Saturday, September 15. 2007
Seems the US has a mandatory retirement age for its pilots of 60. So what's an over the hill US pilot to do? Come to India of course, where the retirement age is 65. In fact, over 40 US pilots are flying aircraft in India according to The Times: MUMBAI: In a practice that flies in the face of the rules of their home country, 40 US pilots over the age of 60 are flying passenger aircraft in India. In the US, they would not have been allowed to do so.
Apart from these 40 pilots, there are another 26 senior-citizen American pilots in the queue, awaiting approval from India’s aviation authority, according to sources. These pilots do not possess a valid licence to fly passengers, nor are they put through the rigorous annual medical examination that Indian pilots of their age have to compulsorily clear. The retirement age of pilots in India is 65.
Of the three airlines employing such pilots, two are major carriers operating long-haul international routes while the third is a low-cost domestic airline. "They are also rostered to operate international flights which is high-risk," said the source.
Those in the aviation industry warn that in event of an accident, the ramifications for India will be serious. "Such an accident could dent India’s aviation safety image," said Capt M Ranganathan, a Boeing instructor pilot. For instance, if a Boeing is involved in an accident, the aviation regulatory authorities of the country where the aircraft was manufactured — the US in this case — will be part of the investigations. The US’s Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board will require the US pilots to produce their licence for investigation. The only licence they can produce is the FAA one, which is not valid for flying passengers. "Such an accident could dent India’s aviation safety image?" That seems a bit alarmist to us. Just because they're old, doesn't mean they're not skilled. In fact, skill over age has much to say for it. What do our readers think?
Friday, July 6. 2007
Sri Lankan budget airline Mihin Lanka has started flights from Colombo (CMB), Sri Lanka to Tiruchirapalli (Trichy, Tamil Nadu) (airport code: TRZ) from 1st July 2007. Mihin Lanka operates on the CMB-TRZ-CMB sector and plans to introduce flights from Colombo (CMB) to Chennai (MAA) and Kozhikode (CCJ) in the next few months.
Mihin Lanka operates flights to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum, Kerala) (airport code: TRV) and Trichy (TRZ) in India and plans to introduce flights to Chennai (MAA) and Kozhikode (Calicut, airport code: CCJ) in the next three months.
Find flights and compare airfares to Trichy (TRZ), Chennai (MAA), Kozhikode (CCJ), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and other destinations in India with a single click on Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine.
Thursday, July 5. 2007
Dubai-based Emirates Airlines plans to increase the frequency of its flights to India by operating more flights to Kochi, Kerala (Cochin) (airport code: COK), Hyderabad (HYD), Mumbai (BOM) and Chennai (MAA). Emirates plans to operate 85-flights-per-week to India from the now existing 71-flights-a-week.
Find flights from Mumbai (BOM) to Dubai on Mobissimo India. Find airfares and book flights to the Gulf with Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine.
Saturday, June 30. 2007
All domestic and international flights to and from Mumbai have been suspended* due to heavy rains since early this morning. Air Traffic Control suspended flights due to water-logging, flooding, and poor visibility.
Fifteen Mumbai-bound flights have been diverted to other airports like Ahmedabad (AMD) and Delhi (DEL).
Call the Jet Airways call centre on 39893333 for information on the status of flights to and from Mumbai.
Air Deccan's 24-hour Monsoon Response helpline number is Line 8 of the IVR at 39008888 (prefix city code).
# *Update: 3:00pm #
- Mumbai airport has re-opened and flights have resumed at around 1:00pm IST. There's a back-log of flights and many passengers are stranded.
Wednesday, June 13. 2007
If ever you needed an excuse to visit Finland in Scandinavia, then this is it. Now you can fly direct from Mumbai (BOM) to Helsinki (HEL) in just over eight hours without any stoppages from June 27 onwards. Finland's national carrier, Finnair, plans to fly direct, without any re-fuelling stops, from Mumbai (BOM) to Helsinki (HEL) five times-a-week from Wednesday, June 27, 2007.
