Corporate Newsletter July 2023

News at a Glance:

Delhi’s IGI becomes India’s first airport to have four runways:

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) became India’s first airport to have four runways and also the first airport to have an elevated taxiway which can handle big planes including the A380 and B777. The dual elevated Eastern Cross Taxiways and the fourth runway at the airport in the national capital will be operational from July 13.

This runway increases the throughput capacity of the Delhi airport from roughly 1400 - 1500 air traffic movements per day to almost 2000 air traffic movements per day. This runway along with the terminal expansion will add to creating capacity to serve more than 109 million people throughput which would crest and beat even Atlanta in its capability.

Indian aviation sees a 19% surge in domestic air passenger traffic in June:

Official data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released last week reveals that domestic air passenger traffic in the country surged by 18.78% in June, reaching approximately 12.5 million compared to the same period last year and 4% higher than pre-Covid levels in June 2019, which stood at around 12 million.

IndiGo, Air India, Vistara, AirAsia India, and Akasa Air experienced an expansion in their market shares during June, benefiting from the grounding of budget carrier Go First. However, SpiceJet’s market share continued its decline, dropping to 4.4% last month from 7.3% recorded in January of this year.

Indigo announces new exclusive flights from Pune to Jodhpur, Rajkot and Vadodara:

Commencing operations between Pune-Jodhpur on June 16, 2023, and starting operations between Pune-Rajkot and Pune-Vadodara on July 03, 2023, these network additions by Indigo aim to strengthen domestic connectivity and provide customers with increased flight options from Pune.

The schedule of the new flights are as follows:

Akasa Air expands operations from Pune:

Akasa Air has introduced daily direct flights from Pune to Delhi and Goa (MOPA) and increased its frequency to Bengaluru (4x) with the below schedules:

Schedule to Delhi with effect from 7th July:

International Travel Updates:

Indigo expands to Nairobi, Jakarta, Baku and Tblisi with direct flights:

Indigo is on a major international expansion spree connecting India to new international destinations that includes Mumbai - Nairobi with effect from 5th Aug (27th intl. destination), Mumbai - Jakarta with effect from 7th Aug (28th intl. destination), Delhi - Tblisi with effect from 11th Aug (29th intl. destination) and Delhi - Baku with effect from 11th Aug (30th international destination).

Here is the schedule of the new Indigo international flights:

Between Mumbai and Nairobi (Kenya) starting Aug 05:

Vistara Expands Network to 12 European Destinations Through Lufthansa Codeshare:

Vistara, in collaboration with Lufthansa, has expanded its codeshare agreement, allowing customers to enjoy improved connectivity while traveling across Europe. With 12 key destinations added to Vistara's network, this partnership offers convenient travel options and seamless connections for passengers. Notably, as part of this partnership, Lufthansa will add its ‘LH’ designator code to Vistara-operated flights covering 9 Indian cities from New Delhi, including 6 new virtual Lufthansa destinations namely Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, and Pune.

As a result of this agreement, Vistara’s network will include 12 key European destinations namely: Amsterdam (AMS), Stockholm (ARN), Berlin (BER), Budapest (BUD), Copenhagen (CPH), Rome (FCO), Hamburg (HAM), Helsinki (HEL), Lisbon (LIS), Munich (MUC), Oslo (OSL), and Prague (PRG).

These destinations will now be accessible to Vistara customers, offering them more travel options and convenient connections. Additionally, as part of this partnership, Vistara will add its ‘UK’ designator code to Lufthansa-operated flights covering 12 cities from Frankfurt.

Air India - first airline to launch international flights from Goa’s MOPA Airport:

Air India is soon going to be the first carrier to operate international flights from North Goa’s Manohar International Airport to London’s Gatwick Airport from July 21. This new service will operate three times a week taking Air India’s overall flight count to UK to 49 flights per week.

The schedule of the thrice-a-week service between Goa and Gatwik (London) is:

Vietjet Air to introduce direct flights between Kochi and Ho Chi Minh City:

Vietjet’s latest addition is a new direct route between Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Kochi (India) from August 12. With the addition of Kochi, Vietjet will operate 32 direct flights per week between Vietnam and India (Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and now Kochi) bringing the two countries closer. The schedule of the Ho Chi Minh City - Kochi flight is as follows: