News

IndiGo takes delivery of new Airbus A320 aircraft
New Delhi, July 28: Low fare carrier IndiGo, which had expressed intent to buy 100 aircraft, today took delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.

In addition to the first aircraft being introduced in July 2006, IndiGo would introduce a new A320-232 aircraft every month during the remaining months of 2006 & nine more in 2007.

"At IndiGo we have ordered 100 new Airbus A320 family aircraft. We have ordered one type of airplane - Airbus A320s & would serve one type of route- intra India," IndiGo President & CEO Bruce Ashby said in a statement.

By December 2007, IndiGo's fleet would comprise a total of 15 aircraft. Beginning August 4 2006, the first aircraft would be used to offer daily nonstop service between Delhi & Guwahati, with a same-aircraft continuation to Imphal.

From August 10 this year, the same aircraft would also be used for nonstop daily service between Delhi & Pune, with a same-aircraft continuation to Bangalore, the statement said. The airline has already launched bookings for the sectors it would launch its operations.


Jet offers advance reservation for Economy passengers for International passengers
Jet Airways has started offering advance seat reservation facility for its economy class passengers with confirmed tickets traveling on the International sectors. This facility is available upto 48 hours prior to the departure time of the flight. Initially, the airline will be offering about 60 per cent of its seats in economy class for selection at the time of booking.


Boom time for Low Cost Carriers
With extremely competitive airfares most of low-cost carriers (LCC) are offering very cheap airfares during the monsoon season - August & September 2006

SpiceJet is offering 50,000 promotional seats of INR 999 across 12 sectors.

GoAir announced discounted fares for 50,000 tickets a couple of weeks ago with rates as low as INR 525 (excluding taxes).

Air Deccan is of course consistently sticking to its motto - the early bird catches the cheapest fare.

Meanwhile, CAPA has reported that low-cost airport terminals are rapidly developing across Asia in response to rising LCC penetration rates that have crossed 10 per cent of total traffic in many Asian markets, led by South East Asia.


05 New routes - 07 important cities - Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines introduces 05 more flights, using the ATR -72-500 aircraft which has just been inducted into its fleet. One daily flight in each direction, these new routes will provide convenient service for business & leisure traveler alike. Now Kingfisher Airlines has operating 86 flights daily across 17 key Indian business & leisure destinations.

Ahmedabad - Mumbai,
Hyderabad - Chennai,
Hyderabad - Vishakhapatnam,
Chennai - Vishakhapatnam
Chennai - Kochi,


VISA -free travel within ASEAN region, is SAARC ready for it?
Recently, ASEAN's foreign ministers signed a visa-free initiative, under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Visa Exception. The initiative groups the bilateral arrangements within ASEAN into a standardized rule, allowing visits to member nations for up to two weeks without the need for a visa. Along with plentiful options of cheap air travel, this move is seen as a major boost to tourism in the region.

Many agents in India have suggested similar advantages of a unified SAARC visa for the Indian subcontinent. But taking into consideration the extremely fragile security situation prevailing in its immediate vicinity, such system seems impractical for India right now. India needs to progress its peace dialogues with its neighbors to a point where the benefits of a combined SAARC visa outnumber the security hazards of such an arrangement.


Lalu promises heightened rail security

Kolkata: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Saturday assured a clutch of security measures in trains & stations.

"We have decided to use close circuit cameras & metal detectors at every station," he told reporters after inaugurating an extension of the Circular Railway here that connects the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport with the main railway grid.

"The Mumbai blasts brought to the fore the power of unity & at the same time increased the resolve to do better (in terms of security). So now we are looking at this," Lalu Prasad said.

"We will prohibit people who see off passengers from loitering at platforms. Only bona fide passengers can come to the platform to board the train.

"The relatives will be allowed till the start of the platform only. This will help screening of the traveler & reduce the risk factor," he said.


35 non-metro airports by 2009
Kolkata: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Saturday said the central government had earmarked Rs.100 billion to develop 35 non-metro airports by 2009.

"We are contemplating changes in the civil aviation policy to allow Greenfield airports in government-private partnership. But it will have to be ratified at the cabinet level," Patel said here.

The minister said he was trying to make airliners one of the most populous carriers of the nation & the fact that air traffic had doubled in the last two years was proof of the growing infrastructural change.

"In keeping with it we plan to develop 35 non-metro airports, along with 35 others which are being upgraded. The process will go on simultaneously & hopefully by the end of 2009 we will be having a fully equipped navigation grid in the country," he said at the inaugural function of a railway station connecting the city airport by railway.

"Bangalore & Hyderabad are already upgrading themselves so that they can match the new fleet of Airbus 380. Delhi & Mumbai have started the process & now it's the call of Kolkata & Chennai to move ahead," he added.

He said all work would be done by the Airports Authority of India for which they were raising capital either through internal resources or debt market. The minister hinted at a merger of Indian Airlines, now called Indian, & Air India so that the airliners emerged as one of the largest in Asia & among the top 20 in the world.


Four metro railway stations to go international
New Delhi: Four railway stations in the country are slated to go in for a major overhaul to bring it par with international standards. The Railways Ministry has planned to develop New Delhi, Howrah (Kolkata), Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai) & Chennai Central Railway Station (Chennai) into world class stations.

The development of design & plans for these stations, services of consultants as considered necessary are being taken, R. Velu, Minister of State for Railways told members of the Rajya Sabha. Apart from the four metropolitan stations, the Railways have targeted 578 stations for upgrading with the aim of providing improved passenger amenities.

Velu also released a list of 110 stations that have already been developed into model stations.


Central region
Akola, Bhusaval, Chandrapur, Dadar, Kalyan, Kurla (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus), Mumbai CST, Nagpur, Nasik Road, Pune,Thane, Wardha, Gulbarga & Solapur .


East Central zone
Dhanbad, Patna Jn. Brahmapur, Bhubaneswa, Cuttack, Puri, Vishakhapatnam, Bhadrak, Khurda Road, Sambalpur & Titlagarh.


Northern zone
Amritsar, Bareilly, Beas, Delhi, Firozpur, Haridwar, Hazrat Nizamuddin, JuHundur City, Jammu Tawi, Lucknow, Ludhiana, New Delhi, Pathankot & Varanasi


North Central zone
Allahabad, Gwalior, Jhansi, Kanpur Central, Agra CanU. & Mathura Jn.


North Eastern Zone
Badshah Nagar, Basti, Chhapra In, Gonda In, Gorakhpur, Kathgodam, Lucknow In, Manduadih, Rawatpur, Izzatna2:ar & Pilibhit


North Western Zone
Jaipur & Jodhpur


Southern zone
Calicut, Cannanore, Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore, Erode In, Madurai, Mangalore In, Palghat In, Salem In, Tiruchchirappalli, Trivandrum Central, Katpadi, Mambalam, Quilon & Chennai Beach have been developed as model stations.


South Central Zone
Guntur, Hyderabad, Kacheguda, Kakinada Town, Nanded, Nellore, ajahmundry, Secunderabad, Tirupati, Vijaywada & Warangal.


South Western zone
Adra, Tamluk from South Eastern, Bilaspur, Durg & Raipur from S.E.Central & Bangalore City, Hubli, Mysore, Vasco-de-gama, Hospet & Toranagallu


Western zone
Chittaurgarh, Bamnia, Dharangaon, Nirnbahera & Okha & from West Central zone Bhopal, Habibganj, Jabalpur, Katni jn., Kota, Satna & Hoshangabad.

The lone Madgaon station of the Konkan Railways has been developed as the model station.

However, in the first list not a single station from Eastern & North East Frontier zone was developed into a model station

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