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Government Approves Privatisation Of 6 Indian Airports! !

AirWhizzNov 10, 2018 No Comments

Government Approves Privatisation Of 6 Indian Airports! !

Aviation Insider

Aviation in India is about to get a big boost!

Union Cabinet this week approved the privatisation of airports in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru.

The airports will be operated under a Public-Private Partnership(PPP). This will include operation, management as well as the development of these airports and would be done through Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC).

The Cabinet has said that the move is expected to enhance the revenue to the Airports Authority of India and increased economic development in these areas in terms of creation of jobs and related infrastructure.

Here’s why the PPP model will benefit us in the future:

  • In airport infrastructure projects, PPP brings efficiency in service delivery as well as professionalism
  • With PPP model, many airports have been provided with world-class infrastructure. Moreover, the PPP has also contributed to the delivery of efficient and timely services to air passengers.
  • Other than creating world-class airports, the PPP model has also helped the Airports Authority of India in enhancing its revenues as well as focusing on airports development and boosting air navigation infrastructure across the nation.

At present, the Indian airports that are being managed under PPP include Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Cochin airports.

Interestingly, the above-mentioned airports have been ranked among the top 5 in their respective categories by the Airports Council International in terms of Airport Service Quality.

According to the Cabinet, the airport sector is the top contender among infrastructure sectors in terms of international interest. Therefore, by adoption of PPP model, the airport sector may provide an immediate opportunity to attract foreign direct investment.

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Everything You Need To Know About Buying Travel Insurance!

AirWhizzNov 09, 2018 No Comments

Everything You Need To Know About Buying Travel Insurance!

Travel Like a Pro

International travel in India has increased exponentially over the past few years and so has the need for a travel insurance cover.

According to World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) report, 25 million Indian tourists travel abroad every year for vacationing. It is estimated that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020.

More travellers want to experience offbeat places and are willing to go on adventurous trips but despite this, while planning a trip, Indians don’t consider travel insurance as one of their priorities for their journey.

This is because most people fail to understand what travel insurance actually covers.

To help you make informed choices as travellers , let’s first understand the basic types of covers under travel insurance in India.

Basic Travel Insurance Policy

A basic travel insurance will primarily cover your emergency medical care and loss of belongings while travelling. However, you can add other covers such as:

  • Burglary at home at the time of travel
  • Reimbursement if your flight gets delayed for more than 12 hours
  • Coverage of bounced/cancelled bookings of hotels and airlines

Travel insurance also covers personal liability. For instance, if someone sues you for damage to property during the period of your insurance and is caused by an occurrence to which this coverage applies, the company will pay up to the amount stated in the policy.

The medical benefits of a travel insurance policy include accidental death or injury during the trip, expenses incurred on account of injury, sickness etc.

There Are 2 Basic Types Of Travel Insurance

1.Domestic Travel Insurance

The domestic travel insurance promises to have your back at every step when you’re travelling within the country.

This cover mainly looks into all your critical travel mishaps mentioned above.

The cover also reimburses the cost of round-economy airfare and hotel of an immediate family member in case of sudden hospitalization on the trip.

A domestic travel insurance will cover accidental medical emergencies or assistance required in India. It additionally reimburses for transportation, treatment and medical supplies in case of hospitalization or will compensate for death/injury while boarding or already on a flight.

2.Overseas Travel Insurance

An overseas travel insurance is a must-have while you’re travelling abroad, not only because it shelters your primary covers as mentioned above but offers protection for a number of contingencies during an international trip.

  • The insurance policy extensively covers, loss of passport, documents, baggage loss and baggage delay.
  • It covers you in case your checked-in luggage is lost while in the custody of your airline due to theft or non-delivery at its destination
  • It also covers accidental death & dismemberment, emergency medical evacuation which includes transportation, medical treatment, medical services and supplies necessary during an emergency evacuation
  • Additionally, an overseas policy will also cover fraudulent charges on your credit/debit card. This cover rescues you not only when you lose money but when you lose money where help is not easily found.

