has just received its air operator permit ( AOP ) for domestic services. The new joint venture between Indian group Tata and Singapore Airlines ( SIA ) is hoping to get its  AOP  ready to start service to nine Indian cities with 87 flights from the capital Delhi in September as a prelude to planned international routes. Further competition is coming from the new A380 service into India by both  SIA  and Emirates Airlines. The increa...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews June 4, 2013 Air Astana and Turkish Airlines, award-winning carriers from Central Asia and Europe, have signed a codeshare agreement on routes between Kazakhstan and Turkey. The agreement was signed at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Cape Town by Peter Foster, President of Air Astana, and Dr Temel Kotil, President and CEO of Turkish Airlines. Air Astana and Turkish Airlines signed the Letter of Intent to expand the range of cooperation between the two carriers in March 2013. The codeshare agreement allowed passengers to benefit from a higher number of combined frequencies for better connectivity and increased travel flexibility between the two countries. Codesharing on flights between Almaty - Istanbul and Astana – Istanbul additionally include special prorate agreements on sectors beyond respective hubs in Almaty, Astana and Istanbul. “ The code-share agreement signed today is the latest step in the increasingly close link between  the two airlines;...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Oct 8, 2012 Starting October 28, the Air France-KLM Group, Etihad Airways, and airberlin commercial partnership will come into place with the three offering their customers more destinations following their mutual code-share agreements. On the routes between Europe and Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways customers will be able to fly on the  Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi daily flight operated by KLM.  Air France customers will be able to travel everyday between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Abu Dhabi  on Etihad Airways operated flights. Beyond their gateways, this code-share agreement offers five destinations each to Air France and KLM  passengers on the Asian and Australian market and ten European destinations to Etihad passengers on  Air France and KLM. “This new partnership between Air France-KLM, Etihad Airways, and airberlin reflects our Group’s strategic positioning to ensure the best possible services in Europe and between Eu...

Neelam Mathews Sept 25, 2012 We hear that given the good business on the Brussels route, Jet Airways may be looking to reconfigure an A330 (VT-JWM) from a 1-1-1   in Business Class to a 1-2-1 config and additional rows in economy. The remaining A330s might also be reconfigured. Not great news for passengers though who'll be packed more than usual! We are also hearing that Jet’s base will not be shifted to Munich as reported by some newspapers. There will just be a flight from Mumbai to Frankfurt and one to Munich. It is also believed that Lufthansa wants a codeshare with Jet in India the way Jet wants it for its operations in Europe. “Jet will never join an alliance,” an official tells us. One would be inclined to say: “Never say never,” but  increasingly, many in the business are following the Emirates philosophy of alignments but not alliances. Here's a video on the  recent partnership  with OneWorld partner, Qantas -