Mobissimo Blog IN - News

Too Old To Fly, Send Them To India!

blog@mobissimo.com (Mobissimo) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:03:02 -0700

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 Indias 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 Indias 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 USs 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 Indias 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?

Air India Plans to Fly Direct Non-Stop from Delhi to New York from August 2007 Onwards

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:58:00 -0700

Air India plans to start direct non-stop flights from New Delhi (DEL) to New York (JFK airport) from August 2007 onwards. Read more about Air India's plans to fly direct and non-stop from New Delhi and Mumbai to New York.

Find direct flights from New Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM) to New York, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on Mobissimo India. Book hotels in India with Mobissimo hotel search. Search and compare prices to book hotel rooms in New York with Mobissimo.

Related News:
- Boeing to invest U.S. $185 Million in a Joint Venture with Air India

Fly from Colombo (CMB), Sri Lanka to Trichy (TRZ), Tamil Nadu, India with Mihin Lanka

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:42:00 -0700

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.

Emirates Airlines Plans to Operate More Flights to Kochi (Cochin, COK) and Hyderabad (HYD)

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:07:00 -0700

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.

Singapore-based Tiger Airways to Fly to Chennai (MAA) and Kochi (COK) from October 2007 Onwards

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:48:00 -0700

Singapore-based low-cost airline (LCC) Tiger Airways plans to introduce flights from Singapore (SIN) to Chennai (MAA) and Kochi (Cochin, COK) from October 2007 onwards.

The budget carrier will operate 4-flights-a-week from Singapore (SIN) to Chennai (airport code: MAA) from October 28, 2007. The airline will also fly thrice-a-week from Singaopre to Kochi (Cochin, Kerala) starting October 30, 2007.

Find flights from Singapore (SIN) to Chennai (MAA), Kochi (COK), and other cities of India with Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine. Book air tickets to Singapore with Mobissimo airfares search.

Compare airfares of flights from Singapore (SIN) to Chennai (MAA) and Singapore (SIN) to Kochi (COK) with 1-click on Mobissimo India.

Use Mobissimo India to compare airfares of different airlines to the same destination on the same day with a single click. Book hotels in Singapore with Mobissimo hotel search.

Sat., 30th June: Flights From Mumbai (BOM) Cancelled Due to Heavy Rains

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:02:00 -0700

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.

Finnair to Start Direct Flights From Mumbai (BOM) to Helsinki (HEL) From June 27, 2007 Onwards

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 06:40:00 -0700

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.

Sapphire Airways Plans Low Cost Flights From SFO to BLR from June 2008 Onwards

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:53:00 -0700

U.S. carrier Sapphire Airways plans to launch San Francisco (SFO) to Bangalore (BLR) flights via Munich (MUC) from next June onwards. Read more about Sapphire Airways' plans for flights to India. Find flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Bangalore (BLR) on Mobissimo India, the meta airfares search aggregator. Find and compare airfares to India with Mobissimo India. Use Mobissimo hotel search to book hotel rooms in India.

Special GoAir Offers From July to September 2007

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Mon, 21 May 2007 00:25:00 -0700

Low-cost airline GoAir offers special prices for air tickets booked for flights from July to September 2007. Find GoAir prices and airfares of other low-cost Indian airlines on Mobissimo India airfares and flights search engine.

Kingfisher Airlines Celebrates Second Anniversary; Flies World's Largest Aeroplane, the Super Jumbo Jet 'Airbus A380' to Delhi and Mumbai

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:36:00 -0700

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.

Air Deccan to Start Daily Flights from Leh to Delhi (IXL - DEL) from May 23, 2007

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:48:00 -0700

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

Kingfisher Airlines Ambushes Jet Airways with this Ad Hoarding

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:23:00 -0700

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.

Innovative advertisement by Kingfisher Airlines to snatch attention from Jet Airways' ad hoarding.

Jet Airways says, "We've changed." Kingfisher Airlines comes up with a cheeky billboard above Jet's hoarding that says, "We made them change!" Fly Kingfisher and experience the finest service in the sky.

Click image to view full size photograph. File size: 344KB. Image resolution: 800 by 600.

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.

Bollywood Star Preity Zinta Becomes Brand Ambassador of GoAir; Promotes the Mumbai-based Low-Cost Carrier with 'Chalo India, Let's Fly Smart' Nationwide Campaign

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:13:00 -0700

Preity Zinta promotes GoAir by endorsing its 'Chalo India, Let's Fly Smart' nationwide advertising campaign.

Image courtesy: GoAir.in. File size: 48KB. Image Resolution: 300 by 224.

Mumbai-based low-cost carrier (LCC) GoAir, promoted by the Wadia Group, has roped in Bollywood starthe lady with sweet dimples and smash hits like Koi Mil Gaya, Kal Ho Na Ho, Dil Chahta Hai, Veer ZaaraPreity 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.

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta becomes the Brand Ambassador for Mumbai-based low-cost airline GoAir. Preity Zinta at the launch of GoAir's 'Chalo India, Let's Fly Smart' campaign.

Image Courtesy: Indiafm.com for the latest news on Bollywood. File size: 69KB. Image resolution: 300 by 451.

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.

SpiceJet to Buy Ten New Boeing Aircrafts

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:47:00 -0700

Delhi-based low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet placed additional orders for 10 new Boeing 737-800/ 737-900 ER (extended range) aircraft at a list price of U.S. $700 million (~ Rs. 29.2 billion). These Boeing aircrafts would be a part of the SpiceJet fleet between 2009 and 2011. Read more about SpiceJet's plans.

Trivia: Did you know that about 50 gallons of paint are used to paint a Boeing 737 aircraft?

Mumbai Airport Goes Wi-Fi. Free Wi-Fi Connectivity at Sahar and Santacruz Airports in Mumbai.

chirayu@gmail.com (India Traveller) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:26:00 -0700

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 Mumbais 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.