airport

Bangalore Airport Will Soon Introduce “Self Check-In” Kiosks!

AirWhizzJul 07, 2018 No Comments

Bangalore Airport Will Soon Introduce “Self Check-In” Kiosks!

Aviation Insider

Passengers travelling from the Bangalore Airport, will soon be able to get their boarding pass without much hassle!

The Kempegowda International Airport(KIA) in Bangalore is planning to introduce 16 ‘Self Check-In’ kiosks near the airline ticket counters.

Director General of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Mr Rajesh Ranjan, has said that there is a lot of emphasis on introducing e-governance and e-handling at the Bangalore Airport due to the city’s reputation as a technology hub. For this purpose and to reduce check-in time, the airport might install self check-in kiosks.

Apart from these 16 kiosks, airport authorities will also introduce 2 assisted kiosks through which passengers can check in and get a boarding pass without going to the counters. The baggage can then be sent to the airlines from these kiosks itself.

Currently, there are a few such kiosks at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

Mr Ranjan has also said that, following Hyderabad Airport’s example, CISF personnel are planning to do away with stamping of the boarding pass at Bangalore Airport.

They are planning to implement a check-in system where the passengers can swipe the boarding pass at the scanner, which will recognise the barcode and allow them in. However, the details of this system are yet to be finalized.

This decision taken by the Bangalore Airport will surely be a step further in implementing the government’s “DigiYatra” scheme, which lately took a hit after the Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) refused to share Aadhaar data with aviation authorities.

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Tips To Avoid Losing Your Bag When You Fly!

AirWhizzJul 06, 2018 No Comments

Tips To Avoid Losing Your Bag When You Fly!

Travel Like a Pro

You’re waiting at the airport baggage carousel for what seems like forever, when suddenly the conveyor belt stops and your bag is nowhere to be found!

It’s an awful experience when an airline loses your bag and thousands of flyers around the world experience this every day.

Travel mishaps can happen at any time and to anyone, but if you’re well prepared you can reduce those chances.

But before we get into how you can prevent losing your bag at the airport, let us tell you what you should do if your airline delays or loses your luggage.

Delayed/Misplaced Luggage

In spite of all the technological advances, airlines are still handled by humans and errors are bound to happen.

But, airlines today have ways to track your bag and majority of misplaced luggage is returned eventually.

Delay of your luggage can happen in 2 cases –

  • If the airline has sent your bag on another flight, in which case you’ll get your bags within a few hours.
  • If the airline has sent your bag to the wrong airport, for which you’ll have to wait for a few days

Make sure you fill the delayed baggage form immediately at the airport and give the attendant your hotel or home address as well as a phone number where you can be reached.

The airline will bring you your luggage when its found and there won’t be a need for you to go personally to the airport.

If a bag is not sent to you within 21 days, it is considered lost.

Lost Luggage

If the airline looses your bag, it means that it’s time to file a claim.

The airline will do everything it can to find your luggage, but if they officially claim that your luggage is gone, they have to reimburse you for it.

Filling a claim involves filling out a lost baggage form and explaining in detail what was in the bag. Contact the airline representative and they will take care of the rest.

Now that you have a fair idea about what to do If your bag gets lost, here are a few tips that can help you avoid such a situation –

1.Attach A Name Tag

With air travel on the rise, companies such as VIP and American Tourister are mass producing their bags, which makes it difficult for us to have a unique suitcase.

But you can get around this by attaching brightly coloured baggage tags with your name and phone number on it.

You can put a copy of your itinerary inside your bag as well,  so that its easier for the airline to locate you if your not at your home base.

There have been instances where other people have taken the bag thinking it’s theirs and worst is when they just leave it in the middle of the airport when they realise it.

At least someone will be able to contact you if your phone number is on the bag.

2.Arrive Early

In case you didn’t know, the most common reason for delayed or lost baggage is late check-ins at the airport.

In general, make sure you reach the airport as early as possible so that you never have to get into such a situation.

If you’re wondering what to do after you arrive early at the airport , read about “5 Fun & Unique Ways To Kill Time At The Airport”

3.Keep A Buffer Between Connecting Flights

This is one more reason why bags get sent on a different flight or the wrong airport!

In a hurry to transfer your bags onto a connecting flight, airlines can do this and locating your bag can become a herculean task.

Keep some buffer time between your connecting flights while booking your tickets and avoid the unnecessary stress.

4.Pack Smartly

Pack all valuables in your carry-on luggage.

