Airlines Financial News

ultra-high-speed rail (UHSR), or hyperloop. The concept was first published by Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, 'Hyperloop Alpha'. Hyperloop envisions pods carrying passengers or cargo in near-vacuum tubes at speeds approaching that of aircraft. Reduced friction and magnetic levitation enable significantly abbreviated travel times, reducing energy consumption and emissions compared to traditional modes. India commissioned a 422-m hyperloop test track — the world's longest — in December 2024, developed by Avishkar Hyperloop at IIT Madras, in collaboration with the Indian Railways and L&T Construction. Last month, TuTr Hyperloop, another IIT Madras-incubated deep-tech startup, working with Swisspod Technologies, conducted India's first commercial hyperloop pod test run.

«Your first needs are food and shelter. And then, we're a little bit down the list of expenditures,» said David Neeleman, CEO of low-cost carrier Breeze Airways, in an interview. «If you don't have a job, you're not going to go buy an airline ticket.» With demand slowing, airlines have started culling flights to avoid lowering fares and to protect margins. Frontier, Delta, United, American Airlines, JetBlue and Allegiant all trimmed their April-June quarter capacity in the past two weeks. United CEO Scott Kirby has warned of a large drop in industry-wide capacity by the second half of August if demand does not rebound. To be sure, bookings for premium and long-haul travel are holding up. United reported an 8% year-on-year jump in spring international bookings. Some of the demand slowdown is also due to recent safety incidents. Amanda Demanda Law Group data shows airplane safety concerns reached an all-time high in February, with Google searches for «Are planes safe now?» up 900%. Airlines expect the hit from safety incidents to fade soon. But they are less sure about economic pressures.

fog enveloped New Zealand’s Christchurch airport on Thursday (March 27) disrupting flight operations and throwing the travel plans of thousands of travellers out of gear. Airlines operating from Christchurch airport either cancelled or delayed their flights due to fog. According to a Christchurch Airport spokesperson, two flights were delayed at 8.40am on Thursday while by 10am the airport's website reported flights coming to Christchurch from Auckland and Nelson were cancelled. Among the affected airlines were Jetstar, which had to delay its flight from Auckland, and Air New Zealand. The latter had to cancel its flight to Invercargill due to fog and also divert some of them away from Christchurch. Just three weeks ago, Christchurch airport was rated as the best in a study of 3500 international travellers. New Zealand’s Queenstown Airport was in second position. Madeira Airport in Portugal ranked third with a score of 9.07. The study, involving 3500 international travellers, focused on airport experiences. Travelers rated airports based on factors like customer service and ease of navigation. Nineteen airports received sufficient reviews for inclusion in the rankings.

EET Fuels — the trading name of Essar Oil (UK) Ltd — has signed agreements to supply jet fuel to two additional major UK airports, the firm said Wednesday. Essar Energy Transition (EET) is the entity leading Essar group's USD 3.6 billion low carbon projects in the UK and India. The group operates Stanlow oil refinery in the UK. «This expansion elevates EET Fuels' total network to nine airports across the UK, marking a significant milestone in its mission to bolster energy security and support the aviation industry's growth,» the company said in a statement. Deepak Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer at EET Fuels, said the pact underscores EET Fuels' commitment to strengthening the UK's aviation fuel network while advancing its energy transition strategy. «By expanding our supply footprint to nine key airports, we are not only enhancing fuel security and reliability for our airline partners but also reinforcing our role as a leader in the UK's journey towards a low-carbon future.»

SBI Card, the second-largest credit card issuer in the country, has announced several revisions to its rewards program for credit cards, which will take effect from April 1, 2025. The upcoming changes will impact some of its popular credit cards, such as Club Vistara SBI Credit Cards, Club Vistara SBI PRIME Credit Cards, SimplyCLICK SBI Card, Air India SBI Platinum Credit Card, and Air India SBI Signature Credit Card.

