Category: Aviation

Emirates will resume passenger services to Stockholm with weekly flights from August 1, expanding its network in Europe to 22 cities, and connecting customers from Europe to the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. The restart of Stockholm flights means that all Emirates gateways in Scandinavia would have resumed services by August, with flights to Oslo resuming from August 4 and services to Copenhagen being in operation since June. This will take the airline’s passenger network to 63 destinations in August, offering customers around the world more convenient connections to Dubai, and via Dubai. Flights between Stockholm and Dubai will ... Read more

Etihad Airways will resume passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai from July 27. “The service will operate with an initial weekly flight using a Boeing 777-300ER, featuring business and economy cabins,” the airline announced in a statement on Monday. Robin Kamark, Etihad Aviation Group Chief Commercial Officer, said, “We are delighted to announce the resumption of scheduled services to China, as we gradually return to more destinations on our global network, supporting the recovery of economic and social activities worldwide. Our priority now is to build the network back up on markets that have opened up and to provide ... Read more

IndiGo, India’s largest private airlines, has decided to lay off 10% of its workforce due to the economic crisis induced by COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said on Monday.  “It is for the first time in the history of IndiGo that we have undertaken such a painful measure,” Dutta said in a statement. “From where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations,” Dutta said. “Therefore, after carefully assessing and reviewing all possible scenarios, it is clear that we ... Read more

Icelandair has announced that it would be laying off all its flight attendants, ending a labour dispute with the crew members’ union that began last month. In an unprecedented move, the airline said it planned to have its pilots temporarily assume flight attendants’ roles overseeing the safety of those onboard, starting today. “Icelandair will permanently terminate the employment of its employment of its current cabin crew members and permanently discontinue the employment relationship between the parties,” Icelandair said in a statement. With this decision, Icelandair ended its ongoing contract negotiations with the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association (FFÍ) and will seek a contract with ... Read more

From today, Air India will open all its offices with full staff strength and normal shift hours. No special COVID-19 roster has been prepared. An order issued by the airline stated that all its offices will function in full strength from July 20 and no separate roster will be made for functioning under Covid-19 situation. Those not attending office will either have to apply for leave or will be marked absent, the notice said. The ‘work from home’ option will be granted only to pregnant women and with other medical conditions. Staff staying in containment zones can also apply for ... Read more

GoAir has introduced ‘Quarantine Packages’ for passengers arriving in different cities in India from overseas or within India to ensure the passengers get quarantined easily at the selected hotels. Passengers can choose from a range of hotels including budget or high-end hotels in Kochi, Kannur, Bengaluru, Delhi or Ahmedabad. Passengers can now avail of hotel quarantine package starting at Rs 1,400 (approx. US$19) per person per night to INR 5,900 (approx. US$79) per person per night and that too from their station of origin. Customers can book the holiday package by visiting the airline’s official website. Commenting on the launch, ... Read more

Delta Air Lines told pilots on Friday that it would avoid furloughs if they agreed to reduced guaranteed minimum pay, according to a memo seen by Reuters. Delta is still struggling due to a dramatic decline in travel demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This week it reported second quarter revenue fell 91 per cent and a US$3.9 billion adjusted pre-tax loss. The airline is working to further cut costs and more than 17,000 employees are taking voluntary departure packages, including more than 1,700 of 7,900 pilots ahead of a Sunday deadline for pilots to accept voluntary packages, Reuters said ... Read more

Emirates resumed flights to the Iranian capital of Tehran on Friday after a five-month break due to shutdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Associated Press has reported. Emirates plans to have one flight per day to Tehran-Dubai-Tehran with a Boeing 777 jetliner. The 16 passengers on the Emirates flight from Dubai passed through a disinfection tunnel and had their body temperature checked upon arrival at Tehran’s airport. In the departures lounge, masked outgoing passengers lined up at the Emirates check-in counter while an airport worker disinfected dozens of luggage trolleys. The United Arab Emirates was among a list ... Read more

Air India on Friday said its financial situation is very challenging due to the coronavirus pandemic and its leave-without-pay (LWP) scheme for employees is a “win-win” situation for them as well as the management. The national carrier, in a press statement, said the scheme primarily enables employees to proceed on LWP “on voluntary basis”. The airline had issued an internal order earlier this week asking its departmental heads and regional directors to identify employees, based on various factors like efficiency, health and redundancy, who will be sent on compulsory LWP for up to five years. “Air India is in a ... Read more

British Airways has said it will retire all of its Boeing 747s as it suffers from the sharp travel downturn. The airline is the world’s largest operator of the jumbo jets, with 31 of them in the fleet. “It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” a British Airways (BA) spokesman told the BBC. “It is unlikely our magnificent ‘queen of the skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic,” the spokesman added. BA, ... Read more

Etihad has added more destinations to its hand baggage only ‘Deal Fare’ which allows travellers to purchase lower fares in economy class if no checked baggage is required. Throughout July and August 2020, the Deal Fare will be introduced on routes including Belarus, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Turkey. Initially, it was only available on flights between Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Azerbaijan. Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, Etihad said, “Following its success within the GCC region, we are excited to include more destinations that ... Read more

Qatar Airways, on Wednesday, became the first airline to resume operations to Velana International Airport (VIA) after Maldives reopened borders. According to the airline, the scheduled flights will connect via Hamad International Airport located in Doha, Qatar, with European and American destinations including London, Copenhagen, Stockholm and New York. Daily flights from Doha to Male’ will depart at 0205hrs and arrive at 0905hrs, while flights from Male’ to Doha will take off at 2000hrs and land at 2245hrs. “We are excited to resume scheduled flights to the very popular tourist destination of Malé, Maldives. We are even more delighted to ... Read more

Air India has decided to allow its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) to recommend that a non-performing staff member be compulsorily sent on leave without pay for a period of up to five years. Employees will be assessed by a board in the following categories: Suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee, instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill health or otherwise and redundancy. Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal can now send employees on leave without pay “for six months or for a period of two years extendable ... Read more

Emirates feels it’s time to get the big birds back up in the skies, resuming services to London and Paris on Wednesday. The A380s, also known as Superjumbos, have been grounded since March. The Dubai based carrier will deploy its A380 on its daily Amsterdam service, and add a second daily A380 service to London Heathrow starting from August 1. This announcement follows the Emirates A380’s return to the skies on Wednesday with EK001 to London Heathrow, which took off from Dubai International airport at 0745hrs and EK073 at 0820hrs to Paris. The airline said Emirates flight EK073 received a ... Read more

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, the capital’s first low-cost carrier, on Tuesday marked the inauguration of its operations with its first flight to Alexandria in Egypt. A second Air Arabia Abu Dhabi flight will operate from the UAE’s capital to the Nile city of Sohag today. The new airline has started its operations with two Airbus A320 aircraft based at Abu Dhabi International Airport, offering the same value-for-money product and services provided by Sharjah-based Air Arabia. The airline was formed following an agreement by Etihad Airways and Air Arabia to establish an independent joint venture company that will operate as a ... Read more