Travel essentials such as Cameras, computers, medication kits, wallets, jewellery and passports shouldn’t be carried in you checked-in luggage.

Also make sure you pack a set of clothes in your carry-on bag so that you’ll have something to wear if your checked bag is delayed or lost.

PRO TRAVEL TIP- If you’re traveling with a partner , consider dividing your clothes between each other’s checked bags. This way if one of the bags is lost, you’ll each still have some of your belongings.

5.Make A Packing List

We know it sounds tedious, but it will go a long way in case your bag gets lost.

While filling the lost baggage form, the airline asks you for a list of items you have in the bag. Its better to come prepared, than think about what all you’ve lost on the spot.

6.Buy Travel Insurance

We can’t stress enough on the fact that travel insurance is really important.

Other than covering damaged and lost bags, travel insurance covers emergency medical expenses, emergency cash expenses at the hospital and personal accidents which might occur when you are onboard.

It’s a wise decision to buy travel insurance since it costs just a fraction of your total trip and you are at ease while travelling when you are insured

7.Buy a Luggage Tracker

Consider buying a luggage tracker, which costs not more than Rs 500 and gives you real-time location of your bag on the phone.

Even if you cant find your bag at the airport, you can track it especially if someone takes your bag by mistake, thinking it’s theirs.

One more way in which you can avoid losing your bag at the airport is by downloading the AirWhizz App. We have partnered up with prestigious travel insurance companies such as HDFC Ergo, so you can book your travel insurance via the app itself. You’ll also get information about airline policies and airport services as an app user on the move.

Keep your luggage safe & Fly Stress-Free!

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Delhi Airport To Provide Automated Wheelchairs For Elderly & Differently Abled Passengers!

AirWhizzJul 05, 2018 No Comments

Delhi Airport To Provide Automated Wheelchairs For Elderly & Differently Abled Passengers!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to make air travel comfortable for ‘Passengers with Reduced Mobility’(PRM), Delhi Airport will soon introduce automated wheelchair services.

At present, there are 7 electric wheelchairs being provided at the airport on trial basis, however, authorities are planning to start this service permanently by ‘Mid-August’ this year.

Here are all the details about the new automated wheelchairs –

  • It can carry a load of up to 250 Kg.
  • It is designed to accommodate a passenger and their check-in bag.
  • The battery operated wheelchair is capable of functioning the whole day on a single charge.
  • Travellers who fall under the PMR category will also be provided an assistant by the service operators.

Based on the requirements of the airlines, an adequate number of wheelchairs will be introduced at all terminals of the Delhi Airport.

Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) has appointed “Aviaxpert Aviation Pvt. Ltd.” to operate this service at the airport. They are procuring these wheelchairs from Europe.

DIAL has said that the service providers will be able to track the whereabouts of the passengers within the airport, till they board the airplane, using a chip installed in the wheelchair.

At present, airlines have a dedicated staff to help elderly and disabled passengers. They use basic wheelchairs to ferry them from the entrance of the airport to the airplane.

DIAL will not scrap manually operated wheelchairs which are present at the airport, once the automated wheelchair service is established.

Airports around the world have started using automated wheelchairs to help such passengers. We hope that more airports in India take Delhi airport’s example and start this service in the near future.

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Paperless Travel At Indian Airports Hits Aadhaar Hurdle!

AirWhizzJul 04, 2018 No Comments

Paperless Travel At Indian Airports Hits Aadhaar Hurdle!

Aviation Insider

The government’s plan to make air travel paperless in India has hit a bump.

The Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) has refused to share Aadhaar biometric data with aviation authorities due to security reasons.

Civil Aviation Ministry is looking at different identity options to implement the “DigiYatra” scheme. The other options that can be used for identification of an air traveller are passports or special identity cards made for this purpose but they won’t be able to give the same benefits as an Aadhar card.

The scheme aims at making air travel simpler for passengers by linking their Aadhar information with the database of different airline stakeholders. This would remove the need for paper-based documents or manual security checks at airports.

Many airports were gearing up for this scheme by implementing biometric security scanners and e-ticket gates to automate the check-in process.

In fact, a few months back, the government had announced that they will implement paperless travel at airports such as Varanasi and Vijayawada, however, UIDAI’s decision may stall such a move.

There have been many incidents in recent times where the Aadhaar data has been leaked, raising questions on the security of the biometrics of Indian citizens. UIDAI claims that their database is safe, but incidents of data breach have made them reluctant to share data with external authorities and agencies.