Indians can now enjoy upto 30% off discount on the seasonal summer routes to Santorini, Antalya, and Nice and more offering even more exciting places to explore around the globe. The press statement said that the Indian travellers can book their flights at special sale fares until March 28, to Etihad destinations including Turkey, Greece, Spain, France and travel between 1 May and 30 September 2025. «Summer is the perfect time to create unforgettable travel memories, and we're making it easier with these special fares across our network. Whether you're dreaming of pristine beaches, cultural adventures, or family fun, our summer sale offers something for everyone. Book early and give yourself something wonderful to look forward to,» said Arik De, Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, Etihad Airways.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Canadians have long been the top international travelers to the U.S. Now, they are staying home.

Air India Express will take delivery of several narrow-body planes during the year, allowing it to capture strong growth opportunities in the latter half of the year on domestic and short-haul international routes. «Well, our operating fleet is going to be pretty flat this year (FY26), in part because of delays to delivery, but also because we're taking aircraft out of service to do the refit, the Boeing B787s and the B777s in particular. And so, it means that we're actually not able to grow. But it's an investment for a good purpose,» said Wilson. Air India currently has a fleet of 198 planes including 70 inherited from Vistara-the erstwhile full-service joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. Separately, Air India Express operates 103 aircraft-36 Airbus and 67 Boeing-including 38 new Boeing jetliners from an October 2023 order. Nine more narrow-bodies are slated to join by this June.

Flight delays and cancellations are usually met with frustration, but one pilot’s refusal to take off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) left passengers not only understanding but actually applauding his decision. His reason? A gut instinct that something just wasn’t right—despite experts giving the green light.

Donald Trump says he is focused on stopping the «death march» in Ukraine «as soon as possible.» But for Russian President Vladimir Putin, ceasefire talks with Trump are a means to much broader ends. Russian and U.S. officials are set to meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday to deepen their negotiations about technical details of a partial ceasefire to halt attacks on energy facilities and on ships in the Black Sea. While Ukraine says it's ready for a full truce, Putin has made it clear that he will seek a wide range of concessions first. The upshot: Russia appears determined to squeeze as many benefits as possible from Trump's desire for a Ukraine peace deal, even as it slow-walks the negotiations. Viewed from Russia, better ties with the United States are an economic and geopolitical boon — one that may be achieved even as Russian missiles continue pounding Ukraine. Interviews last week with senior Russian foreign-policy figures at a security conference in New Delhi suggested that Russia saw negotiations over Ukraine and over U.S.-Russia ties as running on two separate tracks. Putin continues to seek a far-reaching victory in Ukraine but is humoring Trump's ceasefire push to seize the benefits of a thaw with the United States.

With air travel increasing significantly—especially among first-time flyers—DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai emphasized the importance of informing passengers about their entitlements in cases of service deficiencies, flight delays (due to airline-controlled factors), cancellations, denied boarding, and baggage issues. IndiGo has reportedly assured the regulator that it will implement this directive by Tuesday i.e. March 2025.

Dubai visa is a great investment for Indians, offering opportunities to explore iconic attractions like dining at the Burj Khalifa, flamingo spotting at Ras Al Khor, dune-bashing at Bab Al Shams, or enjoying a sundowner at a beach club. Here's a detailed guide on how to get one:

Market leaders IndiGo and Air India Group, along with SpiceJet, told the aviation regulator they can’t share the data as disclosing the information would lead to commercial setbacks, according to a March 11 letter by the Federation of Indian Airlines that was seen by Bloomberg News. The move is set to impact the government’s plan to strengthen monitoring of fares in a market where IndiGo and Air India Group together control over 90% of the share of domestic aviation following a merger last year. That dominant position gives IndiGo and Air India a greater say in deciding fares and has fueled concern among policymakers. While fares aren’t regulated in the South Asian country, interventions, including asking airlines to add flights or cut fares, have increased after a sharp spike in prices during a Hindu religious gathering in February was widely criticized.