A travel insurance policy also covers students who travel abroad for education. A student travel insurance policy is a must for students as it largely protects the individual from study interruption, health cover, sponsor protection and compassion visits.

The student travel plan further covers mental and nervous disorders, rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction.

Tips To Choose The Best Travel Insurance Plan For You

Before you choose a travel insurance plan, ask yourself these questions:

1.WHERE AM I GOING?

Your destination determines the size of the cover or the amount of insurance money (Sum Insured).

Since medical cover is the main feature of travel insurance, decide the sum insured on the basis of how expensive medical services are in the country or city you are travelling to.

For instance, Medical treatment is significantly costlier in countries like the US and Canada than in South East Asia. This will cause the premium paid on the insurance by you to go higher.

2.WHAT WILL BE THE DURATION?

Longer the trip, higher the premium!

If you are a frequent flyer, opt for annual multi-trip policies to save money. These plans are valid for a year and usually cover any number of trips abroad, each trip having a maximum duration of 30-45 days.

Annual multi-trip plans turn out to be cheaper than the single-trip policies for each trip. This is because the insurance company doesn’t have to bear additional administrative expenses.

3.WHAT WILL I DO?

Is it a sleep, eat and sightseeing holiday or do you plan to be more adventurous?

If your itinerary includes sporting activities such as trekking in difficult terrains, skiing, water sports, etc, you must fill the gaps in your travel cover.

Though a regular travel insurance plan will not cover risks involved in these activities, you can get special coverage on request at an extra cost.

Similarly, if you are above 65, you can opt for plans for senior citizens that have features such as coverage for pre-existing illness in special situations, higher sum insured, accidental death and dismemberment cover.

4.Which Policy Should I Buy?

Always compare the plans. Don’t buy only on the basis of the sum insured and the premium you have to pay.

Conduct a comparative analysis of companies and their offerings like online services, claims process, toll-free number, payment options, network of hospitals etc

Also remember, since so many different covers are clubbed in one policy-medical, accident, passport and baggage loss, personal liability, trip cancellation, etc-the claim procedures differ according to the situation.

So, the next time you book your ticket, Download the AirWhizz app and apply for a travel insurance with us. We at AirWhizz have partnered with prestigious travel insurance companies such as HDFC Ergo to help you plan for any unforeseen changes that might occur.

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Strike By Air India Employees Causes Flight Delays At Mumbai Airport!

AirWhizzNov 09, 2018 No Comments

Strike By Air India Employees Causes Flight Delays At Mumbai Airport!

Aviation Insider

A flash strike by employees of Air India’s ground handling arm, Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) on Wednesday and Thursday led to massive flight delays at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The employees of AIATSL stopped work at Mumbai airport on Wednesday night, demanding payment of Diwali bonus and reinstatement of three of their colleagues whose contracts were not renewed by the company.

Due to this sudden situation, many Air India flights were delayed. Around 37 flights, including international ones, were delayed by 2.5 hours to 3 hours till 3:00 p.m, Thursday. However, no flights were cancelled.

Here are a few details of the incident :

  • The arrival of eight flights and the departure of 16 flights were delayed.
  • Among those were the 1.45 am Mumbai-Bangkok flight which was delayed by over six hours and departed at 8:18 am
  • The Mumbai-Newark flight left at 4:08 am which was late by 2.5 hours.
  • Several passengers took to Twitter to complain about the flight delays and long wait at the airport.
  • The lack of ground handling staff during the night when a majority of international flight depart led to flight delays.

The Strike was called off this morning after discussions with the management. Most of the issues have been sorted out and employees are back to work. Flight operations are back to normal now. But, the employees whose contracts were not renewed have not been taken back.

AIATSL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the national carrier, provides ground handling services to Air India across airports in the country. It has about 5,000 employees, including those on contract.

Ground crew, generally carry out functions like loading/unloading bags and cargo, checking-in passengers, cleaning aircraft and much more. They also take up similar duties for foreign airlines on a contract basis.