Finnair will operate the wide-bodied Airbus A340 aircrafts on the Mumbai-Helsinki (BOM-HEL) and Helsinki-Mumbai (HEL-BOM) sector. The airline hopes to provide special service to passengers with an Indian cabin crew that understands the tastes and preferences of Indian passengers to make them comfortable during the just over 8-hour flight from Mumbai (Airport code: BOM) to Helsinki (Airport code: HEL), Finland.
Finnair also flies thrice-a-week from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi (Airport code: DEL) to Helsinki (HEL), Finland. With the Mumbai-Helsinki (BOM-HEL) direct flight that commences from June 27, Finnair would be operating 12-flights-a-week to India. The airline garners ~5 per cent of its total revenue from Asia, however it sees potential in the Asian market as Business Class passenger load increased by 40 per cent and the Economy Class saw an 80 per cent rise, and has decided to focus on India as a major centre of its operations in Asia.
Find direct and connecting flights and compare airfares from Mumbai (BOM) to Helsinki (HEL) in Finland and other destinations in Scandinavia like Stockholm (Airport code: ARN), Sweden; Copenhagen (Airport code: CPH), Denmark; and Oslo (Airport code: OSL), Norway.
So if ever an excuse was needed to vacation in Helsinki, Finland; Finnair offers you one with an economical non-stop flight straight from Mumbai to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Happy flying, courtesy Finnair, from Mumbai (BOM) to Helsinki (HEL) non-stop five times-a-week from June 27, 2007.
Find local and global flights on Mobissimo. Book hotels in Helsinki, Mumbai, and other domestic and international destinations with Mobissimo's hotel search.
Wednesday, May 9. 2007
Kingfisher Airlines celebrates its second anniversary on 9th May by flying the world's largest passenger aeroplane, the Airbus A380 to India. Kingfisher Airlines is the only airline company from India to place orders for Airbus A380. The airline has placed five firm orders for Airbus A380, the first of which will be delivered in 2011.
The 239-foot long (~ 73-metre) superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 seats 555 passengers in standard three-class configuration or up to 853 passengers in full economy class configuration. The mammoth airliner holds 81,890 gallons (~ 309970 litres) of fuel, cruises at 560 miles per hour (~ 900-km per hour) and flies a distance of 8000 nautical miles (~ 14816 kms) non-stop.
Read more about the world's largest passenger aeroplane-Airbus A380.
Related:
- Photos of Airbus A380 in Mumbai on Tuesday, 8th May 2007.
- News report on Airbus A380 in Delhi on Sunday, 6th May 2007.
- See wallpapers of Airbus A380.
- Airbus A380 photo feature on Yahoo! News Photos.
Saturday, May 5. 2007
There's good news for travellers that want to take an off the beaten track vacation and holiday in the peaceful beauty of the Himalayan foothills of Leh in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir).
Air Deccan plans to start daily flights from Leh (airport code: IXL), the capital of Ladakh district of Jammu & Kashmir, to Delhi (airport code: DEL) from Wednesday, 23rd May 2007.
Find flights to and from Leh (IXL), Ladakh; and compare airfares of airlines flying to Leh (IXL) with Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine.
Ladakh is an exotic, high-altitude region with lofty snow-capped peaks, rocky ridges, mountainous landscapes, crystal clear lakes, pristine unpolluted rivers, Buddhist monasteries and palaces, and the highest motorable roads in the world.
Find flights and fly to Leh (IXL)—India's highest altitude airport, and holiday in the lap of Himalayas in Ladakh.
Find flights, compare airfares, and book air tickets from Leh (IXL) to Delhi (DEL) and Delhi to Leh (DEL-IXL) with Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine. Find hotels in Delhi and New Delhi with Mobissimo India hotel search.
Related:
- India Airport Codes
Friday, April 27. 2007
Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines adopts an innovative marketing strategy to snatch attention from Jet Airways' advertisement.
