Airline Tickets

Archive for the ‘Airlines in India’ Category

The Indian civil aviation sector has seen phenomenal grown in past few years. It has witnesses the entry of many new players in the industry and many other are about to enter the aviation arena. In addition to the state-owned airline, there are numerous private companies that have entered the arena and hence offering more options to the passenger. Today, air travel has become simpler and cheaper, with the arrival of cheap airline carriers in India.

Air Deccan (Kingfisher Red)  – It was founded as Air Deccan in 2003 and later acquired by the Kingfisher airlines and hence renamed as Kingfisher Red. It was the India’s first low-cost airline.

Air India – It boasts of worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. It is owned by Government of India and is national Airline of India.

GoAir Airlines – It was established in June 2004 and today, it is a low-cost budget airline which is based in Mumbai. It is promoted by Wadia Group.

IndiGo Airline – It is the latest entrant in the domestic civil aviation space of India. It is based in Gurgaon, Haryana.  It is owned by InterGlobe Enterprises which is a popular travel corporation.

Jagson Airline – It is a private low-cost budget airline that is based in Delhi. It commenced its operations in 1992 and today, it is owned by Jagson International.

Jet Airways – It is India’s premier private airline which is owned by Naresh Goyal. It is the second largest airline in India which comes next to Kingfisher.  It has been awarded numerous times because of its world-class services.

Kingfisher Airline- It is a private airline which was based out of Bangalore, India.  At present, it is the India’s largest domestic airline that is offering world-class services to its customers. It started its operations in May 2005 and is owned by Vijay Mallya of United Beverages Group.

Paramount Airways – It is a private domestic airline of India based out of Chennai. The airline is owned by Paramount Group and headquartered at Coimbatore.

SpiceJet Airlines – It is a low-cost airline of India based in New Delhi. It began its operations in May 2005 and soon become the most preferred low cost airline of India. It offers the lowest air fares along with the high consumer value.

JetLite – It was formerly known as Air Sahara and based in New Delhi. It is operated by the Jet airways.

MDLR Airlines- It is a latest entrant in the Indian civil aviation industry. It is a low-cost domestic airline that is owned by Murli Dhar Lakh Ram (MDLR) Group.

Air-India Express

Air-India Express is basically a low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India that is based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is operating services mainly to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The airline forms a part of the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), which was created for facilitating the flawless merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. The Air-India Express fleet comprises of 21 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The bases of Air-India are located in the cities Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. It’s main

focus cities are Chennai, Mumbai and Mangalore. The fleet size of Air-India Express is 21 and it covers up to 27 destinations. Its parent company is Air India and the airline is planning to expand its operations into Europe and the America with the arrival of new aircraft. This airline has been registering huge profits on majority of the routes. After the Air-India Express’ success, there are many other carriers like  Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways have started operating in India – Persian Gulf market.

GoAir

GoAir is primarily a low-cost airline based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is operating domestic passenger services to about 15 cities with up to 100 daily flights and approx 700 weekly flights. The main base of GoAir is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. The Go Air fleet includes 8 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with 12 orders.

This airline does not provide a complimentary meal service to its passengers. It provides a buy-on-board food service where the food items like sandwiches, cookies, nuts and soft drinks can be purchased. It offers the mineral water free of charge. It has 15 destinations across the country.

The hub of the GoAir is Mumbai with Secondary hubs is in Delhi. The major focus cities include Ahmedabad and Bangalore. It has fleet size of 8 with 12 Orders. Its parent company is Wadia Group and the headquarters are located in Mumbai.

Air India is officially recognised as an Air India Air Transport Services Limited. It is a state-owned flag carrier of the India. Air India forms a part of the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) owned by the Indian government. It is operating a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft that serves various continents like Asia, Europe and North America. It is oldest and largest airline of India. The corporate office of Air India is located at a Nariman Point in South Mumbai.  In terms of number of fleets, it is the 16th largest airline in Asia.

The two major domestic hubs of Air India are located at Mumbai and Delhi respectively. It has one international hub located at Frankfurt. In addition to it, London acts as a major focus city for Air India airline. By March 2011, Air India will become a complete Star Alliance member. At present, Air India is serving 11 domestic destinations and 17 international destinations in 10 countries spreading across the Asia, Europe and North America continents.