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India Has The Largest Percentage Of Airline Women Pilots In The World!

AirWhizzNov 08, 2018 No Comments

India Has The Largest Percentage Of Airline Women Pilots In The World!

Aviation Insider

According to the latest data released by the International Society Of Women Airline Pilots (ISA+21), India not only has the largest percentage of Women pilots in the world, but the percentage of Indian women pilots is more than double the global average.

Statistics show that the global average of the percentage of women pilots is around 5.4%. In India, the percentage of women pilots is 12.4%. India has a total of 8797 pilots out of which 1092 are women and 385 of these are women commanders or captains.

Globally, the total number of airline pilots is over 1.5 lakh of which 8061 are women out of which 2190 are flight captains.

Here are a few stats about female pilots with airlines in India:

  • IndiGo has the second highest percentage of women pilots at nearly 13.9%. Of the 2,689 pilots that IndiGo employs, 351 are women.
  • Of the 1,867 pilots in Jet Airways, 231 are women (12.4%)
  • SpiceJet has 853 pilots of which 113 are women (13.2%)
  • Air India, country’s pioneer in employing women pilots, has 1,710 pilots of which 217 are women pilots (12.7%).

In fact, IndiGo and Jet Airways are the only two carriers in the world, other than US-based carriers like United Airlines American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines, where the number of female captains is currently in three digits.

At 299 female captains, United Airlines employs the largest number of women commanders in the world followed by American Airlines at 152 and Southwest at 121. IndiGo has 118 women commanders and Jet Airways 100.

In case you didn’t know, the percentage of female pilots in India has been way above the global average for quite some time now. In a report released by ISA+21 in 2006, the global percentage of women pilots was 5.9%. Back then, the percentage of women airline pilots in India was 11%, which still was double the global average.

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Lion Air Under Investigation After Last Week’s Airplane Crash!

AirWhizzNov 05, 2018 No Comments

Last week, an unfortunate disaster hit Indonesia, where a Lion Air crashed plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 onboard.

Authorities are conducting a review of the operations of Lion Air, as the search for the main wreckage and cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Boeing jet continues into the seventh day.

The “special audit” will cover the standard operating procedures of the airline, the flight crew qualifications and coordination with industry stakeholders.

Indonesia’s aviation ministry is coordinating with institutions such as the European Union, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Federal Aviation Administration. Corrective steps will be taken on the basis of the review.

The government had already ordered a review of Lion’s repair and maintenance unit and suspended several managers after the airline had reported some technical issues a day before the crash.

Even after a week-long search involving dozens of ships and hundreds of specialists, the plane’s main wreckage and the cockpit voice recorder that’s key to unravelling the mystery, are yet to be recovered.

However, search crews have recovered a flight data recorder, both the engines, a part of the landing gear, body parts of victims and personal belongings since the flight carrying 189 people plummeted into the sea.

Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee recovered about 69 hours of flying data from the flight data recorder. The agency will begin analyzing the information from Monday to find out the reasons for the crash.

The Lion Air crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since 1997, when 234 people died on a Garuda flight near Medan. In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing all 162 on board.

Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though several were allowed to resume services in the following years.

 

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Airlines Under Scanner For Alleged Fixing Of Airfares!

AirWhizzNov 02, 2018 No Comments

Airlines Under Scanner For Alleged Fixing Of Airfares!

Aviation Insider

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has initiated an inquiry into the pricing of air tickets after it found that airlines were allegedly following a similar pattern while setting tariffs, thus making the process anti-competitive.

Airlines follow a bucket system in pricing their tickets, wherein fares are lower if the ticket is booked in advance. Tariffs increase when the travel is booked closer to the date of departure.

Airlines say that this is a software-based system which takes into account historical booking patterns while pricing the tickets.

CCI, a fair trade regulator, is investigating allegations of similar pricing as well as a simultaneous increase in ticket prices by airlines. The cases pertain to steep fluctuations in airfares during the Jat agitation in Haryana, floods in Chennai, among other instances, in the last few years.

