Air China:
Air China is starting a direct service between Beijing and New Delhi from 30 Oct 2006. The service will be available three times a week between the capitals of the two countries. The state-run carrier is the second airline after Ethiopian Airlines to offer a direct service between New Delhi and Beijing. Passenger traffic between India and China grew by 20 percent to 600,000 in 2005. A pact has been entered into with Ambassador Sky Chef in-flight caterers to serve special Indian meals in the new service, which will begin with a Boeing 767-200 aircraft. (11 September 2006)

AI, IA Merger:
As per a final proposal, a new corporate entity should be set up and the two airlines, along with all their independent business ventures, are to be merged into this new company. This new company will be governed by a board of directors and have one group CMD as the top boss. This firm will have six business units, run by independent CEOs, to manage the different businesses of running a low-cost airline, maintenance and engineering (MRO), catering, ground handling and integrated passenger services for domestic and international. The second proposal by Accenture is to merge AI into IA, while the third route is to merge IA into AI. Another route suggested is to set up a holding company and keep the two as independent entities of this company. The last proposal is to maintain status quo. All these proposals would be forwarded to IMG for a final deliberation. (11 September 2006)

Lufthansa:
Lufthansa is further expanding its global network. In the forthcoming winter season, it will offer flights to a total of 183 destinations in 78 countries. Available capacity across the network will be increased by 3.3 percent. European services will grow by six percent, long-haul services by 2.2 percent. Lufthansa passengers will thus have a choice of 12,908 flights per week. Kolkata is a new destination in the long-haul network, while additional flights will be offered to San Francisco and São Paulo. On European routes, Lufthansa is augmenting its services to Moscow, Innsbruck, Geneva, London City Airport, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia during this winter timetable, which is valid from 29 October 2006 to 24 March 2007 and coincides with winter time in many countries in Europe. (10 September 2006)

SriLankan Airlines:
India has allowed SriLankan Airlines to operate additional flights to several Indian destinations in order to further strengthen the presence of the airline in the civil aviation map of India. An Indian delegation has agreed to additional flights to Mumbai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Pune. The negotiations reinforced the special position Sri Lanka enjoys in the aviation sector in India. SriLankan Airlines is already the largest foreign airlines operating into India with 86 weekly flights. The airlines already has the permission to operate daily flights to six Indian metropolitan cities and unlimited frequencies to 18 tourist destinations in India.
(10 September 2006)

Indigo:
Indigo plans to serve 30 cities across the country with a fleet of 40 a-320s by 2010. Indigo took delivery of its third new a320 aircraft on September 28 and would add this week the fourth one which would be used to add three new destinations-- Mumbai, Nagpur and Vadodara to its network. By the end of the calendar year 2006, the airline expected to have carried 4,75,000 passengers with six airplanes. Nine more aircraft would be added in 2007 and by December 2007, Indigo's fleet would comprise a total of 15 aircraft. (9 September 2006)

China Airlines:
China Airlines would increase its frequencies on the Taipei-Delhi route, starting 30 October 2006. Two weekly flights will be added to the airline's Taipei-Delhi route, for a new total of five weekly flights. India is one of the fastest growing emerging markets in the world, and southern India's Bangalore is considered to be the Silicon Valley of India. All major international airports in India have experienced double-digit annual growth in the past few years, and airlines from Asia, Europe and the U.S. are all increasing their flights in response to the market opportunities. (9 September 2006)

Cuts in Fares:
Several foreign airlines are taking the lead in Diwali discounts by offering deep cuts in fares. SriLankan Airlines is offering Mumbai to Colombo at Rs 10,525, the lowest among all international airlines. Singapore Airlines has cut fares by 32-50 percent to various destinations from India. Travelguru has tied up with Jet Airways for a 50 percent discount on fares, and also with other airlines, including Air Deccan, for significant markdowns. The Jet Airways' special "shock fares" are valid till October 31, where a passenger will get tickets at half the actual fare. Meanwhile, budget carrier GoAir has designed GoCelebrate, a special package of over 100,000 tickets with fares starting at Rs 525. (9 September 2006)

Flights to India:
Sri Lanka has asked for access to more airlines apart from flag carrier Sri Lankan Airways to fly to Indian metropolitan cities. Present laws allow a registered Sri Lankan carrier to fly to Indian metropolis like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore. But all routes on the lucrative metropolitan sector have been taken up by flag carrier Sri Lankan Airlines. India has no limits on foreign carriers flying into cities earmarked as tourist destinations. Similarly, Sri Lanka also has no limits for Indian carriers, which, despite having some 59 bilateral air agreements, only makes use of about 19 of them. Colombo is likely to benefit more from an open skies agreement with New Delhi as compared to its single airport. (7 September 2006)

Mumbai International Airport:
The modernisation and upgradation of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) is said to require an investment of Rs 5,800 crore over the next seven years by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL). The most arduous task would be the relocation of the candy-striped ATC tower, which involves shifting of the radars, communication systems, cartloads of maps, computers and consoles. However, in the blueprint, the plan for a third runway, parallel to and south of the main Runway 09-27, has been shelved, mainly due to unavailability of land. The masterplan makes detailed mention of an integrated terminal for both international and domestic travellers. (7 September 2006)