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Construction Of New Terminal Building To Start At Chennai Airport!

AirWhizzJul 03, 2018 No Comments

Construction Of New Terminal Building To Start At Chennai Airport!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to expand the Chennai Airport, Airports Authority Of India(AAI) has announced that it will soon start the construction of a new terminal building.

Here are all the details about the expansion plan –

  • The construction work will start by end of July 2018.
  • The new terminal building is part of airport’s “Phase 2” of the expansion plan.
  • It is estimated that the terminal building will cost Rs 2000 crores.
  • The new building will be an integrated terminal, which will have the capacity to handle both domestic and international passengers.
  • Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been given the contract to construct the new terminal.
  • The terminal building is expected to be ready in 4 years.
  • AAI is also planning to build a multi-level car parking on either side of the Chennai Airport metro station.

Demolition of the old “Kamaraj Domestic Terminal” began in March 2018, which is almost complete. Subsequently, the “Anna International Terminal” will also be pulled down.

Airport authorities are planning to invite Prime minister Narendra Modi for the foundation stone-laying ceremony. AAI officials have said that this is the next big step in the expansion of the Chennai Airport and it would be great if the PM can come and lay down the foundation stone.

The new terminal is expected to increase the peak-hour passenger capacity by 1000 and 4800 in the domestic and international wings, respectively. The international wing will be allotted more space as peak-hour footfall is expected to be at least 7,000.

As part of phase 2 of expansion, AAI is also building new taxiways to improve flight operations at the Chennai Airport, however, for this purpose, a few flights will get rescheduled and the main runway will be closed for a few hours every day, for about 9 months

Read more about “Rescheduled Flights At Chennai Airport For Taxiway Work”

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The Complex Process Behind Your Airline’s Flight Schedule!

AirWhizzJul 02, 2018 No Comments

The Complex Process Behind Your Airline’s Flight Schedule!

Aviation Insider

We all have at some point complained about how late our flight was or rejoiced about an early flight.

But have you ever wondered how exactly does an airline schedule a flight?

Well, it turns out that those scheduled flight timings aren’t random. Your flight timings are a result of a complex system which is handled by a dedicated airline team.

But, before we get into the factors that determine a flight’s schedule, we first need to understand a few terms.

Departure Time –  Most of us think that departure time is the time at which the flight takes-off, but that’s not the case. Departure time is the moment your flight leaves the boarding gate.

Arrival time – This is the moment when your flight reaches the boarding gate and not the time it lands on the runway.

Block Time – This is the time between the arrival and departure time.

Airlines use a complex matrix called ‘Airline Scheduled Planning’ to fix flight timings. They use a software and feed in the historical data for a flight’s departure, arrival and block time for each specific route on a specific day. The software analyses this data and suggests a schedule for that flight.

Other than the software, airlines also keep in mind certain variables to schedule flights!

Factors That Affect A Flight’s Schedule.

1.Airport

Flight schedule of an airline is affected by the passenger traffic at the airport.

Busy airports such as Delhi or Bombay airports allot airlines a 30-60 minute window to operate their flights in a day, to keep things organised.

The infrastructure of the airport is also taken into consideration, including how many boarding gates does it have, how many runways are operational or whether there is an ongoing construction happening.

2.Connecting Flights

Airlines have to consider the timings of the connecting flights. They have to determine the departure time of their flight by analyzing what time the connecting flight is going to arrive at the other airport.

The time taken by a passenger to leave the airplane and walk to the boarding gate for the connecting flight is also added.

3.Turnaround Time

Airline turnaround time is the time taken to unload an airplane after its arrival and to prepare it for departure again.

This factor also includes the time taken to switch the airline crew. Airlines have to check whether the new crew is present at the destination or is arriving at the airport on another flight. Accordingly, they schedule their flight.

4.Flight Route

Another variable that is used to schedule a flight is how busy the route is and how much time does a flight stay in the air on that particular route.

For instance ,on busier routes, the airline might opt to operate its flights during less crowded times of the day or week.

5.Competition

This may come as a surprise to you, but the airline’s brand value in the market determines a flight’s schedule.

In some areas, you will find that airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet are more popular, while in other areas people prefer flying with Air India or GoAir.

Airlines aim to schedule flights to capture the largest customer base and avoid bottlenecking at airports, at the same time.

For Instance, if flights from 7 different airlines land during the same time at an airport, the airline may schedule its flight an hour earlier to avoid competition and get better returns.

