Airlines India, Indian Airlines

Air Sahara today announced a new scheme, offering passengers unlimited flying to any destination on their network on payment of a fixed sum.

Under the ‘Fly Unlimited’ scheme unveiled by the airline today, passengers can fly to any destination for a year on paying Rs 699 for 365 days, that is by depositing a sum of over Rs 2.55 lakh.

The airline is also offering such a package for 90 days at the rate of Rs 799 each day, for 60 days at Rs 899 and for 30 days at Rs 999, airline President Alok Sharma told reporters here.

“These are innovative schemes and may take time for new passengers to get used to. But we are confident that frequent flyers will benefit from them,” he said.

It’s that time of year again when consumers loosen their purse strings and companies go all out to woo them! CNBC-TV18 tracks the best options for holidaymakers.

An ideal vacation may not be a distant dream this festive season. With airlines going all out to increase load factors, tie-ups with hotels, travel agencies and travel sites are the order of the day.

Moreover, special discount fares, cash back schemes and lucky draws are just some of the incentives that airlines hope will help boost their numbers.

Low cost players like GoAir are bombarding passengers with offers like GoCrazy, which means you can get a ticket to any destination for as little as Rs 600.

Go is also offering 50,000 tickets for as low as Rs 525 to major tourist destinations around the country, and smart tickets, which means door-to-door delivery service free of any extra charge.

Competitors Spice and Indigo are giving tickets for Rs 499 onwards on all routes. In addition to the no frills onslaught, schedule airlines like Indian are vying for space with their overseas discount trump card, the Desh Videsh service.

So take a well-deserved break this festive season, go sightseeing, and fly back without the bills going through the roof.

The civil aviation ministry is likely to move a Cabinet note on the proposed merger of public sector carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines in November after it receives a report from consultancy firm Accenture.
“There are no impediments in the process. Everything is going on as planned,” civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.

He said the consultancy firm, appointed to prepare a roadmap for the merger of the two carriers, would submit its report by October.

“We hope the Cabinet note on the matter should be ready in November after we receive this report,” Patel said in response to questions, adding that the proposed merger process was moving on track and would be completed as planned within the current financial year.

Official sources said there were some key areas like human resources, operations and infrastructure, which needed to be looked into in greater detail, before the proposal could be finalised. A decision on the future of their subsidiaries, Alliance Air and Air-India Express, would also have to be taken, the sources said.

The merger of Air-India and Indian Airlines will create a mega carrier with about 130 aircraft.

Budget carrier GoAir has signed a USD 150 million deal with CFM, a joint venture between US aeroengine major General Electric and its French counterpart Snecma Moteurs for engines to power its to be acquire Airbus fleet of aircraft.

GoAir had earlier signed an agreement with Airbus to buy 10 A-320 aircraft with an option to buy another ten.

As per the deal, these aircraft would be powered by CFM56-5b engines, an airline release said here today.

Deliveries of these aircraft are scheduled to begin in mid-2007, the release added.

Jet Airways, India’s premier airline, has maintained its track record of winning prestigious awards by being conferred laurels by the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) for its in-flight entertainment system with two coveted awards – Best Overall In-Flight Entertainment and Best Single In-Flight Entertainment .

Jet Airways was judged the “best overall” airline for in-flight entertainment in the Small Fleet Category based on number of aircraft. United Airlines was awarded the same in the Large Fleet category among leading passenger airlines world-wide by the World Airline Entertainment Association at its 27th Annual Conference & Exhibition held at Miami, USA on September 15, 2006.

Jet Airways also got the best in-flight Audio programme award and earned the distinction of second runner up for the best in-flight magazine.

The “Avion Award” was conferred to Jet Airways by a 23-member international media panel that evaluated in-flight audio, video, magazines, and interactive media from 42 leading passenger airlines worldwide at the Exhibition. Sponsored by the World Airline Entertainment Association, the “Avion Award”, now in its 18th year, honours excellence in several categories of airline in-flight entertainment.