Air India

[JENNYJET]

Cannot Dreamliners manage the detour? Singapore to New York, Perth to London? Am I missing something?

 

[Coathanger16]

Cannot Dreamliners manage the detour? Singapore to New York, Perth to London? Am I missing something?

They're able to manage the distance fine, but with the longer distance having to be flown because Pakistan airspace is closed, the amount and therefore cost of fuel has increased. What should have been a 9 hr flight from Delhi has become 11 hrs.

Due to the longer flight time, it may be that extra crew are required. Something to consider is whether the Air India 787's have crew rest areas. If they don't and crew can't take the breaks they would usually take during an 11 hr flight but not a 9 hour flight (hence working longer duty hours) they'll then be requiring longer time off between flights, hence more crew are needed overall to operate the flights, again pushing up operating costs.

Add into that the generally poor financial state that Air India finds itself in these days and 'suspending' the BHX routes (and MAD) is actually justifiable.

Lets just hope this issue and those with Turkmenistan are resolved quickly. Silver linings however, without Air India operating, Qatar may get a boost in passengers over the coming months.

N.B. Singapore to New York (Newark) is flown by a modified A350 with business and premium economy only. None of the 787 or standard 350's could operate that I think. I've noticed the routing they often fly is basically Newark to London then onto Singapore. London to Singapore is a long enough flight as it is, let alone with the distance of Newark to London added on top!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Cannot Dreamliners manage the detour?

Operationally yes, there are no issues whatsoever.

The problem arises when you are working an already depleted compliment of aircraft with very little give in the schedule and suddenly one of your routes has an extra 4/5 hours added on to the total block time. Multiply that across the network and something eventually has to give.

 

[JENNYJET]

Ah yes, I WAS missing something. Confirms what a wonderful resource this group on F4A is. Thankyou.

 

[Silvercity]

I think you may be mixing them up with Jet Airways? I know they have 37 aircraft grounded.

Both Air India and Jet Airways are in a real mess , these being the countries main international airlines. Kingfisher went a while ago, also got in a big financial mess after rapid expansion.

 

[Silvercity]

Posters on another forum are saying the yields on all the suspended routes have been poor.

Apparently ATQ-BHX has economy filled regularly but is still loss making, so business class uptake must be virtually nil.

Qatar are the only one of the MEB3 with traffic rights to ATQ so could be a real shot in the arm for their pax numbers this month.

I have a colleague who has flown business class BHX-DEL a number of times, he said economy often full, but business is not which he said was great for him as nice and peaceful. He wasn't happy with the Amristar stop, just made for a much longer journey.

 

[David_itl]

Restarts 1st April per airlineroute

 

[Glenn Eldridge]

Airlineroute on Friday 15MAR19 filed the report of Air India service suspension to Birmingham from 16MAR19. Reservation for the 3 weekly each Delhi – Birmingham and Delhi – Amritsar – Birmingham is closed from 16MAR19, however the report did not include the re-opening date of ticket sales, based on latest inventory listing in the GDS.

As of 15MAR19, the Star Alliance carrier’s service for Birmingham is open for travel on/after 01APR19.

Following schedule is effective 31MAR19.

Delhi – Birmingham
AI113 DEL1305 – 1800BHX 788 137
AI114 BHX2130 – 1030+1DEL 788 137

Delhi – Amritsar – Birmingham
AI117 DEL1120 – 1225ATQ1355 – 1815BHX 788 246
AI118 BHX1945 – 0730+1ATQ0900+1 – 1015+1DEL 788 246

The Star Alliance carrier earlier this week also mentioned the suspension of Delhi – Madrid route from 16MAR19 until further notice, however reservation for flights on/after 02APR19 remains available. There is a likelihood of further adjustment in the next few days.

 

[Matt995]

Air India currently has 23 aircraft grounded.....

