Category: Aviation

Etihad Airways on Friday said it will operate a limited number of special flights from six Indian cities to Abu Dhabi between July 12 and July 26 for eligible passengers. The airline said it will operate services to Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. “Eligible passengers include UAE nationals and residents as well as people with relevant UAE entry approvals from India. All passengers must have ICA approval from the government of Abu Dhabi before they travel and will not be permitted to check-in without the necessary approvals,” the airline said in its press release. ICA ... Read more

India’s national carrier Air India has started ticket bookings for five new flights from Dubai and Sharjah, scheduled to operate between July 11-14. The first of these flights, under the Vande Bharat Mission, will leave for Delhi from Dubai at 4 pm on Saturday. The rest of the flights will be from Sharjah. On Sunday, there will be two flights. Flight AI0904 will depart for Indore at 10.25am and AI1976 to Srinagar will depart at 11.40am. On July 13, there will be a flight to Chandigarh at 10.25am, followed by one to Ahmedabad on July 14. Announcing the schedule on ... Read more

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes on Thursday said the low-cost airline can bounce back to profitability next year, but that it will look to raise 2 billion ringgit ($469 million) in the next six months to be in a “very comfortable” position. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review, Fernandes expressed confidence that AirAsia can overcome heavy losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Malaysia-based company said earlier on Thursday that it was working to raise more than 1 billion ringgit ($234 million). Air Asia gave details of its plans after its shares fell sharply on Wednesday following a ... Read more

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged the International Energy Agency (IEA) to prioritise investments in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help power aviation’s contribution to the post-COVID-19 recovery. The call comes on the eve of the IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit, which will meet virtually to debate moves towards a low-carbon future. In a statement on Thursday, IATA also emphasised the aviation industry’s commitment to its emissions reduction goals. “The world must ‘build back better’ from the COVID-19 crisis with attention focused on investment in carbon reduction technologies and in SAF, which will create jobs at this critical ... Read more

Air India and Air India Express have confirmed that it will operate repatriation flights to the UAE to fetch stranded citizens from the country. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that the repatriation flights will commence from July 12 and will go on till July 26. An agreement for the same has been signed between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries, putting an end to the long traumatic wait for hundreds of Indians, Khaleej Times has reported. Many are currently stranded in India since March when both the UAE and India closed their airspaces to curb the ... Read more

Etihad Airways has partnered with Sitata, a Canadian travel risk management company, to launch an interactive travel map on etihad.com, the airline’s official website. Etihad Airways’ guests now have easy access to a comprehensive overview of the situation relating to COVID-19 at each destination in the airline’s network. The travel map uses advanced computer algorithms to detect new travel information globally, which is swiftly updated on its portal. The system also relies on announcements and updates published on official government websites and reputable media channels. The information is vetted by Sitata’s team of editors and continuously updated as and when new ... Read more

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, flew hundreds of UFC participants including athletes and event crew to Abu Dhabi as the city prepares to host UFC Fight Island. UFC is the biggest mixed martial arts tournament in the world, with more than 300 million fans around the world. Etihad is the official airline partner of the event, which is Abu Dhabi’s inaugural major sporting event since the outbreak of COVID-19. This weekend, Etihad carried UFC stars Amanda Ribas, Jéssica Andrade and José Aldo from Sao Paulo to Abu Dhabi, with Paige VanZant, Rose Namajunas and Max Holloway jetting ... Read more

Qatar Airways will now require economy class passengers to wear a face shield in addition to a face covering. The face shields will be supplied by Qatar Airways at check-in and economy class passengers will only be allowed to remove them during meal and drink services. The rules will not be extended to business or first-class passengers who will simply be asked if they would like to wear a face shield. Business class passengers will be “asked to wear their face shield and mask on board at their own discretion, as they enjoy more space and privacy”. All passengers will also ... Read more

Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, has announced that it will resume its direct Abu Dhabi and Dubai flights with scheduled operations starting from July 5.  Gulf Air has been operating direct flights between Bahrain and the UAE since 1954 and both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have always been key successful routes within the Gulf Air’s network. The airline currently flies to and from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Manila, Athens, Cairo and Pakistan. With the addition of Abu Dhabi and Dubai services, Gulf Air will operate 25% of its original network. Being one of the few airlines that continued operations ... Read more

Doha-based Qatar Airways has started to reinstate 18 more destinations worldwide. By mid-July, the airline’s network will expand to over 430 weekly flights servicing more than 65 destinations. On Wednesday, the national carrier of the State of Qatar relaunched 11 more destinations, its largest single day of restarts. The carrier said it continues to work closely with governments around the world to resume commercial flights in line with entry restrictions, IANS has reported. The airline is hopeful that further commercial flight restrictions will be eased throughout July, with the carrier planning to resume almost two thirds of its pre-COVID-19 network ... Read more

Emirates airline said it has refunded over $500 million (AED1.9bn) to nearly 650,000 passengers in the last two months, following through on its promise to accelerate Covid-19-related requests from customers. The Dubai carrier had announced in April that it would work on increasing its online capabilities to deal with nearly half a million refund requests from customers since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Emirates said in order to meet the initial target of 500,000, it expanded its processing capability from an average of 35,000 requests a month to nearly 200,000, which allowed it to process 30% more. The average refund amounted ... Read more

Singapore’s Changi Airport is trialling and implementing a range of new anti-virus measures as it prepares for a gradual resumption of flights in the post Covid-19 outbreak world. Proximity touch check-in kiosks coated with anti-microbial disinfectants, new acrylic screens for counter staff, autonomous cleaning robots with misting attachments, and contactless toilets are just some of the measures, Bloomberg reports. One of the world’s busiest airports for international passenger traffic, Changi like most of its global peers has been brought to an almost complete standstill by the virus outbreak, which has decimated the tourism industry. In the first tentative steps toward ... Read more

Mexico’s oldest legacy airline, Aeromexico, has said that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, a form of bankruptcy in which the carrier can keep operating while its debts and obligations are sorted out. The airline said “this legal process will not interrupt the airline’s operations” and that all tickets, reservations and bonus points would continue to be honoured, news agency AP has reported. Like many airlines throughout the world, Aeromexico has been squeezed by a decline in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. Aeromexico General Director Andrés Conesa said “the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the ... Read more

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways will add 15 more destinations shortly, which will include some major cities across the Indian subcontinent. “Throughout July, we’re planning to operate flights to more than 40 worldwide destinations. We continue to work closely with the UAE government and global aviation authorities to increase our network in the future,” the UAE carrier said on its website. Athens, Greece, was the latest destination it added, taking the total number of international flights being flown by Etihad through June to 25 destinations. Khaleej Times reported that from July 16, the carrier will be adding the Indian cities of ... Read more

India’s largest domestic carrier IndiGo on Tuesday introduced an additional 5.5 days of “leave without pay” per month for its pilots, effective July. IndiGo had implemented one to five days of leave without pay in May. The new move will effectively take the total number of “no pay days” to ten. The carrier has also implemented fresh salary cuts for some of the pilots. “There will also be a salary revision for under training transition captains and transition first officers and that would be communicated by the HR team,” the airline stated. The airline will review the leave without pay ... Read more