Category: Aviation

Photo Courtesy: IG/nuchienuchiee The UAE has announced a change in visa rules for tourists and free transit visas to all passengers flying through Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The Emirate has introduced a new two-month exemption for dependents of tourists travelling to the country on holidays. Now, tourists can also obtain a fee-free visa for children under the age of 18 years during the summer period from 15th July to 15th September of each year. The UAE government has also announced that it will be setting up several express counters at the passport control halls at airports across the Emirates to allow ... Read more

With an aim to attract the leisure travellers out of India, Vistara plans to connect Sri Lanka and Maldives from Delhi and Thailand from Delhi and Kolkata before October this year. Vistara has applied to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for permissions to launch flights to connect these destinations. The airline plans to connect destinations in Bangladesh, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to Delhi and Singapore to Pune in the next phase. The new services will be through an Airbus 320 family aircraft. Vistara has announced firm orders for 13 Airbus A-320 Neo family and 6 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft worth ... Read more

Indian airline Vistara is in the processes expansion in term of domestic and international flights. As part of their growth plans, they have placed orders for six Boeing Co 787 Jets and 13 Airbus SE A320neos valued at $3.1 billion at list prices. Vistara joins rival Jet Airways and low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet that have plans to grow their international operations to offset a highly competitive, price-sensitive domestic market. "India`s position as the world`s fastest growing domestic aviation market and its impressive growth in air passenger traffic that has more than doubled over the last decade makes us confident ... Read more

Emirates has unveiled its 42nd dedicated lounge across its global network at Cairo International Airport (CAI). The lounge is now open to Emirates First Class and Business Class customers as well as Platinum and Gold members of Skywards, the airline’s loyalty programme. Reflecting the airline’s ongoing commitment to Egypt, the Emirates Lounge in Cairo represents a US$ 3.6 million investment to provide premium customers with a seamless and enjoyable journey. Catering to three daily flights, the lounge offers customers even greater levels of comfort, hospitality and convenience as they start their Emirates experience in Cairo. Located at Departure Terminal 2, ... Read more

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan Kama inaugurated the world’s largest integrated Indian Visa Application Center at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka. The ministers launched the new integrated state-of-the-art Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC), by handing over passports with Indian visas to a couple of visa applicants. Rajnath Singh handed over a five-year multiple entry tourist visa to Mohammad Nazrul Islam (freedom fighter category), while Asaduzzaman Khan Kama handed over a five-year multiple entry tourist visa to Amal Chandra Natta (senior citizen category).  Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla handed over a one-year ... Read more

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate, is reviewing its route network with a view to further expanding its destinations in Africa. The airline already flies to Cairo in Egypt, Nairobi in Kenya, Zanzibar, and Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. Recently it has launched a four times weekly service to Casablanca in Morocco. The Network and Planning team is working hard to assess the viability of other new routes. Khartoum in Sudan is considered to be a potential addition. Considering the large number of Sudan migrants in Oman, Khartoum is a strong favourite to be amongst the new additions ... Read more

Qatar Airways said its award-winning Business Class experience, Qsuite, is now available on flights to and from Mumbai and Bengaluru. Patented by Qatar Airways, Qsuite features the industry’s first-ever double bed available in Business Class, as well as private cabins for up to four people with privacy panels. The privacy panels can stow away thereby allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room, a first of its kind in the industry. Adjustable panels and movable TV monitors on the centre four seats allow colleagues, friends or families travelling together to transform their space into a private suite, allowing them ... Read more

Travellers who are yet to decide on summer plans can take advantage of attractive holiday packages to Dubai by simply flying with Emirates. Upon booking, passengers can avail exclusive rates at world-class hotels, enjoy outstanding entertainment and experience theme parks across Dubai, including tickets to some of the city’s world-class shows and attractions. Customers can experience Dubai starting at USD $49 a night, applicable to two guests per room, at Rove Dubai Marina – located in the city’s stylish waterfront district. The package also includes two complimentary tickets to visit Dubai Parks and Resorts – the largest integrated theme park ... Read more

After four long months, the Agra-Jaipur flight of Air India will start flying again from July 16th albeit at a changed time. The flight will be operating four days a week. The flight will be operated on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The flight will take off from Jaipur at 6:50 am and land in Agra at 8 am. The return flight will take off from Agra at 8:30 am and land in Jaipur at 9:30 am. Air India has scheduled the ATR-72 aircraft for this route instead of the ATR-48 it was flying earlier due to the heavy seat occupancy ... Read more

Oman Air said it will resume its service between Muscat and Malé in the Maldives this October. Flights to the Maldives with Oman Air will recommence for the 2018-19 winter season from 28 October 2018. The service will be operated by the new Boeing 737 aircraft. The flights from Muscat to Maldives will operate on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the flight from Maldives to Muscat will operate on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The Maldives is a beautiful chain of 26 ring atolls, made up of more than 1,000 coral islands, located only three and a ... Read more

As part of the ‘mega anniversary sale’, the economy airline IndiGo to give away 1.2 million seats at a discounted rate starting from Rs 1,212/- across its network of flights including overseas destinations. The booking starts on Tuesday for the four-day and can travel from July 25 to March 30 next year, IndiGo said in a press release. “IndiGo is offering customers a four-day special sale starting at Rs 1,212 effective from July 10 till July 13. As part of the mega sale, the airline is offering 12 lakh seats for travel between July 25, 2018 and March 30, 2019 ... Read more

Jet Airways said it is offering flat 10 per cent discount on return flights within India. The offer is valid for bookings done from May 19 to September 30. Customers have to book their tickets 15 days prior the date of departure to avail the discount. The discount applicable for the travel period is till September 30, 2018. The offer is applicable only on return journey flights tickets and, on Premiere and Economy class on flights operated by the carrier within India. Customers can avail this promotional offer only on ticket bookings through Jet Airways website or mobile app, said ... Read more

Air India’s newly launched New Delhi-Tel Aviv flight services has got an overwhelming response from passengers, and, following this, the national carrier has announced an increase in frequency on this sector, adding a fourth flight a week starting 14th July. Air India will now fly on Saturday in addition to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday every week on the 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner. “We are pleased with Air India’s move to increase weekly flight frequency in light of the significant rise in tourist arrivals from India. The outbound numbers to Israel have grown exponentially in the last few years and this ... Read more

Kuwait International Airport has opened a new terminal building (T4) with an aim to increase capacity to 25 million passengers by 2022. Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah launched the new terminal earlier this week. T4, which was planned and built within two years, is a 14-gate facility which is designed to handle an extra 4.5 million passengers annually. “Passenger numbers are expected to each 40 million annually by 2037, creating annual income of no less than $800 million and about 40,000 jobs,” Sheikh Salman  Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, director general of the country’s civil aviation authority. The new ... Read more

As part of celebrating its 18 years of commencing non-stop London – Delhi route on July 5, Virgin Atlantic has announced a new reward programme with additional rewards called FlyingCo for SMEs. The free-to-join rewards programme, businesses will earn FlyingCo miles on all aspects of business travel like flights, home stays, foreign exchange, in addition to FlyingClub miles that individual travellers earn being part of the regular loyalty programme. “We have been working with both bigger and medium and small corporate entities in the Indian market. But what we needed was a better proposition. That is why we introduced the new FlyingCo ... Read more