Adversely impacted by the national carrier Air India’s recent switch to single ticketing platform, travel agent industry bodies have written to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to reverse the retrograde move and bring respite to lakhs of small travel operators hit hard by airline’s decision.

Air India Express will launch its first direct flight service from Surat to Sharjah on February 16 and will also expand services from Gulf to Kannur in Kerala. The carrier, the international budget arm of Air India, will deploy Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft on this route.

The flight will depart from Sharjah at 7:35 PM and arrive in Surat at 11:45 PM on Mondays and Saturdays, the airline announced in a statement. From Surat, the flight will depart at 12:30 AM with arrival into Sharjah at 02:15 AM on Tuesdays and Sundays.

To have one airline limping forward on the brink of bankruptcy may be regarded as a misfortune. To have two looks like carelessness.

That’s the fundamental problem for India’s aviation industry, home to the critically ill Jet Airways India Ltd. and its state-owned rival Air India Ltd., which more or less died in 2012 but has been kept on life support thanks to ongoing infusions of taxpayer cash.

While Air India's passenger count rose by only 4 per cent in the December 2018 quarter, its revenue from passengers increased by 20 per cent on the back of better aircraft utilisation, said a senior official of the company.

"Due to better and efficient utilisation of aircraft fleet, the passenger revenue increased from Rs 4,615 crore in third quarter of 2017-18 to Rs 5,538 crore in third quarter of 2018-19," the official said.

National carrier Air India’s passenger revenue grew 17% during April-December of the current fiscal due to better aircraft utilisation and rationalisation of routes, chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said on Wednesday.

Air India got Rs 15,081 crore from domestic and international ticket sales during April-December 2018 as compared to Rs 12,918 crore in the year-ago period. The passenger count was up 7% y-o-y to 16.13 million in the first three quarters of this fiscal.

Air India's Chairman and Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said Wednesday the airline has started carrying food from India for use during the journey back to the country, in an attempt to rationalise catering costs on international flights.

The loss-making airline has already started using food items stocked from India during its onward journey to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Birmingham and Madrid, and use them when returning. It has said food items purchased from these foreign cities are much more expensive when compared to Indian cities.

National carrier Air India’s net loss declined 17.6% year-on-year to Rs 5,337 crore during 2017-18 due to lesser allowance for exceptional items which includes balance payable to employees and duty credit entitlement under the Served From India scheme (SFIS).

Air India provisioned Rs 112 crore in FY18 for under exceptional and extraordinary items compared to Rs 2,415 crore spent exactly a year ago.

Cash strapped national carrier Air India should disclose its assets abroad and earnings from them, the Central Information Commission has ruled.

It “summarily” rejected the contention of Air India that the information sought by activist Aseem Takyar regarding rent, lease fee fetched by it from April 01

Cash-strapped national carrier Air India should disclose its assets abroad and earnings from them, the Central Information Commission has ruled. It “summarily” rejected the contention of Air India that the information sought by activist Aseem Takyar regarding rent, lease fee fetched by it from April 01, 2008 with regard to its properties abroad; demarcation plan and total area of these properties, arrears attracts exemption of commercial confidence under the RTI Act.

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought Parliament’s approval for an equity infusion of 23 billion rupees ($330 million) in Air India, effectively ruling out an immediate revival of its plan to sell the ailing carrier.

Modi’s bid to turn the airline profitable under his watch comes after the government failed to find any takers for its ambitious plan to privatize the national airline.

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