Airlines are gearing up for the winter schedule starting 30th Oct with new routes, new frequencies and new aircraft type – Vistara to ramp up frequencies to Frankfurt and Paris, Air Canada will resume flights between Toronto and Mumbai via Heathrow, SWISS Airlines to increase flights ex-India to Zurich, Emirates to operate the A380 between Dubai and Bengaluru. These and more news in our August Travel Updates.

IndiGo turns 16, unveils ‘Three-Point Disembarkation System’:

On its 16th anniversary, IndiGo has introduced a new “Three Point Disembarkation process” which will enable its customers to exit the aircraft faster than ever before. The new process will be carried out from two forward and one rear exit ramp, making IndiGo the first airline in the world to use this process.

Air India resuming direct flight between Pune to Ahmedabad:

Air India will be resuming direct flights between Pune and Ahmedabad from 23rd August onwards with the following schedule:

Akasa Air receives its 2nd aircraft, to commence Bengaluru - Mumbai flight from 19th Aug:

Flying with the airline code QP, Akasa Air has commenced commercial operations with two aircraft and will be adding two aircraft per month to its fleet till the end of 2023. The airline has placed an order of 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to be delivered over five years.

Akasa Air has launched direct flights between Mumbai and Bengaluru from August 19 and will strengthening its network with 82 weekly flights between Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kochi and Bengaluru, key cities covered under its inaugural phase of its network development.

MoCA to remove domestic fare caps imposed on airlines from 31st Aug onwards:

The aviation watchdog DGCA had imposed lower and upper limits on airfares after the resumption of flight services at the end of May 2020 following the two-month nationwide lockdown. These fare band restrictions were in place till now and the Aviation Ministry has finally taken a call to remove the fare caps from 31st Aug onwards after reviewing the current situation of scheduled domestic flight operations viz-a-viz passenger demand for air travel.

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 4 to reopen on September 13:

Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced that operations at Terminal 4 (T4) will resume on 13th Sep 2022, following a more than two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a capacity of 16 million passengers per annum, the reopening of T4 will add to Changi Airport’s capacity, ensuring that the air hub can meet the increasing demand for air travel, and support airlines’ plans to launch more flights. Sixteen airlines will relocate to T4 progressively including Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, Air Asia and Vietnam Airlines.

Lufthansa lowers baggage allowance for India-North America economy flyers:

For new bookings starting 1st Aug (Monday), Lufthansa will only allow one check-in bag of up to 23 kgs for economy class passengers flying between India and North America. The earlier allowance was two check-in bags. Passengers who have booked tickets before or till July 31, will not be charged extra for the 2nd check in bag.

Lufthansa will now charge Euro 200 for the 2nd check in bag if purchased online or Euro 250 if purchased at the check-in counter.

Heathrow airport is extending its passenger limits to October:

In July, London’s Heathrow airport announced that they were limiting passenger traffic to 100,000 per day. The passenger limit was meant to stay in place until 11 September and airlines were asked to curtail flights to avoid overcrowding at Heathrow. This passenger limit has been extended through to 29 October i.e. till the end of the summer season.

These temporary capacity limits have been introduced to improve passenger journeys at a time when airports across Europe were dealing with staff shortages and a huge influx of summer tourists. Since its introduction, the cap has resulted in fewer last-minute cancellations, better punctuality and shorter waits for bags. Following suit, other airports like Gatwick, Frankfurt and Schiphol have introduced similar passenger caps.

France Covid-19 Entry Restrictions Lifted:

From 1st August, all travellers will be able to enter France without having to follow any COVID-related entry rules as the country has decided to drop all of its restrictions. In addition, they will be able to enter France for all kinds of purposes without having to provide a compelling reason to justify the need to enter the territory of France.

Apart from France, another 26 EU/EEA countries have already dropped all their entry rules. The list of countries that permit restriction-free entry to all travellers includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Hong Kong reduces Covid quarantine to 3 days for incoming travellers:

Hong Kong has reduced the compulsory hotel quarantine from 7 day to 3 days with effect from Friday 5th August. Arriving passengers will need to self-monitor for a further four days, during which they will be forbidden to enter such premises as restaurants and bars.

South Korea removes travel restrictions for Indians:

All Indian travellers can enjoy quarantine-free travel to South Korea from 1st August onwards. However, arriving passengers will have to take a mandatory PCR test within one day of arrival. To provide hassle-free access to Covid-19 screening, test centres have been expanded to more airports across Korea. Currently, there are three test centres at Incheon International Airport and one at Gimhae International Airport.

Air India to start daily flights between Delhi and Vancouver from 31 August:

Air India will be boosting the connectivity between Delhi and Vancouver by converting its current thrice-weekly flight to a daily flight from 31st August onwards. The decision to add four more weekly flights to its New Delhi - Vancouver route comes amid the increased demand for flights between India and Canada.

Air India is currently the only carrier that operates direct flights between India and Vancouver with the following schedule:

Vistara ramps up frequencies to Frankfurt and Paris:

Vistara has announced more than a 100 per cent increase in frequencies to/from Frankfurt and Paris as it gears up to receive its third Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft which has been leased recently.

Starting 30th October 2022, Vistara will operate 6x weekly flights between Delhi and Frankfurt, up from the current 3x weekly frequency; while connectivity between Delhi and Paris goes up from 2x to 5x weekly with the following schedule:

Azerbaijan Airlines commences direct flights between Baku and New Delhi:

Azerbaijan Airlines, also known as AZAL commenced its twice-weekly direct flight between Baku and New Delhi with an Airbus A320 on 9th August 2022 with the following schedule:

IndiGo to start flights between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah in UAE from September 22:

IndiGo will start daily flights between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah in the UAE from September 22 onwards. Ras Al-Khaimah will be the 26th overseas and 100th destination on IndiGo's growing network. The flight schedule is as follows:

SWISS Airlines increases flights ex India from 1st Nov ’22:

SWISS Airlines will be converting its operations from Zurich to Mumbai and Delhi to a daily flight from 1st November onwards as per the following schedule:

Emirates to commence A380 service between Dubai and Bengaluru:

Emirates has announced that its flagship A380 service will be introduced for the first time to Bengaluru from 30th October 2022. Emirates also becomes the first airline to operate scheduled passenger services utilising the A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft in service, at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport.

Bengaluru will be the second city in India to be served by the iconic Emirates A380 aircraft, with customers enjoying the signature experience on the Dubai – Mumbai route since 2014. The A380 service operating on the Bengaluru route will feature 14 private First Class suites, 76 Business Class lie-flat seats and a spacious cabin for our Economy Class passengers.

The flight schedule for the A380 service from 30th Oct is as follows:

As of 1st August, Deutsche Bahn (DB) will be the world's first Intermodal Partner of Star Alliance. With this, DB and the aviation industry are sending another strong signal for the environment-friendly evolution of the travel industry. Under the new cooperation, DB customers and passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will be able to start or end their long-distance journey comfortably on the climate-friendly train. Germany is the first market and DB is the world's first partner in the new Star Alliance initiative.

An industry-first, Star Alliance’s Intermodal Partnership model intelligently combines airlines with railway, bus, ferry or any other transport ecosystem, alliance-wide. It is designed to link loyalty systems and facilitate seamless airport/station/port transit. Star Alliance plans to expand intermodal partnerships in the future.