Akasa Air collaborates with RateGain to make air travel affordable by leveraging accurate airfare

Radhika Bansal

01 Oct 2022

Akasa Air, India's newest airline, has selected an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered product to make air travel affordable by leveraging accurate and real-time airfare data. AirGain by RateGain allows access and agility to act upon changing market dynamics and optimize airfares in real-time to provide the best prices to its customers.

The AI-powered platform empowers airline revenue and pricing teams with the most accurate and reliable market insights to build a competitive pricing strategy. Through an easy-to-use UI that allows faster decision-making, AirGain allows the airlines to get notified whenever there is a change in the market.

Akasa Air collaborates with RateGain to make air travel affordable by leveraging accurate airfare

Additionally, the intelligence provides the user with real-time competitor insights across channels to reduce disparity and revenue losses.

"A new airline like Akasa Air, comes to the market with the mindset to adopt the latest technology, and we are delighted that the team decided to choose AirGain to power their growth journey.As Akasa grows, our product AirGain will help in maximising revenues by providing accurate and real-time competitive intelligence. AirGain was selected based on data accuracy and delivery, easy-to-use UI, and the extensive support available to Akasa through our dedicated teams -and we are committed to deliver on this promise."Bhanu Chopra, Chairman and Managing Director, RateGain

AirGain added that its AI-powered platform empowers airline revenue and pricing teams to get notified in case of a change in the market. The company also said that its platform provides real-time competitor insights across channels to reduce disparity and revenue losses. RateGain is a global provider of SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality.

"At Akasa Air we are developing tech-enabled strategies and building a data-driven organization that will aid us in providing our customers the most affordable fares along with a customer centric flying experience.AirGain's nimble solution delivering real-time air travel information across channels will help us achieve a dynamic allocation of fares furthering our mission to make air travel accessible to everyone in India."Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air

ALSO READ - Akasa Air operates its maiden flight from Chennai

On September 10, Akasa Air commenced operations on the Chennai-Bengaluru route on Saturday making Chennai the fifth city on its network. On August 7, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia virtually flagged off Akasa Air's first commercial flight that departed from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.

ALSO READ - Akasa Air leads in pay hikes for pilots; raises salaries by 60%

On August 7, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia virtually flagged off Akasa Air's first commercial flight that departed from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.

Backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and aviation sector veterans Aditya Ghosh and Vinay Dube, Akasa Air is being seen as a reborn Jet Airways and a re-invented Air India.

ALSO READ – Akasa Air to expand operations with 150 weekly flights

The civil aviation sector was significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and is on the recovery path. With Akasa Air, the signs are very clear that it is going to be a growing and healthy market.

ALSO - Air India selects RateGain for real-time airfare pricing intelligence

Recently, Air India has also selected RateGain’s – AirGain product to dynamically adjust prices with real-time, accurate, and high-quality airfare data to compete globally with leading airlines.

Cover Image – Shrey Chopra (Twitter)

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Air India considering raising USD 1 billion to power its expansion plans

Radhika Bansal

01 Oct 2022

Air India is considering raising at least USD 1 billion in a funding round that could value the carrier at around USD 5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The carrier, controlled by India’s oldest conglomerate Tata Group, is in discussions with potential investors including private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds.

Air India is working with financial advisers on the fundraising, which could be completed in the next few months, the people said, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

Deliberations are ongoing and details of the funding round including size and timeline could still change, the people said. A representative for Tata Group declined to comment, while a representative for Air India didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The fundraising plans come at a time when Air India is considering ordering as many as 300 narrow-body jets.

ALSO READ - Air India prepares to add more than 200 aircraft; the most significant order in a long time

The fundraising plans come at a time when Air India is considering ordering as many as 300 narrow-body jets. The purchase could be one of the largest orders in commercial aviation history as the formerly state-run airline looks to overhaul its fleet under new ownership.

