Archive for the 'Airlines in India' Category
June 18 2008
New Delhi sees some impressive rains this time of year, and even the animals have had trouble drying off after the downpours: Following the heavy rains in Delhi, the international airport was overrun by jackals, foxes and lizards on Monday, causing the closure of the airport for an hour. About 100 flights were affected by the animals, which had come to the runway to sun themselves following the storms. Just another typical day for India’s aviation industry.
Airlines in India | No Comments » 
Print This Post
June 09 2008
A court in India has ruled that Air India has the right to fire flight attendants it considers to be overweight. The court agreed with the airline that overweight staff members posed a safety risk. To show how progressive they were, the court also added that a woman’s physical appearance plays an important part in her overall personality. Remember, ladies, it’s how you look on the outside that counts.
Air India has also told prospective applicants that they should not have acne or bad teeth.
(Thanks Tripmela blog)
Airlines in India and Weird Airline Stories | No Comments » Print This Post
April 01 2008
Say what you will about the hassles of flying in the US, but at least you don’t have to deal with this: A Kingfisher Airlines ATR hit a jackal on the runway at Bangalore’s airport last week, causing a 3-hour shutdown as workers tried to get the carcass of the animal out of the plane’s nose wheel. No one (except the jackal) was injured.
Airlines in India | No Comments » Print This Post
March 14 2008
In case you thought that the rest of the world’s airlines weren’t facing crippling losses, a new report finds that India’s airlines lose an average of $20 on every passenger. Yes, you read that correctly. Keep in mind that average airfares are under $100 each way, and you’ll see that it’s a gigantic mess. A spate of consolidation there has already started to help, as Air Deccan (which formerly charged Ryanair-like fares) has upped its prices in the wake of its acquisition by Kingfisher. Other low fare carriers such as SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo have also raised their bottom prices in a move to stave off insolvency.
Airlines in India | 1 Comment » Print This Post
March 03 2008
A bit of shameless self-promotion:
The OTR’s sister site, Tripmela.com, has re-launched with a newly updated design and additional functionality that will make it considerably easier to use. At Tripmela we publish travel deals for people in India — the country has seen tremendous growth in the number of people traveling, as well as the number of airlines. We let people know about great deals on airfare, hotels and vacation packages and publish a weekly email newsletter with our top deals.
Please tell your friends in India about us 
Airlines in India | No Comments » Print This Post
January 17 2008
Since I have nothing more to add about the Delta merger rumors, I thought I’d pass along the next most interesting piece of news: If you’re flying out of Kolkata (Calcutta) in the next few days, you won’t be getting chicken: Because of an outbreak in bird flu, airlines have stopped serving chicken and, instead, will serve the next most obvious item: mutton. Unless, of course, you ordered the mutton-free meal. Then I don’t know what you’ll be getting.
Airlines in India | No Comments » Print This Post
December 20 2007
For you India airline buff(s): Kingfisher and Deccan will merge into a combined carrier called Kingfisher Airlines though, confusingly, short-haul A320 flights will be branded as Deccan while longer flights will be branded at Kingfisher (Deccan is modeled after Ryanair, whereas Kingfisher offers a premium product). One major benefit of the merger is that the Indian government requires that an airline be flying for 5 years before it can fly overseas — Kingfisher has A380s on order and this acquisition will allow it to meet that requirement.
This is the 3rd airline merger in India this year, with Air Sahara & Jet Airways tying up while the government merged together Air India and Indian Airlines in August.
Airlines in India | No Comments » Print This Post
December 10 2007
Kingfisher Airlines, an Indian carrier with hopes of flying A380s in the near future, reported that they lost about $150 million last year on roughly $450 million in revenue. I only bring this up because I liked the quote from a company officer on why they lost money: "the high cost is the main reason for the loss…aircraft
acquisition, depreciation, new routes, training requirement and the
spiraling cost of aviation fuel in India are the other reasons."
Basically everything.
Airlines in India | 2 Comments » Print This Post
November 29 2007
If you’re concerned about flight delays, be glad you aren’t flying Air India. The Indian flag carrier has reported an official 33% on-time rate for the past six months, a showing that is all the more pathetic as some observers actually think it’s worse. Subsidiary Air India Express boasts a 12% on-time rate. Competitors report better numbers, but that’s because some of them call a flight "on-time" if it’s delayed an hour or less.
Air traffic in India grew 35% (35%!) last year.
Airlines in India | No Comments » Print This Post
July 11 2007
This is kinda interesting: The UAE has offered a 3-month amnesty to Indian workers who are in the country illegally. Now, in response, airlines are tripping over each other to offer special one-way fares to these workers to they can get home. Think about that. Imagine American, Continental and Delta offering illegal Mexican workers advertised cheap fares back to Mexico. Cheaper than what Americans could get. What kind of a freak out would there be here? There appears to be no freak out in India.
Anyway, thought that was interesting…
Airlines in India | 2 Comments » Print This Post
Next »
Yet Another Story about An Airport Closing Because of Jackals