The short-haul routes of Air India comprise of domestic cities as well as cities in South East Asia and South West Asia. This route uses the Airbus A310, Airbus A330, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777-200/-200ER and Airbus A320 family aircraft of Indian Airlines. The long haul routes include

destinations in East Asia, Europe and North America that are served using Boeing 777-200LR/-300ER aircraft.

Air India has received numerous awards and recognition in its long history. It has been awarded with Preferred International Airline award for travel and hospitality from Awaz Consumer Awards 2006, # Best International West Bound Airline out of India, TravelWorld Award, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Best Short-Haul International Airline, The Mercury Award and others. Apart from it, the security department of Air India became the first aviation security organisation across the world to achieve ISO 9002 certification.

SpiceJet Airline

SpiceJet is basically a low-cost airline based out of Delhi, India. It had commenced its operations in May 2005 and by the year 2008, it became second-largest low-cost airline of India in terms of market share. At present, it is owned by Kalanithi Maran that acquires a major stake in SpiceJet on June 2010. It was voted as the best low-cost airline in the regions of South Asia and Central Asia, by Skytrax in 2007.  SpiceJet offers the services to 19 destinations across the country. Spicejet obtained approval for launching international operations from June 2010 after completing five years of compulsory domestic service. It also adds international destinations like Dhaka, Kathmandu, and Maldives.

The hub of SpiceJet is Delhi with the secondary hubs being cities of Mumbai and Kolkata. Its focus cities include Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. The slogan of the company is “flying for everyone” and the headquarters are located in Delhi.

At present, the Spicejet is operating 21 Boeing 737-800/900ER aircraft covering 19 destinations and has acquired up to 12% share of the Indian market. It was ranked as India’s No. 1 low cost airline in 2010 as per the nationwide survey conducted by a foremost English language daily.

Indigo Airline

IndiGo is a private domestic low-cost airline which is based in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is operating domestic services that link 22 destinations. The major base of Indigo is Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. It was awarded ‘Best Domestic Low Cost Carrier’ for 2008.

The Hubs of Indigo airlines are Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The major focus cities include Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. The fleet size is 27 with 68 orders. It is offering its services to 22 destinations. The slogan of the company is Go IndiGo. The parent company is InterGlobe Enterprises and the headquarters are located in Gurgaon, Haryana.

As it is a low cost carrier, IndiGo does not provide a complimentary meal service to its passengers. It offers buy-on-board food service for the passengers to purchase several food items like sandwiches, cookies, nuts, and soft drinks. The mineral water is also available for purchase, however purified drinking water is offered free of cost.

Kingfisher Airlines is a major Indian airline based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is India’s only 5 Star airlines as rated by Skytrax. The registered office of the Kingfisher Airlines is located in the UB Tower in Bangalore and its Head office in situated at the Kingfisher House in Vile Parle (East), Mumbai. It has a 50 percent stake in the low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red through its parent company United Breweries Group. It is operating more than 375 daily flights to 71 destinations all over the world. It includes regional and long-haul international services.

Kingfisher Airlines is serving 63 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations. It covers 8 countries that are spreading across Asia and Europe. The short haul routes of Kingfisher are mostly domestic in addition to some cities in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. All the short haul routes are using the Airbus A320 family aircraft. ATR 42s and the domestic regional routes are operated on ATR 42s and ATR 72s. Kingfisher also has its medium and long-haul destinations in various regions of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. The first long haul destination of Kingfisher was London. It is planning to launch new long haul flights to various cities across Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. All long haul routes are using the Airbus A330-200.

Kingfisher Airlines’ fleet comprises of ATR 42(2) , ATR 72(25+38) and Airbus A320(23+42) family aircraft for serving the domestic and short haul services and Airbus A330-200s(5+15) for international long-haul services. Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to incorporate in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat of the aircraft in both international as well as domestic flights. Earlier all the passengers were provided with “welcome kit” that consists of pen, facial tissue and headphones for using with the IFE system. However, no such welcome kit is given now and a complimentary bottle of lemonade and earphones are still provided. Passengers can also enjoy live in flight TV.