ALSO READ - Air India to revamp its fleet by leasing 30 aircraft in the upcoming months

Once known for its premium services and advertisements featuring Bollywood stars, Air India still has lucrative landing slots at most major airports, but it faces competition from foreign airlines with non-stop services to India, as well as carriers that fly via hubs in the Middle East.

Ordering new planes in bulk, especially with favourable terms on long-term maintenance, would help Air India cut costs and compete better with rivals that offer lower fares.

Tata Group completed the acquisition of Air India in January after beating out others with its USD 2.4 billion bid last year.

ALSO READ - Air India broadens its international footprint by launching 20 flights to US and UK

The carrier also announced that it will start 20 additional weekly flights to San Francisco, London and Birmingham in a gradual manner from next month. Its flights to the US and the UK will increase to 40 and 48 each week, respectively.

Tata Group completed the acquisition of Air India in January after beating out others with its USD 2.4 billion bid last year. The transaction marked the country’s most high-profile privatization under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ending decades of attempts to privatize the money-losing, debt-laden airline and years of taxpayer bailouts. Tata is expected to consolidate its aviation business, including four airline brands.

ALSO READ - Air India unveils Vihaan.AI – a comprehensive 5-year transformation plan

(With Inputs from Bloomberg)

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Air India broadens its international footprint by launching 20 flights to US and UK

Radhika Bansal

01 Oct 2022

Air India will launch 20 additional flights to Birmingham, London and San Francisco to broaden its international footprint, according to a statement released on September 30.

This step is a part of the airline’s endeavour to regain its position as the leading airline on the international aviation map. These additional flights will be introduced in phases from October to December.

ALSO READ - Air India eyes Multiple Hubs, International Expansion

With five additional flights a week to Birmingham, nine to London and six to San Francisco a week, Air India will be able to offer over 5,000 additional seats every week to customers and ensure ample choice in terms of connectivity, convenience, and cabin space.

ALSO READ - More flights on Birmingham-Amritsar route, Birmingham MP writes to Air India

The new flight schedule of Air India

The current schedule of Air India standing at 34 flights per week to the UK will now be bumped up to 48 flights. There will also be five extra flights to Birmingham out of which 3 will be from Delhi and 2 from Amritsar.

London will receive 9 additional flights per week, out of which 5 will be flying from Mumbai, three from Delhi and 1 from Ahmedabad. Seven Indian cities will have non-stop Air India flights heading to the UK capital after the new flights are introduced.

ALSO READ - Air India to launch non-stop flights Bengaluru-San Francisco from October end

Air India flights to the US will rise from 34 to 40 per week. Mumbai will now be connected to San Francisco by the airline three times a week, and reinstate a three-times-weekly Bengaluru operation. This takes the number of flights to San Francisco up to 16, from 10 per week with a non-stop service from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Air India to launch 20 flights to the US & UK to broaden its international footprint

In terms of capacity, the enhanced network to the United Kingdom and the US will lead Air India to offer 5,000 additional weekly seats from India to the two countries. Additionally, the improved connectivity translates into more convenience for the carrier's passengers.

“As Air India reinvents itself under the Vihaan.AI transformation programme, adding frequency and improving connectivity from major Indian cities to more international destinations is a significant focus. This sizeable frequency increase to the US and the UK, as well as the addition of new city pairs and improved aircraft cabin interiors, comes just 10 months after Air India’s acquisition by the Tata Group. It is a clear signal of our intent, and an early step towards a much bigger aspiration."Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD of Air India

ALSO READ - Air India unveils Vihaan.AI – a comprehensive 5-year transformation plan

India's national carrier is experiencing a breakthrough in its history. Indeed, the carrier's new management has designed a transformational roadmap, called Vihaan.AI, whose primary goal is to reinvent the airline and bring it back as a world-class global player in the airline industry.

Air India signed leases and letters of intent (LOI) for 25 narrowbodies and five widebodies, increasing the carrier's fleet by 25%

Apart from these additional aircraft, Air India has been working to restore the existing narrow-body and wide-body aircraft to the operating fleet. Before the expansion described above, the airline enabled frequency increases between Delhi and Vancouver as well as the addition of numerous domestic services.

