Kingfisher launches UAE – India service
A major Indian airline has taken its first steps into the UAE market by launching its inaugural service between Dubai and Bangalore.

Kingfisher Airlines made the announcement to a packed media conference on 25th June morning at a hotel in Dubai. Initially the airline will fly only one flight, carrying 174 passengers, in and out of Dubai a day but airline bosses hope to increase the frequency of services in future.
 

Air India hits Turbulence
Air India, the country’s ailing flag carrier, is looking for ways to cut Rs5bn ($103m) from its staffing costs, a reduction of about 17 per cent of its total wage bill.The state-run carrier is struggling to stay in business while awaiting a hoped-for government bail-out.
Arvind Jadhav, the recently appointed chairman and managing director, has already warned Air India’s 31,000 employees of tough times ahead, saying the carrier had reached “the moment of truth”.
“This is an hour of crisis for all of us,” Mr Jadhav said in an e-mail circulated to staff members. “It is a fight for survival – the survival of our airline. I am looking for every single employee of our airline to rise to the challenge.”
 

IndiGo expands network by adding Lucknow & Patna as new sectors

IndiGo has launched a new sector Lucknow, thereby expanding its route network in India. It will introduce two new flights with round trips from Lucknow with effect from July 5. The new daily round trip services will start from Lucknow to Bengaluru (via Patna & Kolkata), Lucknow to Mumbai (via New Delhi), Lucknow to Kolkata (via Patna), Lucknow to New Delhi and Lucknow to Patna.

IndiGo has also added Patna as a new sector, recently, while expanding its route network. IndiGo will introduce two new flights with round trips from Patna with effect from July 4. The new daily round trip services will start from Patna to Bengaluru (via Kolkata), Patna to Mumbai (via Lucknow & New Delhi), Patna to Kolkata, Patna to New Delhi (via Lucknow) and Patna to Lucknow. Overall, now IndiGo will be operating 137 daily flights connecting 19 destinations.
 

Indian travel agents expand their horizons

Indian travel agents are diversifying into other tourism-related businesses and increasing service charges to make up for the scrapping of commission payments by most of the international airlines. In India agents are diversifying into hotel bookings, ground handling, holiday packages and sightseeing to earn commission.
 

Chandigarh to become international gateway by end of July 2009

Chandigarh airport will be upgraded to an international airport with UAE-based LCC flydubai taking off the first flight from Chandigarh to Dubai by end of July 2009. Sunil Dutt, Director, Chandigarh airport told IANS, “We have got confirmation from flydubai. They have got permission from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to fly a daily direct flight to Dubai from Chandigarh.
Chandigarh International Airport will replace the old domestic Chandigarh airport as the region's second international airport after the Raja Sansi International Airport in Amritsar. The new airport is likely to give a big boost to the region's economy and facilitate travel for a large number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), who currently use New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. It would largely serve the international passengers from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.