Oman-India Air Fares:
Airlines operating from Oman to Indian destinations have drastically slashed fares, but there are few takers since the offer period comes during off season. The travel validity is only for a short period, there are blackout periods for travel and the airlines have forgotten that the passengers would like to travel during the impending holidays, not before or after that.
(7 September 2006)

Jazeera Airways:
The United Associations of Karnataka, Kuwait, has urged the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry to provide temporary operating permission to low-budget airlines in Kuwait and low-budget government-owned airlines of India to fly between Kuwait and Mangalore directly.
(6 October 2006)

Indian:
Indian has taken the unprecedented step of shortening the Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi air sector by skipping Agra altogether. According to sources at the local Indian Airlines office, the Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi flight had been revived as a trial for this tourist season, when the flow of foreign tourists to Khajuraho and Varanasi was at its peak but they could not give specific reasons for skipping Agra other than citing low traffic volumes. (6 October 2006)

GoAir:
GoAir has announced its tie-up with the Goa Tourism to promote tourism to Goa and to develop a common brand ‘GoGoa’. GoAir also announced the commencement of its new flights to and from Goa. The airline had announced the commencement of its Delhi - Goa flights earlier this month and is also looking at increasing the frequency of flights daily to and from Goa from Mumbai. (6 October 2006)

Kingfisher Airlines:
Kingfisher Airlines may be able to fly international routes from India by mid-2008 with the civil aviation ministry considering relaxing the eligibility norm for allowing Indian carriers to operate on overseas sectors. The current five-year flying experience criteria for a carrier to operate international flights may be brought down to three years. If the government revises the eligibility norm, it would fit Kingfisher’s design of flying overseas by 2008, when it takes delivery of its first wide-bodied aircraft - A340-500. The airline plans to deploy the aircraft on the Bangalore-San Francisco and Mumbai-New York sectors. It would also be taking delivery of A330-200 during the same time, which will be put on Mumbai-London and Mumbai-Hong Kong routes. (5 October 2006)

Air India:
Air India Express (AIE) has launched its flight service from Dubai to Mangalore. The price of a one-way ticket to Mangalore from Dubai starts at Dh 600, roughly one-third less than the full service fare. Because of Mangalore's geographical location, the new flight will also benefit people travelling to northern Kerala. Later this year, the low-cost carrier will also commence a new service to Chennai in Tamil Nadu three times a week. The airline presently serves India with 21 flights a week from Dubai, and flies another 23 times a week to Kerala from Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat and Salalah. (5 October 2006)

Indian:
Indian Airlines is now planning to add more power to the planned image makeover of its feeder subsidiary Alliance Air. The airline is considering adding 70-seater regional jets to Alliance Air's fleet as part of a plan to turn it into a low-cost, low-frills airline. Though a final decision on the internal configuration for these regional jets is yet to be decided, these aircraft would most likely be ordered in a single-class configuration in keeping with airline's low-cost avatar. (5 October 2006)

Pantaloon in Airports:
Pantaloon Retail is entering Indian airports in a tie-up with Alpha Airports Group Plc. Alpha and Pantaloon Retail are in discussions on acquiring retail space in the Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi airports. The Mumbai airport is expected to issue its requests for proposals shortly. The final business model of the joint venture is yet to be worked out. The retail outlets at Cochin generate more than double the Indian average for spend per passenger. (4 October 2006)

More Competition in Air:
The government has opened up more international routes including Thailand, China and Maldives to the country's private airlines. The ministry approved proposals by Air Sahara and Jet Airways to mount new international flights to these destinations this winter. In addition, the state-owned Indian Airlines has also been granted access to Maldives besides the permission to add a new flight to Singapore. While Air Sahara has got the green signal to start flights to Guangzhou (China), Colombo and Male (Maldives), Jet Airways has been designated as the new Indian carrier for operating flights on the India-Thailand route. (4 October 2006)

Airbus:
Airlines revealed production troubles on the Airbus A380 superjumbo will now delay it by two years, putting a board meeting at parent EADS under fresh pressure to map out how it will get the $15 billion programme back on track. Emirates, the biggest buyer of the A380 with 43 on order worth $13 billion at list prices, called the programme's latest delay "very serious" and warned it was reviewing how to respond. Emirates said its planes would come 10 months late, while Germany's Lufthansa said it now expected a fresh delay of a year. Air France said it would receive its first A380 only by spring 2009. Virgin Atlantic also confirmed a delay in deliveries. (4 October 2006)

Transaero:
Russia's first private airlines Transaero has begun its biweekly flights between Moscow and Amritsar. The flight will especially benefit passengers flying in and out of North America and Western Europe. The flight would boost bilateral tourism as well as due to well connectivity with major cities in Canada, the UK and Europe, it would benefit Indians living in these countries. (3 October 2006)

SriLankan Airlines:
Goa will soon become SriLankan Airlines' 50th global destination, and the 10 th in India, with the airline planning to launch services from Colombo in October. SriLankan is the largest foreign carrier operating to India, with nearly a hundred weekly flights to New Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madras, Trichy, Trivandrum, Calicut, and Kochi. The twice-weekly flights, which would be of two hours' duration, are scheduled for Mondays and Saturdays. The airline continues to explore further opportunities by increasing services to India, and is considering launching services to more cities, as well as increasing the frequency of flights to existing destinations. (3 October 2006)