ALSO READ - Air India to revamp its fleet by leasing 30 aircraft in the upcoming months

On September 12, the airline announced leasing 30 aircraft. The airline signed leases and letters of intent (LOI) for 25 narrowbodies and five widebodies, increasing the carrier's fleet by 25%. Additionally, Air India has recently reintroduced 16 long-grounded aircraft, ten narrowbodies, and six widebodies.

ALSO READ - Air India in process of expanding the fleet for the upcoming holidays; plans to lease B777s from Delta

Air India will offer a premium economy cabin on long-haul flights for the first time in its history.

The five leased Boeing 777-200LRs have been a fundamental acquisition for Air India's fleet, without whom the network expansion to the US and the UK would not have been possible. The leased widebodies bring about a significant change in Air India's customer proposition: Air India will offer a premium economy cabin on long-haul flights for the first time in its history.

ALSO READ - Will bring back 10 grounded wide-body aircraft to service – Air India

Air India currently owns a fleet of 70 narrowbodies, of which 54 are in service; the remaining 16 aircraft will progressively return to service by the early months of 2023. The carrier's widebody fleet counts 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operating; similarly to the narrowbody fleet, the grounded widebodies will return to service early next year.

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Aeroflot to relaunch flights to Goa in November

Jinen Gada

30 Sep 2022

Aeroflot, the Russian flag carrier, plans to resume flights to three more destinations in the Asia Pacific region. The airline will fly to Goa (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bangkok (Thailand).

India is one of the few nations in the world where the Russian airline currently operates to. Aeroflot operates 3x weekly flights to Delhi on its Boeing B777-300 ER.

ALSO READ - Aeroflot to resume flights between Russia and India from May 6

The airline will operate A330-300 aircraft on this route.

Beginning on October 9, Russia’s flag provider Aeroflot is resuming its service between Moscow and Colombo in Sri Lanka. The nine-hour flight will probably be operated on Sundays and Thursdays on how to Sri Lanka and on Mondays and Fridays on how again.

Whereas, flights to Bangkok will function every day as soon as the route launches on October 30. The schedule stays the same every single day of the week. And it can also be the same aircraft which is A330-300.

Of the three route re-launches, Goa will be the final destination, which would start operations on November 2. It would function 3 times weekly. To stimulate passenger demand, the airline has dropped air fares by as a lot as 21% in comparison with 2019.

Aeroflot to relaunch flights to Goa in November

Aeroflot Russian Airlines, commonly known as Aeroflot, is the flag carrier and the largest airline in Russia. The airline was founded in 1923, making Aeroflot one of the oldest active airlines in the world. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo International Airport.

ALSO READ - Aeroflot places an order for 339 Russian-made passenger aircraft

The airline has a fleet of 305 aircraft, with 147 active, 31 inactive and 127 wet-leased aircraft. It has 149 Airbus aircraft, 130 of whom are the A320 family types, and 76 Sukhoi SSJ 100/95Bs. Its Boeing aircraft are 47 B737-800s, four B747-400s, three B777-300s, and 26 B777-300ERs.

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China’s C919 jet to compete with Airbus and Boeing

Jinen Gada

30 Sep 2022

China held a ceremony to certify its C919 narrowbody passenger jet, representing a major milestone in the country's ambitions to challenge Airbus and Boeing in commercial aerospace.

The plane, produced by state-owned manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), had been widely expected to be certified by the end of the month after two aircraft flew to Beijing on Sept. 13. A sign in one of the photos said "C919 aircraft type certificate issuance ceremony" in Chinese.

The C919, launched 14 years ago and designed to carry up to 168 passengers, will compete against the popular Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX families in the world's second-biggest aviation market as China looks to boost its technological self-reliance amid trade tensions.

Although the plane is assembled in China, it relies heavily on Western components, including engines and avionics, from companies including GE, Safran and Honeywell International.