Air India Saturday announced that the airline has resumed operations from London's Heathrow Airport after the disruption following Friday's power outage. “Our operations to and from London Heathrow (LHR) have recommenced after the disruption at the airport yesterday due to a power outage. Today’s flight AI111 was on schedule and other flights, to and from London, are expected to operate as per schedule. Flight AI161 of 21 March, which was diverted to Frankfurt, is expected to leave Frankfurt at 14:05 pm local time,” Air India said in a statement. On Friday, Air India said its operations to and from the London Heathrow airport were disrupted, with one flight returning to Mumbai, another diverting to Frankfurt and other flights remaining cancelled due to a temporary suspension of operations at the airport.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule criticised Air India over delaying her flight for more than one hour, and urged the Union Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to enforce stricter regulations to hold airlines accountable. Supriya Sule said that her flight AI0508 was delayed by 1 hour and 19 minutes, noting the continuous trends of delays affecting passengers. «I was travelling on Air India flight AI0508, which was delayed by 1 hour and 19 minutes — part of a continuous trend of delays affecting passengers. This is unacceptable. Urging Hon'ble Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to enforce stricter regulations to hold airlines like Air India accountable for repeated delays and ensure better service standards for passengers.» Sule wrote on X. In an another post, Sule added that these flights are never on time, affecting professionals, children, and senior citizens with their mismanagement. «Air India flights are endlessly delayed — this is unacceptable! We pay premium fares, yet flights are never on time. Professionals, children, and senior citizens — all affected by this constant mismanagement. Urging the Civil Aviation Minister to take action and hold Air India accountable,» Sule wrote.

But the Maha Kumbh, and an unusually long wedding season, have upended that maxim this year, making this three-month period as busy a season as any for tour planners, hoteliers, as well as airlines alike. Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed Indian carriers ferried 14 million passengers on the domestic sector in February- barely 6% fewer than what they did in the festive month of December.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The number of domestic passengers flown by the Indian airline in February 2024 was recorded at 126.48 lakh, data show. During the month under review, IndiGo flew a total of 89.40-lakh passengers with a market share of 63.7 per cent, followed by the Air India Group, which transported 38.30 lakh passengers and chipped away with 27.3 per cent market share. Air India last year completed consolidation of its airlines business with AIX Connect merging into Air India Express in October and Vistara's merger with Air India on November 11.

shares fell on Friday, led by travel stocks after a fire at Heathrow Airport, while investors continue to assess the effects of brewing trade tensions. The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.5% as of 0815 GMT, with losses led by Europe's travel and leisure index, down 2.1%.

Alton Aviation Consultancy. Bullish on aviation prospects in India, Ng said the country, which contributes approximately 10 per cent of Asia Pacific's domestic and international air traffic demand, has already returned to pre-pandemic levels. «Such growing demand in turn supports India's massive aviation development programmes including setting up of 150 airports across the country,» Ng told PTI on Friday. He further noted that «India's passenger traffic is expected to grow at a strong pace of 7 per cent in 2025, supported by an order book of nearly 1,900 aircraft among airlines based in the country.»

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano in south-central Indonesia erupted three times into Friday, sending an ash column 8,000 meters (26,200 feet) high and prompting authorities to expand the danger zone around the volcano. The volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province has had hundreds of earthquakes and visible volcanic activity has significantly increased in the last seven days. An eruption followed by an explosion was heard Thursday evening as far away as Larantuka and Maumere, two cities about 50 kilometers (31 miles) to 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the volcano. The eruption was recorded at several monitoring stations on Flores island, Muhammad Wafid, chief of Indonesia's Geology Agency, said in a statement. There were two other eruptions, and smaller activity occurred during the day Friday. Smoke blew around the crater with weak to moderate pressure, and firelight was seen at the peak, indicating the glowing volcanic material was at a shallow depth. Authorities raised the eruption alert to the highest level and expanded the danger zone from 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater. No new evacuations were ordered.