Category: Aviation

Alaska Airlines begins nonstop service between Sacramento International Airport and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole on the Island of Hawaii. Alaska Airlines is expanding access to the Hawaiian Islands for Northern California residents looking to head to the beach. The new, three-times weekly flight is the only nonstop and fastest way for Sacramentans to get to visit the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Alaska also offers nonstop service from Sacramento to Maui, Hawaii. “Our Sacramento guests can start their vacation the minute they step onto the plane, with our assigned seating, plentiful in-flight entertainment, and delicious food and ... Read more

Hainan Airlines, one of the largest carriers in China, has launched direct flight between Paris and Chongqing. The 12-hour non-stop flight will make traveling between Chongqing and Paris much easier, saving both time and money for Chinese passengers wanting to experience Paris’ famed romance. This route is the second direct international flight from Chongqing to Europe by Hainan Airlines, their first being to Rome, Italy. There are now six direct flights between Chongqing and European destinations, and you can now fly directly to Chongqing, China, from London, Rome, Helsinki, Paris, Moscow and Irkutsk, making traveling between Europe and Chongqing much easier and ... Read more

Gulf carrier Oman Air stated on Tuesday that it is in discussions with the Indian government for increasing the weekly seat entitlement to enable expansion of its services in the rapidly growing aviation market. The Oman’s flagship carrier, which has completed 25 years into the business, at present, operates 161 flights per week to eleven Indian cities, utilising the 27,000 seats allocated to airlines from each country. Oman is seeking an increase in seats and access to Ahmedabad and Kolkata, which will boost its Indian presence. Seat entitlements and access to destinations are negotiated between respective governments. “We are working with ... Read more

Emirates has announced plans to introduce the gigantic A380 on routes from Glasgow to Dubai, although on a temporary basis. This will be the first time the double-decker aircraft will have serviced any Scottish airport for commercial flights. A daily A380 service will replace the twice daily Boeing 777 service from April 16 to May 31, while Dubai International Airport’s southern runway is closed for upgrade works. The single runway operation during this period means airlines are required to reduce and adjust their operating schedules. Standing over 24 meters high and with a wing span of nearly 80 meters, the A380 ... Read more

New Beijing Airport The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) aims to construct 216 new airports by 2035 to meet the growing demands for air travel. China had a total of 234 civil airports at the end of October, and this number is likely to hit 450 by 2035. This is part of China’s ambition to become an aviation power, reported Reuters. As per statistics, demand for passenger air transportation in China will surpass the US by 2035, representing almost one-quarter of the world’s total flights. Airports in China managed 552 million travellers last year, which is expected to grow ... Read more

Hainan Airlines is planning to launch non-stop service between Xi’an and Los Angeles on December 31. It will be the first scheduled service between Xi’an and Los Angeles and the only intercontinental route between Xi’an and the United States. The Xi’an-Los Angeles service is scheduled to take off from Xi’an at 9:10 pm every Monday and Thursday BJT, and land at Los Angeles at 18:10 pm PT after being in the air for 12 hours and 10 minutes. The new route will be serviced by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. All seats will be fully equipped with an exclusive entertainment on-demand ... Read more

SpiceJet has announced the launch of six new direct flights connecting Chennai with key pilgrim centres like Varanasi and Shirdi and tourist spots like Port Blair and Bagdogra. All the flights are scheduled to commence from January 10, 2019, except the one on Chennai-Bagdogra route which will start operations from February 11, 2019. The daily direct flights introduced by the airline will operate on the Chennai-Varanasi, Chennai-Shirdi and Chennai-Bagdogra routes. The airline has also introduced an additional frequency on the Chennai-Port Blair-Chennai route which will be operational from January 10 to February 10, 2019. SpiceJet is offering an introductory promotional fare starting ... Read more

In celebration of National Ugly Holiday Sweater Day, Alaska Airlines guests who wear their festive holiday sweaters to the airport on Friday, December 21 can board their flight early. The one-day promotion will be celebrated by flyers and employees alike across Alaska’s 116-city network and includes all Alaska and Horizon Air flights. Festive holiday-themed boarding music and free holiday movies will play all month to help get guests into the holiday spirit. “This time of year, we consider ourselves the ‘merrier carrier,’ so we love going above and beyond to help our guests embrace the fun, festive side of flying ... Read more