Click image below to view a full size picture. File size: 344KB. Image resolution: 800 by 600. Photograph courtesy: Ranjan's blog on business and finance.
So that's the reason behind Jet Airways' change, is it?  Seems like Jet Airways will have to wait for a Kingfisher Airlines hoarding to come up before it lets the good times roll in this game of advertising one-upmanship.
Whether it's Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, or low-cost carriers like GoAir, IndiGo, and others; all it takes is a single-click on Mobissimo India search engine to find and compare airfares from all these and many more airlines from India and abroad.
Thursday, April 26. 2007
Mumbai-based low-cost carrier (LCC) GoAir, promoted by the Wadia Group, has roped in Bollywood star—the lady with sweet dimples and smash hits like Koi Mil Gaya, Kal Ho Na Ho, Dil Chahta Hai, Veer Zaara—Preity Zinta to be its Brand Ambassador and promote the no-frills, low-cost airline with its nationwide advertising and brand awareness campaign 'Chalo India, Let's Fly Smart' (Come India, Let's Fly Smart).
GoAir hopes that the dazzling, gorgeous, and charming Bollywood actress Preity Zinta with her sweet and cheerful dimpled smile, cherubic face, lovely dimples, infectious enthusiasm, vibrant personality, celebrity status, and 'glam' quotient will improve brand visibility and build brand credibility for GoAir as a youthful, fun, exciting, energetic, dynamic, vibrant, colourful, on the go, and forward-looking airline for the people of India.
Low-cost carrier GoAir operates 387 weekly flights across ten destinations in India with a 5% share of the domestic aviation market. Preity Zinta promotes GoAir with the 'Chalo India, Let's Fly Smart' nation-wide campaign that exhorts people to act smart, take more holidays, and enjoy themselves by buying GoAir tickets and flying instead of spending time travelling by train or bus.
Find and compare GoAir and other low-cost airline fares on Mobissimo India. Did you know Mobissimo searches airlines of India and finds, compares, and presents the best deals from various airlines on a single page? All this with only a single click on Mobissimo India. Use Mobissimo to get airfares from multiple web sites with a single click on Mobissimo India airfares search engine.
Find and compare airfares to and from various destinations in India with Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine.
Related:
- Read more articles on Preity Zinta's association with GoAir.
- Download photos and wallpapers of Preity Zinta.
- Filmography of Preity Zinta.
- Book hotels in India with Mobissimo Hotel search.
- Book air tickets to and from Mumbai (BOM) on Mobissimo India.
Wednesday, April 25. 2007
Tuesday, April 24. 2007
Sahar and Santacruz airports to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access.
There's good news for passengers using the Santacruz and Sahar airports in Mumbai. Now you can send and receive e-mails, chat with family and friends, download files and attachments, and access the Internet to browse and surf Web sites while resting at Mumbai's domestic or international air terminals.
Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), in association with Bharti Airtel, has launched a wireless network that will provide *free Wi-Fi service throughout the domestic and international terminals.
Passengers transiting through Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Sahar International airport) and Santacruz domestic airport can now access the Internet with a Wi-Fi enabled device like a laptop, PC, cellphone, or PDA when in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi access 'hotspot' point.
This Wi-Fi service is offered free of charge for all passengers carrying Wi-Fi enabled laptops.
* Wi-Fi: Also known as Wireless Fidelity or Wireless Broadband is a technology that allows laptop, cell phone, PDA, or hand-held computer users to access the Internet and Intranet when they are near a Wi-Fi 'hotspot' point.
Related:
- Find airfares to Mumbai (BOM) with Mobissimo India.
- Search and compare airfares from Mumbai with Mobissimo airfares search.
- Get low-cost airline airfares for domestic flights to and from Mumbai (BOM).
- Book hotel rooms in Mumbai (Bombay) from Mobissimo India hotel search.
- What is Wi-Fi? Read more about Wi-Fi.
- Book air tickets from BOM to destinations in India and around the world by finding and comparing airfares on Mobissimo.
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