According to CCI chief Mr. Sudhir Mittal, during the Jat riots in Haryana, all airlines decided to increase the price of tickets on the same day. A similar thing happened in 2015 when floods hit Chennai.

The regulator is waiting for a report from the Director General (DG), which is its investigation arm. Generally, cases where the CCI finds evidence of violations of competition norms, DG is detailed to investigate.

Mr. Mittal has said that they have asked the DG to look into the algorithms, used by airlines for determining fares, to ascertain whether airlines coordinated to fix prices or the algorithms function on their own to determine prices.

CCI, which keeps a tab on unfair business practices across all sectors, has the power to penalise entities for anti-competitive ways and direct them to cease operations or desist from indulging in such practices.

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Turkey Unveils The World’s Largest Airport In Istanbul!

AirWhizzNov 01, 2018 No Comments

Turkey Unveils The World’s Largest Airport In Istanbul!

Aviation Insider

Turkey is all set to assert itself as the global hub for travel, as it inaugurates the “Istanbul New Airport”, which is the world’s largest airport to be built from scratch.

The airport, which will be fully functional over the next decade, has six runways and the whole airport is larger than all of Manhattan put together.

Not just that, it will be able to handle 200 million passengers per annum when fully operational, which is almost double of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (The Busiest Airport In The World) located in Atlanta which handled 103 million passengers in 2017, with over 2,500 flights operated every day.

There are currently three terminals planned for Istanbul’s New Airport.

The Istanbul New Airport’s architecture reflects the rich cultural heritage of Istanbul, with the design inspiration coming from Istanbul’s various mosques, baths, domes and other historic structures. As you land, you will notice the ATC tower, which has been designed in the shape of a tulip, Turkey’s national flower.

The first flight took of yesterday from the newly inaugurated airport. Turkish Airlines flight TK2124 with 340 people on board completed its maiden flight from Istanbul to Turkey’s capital, Ankara.

For now, only 1 terminal is open as part of its 1st phase of operations. This terminal is the world’s largest airport terminal under one roof, with a capacity to handle 90 million passengers per day.

Turkish Airlines will operate 5 flights a day from this airport November 1 onwards, which will include three domestic and two international flights. For the next couple of months, it will use the airport code ISL and will use these five flights as a test case to complete the 1st phase by the end of 2018.

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“Lion Air” Flight Crashes In Indonesia,189 Passengers Missing!

AirWhizzOct 30, 2018 No Comments

Indonesia, which was coming to terms with the recent havoc created by an earthquake in the region, has yet again been hit with a tragedy.

Indonesia’s “Lion Air” airplane carrying 189 passengers and crew crashed into the Java Sea on Monday morning, moments after taking off from Jakarta Airport.

Flight JT 610 from Jakarta to the city of Pangkal Pinang, disappeared off the radar 13 minutes after taking off from the Indonesian capital at around 6:20 a.m. The airplane crashed and sunk deep into the sea.

The aircraft carried 178 adult passengers, 1 child and 2 babies. The flight’s crew consisted of Captain Bhavye Suneja and Captain Harino as second in command along with 5 crew members.

According to the Acting  Director Of Civil Aviation, Mr. Pramintohadi Sukarno, search operations are underway and rescue squads have been deployed around Tanjung Karawang, the site where the airplane was seen crashing.

A crisis center has also been established at Terminal 1B of the Jakarta Airport & Pangkal Pinang Airport to help families of the passengers.

Local media reports have said that the preliminary flight data shows a drop in the airplane’s altitude and increase in speed before the transmission got cut. The airplane appears to have plunged into the sea just off the course of Indonesia.

Lion Air hasn’t released an official statement.

The deadly crash of a Lion Air has renewed questions about the safety of Indonesian airline soon after U.S. and European regulators removed prohibitions against them.

Indonesia’s aviation industry has had a shaky past. The United States and the European Union banned its airplanes from their skies in 2007.

Indonesia relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands but has a poor aviation safety record and has suffered several fatal crashes in recent years.

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