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Second Heli-Taxi Service To Be Launched In Bangalore To Ferry Air Passengers

AirWhizzJun 09, 2018 No Comments

Second Heli-Taxi Service To Be Launched In Bangalore To Ferry Air Passengers

Aviation Insider

Bangalore is all set to get a second Heli-Taxi service that will ferry passengers between the 2 airports within the city.

Here are the details about the 2nd Heli-Taxi service–

  • The service is likely to start by 23rd June 2018.
  • The helicopter will fly between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport and Kempegowda International Airport(KIA).
  • The Heli-Taxi fare for this will be steeper than the Electronic City – KIA route.
  • Thumby Aviation Pvt Ltd will be handling the operations of the Heli-Taxi Service.
  • The company will be purchasing special performance ‘Class-I’ helicopters that are mandatory for such rooftop services.

The prices are going to be higher for the second Heli-Taxi service because Thumby Aviation does not have a helipad of its own at the HAL airport. They will have to pay a high rent in the form of ground handling charges, landing charges and parking charges to HAL authorities.

According to Captain K.N.G Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Thumby Aviation, the company will do their best to reduce the cost per ticket so that the passengers don’t bear a big burden. They will be ready within two weeks to start this service.

The first Heli-taxi service started on 5th March 2018 and was a huge success since it took only 15 minutes to take passengers from the electronic city to KIA, which on-ground takes around 2 hours. The service operates 3 round trips in 2 slots, between 6:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The tickets cost Rs 4130 (Including GST) per person and there is a 15 kg baggage limit. If a person has more than 15kg of luggage, they can opt to transport it through CarterPorter, which is a third party service.

4 hotels in Bangalore are keen to jump in on this opportunity and want to offer their helipads for ferrying their guests to the airport. However, this could take a few more months since a permission has to be taken from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

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Mumbai Airport Breaks Its Own Record,Handles Over 1000 Flights In A Day!

AirWhizzJun 07, 2018 No Comments

Mumbai Airport Breaks Its Own Record,Handles Over 1000 Flights In A Day!

Aviation Insider

Mumbai Airport, the world’s busiest single-runway airport, has broken its own record by handling 1003 flights in a single day.

In January 2018, Mumbai Airport handled 980 landings and take-offs, breaking the record for handling the most amount of flights in a single day, which was previously held by  UK’s Gatwick International Airport.

Here are the details of how Mumbai Airport managed this –

  • On Monday evening, due to pre-monsoon showers and heavy winds, 19 flights were diverted and many were delayed.
  • As soon as the weather cleared up around midnight, these flights were accommodated at the airport.
  • These delayed flights landed and took off past midnight on Monday, adding to Tuesday’s data.
  • Between midnight of Monday and Tuesday, the airport handled 506 arrival and 497 departure flights.
  • Domestic airlines recorded an on-time performance of 82%- 83%.

The Mumbai airport has 2 intersecting runways, however, only one runway is operational at a given point of time. The main runway can handle 46 flight movements per hour, while the secondary runway can handle 35 aircraft movements per hour.

According to Mumbai International Airport Limited(MIAL) spokesperson, this record is an acknowledgment of the airport’s effort to set a high benchmark in the global aviation industry. He also said that MIAL is committed and hope that they continue to bring greater efficiency, safety and reliability to their work in the future.

In 2006, when MIAL (A joint venture between GVK & Airports Authority Of India) took over the Mumbai Airport, it was handling up to 584 landings and take-offs in a day. As the years went by, the Indian aviation market continued to grow and the airport started to handle over 900 flights a day with airplanes arriving every 42 seconds at the airport.

In March 2018, Mumbai Airport, along with the Delhi International Airport, was given the award for the ‘World’s Best Airport For Customer Experience’ in the above-40 million passenger category by Airports Council International.

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Pakyong Airport Will Start Operations From This Month!

AirWhizzJun 06, 2018 No Comments

Pakyong Airport Will Start Operations From This Month!

Aviation Insider

The much awaited, Pakyong Airport in Sikkim, is all set to become operational this month.

Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, has finally received the license to operate the Sikkim Airport, which is located 30 km from the state’s capital, Gangtok.

SpiceJet is the only airline till now which has received the permission to operate flights from Kolkata Airport to Pakyong Airport.

On 10th May a test flight was carried out, where SpiceJet used its 78 seater Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 to successfully land at the airport.

Here are some interesting facts about the airport-

  • It is the first Greenfield Airport in Northeast India and is spread across 990 acres.
  • Located at a height of 4590 ft, this airport is considered as one of the 5 highest altitude airports in India.
  • The airport is often called an engineering marvel owing to the extremely rough terrain it has been built on.
  • The airport is built roughly 60 km away from the Indo-China border, giving it a huge strategic advantage. Indian Air Force(IAF) has already done test runs and will use the airport once it’s operational.
  • The project for constructing this airport was sanctioned 11 years ago, however, due to land acquisition problems, the project was delayed. It has been built at an approximate cost of 350 crores.