6.Type Of Destination

Wherever possible, airlines schedule their flights based on why people are flying to a specific destination.

That is why you must have noticed that there are a lot of early morning flights to/from cities such as Bangalore ,Mumbai, or Delhi since a lot of business travellers fly there.

Scheduling late morning or afternoon flights from holiday destination such as Goa makes more sense for airlines. They want their guests to make the most of their relaxation time.

7.Unexpected Factors

Flight schedules are decided several months in advance by the airline’s “Schedule Planning Team”.

But unexpected events, such as bad weather or runway construction, might happen during that time, which can affect the arrival and departure timings.

Most airlines have a different set of employees on the team for this purpose or have flight dispatchers, who sit in the system operations center. Their main job is to tweak schedules to accommodate real-time changes as the need arises.

To sum it up, scheduling a flight is not as simple as just picking up a time which sounds good. Airlines have an experienced and dedicated team that helps them to solve this jigsaw puzzle and see which timing fits. In fact, many international airlines such as JetBlue give their schedule planning job applicants a “Sudoku Puzzle” to solve in the interviews.

If you want to know about your flight status, simply download the AirWhizz App. You will get real-time flight/ weather updates along with airline and airport information on the move & Fly Stress -Free!

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Flight Operations Resume At Bali International Airport!

AirWhizzJun 30, 2018 No Comments

Flight Operations Resume At Bali International Airport!

Aviation Insider

Flight operations at Bali’s international airport have resumed after the Indonesian government shut down the airport due to a volcanic eruption at Mount Agung.

Government authorities had announced that the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali would be closed from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. However, a favourable change in the wind direction allowed the airport to resume flights by 2:30 p.m.

Shutting down of Bali Airport led to cancellation of almost 450 flights including 207 international ones. This affected 75000 air travellers globally.

Amongst these stranded travellers , there were a few Indians as well. The Consulate General Of India(CGI), Bali, had set up a help desk at the airport to assist Indian nationals.

According to a report, there was a group of 10 Indians holidaying in Indonesia and one of their relatives tweeted to CGI asking for help. CGI responded to the appeal and told him that the Bali airport had reopened at 2.30 p.m. and that his relatives should contact the airline to reschedule their flights.

Indonesian authorities have said that the airport was safe from the volcano since it’s about 60 -70 kms away. But, due to the ash clouds rising almost 16454 feet above sea level, they had to shut down flight operations.

Air Asia had cancelled almost 50 flights, while airlines such as Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines and PT Garuda had to temporarily shut their operations down in Bali.

Last year in November, the airport was shut down for more than a day because of high volcanic activity in the region. This led to a loss of more than $1 billion for the country’s tourism industry.

The government has suspended all tourist activity near Mount Agung and everyone within a vicinity of 4 kms from the mountain has evacuated the area.

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Indonesia Shuts Down Bali Airport After Volcano Erupts At Mount Agung!

AirWhizzJun 29, 2018 No Comments

Indonesia Shuts Down Bali Airport After Volcano Erupts At Mount Agung!

Aviation Insider

The Indonesian government has shut down Bali’s international airport after a Volcanic eruption on Thursday evening.

Here are all the details about the incident –

  • Mount Agung, a popular tourist destination in Bali, erupted last night sending volcanic ashes several miles high into the sky.
  • Almost 450 flights have been cancelled, which include 207 international flights.
  • It is estimated that 75000 air travellers have been affected by this incident.
  • Domestic airports at Banyuwangi and Jember in Java have also been closed down.
  • Airlines such as PT Garuda, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways have cancelled all their flights to and from Bali.
  • AirAsia Indonesia has cancelled at least 50 flights.

The Airport was shut down at 3:00 a.m. local time, and authorities will review the closing at 12:00 p.m. today, after taking into account the latest volcanic ash distribution data.

Indonesian authorities have closed down the Ngurah Rai International Airport, in Bali, for the second time in seven months due to volcanic activity in the region.

Mt. Agung, which is about 70 kilometres northeast of Bali’s tourist hotspot, Kuta, last had a major eruption in the year 1963, taking the lives of about 1,100 people.

National disaster agencies had issued a ‘High Alert’ after increased volcanic activity at the mountain in 2017,causing thousands of people to evacuate nearby cities. However, things became normal by February 2018 and authorities lowered the alert status.

Indonesia is located in the Pacific’s “Ring Of Fire” region which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There are almost 120 active volcanos in the region which is monitored by government and other seismologic agencies.

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