Despite its recent economic slowdown, air travel demand in China remains high and the country is expected to become the world’s largest air travel market by 2020, according to Beroe Inc., a procurement intelligence firm. Meanwhile, global airline prices are expected to grow by 2.6 per cent with an increase in oil prices, competitive pressure from the shortage of pilots, potential trade wars, and increasing fare segmentation to improve yield. “Chinese economy witnessed a recent slowdown, but is expected to remain the largest business travel market, with a sustained high growth rate. However, growing trade tensions between China and the ... Read more

To help empower travellers to make more informed decisions when it comes to holiday travel, researchers at InsureMyTrip reveal which airports to possibly avoid and how the latest data trends can aid travelers when comparing travel insurance benefits. InsureMyTrip predicts New York’s LaGuardia (LGA) will be most stressful for travellers this Christmas. LGA reports the highest percentage of canceled flights (4.9 per cent) so far this year. Flights scheduled for departure between 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm are more susceptible to delays and cancellations. If a flight is canceled, most airlines will rebook travellers on the next available flight at no additional ... Read more

United Airlines has introduced a daily nonstop seasonal service between Indira Gandhi International Airport and its hub at San Francisco International Airport starting December 7, 2019 – subject to government approval. United’s new route to San Francisco will be the airline’s third daily nonstop service from India in addition to the existing daily, year-round services from Mumbai and New Delhi to New York/Newark. “This new flight strengthens our international route network and provides our customers from India with even greater travel choice, with connections from San Francisco to other destinations across the U S and Canada. Connecting the Indian capital ... Read more

WOW air has launched three weekly flights from New Delhi to Iceland. The airline will operate three weekly flights from New Delhi, connecting passengers to North America and Europe through its hub in Iceland. Post the announcement of WOW air in India in May earlier this year, the airline also began its fully functional booking office in New Delhi and recruited Indian crew, a first for any international airline operating out of India. “Our ultra-low fares reflect the need for affordable travel from India to transatlantic destinations. It also gives an opportunity for Iceland to open up to the world ... Read more

Thailand-based low-cost carrier (LCC), NokScoot has announced its plans to launch four weekly direct flights connecting New Delhi and Bangkok from December 19, 2018. It has also announced a special promotional one-way Economy Class fare starting from Rs 7,200 (USD 99), inclusive of taxes and surcharges. The special promotional fares are available from December 07 to 31, 2018 for travel between December 19, 2018 to March 30, 2019. The new services will be operated with Boeing 777-200 wide-bodied, twin-aisle jets. Configured with a total of 415 seats, the Boeing 777 offers an unprecedented LCC level of comfort to customers with ... Read more

AirAsia has announced that its operations of the flights on the Chennai-Hyderabad sector would begin from December 21. Passengers can book tickets via the airliners’ mobile application and avail promotional fares from Rs 1,399 for flights between Chennai and Hyderabad and Rs 1,899 from Hyderabad to Chennai. The booking of tickets would go on till December 23 for travel from December 21 to February 4, 2020, a company statement said. “We are happy to launch a new route connecting Hyderabad and Chennai and are proud to have created a demand for air travel”, Sunil Bhaskaran, Managing Director and CEO, AirAsia India, ... Read more

The Jet Airways said it will withdraw services from nine airports in India and Gulf by February 2019 with an aim to drive better cost efficiencies. According to a Jet Airways spokesperson, the operations have been shut in Jorhat, Silchar, Imphal, Aizawl, Raipur, Sharjah Muscat, Madurai and Vizag. “The airline has undertaken comprehensive review of its network, whereby it will move capacity from uneconomical routes to more profitable ones, to more closely align the capacity offered with the demand characteristics of specific markets,” said the airline in a letter to the Travel Agents Association of India. Stating that the airline will redeploy aircraft to ... Read more