Tough U.S. export licensing rules have led to delays in sourcing parts and remain a key risk to ramping up production until China replaces foreign engines and components with homegrown technology.

"The plane seems like a relic of a bygone era of increasing integration between China and the West. Thus, we have an aircraft that is only superficially Chinese but is actually powered by Western technologies and systems.Try building an aircraft without an engine, or avionics, it would just be a metal shell.Turning it into a genuine Chinese aircraft would take well over a decade and many billions of dollars."Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director of AeroDynamic Advisory.

The type of certificate granted on Thursday means it can be delivered to the first customer, China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd, though local media have reported the plane is unlikely to enter commercial service with passengers until next year.

Richard Aboulafia said if China did decide to halt Western aircraft imports, the United States and allied countries could kill the C919 for years by prohibiting component exports.

The C919 has never made an appearance at the country's premier aviation event, Airshow China and it is unclear whether it will be on display or flown at the show in November.

COMAC will also need a separate production certificate before it can ramp up mass production of the plane, meaning its impact on the global aircraft market could remain limited given Airbus and Boeing produce dozens of narrowbodies a month.

According to a report by Huaxi Securities, the C919 will gradually begin to replace single-aisle aircraft made by Boeing and Airbus in China. And in the next 20 years, China’s demand for narrowbody passenger aircraft like the C919 will be on average 300 per year.

The C919 lacks certification validation by U.S. and European regulators, limiting flights to the domestic market and possibly countries with close ties to China.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has been working for years on a certification validation process on the C919 with COMAC in parallel to CAAC's work, an EASA spokesperson said.

There have been 815 orders for the C919 from 28 customers, according to COMAC's website. But China Eastern is the only customer that has announced a firm delivery schedule and it expects to receive only four next year.

ALSO READ – Chinese airlines orders 292 Airbus A320neo aircraft

In the meantime, the Boeing 737 MAX has yet to return to commercial service in China, having been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes. However, three months ago major Chinese airlines placed an order for nearly 300 Airbus A320neo family planes, showing the country plans to continue imports for some time.

ALSO READ - All Boeing operator Xiamen Airlines orders 40 A320 NEOs

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1st Light Combat Helicopter handed over to the Army Aviation by HAL

Jinen Gada

30 Sep 2022

The Indian Army inducted the indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday, 29th September 2022. The first Light Combat Helicopter was handed over to the Army Aviation Corps by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

On March 30, 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) authorized the purchase of 15 Limited Series Production Light Combat Helicopters for Rs. 3,887 crores. Out of these 15 choppers, the Indian Air Force will receive ten, and five will be inducted into the Indian Army.

The Additional Director General of the Public Information (ADG PI – Indian Army) shared the information in a tweet, which said, “Indigenously designed & developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has been inducted into Indian Army. The first LCH was formally handed over by HAL to Director General, Army Aviation Cops. Highly manoeuvrable and agile LCH will significantly enhance combat capability.”

https://twitter.com/adgpi/status/1575464477050413056?s=20&t=-wSW3A4wIWlA7H-MW23UBw

The LCH is a multi-role combat helicopter designed and manufactured by HAL, which is made in HAL’s helicopter division in Bengaluru. The helicopter can carry rockets, air-to-air and anti-tank missiles, and bombs.

The helicopter has the necessary agility, manoeuvrability, range extension, high elevation efficiency, and 24/7/365 all-weather fighting potential to carry out tasks like combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD), counter-insurgency (CI), functions against slow-moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), high altitude bunker busting, counter-insurgency operations in the jungle and urban environments, and support to ground forces.

1st indigenous Light Combat Helicopter inducted by Indian Army

The production of LCH by HAL will give the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative more momentum and encourage the indigenization of defence production and the nation’s defence industry as part of the ongoing effort to achieve self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector and reduce imports.

ALSO READ - IAF to induct ‘Made in India’ light combat helicopter (LCH) in October

The Indian Air Force will formally induct the indigenous LCH on October 3, 2022, at the Jodhpur Air Force base in Rajasthan in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.

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