Ok, no great news there. If you read my earlier posts then you already know about it. After bringing the 747-8i to Delhi on August 6 and launching the new lounge in Delhi Terminal 3 a week after, Lufthansa is putting the Bangalore-Frankfurt route up for operation over Los Angeles. As per an announcement on the website of Lufthansa, from 13 September 2012, FRA-BLR will be flown on the new plane, which means BLR-FRA will go to the 747-8i from 14th September 2012 onwards. Bookings for the new plane are now open. The launch of these two routes will complete Lufthansa’s plans to upgrade its Indian routes for the time being, along with the upgrade of the Business Class product…
About Ajay
[Act Fast] $400 discount on Premium Eco/$75 discount on Eco. from USA to India on British Airways
I should have told you earlier, my bad! I did not look into my spam folder earlier. British Airways, is offering a discount on World Traveller (Economy) and World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) fares to India from the USA. You need to book by August 21, 2012 (tonight!) using this link to be able to get the discount. Travel will be between any point in the USA to any point in India, and can start from September 1 – December 9, 2012 or between December 24, 2012 and May 13, 2013. Valid only on round-trip bookings. Take a look at this reservation I attempt to make in Mid-September from NYC to BOM in Premium Economy, which prices at a total…
Flying Kingfisher Airlines one more time
I’ve come across more than my fair share of people who have patronised Kingfisher Airlines in the past, and still fly Kingfisher Airlines wherever they can. However, with Kingfisher Airlines no longer on the permitted list of carriers by my workplace, I’ve not been flying them for business over a period of time. When a Kingfisher patron Arun made a trip to Mumbai all the way to be on the last Kingfisher flight from Dubai, I warmed up to the airline again. However, they were not flying to places I wanted to go to and hence I had to wait a while to get them on a Mumbai – Delhi flight which is one of the trunk routes they are…
Birdwatch: Photo # 7 (Fedex)
Time to revive the Birdwatch series. I know I’ve been erratic with this one but I’ll try my best to be putting out some more plane spotting pictures regularly now. I caught this Fedex MD-11F just as it got off the active runway on BOM last week, and you can see as I tried to get a shot, a crow competed to be in the same frame as well. Reminds me of ‘As the crow flies’ by Jeffrey Archer. Airline: FedEx Location: Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) Airframe: McDonnell Douglas MD-11(F) If you want to share a picture of a plane, an airport, or anything aviation related, please send it across to aj@livefromalounge.comwith the details and I’ll put it up…
Doing Mumbai–Dubai anytime soon? 20% off on Air India
A couple of days back I posted about a 20% discount that Air India was offering on flights from India to Hong Kong. Now, they are also offering a discount on Mumbai – Dubai, valid for sale and travel from 16th August to 30th September 2012, for one way and return journeys, in all classes. This 20% discount will not be applicable if you change your booking. Like the previous promo, this one is valid on the application of a promo code and only booking on the website www.airindia.in. The promotion code for this reservation to be valid is BODX02. Air India offers an Airbus 320/321 service on this route, and while the route is something not spectacular, this promotion…
Indigo takes top spot from Jet Airways as India’s largest airline
I’ve been seeing this coming for a while now, but it finally happened. Indigo, the low-fare carrier which started up in 2006 to serve the Indian skies, inched ahead of the Jet Airways combine as of the July 2012 data which was reported last night. I’m not too much into reporting marketshare data on my blog, but this one does deserve a mention. As per the newest numbers published by the DGCA on 17th August 2012, here is the marketshare split amongst all the operators in India: IndiGo – 27% Jet Airways – 19.4%; JetLite – 7.2% (Combined 26.6%) Air India – 18.2% Spicejet – 17.8% Go Air – 7% Kingfisher – 3.4% I’ve loved Indigo’s no nonsense approach from…
Announcing a new airline…with a fleet of 6 planes!
Hi guys, after sampling the products of various airlines for years and then talking about them here, I’m thinking of taking the dip into running an airline myself. I’ve taken over a fleet of planes, and now looking for experienced manpower to start operations. Who all want to be on board? All positions are open right now, including CEO. Drop me a comment to express interest. And yes, if you’re wondering which kind of pilots do we need for our new fleet, have a look and apply accordingly. Hope to hear from ya all, shortly! Also tell me how you want the loyalty program to be, and which alliance should I target? Live From A Lounge is also…
Get ready to pay for better meals on Jet Airways, and lounge access, and preferential seating
unbundle /ˌʌnˈbʌndl/verb [T] COMMERCE, MARKETING Definition › to start to sell a product or service separately when previously it had been sold together with others. You just saw the definition of unbundling as published in the Cambridge dictionary. Now, this one is going to play out soon by a ‘full-service airline’ in India called Jet Airways. This report published in an English daily a couple of days ago indicates the plans Jet Airways has going forward to increase its ancillary revenue. It says: After low cost carriers, Indian full service airlines are also going to offer passengers the option of pre-booking their desired cuisine for a fee instead of being forced to eat whatever is served without any extra charge.…
Air India and Cathay Pacific offering discounts on India – Hong Kong
Air India is offering a 20% discount for travel from India to Hongkong in one-way and return bookings, for bookings made through www.airindia.in. The promotion is valid for sale with immediate effect, for your outward travel to start from 21st August to 15th September 2012, for one way and return journeys in all classes (Business and Economy). Your You need to enter the promo code as INHK01 in the Promo code box, to avail of the promotional offer. All of these are mileage earning fares. When you try to book, you also get a 10% discount which comes with all reservations ticketed on Air India’s website. So Mumbai-Hong Kong return fares turn out to be about Rs. 25,000 which is…
Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege is down for an upgrade, will we get mobile apps soon?
Beginning 14 August 2012 2200 hours IST throught 20 August 2012 1300 hours, Jet Airways is working on implementing a new CRM platform for their Jet Privilege systems. Hence, all functionality for Jet Privilege will be suspended between these hours and one will not be able to check their balances, or make any award bookings on Jet Airways website (www.jetairways.com) for the Jet Privilege accounts. Jet Privilege Service Centre will also be accessible with limited information, and any information available with them will be as of 14 August 2012. Curiously, the update email in this respect arrived 30 minutes before the website was taken down, not giving the members enough of a chance to do any housekeeping activity they would…
Star Alliance members Lufthansa and Singapore Air open Delhi Lounges
Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 is clearly the new hotbed of action for airlines. The benefit of a new terminal are clearly showing. While Indian carriers are still using contract lounges at their hub airports, oneworld airlines were depending on the Kingfisher First lounge, which is now closed. Emirates was the first off the mark, opening an exclusive lounge in Delhi. News now is that over the past one month, both Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have opened up new lounges in Delhi T3 on the international side. Lufthansa opened up a lounge in Delhi T3 yesterday, a week after putting their second Boeing 747-8i into service there. This is Lufthansa’s first lounge in Asia designed according to the new global design…
