Like the regular readers know already, Air India received their first Boeing 787 planes about a fortnight back. It took them 15 days to start deploying them on revenue flights while other airlines such as Ethopian took delivery and had a party flight on the way into Ethopia itself. I’ve been circumspect about the success of Air India with these new planes being inducted, however, I finally was able to confirm the schedule a few days back and I put it out on a post for aviation lovers to read and book up if they wanted to be on that flight. However, looks like Day 1 was a washout for the airline. Air India’s marketing machinery sucks and almost everyone…
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Air India’s 787 first revenue flight on DEL-MAA 19 Sept ’12!
Air India, the confused Indian carrier, is up to it. They took a long while deciding when to offer the 787 flights to the public, and as per a FlyerTalk thread, this is also due to the infighting between the old Air India management and the Indian Airlines crew (which was on paper merged into AI in 2005). That said, they have finally loaded the first flights of their recently acquired Boeing 787 into their reservation systems, and the first revenue flight of the bird will be on 19th September 2012 on DEL – MAA (AI 639). Here is the extract from AirlineRoutes.net which confirmed this: Delhi – Chennai eff 19SEP12 AI439/440AI439 DEL0700 – 0940MAA 788 DAI430 MAA1045 – 1325DEL…
Why I am not too hopeful with the Air India 787 induction?!
The Air India B787 take off from Charleston I’ve been sounding negative all along about Air India being actually able to make some difference with the cutting edge 787 being added to their fleet. After a comedy of errors all these months, as the plane took off from Charlseton yesterday to be flown to Delhi, I know a lot of India is feeling like this plane is going to change the fortunes of Air India. I can’t support that view, because I’ve seen Air India go down and down over the months and years from the sidelines. Here are some things that point to them being clueless about the whole airline business maybe. Perhaps one of India’s respectable aviation journalist,…
The Jinx is broken. Air India has been delivered a Boeing 787-8!
Oh lord, this was not deemed to have happen, but it finally did. I first crossed roads with an Air India colors Boeing 787 at the Indian Aviation 2012 event in March 2012. For the record, I was not impressed with how Air India was planning to use these planes, because they were clueless themselves. At that point of time, Air India was supposed to be the second carrier to have the plane, and perhaps the first one with the GEnx-1B engines, picking them up in May 2012. That was the plan even when I visited the Boeing factory in January 2012 and talked to some people there. And then, Air India and the Government of India got greedy and…
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…
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…
Are the stars aligning for Jet Airways in Star Alliance? Air India is now a no go!
Things have an interesting way to move around in the Indian aviation sector. Air India took 4 long years to be ready for the *A, and eventually their membership was put on hold. Last week, a full year after the Air India membership being put on hold, I wrote about Jet Airways’ formal invitation to join the Star Alliance being made public, and how it would work out for Jet Airways. In a press report by a major Indian financial news paper, which is actually an interview with India’s civil aviation minister, it now comes to light that Star Alliance has responded last week to Air India in the negative and the Government of India will be supportive of Jet…
Air India double miles on select routes in India and free tickets offer
Air India has launched its annual double miles promotion and is offering 2x of base miles on select routes and flights between 20th July 2012 and 30th September 2012. Since this list is not published on the website, I’m posting it here for your reference. Take note that only these specific flights attract double miles in the Flying Returns program, which is unlike other promos in FFPs on a route basis. Air India is also running another promotion for frequent flyers, something they are advertising heavily in newspapers as well. Called the ‘Desh Videsh Offer’, it allows for frequent travellers on Air India to get free tickets on AI’s International network apart from earning mileage on the various sectors they…
Japan Airlines becomes the first to fly the B787 to India
While Air India is preparing to receive its Boeing 787 Dreamliners from Boeing, which should be finally arriving somewhere in May 2012, Japan Airlines seems to have stolen the thunder from Air India by being the first airline to operate the 787 services to India. The picture you see above is from JAL’s 787 first approach at Delhi’s Airport. Japan Airlines recently received its Boeing 787 planes, and used the first one to start a Boston-Tokyo service which is a new route, with effect from May 1, 2012, they’ve also pressed this plane into service on the Tokyo-Delhi-Tokyo route, making JAL the first operator to bring the 787 planes to India commercially. There is good reason to believe this makes…
More speculation on where is the Air India 787 flying?
I’m reserving comment on the bailout of Air India till a little later when I can write a long post about it, but the big news is that the airline which taught Singapore Airlines the ropes of being a magnificent airline stays in business for the time being, on a $5.3 billion dole though to which my tax payments will generously contribute. Heck, I don’t even get miles for this generous contribution to someone else’s balancesheet ! Now, I’ve been interested in tracking the progress of the Air India 787 for a long time, and that they will get these 27 planes is now confirmed with the bailout as well. I had a good look at the planes in Hyderabad…
Air India offers 100% Bonus Miles on select domestic and international routes
As a part of the switch to the domestic schedule from 26th March onwards, Air India has made the following changes to its schedule and capacities: Added 3 new flights: Delhi – Bahrain – Delhi Visakhapatnam – Dubai – Visakhapatnam Hyderabad – Kolkata – Hyderabad In addition, services on the following routes have been increased: Delhi – Tokyo – Delhi : From 4x to 5x per week Delhi – Dammam – Delhi : From 2x per week to 7x flights Delhi – Riyadh – Delhi : From 2x per week to 3x per week Mumbai – Cochin – Mumbai : From 1x daily flight to 2x daily flights And while it was upto it, it upgraded its equipment on a…