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/...ops-madrid-birmingham-ops-due-to-pak-conflict

following 787s grounded:-

VT-ANB last flight Jan
VT-ANJ last flight Oct
VT-ANK last flight Jul
VT-ANM last flight Jan
VT-ANN last flight Feb
VT-ANU last flight early Mar
VT-NAA last flight mid Mar

explains the suspension of the BHX services, no aircraft, 7 787s out of service, just staggering, surely they could get a few airworthy!!

 

[nwoody2001]

Well Jet Airways has just cancelled their MAN-BOM route as of the 23rd March...

The Indian aviation sector is in turmoil somewhat ...

The sooner AI can restart the better for UK regional airports!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Still bookable from April.......for now.

It seems that Air India have been hit hardest with the airspace closure.

https://www.indiatoday.in/business/...ace-loses-over-rs-60-crore-1481460-2019-03-19

Closure of Pakistan's airspace has not only affected hundreds of passengers across the globe but also several airlines around the globe.

Reports suggest that Air India has been affected more than any other airline due to the closure of Pakistan airspace, with a loss of more than Rs 60 crore as of March 16.

Pakistan announced general closure of its airspace on February 27, the next day after Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot.

Flights of several airlines around the world have been either re-routed or cancelled, with as many as 400 flights being affected on a daily basis. Out of all the airlines, Air India is one of the worst-hit airlines.

Air India flies 66 weekly services to Europe and 33 to the US, reports said. Since the routes mostly fly through Pakistani airspace, majority of these flights had to be either cancelled or diverted.

Air India flights travelling west can no longer fly over Pakistan's airspace and need to swing south across Gujarat and then cut across the Arabian sea to reach their destinations in Europe and North America.

 

[Ianbutty]

Still bookable from April.......for now.

It seems that Air India have been hit hardest with the airspace closure.

https://www.indiatoday.in/business/...ace-loses-over-rs-60-crore-1481460-2019-03-19

Closure of Pakistan's airspace has not only affected hundreds of passengers across the globe but also several airlines around the globe.

Reports suggest that Air India has been affected more than any other airline due to the closure of Pakistan airspace, with a loss of more than Rs 60 crore as of March 16.

Pakistan announced general closure of its airspace on February 27, the next day after Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot.

Flights of several airlines around the world have been either re-routed or cancelled, with as many as 400 flights being affected on a daily basis. Out of all the airlines, Air India is one of the worst-hit airlines.

Air India flies 66 weekly services to Europe and 33 to the US, reports said. Since the routes mostly fly through Pakistani airspace, majority of these flights had to be either cancelled or diverted.

Air India flights travelling west can no longer fly over Pakistan's airspace and need to swing south across Gujarat and then cut across the Arabian sea to reach their destinations in Europe and North America.

Maybe both the bosses at AI and PIA should suggest to their governments that was is good for nothing including opening up their countries to investment.

Glad that AI are back.

 

[Matt995]

looking more like a May start for Air India at the earliest now.

 

[Ray Finkle]

looking more like a May start for Air India at the earliest now.

It's bookable from May 1st which I think was the original plan. I wouldn't be surprised if it slipped back a few more weeks towards June.

 

[Brum X]

And then July, do you see where I'm going with this ?

 

[Ianbutty]

And then July, do you see where I'm going with this ?

The press release and response from the airport spoke volumes. Another one gone me fears.

BHX needs to offer and beat be incenrives offered by others. Or at least flyers will route via AMS so boost that traffic.

 

[IanFarquharson]

BHX were expecting them back on 01.04.19, looks like this may now be 01.05.19

Pretty sure there is nothing to worry about

 

[Ray Finkle]

The 3x weekly ATQ has now been pushed back to Jun 30th (as has MAD).

The 3x weekly DEL is still bookable from May 1st.......for now.

 

[oriona300]

So where are all the passengers going now via AMS , CDG , FRA, or some other hub or are they all going down to LHR as there flight's aren't cancelled .

 

[jfy1999]

So where are all the passengers going now via AMS , CDG , FRA, or some other hub or are they all going down to LHR as there flight's aren't cancelled .

One would hope from a BHX perspective that many will go with Qatar.

I'd be interested to see the stats for Doha over the next few months.