Sikkim was the only state in India to not have a functional airport, but all that is about to change this month.

As of now, the nearest airport to Gangtok is in Bagdogra, West Bengal, which is 150 Km away. Travellers have to first fly to the Bagdogra Airport and then take a 4.5 hour cab ride to reach the place.

With opening of the Pakyong Airport, it is expected that it will boost tourism, which will help in the economic development of the state and connect it to the rest of India.

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Delhi Airport Goes Green To Combat Pollution!

AirWhizzJun 05, 2018 No Comments

Delhi Airport Goes Green To Combat Pollution!

Aviation Insider

Delhi has had a reputation of being one of the most polluted cities in India, however, the Delhi Airport is combating this situation and is making things easier for passengers at the airport.

Instead of opting for expensive air purifiers, Delhi Airport has put 35000 air purifying plants which can naturally clean the air form basic pollutants.

Here are all the details of this ‘Green’ initiative–

  • Nearly 3.9 million square feet of area within the Delhi Airport has been covered by air purifying plants and shrubs.
  • To purify the air naturally, a mix of different foliage and flowering trees has been used.
  • Plants such as Cassia Fistula, Asltonia Scholaris, Spider Plants, Snake Plants, Golden Pothos, Weeping fig, Jacaranda Mimosifolia and Bamboo Palm have been planted.
  • Each plant type serves a specific purpose, for example, Spider Plants purify the air of Carbon Monoxide and Benzene, while Weeping Fig filters out pollutants from carpets and furniture.
  • The airport plans to add thousands of plants every year and want to keep this green initiative going.

Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) said that they have been working towards reducing adverse pollution impacts by taking such initiatives. They have also said that various authorities will be monitoring the air quality within the airport.

Currently, Delhi Airport is the 7Th busiest airport in Asia and the 20Th busiest airport in the world. This Green initiative will surely make things easier for international and domestic passengers travelling to the national capital and will help them breath clean & fresh air within the airport after a long flight.

Experts say that using such plants will have a lot of benefits in the long run. It will moderate the temperature, reduce pollution and prevent wastage of water within the airport. In addition to purifying air, these plants will surely enhance the beauty of the airport.

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Vistara’s AI Robot “RADA”, Will Soon Assist Passengers At The Delhi Airport!

AirWhizzMay 30, 2018 No Comments

Vistara’s AI Robot “RADA”, Will Soon Assist Passengers At The Delhi Airport!

Aviation Insider

Starting from July 2018, passengers travelling with Vistara will be assisted by an Artificially Intelligent robot at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi.

Vistara, which is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has developed a robot to help their passengers, address queries and entertain them before boarding a flight.

Here are all the details about the robot –

  • Vistara has named the AI robot ‘RADA’.
  • The robot will be installed in the ‘Vistara Signature Lounge’ at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 from 5th July 2018.
  • It is the first AI robot in India to be deployed at an airport to assist passengers.
  • It is built on the chassis of 4 wheels, which enables it to rotate 360 degrees and has 3 inbuilt cameras to help it interact with customers at the lounge.
  • ‘RADA’ is capable of scanning boarding passes, giving information about terminals & departure gates, real-time flight updates, weather conditions and different products. It also tells passengers about the services offered by Vistara.
  • It will use basic hand movements to greet the passengers entering the lounge and will move around on a predefined path.
  • It is also capable of entertaining kids and adults by playing games, videos and songs.
  • Over a period of time, the AI robot will be developed in terms of functionality and features based on customer feedback.
  • The airline claims that it is one of the most economical AI robots in India, which is completely made from components manufactured within the country.

‘RADA’ has been developed under Vistara’s ‘Innovation Initiative’. It has been designed and engineered by experts from the TATA Innovation Lab with the help of students from reputed institutions.

According to Mr Ravinder Pal Singh, Vistara’s Chief Information and Innovation Officer, the idea behind this concept was to build a simple and extremely cost-effective robot which is capable of basic human interaction to start with. He also said that the robot will further be developed to perform more complex tasks to handle the evolving passenger habits in this technological age.

With this innovation, Vistara will surely enhance its customer’s experience and will further strengthen its hold in the domestic aviation market.

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Trial Run For ‘Digi-Yatra’ Starts At The Chennai Airport!

AirWhizzMay 29, 2018 No Comments

Trial Run For ‘Digi-Yatra’ Starts At The Chennai Airport!

Aviation Insider

Passengers at the Chennai Airport will soon be able to experience a paperless boarding process.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started a trial run of the ‘Digi-Yatra’ programme at the Chennai Airport to introduce paperless travel to domestic and international travellers.

The concept of ‘Digi-Yatra’ was introduced by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in June 2017. It aims at making the travellers journey through the airport hassle-free by incorporating modern technology.

To use this facility passengers will have to register themselves at the government’s Air-Sewa portal and generate a ‘Digi-Yatra-ID’.

