It may be recalled that due to persistent financial and technical constraints, Kingfisher had suspended its Mangalore – Mumbai operations last November. There has a been huge demand for destination Mumbai, with the ticket fare skyrocketing during Christmas and New Year season.According to Mangalore airport sources, from March there will be full-fledged flights from Mangalore to Mumbai and Bangalore, both considered destinations with heavy traffic from Mangalore.From March end onwards there will be five daily flights to Mumbai and at least seven to Bangalore by various airlines. Apart from domestic operations, there are 14 flights already operating between Mangalore and Middle East.

Officials said that an Etihad airline flight was diverted to Colombo. Similarly, an Air India flight bound to Bangalore from Goa was diverted to Chennai.Airline officials said that the flight was scheduled to land at 5.45 am, but was diverted to Chennai and had to halt there until 6 am.The fog-related delay at the BIA normally has a cascading effect on flight schedules as there are huge backlogs of aircraft, both on ground and in air.Normally, the fog that occurs at the BIA, known as ‘radiation fog,’ is anticipated from November 15 to February 15, between 3 am and 8.30 am.

The new route launch is in addition to increased capacity to Saudi Arabia’s two largest cities – the capital Riyadh and Red Sea port city of Jeddah, which saw their daily services double, effective June 1.Riyadh sits in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula and is one of Saudi Arabia’s fastest growing cities. Jeddah is also the main entry point for pilgrims making the Haj pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Also from June 1, the eastern city of Dammam saw capacity increase from the current 21 flights a week to 28. Dammam, the third largest city in Saudi Arabia, is the capital of the country’s oil-rich Eastern Province and a key commercial hub and port in the Kingdom.Qatar Airways is operating a mix of narrow-body Airbus A320s and wide-body Airbus A330s and its flagship Boeing 777 aircraft on flights to and from Saudi Arabia.

The capacity increases help facilitate the growing religious tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. And the extra frequencies provide added convenience for both business and leisure travellers, offering greater connectivity to an array of international destinations served by Qatar Airways across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America via its Doha hub.Over the past 12 months, Qatar Airways has strengthened its international route network with the launch of flights to many cities, including Bengaluru (Bangalore), Copenhagen, Tokyo, Ankara, Barcelona, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Phuket, Nice, Hanoi, Bucharest, Budapest and Brussels.

Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) recently released air traffic figures state that domestic flyers in Ahmedabad moved up from 26,717 in 2009-10 to 28,445 in 2010-11, an increase of around 6.5 per cent.Sources said that while Jet Airways is adding three new flights, including Trivandrum via Bangalore and Pune via Hyderabad and one new flight for Delhi, low-cost carrier Go Air has already started two new flights to Delhi and Mumbai. Also SpiceJet will soon begin an Ahmedabad-Nagpur direct flight. Sources said Air India is also mulling new daily flights to Delhi and Mumbai in the morning and evening.

The numbers of business travellers have skyrocketed in the last few months. After November last year, daily morning and evening flights to Delhi and Mumbai from Ahmedabad have seen an increased rush. We believe that by the winter session, all the private airlines will increase their domestic flights from Ahmedabad,said a senior private airline official. Last year, nine new domestic flights were added at Ahmedabad airport in the winter schedule.
Currently, in the summer schedule, city airport has around 70 domestic flights landing and taking off daily.A meeting will be held with airlines in June and only then the exact number of new flights will be known. However, with increased traffic at city airport, we estimate around 15 per cent hike in the number of domestic flights,said senior Ahmedabad airport official.

As we increase focus on strengthening our domestic network, our constant endeavour is to monitor traffic on all sectors,Mills said.The company said that another important reason for addition of Nagpur in the domestic network was due to the upcoming multi-modal international cargo hub and the new airport in the city.

The Nagpur-Delhi flight will depart at 8.35 p.m. and reach New Delhi at 10.10 p.m., while the Nagpur-Bangalore flight will depart at 9.10 a.m. to reach Bangalore at 11 a.m.The Delhi-Nagpur flight will depart at 7 a.m. and reach Nagpur at 8.40 a.m., while the Bangalore-Nagpur flight will depart at 6.20 p.m. to reach Nagpur at 8.05 p.m.The fare, inclusive of all taxes and charges, begins from Rs.2,585.

Passengers whose flights were cancelled were fully refunded by the carrier or accomodated in other flights, official spokesperson of the airline said. The spokesperson added that at least from Hyderabad, the carrier has been able to operate most of the scheduled flights.It the strike continues, there might be a problem,the spokesperson added.

Besides, the airline will also provide special charter flights, he said.Sai Baba, a cult like figure who had a phenomenal following across the globe died yesterday battling illness caused by a multi-organ failure for nearly a month.85-year-old Baba will be buried at the Sai Kulwant Hall in Prashanti Nilayam on Wednesday.Sri Lanka has a sizable quantity of Sai followers, foremost of them are country’s political leaders.The main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in a message of condolence said the ultimate homage one can pay to the guru was to carry forward his spiritual teachings.

According to Kumar, the low-cost carrier’s services at competitive prices will help in meeting the ever increasing demand for air travel to and from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.With the induction of the 38th brand new Airbus A-320 into its fleet, IndiGo will now operate non-stop daily flights between Delhi-Indore and Nagpur-Indore,the company said in a statement.Currently, the airline connects 26 domestic destinations with 253 daily flights with a fleet of 38 Airbus A-320 aircraft .

The airline provides a complimentary chauffeur service for its premium class passengers flying in and out of Bangalore Airport using Mercedes E series cars. This service is also available in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad.Etihad operates a twin-class Airbus A-320 to Bangalore, configured to carry 136 passengers, with 16 in business class and 120 in economy class.

Etihad, founded in 2003 and owned by the Abu Dhabi state, is seeking to bolster the lure of the emirate as a travel destination while establishing itself as a sustainable business. The carrier’s overall aim is to operate at least a daily service on key business routes to attract more corporate travelers, Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said in the statement.

The expanded timetable will be introduced as Etihad takes delivery of three Airbus SAS A330-300s and two Boeing Co. 777- 300ER wide-body planes, with the extra European frequencies becoming effective between June and August, the company said.Etihad is also moving to daily flights to Beijing, up from five a week, and to a daily service to Bangalore, India, from the four a week introduced when the service began on Jan. 1.A 777 plane able to carry 412 passengers will also be deployed to Chicago, the company said, and by October almost 75 percent of its 66 destinations will be served at least daily.