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The Pakyong airport will have five check-in counters and will handle 5 lakh passengers per annum. The airport has been constructed at a cost of Rs 553 crore. SpiceJet will launch the first commercial flight to Pakyong from Kolkata on October 4.

According to people familiar with the discussions, executives at the two companies have been quietly laying plans to create what would be the world’s biggest airline by passenger traffic.

After this, Air India will be the only full service carrier that offers snacks or meals in all categories of economy fares on its domestic flights.

The airline is already under the scanner of the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. For the June-quarter, Jet Airways had reported a net loss of Rs 1,323 crore.

The offer is available for outbound travel from the national capital to US, Canada and Iceland between December 2018 to March 2019 while the booking period for the tickets is up to September 28. 

The Commission said that apart from not only forcibly taking the boarding passes from the complainants, no effort was made by the Airline to compensate them by arranging for their travel in the next scheduled flight to Agartala.

The government has prepared a list of the airline's assets that could be hived off as part of the strategic sale plan for Air India and its subsidiaries, officials said.

Some kind of pricing initiatives will have to be taken to maintain revenue per flight or better seat factor, said Jet Airways VP (sales), India, Gilbert George.

Air India had put 45 properties worth Rs 365 crore under the hammer back in February but could only raise Rs 30-35 crore from the sale.

In August, IndiGo had grounded a brand new Airbus A320 neo plane, which had flown less than 50 hours after it was delivered to the airline in July this year.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director (CMD), SpiceJet, which inducted its first aircraft for dedicated freighter operations on Monday, said that it was important for airlines to increase yields by passing on cost increases to customers.

A senior Air India official said the aircraft "VT EXL landed on an under-construction runway at Male," adding that tyres of the plane were deflated and it was towed away to the parking bay. 

According to official sources, the new turnaround plan will be different from the old one given that the 2012 plan focused on financial restructuring of the airline, while the proposed one will focus on organisational reform of Air India.

The fresh Rs 500 crore will be utilised in meeting the immediate working capital requirements as well as repaying part of the interest on government guaranteed non-convertible debentures (NCD) of Rs 7,400 crore.

The Niti Aayog had submitted recommendations on the strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its subsidiaries on May 12, citing the carrier’s monthly losses to the tune of Rs 200-250 crore as the primary reason why such a move is required.

Civil aviation secretary RN Choubey Tuesday said that the ministry has held discussions with the finance ministry into the kind of support that can be provided to Indian carriers.

IATA chief Alexandre de Juniac also flagged various concerns about the Indian aviation sector, including high jet fuel prices, infrastructure woes and privatisation of airports.

A year after Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce publicly challenged Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to design a plane capable of making a viable direct flight from Sydney to London or New York, he says the manufacturers have succeeded.

IndiGo flight ticket sale: Customers can avail an extra 20 per cent cashback of up to Rs 600 on payment made through digital wallet company MobiKwik for all bookings under the ‘festival season’ sale.