Here are the details of how the system is being implemented at the Chennai Airport –

  • E-Gates will be used by the passengers for Check-in and Immigration boarding.
  • All the information about the passenger will be shared with agencies working at the airport, via the portal, for faster identity authentication.
  • Immigration counters will be rearranged at the airport to incorporate the E-Gates.
  • This arrangement will help passengers, who have the unique Identity number, to pass through these E-Gates with ease.
  • The Air Seva App will help passengers navigate through the Chennai Airport using a digital guidance system.
  • The authorities are also going to implement interactive Kiosks at the airport and develop augmented reality apps for the passenger’s convenience.

Authorities at the Chennai Airport are looking to implement ‘Digi-Yatra’ to ease congestion, especially at the international terminal.

A few weeks back AAI conducted a trial run at the Hyderabad and Bangalore Airport in which boarding of a few passengers was done using E-Gates. The response was really good, and the average boarding time was reduced by almost  15 minutes.

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Flight Delays Expected At The Mumbai Airport Till 5th June 2018!

AirWhizzMay 22, 2018 No Comments

Flight Delays Expected At The Mumbai Airport Till 5th June 2018!

Aviation Insider

If you are planning to fly to/from the Mumbai Airport before 5th June, be prepared for your flight to get delayed.

Flights from the Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai might be delayed due to the upgradation work on the airport’s Instrumental Landing System (ILS).

The old ILS is being upgraded, for which the work started on 17th May and will continue till 5th June. Because of this, the system will be out of service from 11 a.m. To 11 p.m.

Here’s why the ILS is so important –

  • It is a ground-based navigational system which helps pilots to land. It gives guidance while landing and helps the pilots align the aircraft to the runway centreline.
  • With no ILS on Mumbai airports main runway ‘27’, the pilot has to slow down the aircraft earlier than usual while landing it.
  • Landing without the system’s guidance involves relying on the radar to look for the runway. This is known as “Non-Precision Approach”.
  • At the Mumbai airport, a pilot cannot continue to land below 1070 feet if they don’t spot the runway. This increases the chances of “go-around” and the pilot has to make another attempt to land the aircraft.
  • This can lead to air traffic congestion, as landing without the ILS takes more time.

On 18th May, the airport saw severe air traffic congestion with almost 230 arrival and 350 departure flights getting delayed for 40 to 60 minutes.

This forced officials to shift operations to the secondary runway ‘14’, which is shorter than the main runway and can handle only a few flights.

Airport officials also fear that due to weather conditions the visibility might fall below 1200 meters and the airport might have to shut operations. They have been coordinating with the meteorological department to keep a track of the weather conditions. As of now, chances of poor visibility are less for the next 20 days.

Jet Airways and Vistara have informed their guests about the situation via Twitter and have asked them to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.

If you want to know whether your flight has been delayed at the Mumbai airport, look no further. Simply download the AirWhizz App to get real-time flight updates via push notification on your phone and Fly Stress-Free!

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UDAN Boosts Connectivity In 25 Tier II & Tier III Cities Within 13 Months!

AirWhizzMay 21, 2018 No Comments

UDAN Boosts Connectivity In 25 Tier II & Tier III Cities Within 13 Months!

Aviation Insider

A few Months back Sikkim was the only state in the country to not have an airport. However, After 13 months there is finally India’s 100th airport in the Pakyong district which is about 35 Kilometres away from Gangtok, Sikkim. This has been made possible by government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme.

The UDAN Scheme, also known as Regional Connectivity Scheme(RCS), was implemented by the government in April 2017 to boost regional connectivity and make air travel affordable In India.

Before the scheme was implemented the country had 75 airports, however within 13 months, 25 new airports have been added to the network.

Here’s how the regional air connectivity has improved under the UDAN scheme –

  • The airports in Pathankot (which was not operational for 7 years) and Adampur district in Punjab have been made operational under the scheme.
  • The airstrips in Vijaynagar in Karnataka and Rourkela in Odisha, which were being used by corporates for business purposes, have now been opened for general public.
  • The Hubli Airport in Karnataka saw its first commercial flight at the start of this month.
  • Airports have opened up in districts like Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Kandla(Gujrat), Nanded(Maharashtra), Ozar (Nashik), Porbandar(Gujrat), Jalgaon(Maharashtra) and Mundra(Gujrat).
  • States like Pondicherry and Daman & Diu have also seen airports being opened up for the public.
  • Under RCS, the price of an air ticket for a one hour journey on a fixed-wing airplane is just Rs 2500.
  • Regional airlines such as Air Deccan and Air Odisha have also started on routes under The UDAN scheme.

According to Mr. Ajay Singh, SpiceJet’s MD & Chairman, the air traffic on regional routes has increased significantly. There is an occupancy of over 90% on SpiceJet flights on routes under the UDAN scheme.

Airlines in India served 11.7 crore passengers in 2017 and the industry saw a growth rate of 17.3%. This year on year growth has made India the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world.

To cater to the high demand and improve air travel connectivity, it is important to build airports in districts other than metro cities, which has been made possible under the UDAN Scheme. RCS will also play a major part in making air travel more accessible and affordable for people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in the near future.

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