SpiceJet initiates Major Network Expansion

SpiceJet, the country’s favourite low-cost carrier, has announced more frequencies and new onward connections to its schedule from Delhi effective from 25th October, 2015. The airline has augmented its frequencies between Delhi – Chennai (3rd flight added), Delhi – Kolkata (3rd flight added), Delhi –Udaipur (2nd flight added) and Delhi –Ahmedabad (2nd flight added). Onward connections have also been added on the Delhi – Madurai and Delhi – Agartala routes.

SpiceJet unveiled an all new winter schedule, with 291 daily flight from the current 250 daily flights, adding 10 new sectors, 30 new frequencies and 22 connecting flights. The airline also announced the induction of 6 new aircrafts to its existing fleet strength in the next 30 days, a first of its kind initiative in the history of Indian aviation.

Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP and Head of Sales and Distribution, SpiceJet, said, “We have been speedily moving on the growth path by consistently adding new flights to enhance our overall network. With the new network schedule we are offering better timings, increased frequencies. With this enhancement we have significantly growing our capacity by 16%. Our new winter flight schedule adds considerable depth to our existing operations to cater to the peak demand while enhancing connectivity and boosting customer value”.

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SpiceJet spices up Air Travel with “Red Hot Offers”

SpiceJet, the country’s favourite low-cost carrier, has teamed up with popular retailers such as Kingdom of Dreams, O2, Archies, Thyrocare, Babyoye, Mom & Me, and Ferns N Petals to offer special discounts ranging from 15% upto 70% to SpiceJet passengers for purchase of products such as kids apparel, gifts and collectibles, health care, footwear, entertainment, and hospitality sectors.

Customers can obtain their discounts simply by producing their SpiceJet boarding pass at these retail outlets, or by using a promo code for online shopping. The promo code will be sent to the registered email ID upon the completion of travel.

The offer is applicable on bookings made on www.spicejet.com, through SpiceJet’s mobile app, airport ticketing counter and SpiceJet call centre. Offers are valid within six months of the issuance of boarding card for all offline redemption. For all online redemptions offers are valid with six months of the booking made.

Discounts can be obtained only on completion of the air travel when you produce your boarding pass or your promo code. Customers can visit the SpiceJet website for more information related to the partner offerings.

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SpiceJet launches the ‘Freedom to Fly’ Sale

Gurgaon, India, Aug, 20: SpiceJet, the country’s favourite low-cost carrier, today announced the launch of its ‘Freedom to Fly’ sale, putting more than 1,00,000 seats on offer with one way fares starting as low as Rs. 799/- (excluding taxes). An additional 10% percent discount will be available for those booking through SpiceJet’s mobile app on Apples iOS and Android.

The one-way fare for this sale ranges from Rs. 799/- to Rs. 2,699/- and covers popular destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Srinagar, and many more.

The lowest fare of Rs. 799 is available on routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Mumbai-Goa, Bengaluru-Kochi, Madurai-Chennai, Jammu-Srinagar, Kolkata-Agartala and many more.

The three day sale starts from 20th August 2015 and will remain open till midnight, 22nd August 2015. The travel period covered in this sale is 25th August 2015 to 26th March 2016. The sale is valid only for direct flights within SpiceJet’s domestic network.

Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP and Head of Sales and Distribution, SpiceJet, said, “We are known as the airline that has made air travel more affordable for more Indians than ever before, revolutionizing the industry and driving record growth in passengers in the process. With this sale, we continue to promote the Freedom to Fly for more Indians in our long standing tradition."

Tickets for this sale can be booked on www.spicejet.com, SpiceJet’s official mobile apps of iOS and Android, on online travel portals, and through travel agents. The sale is not available at SpiceJet’s call centre or at SpiceJet Airport Ticket Offices.

Tickets under this offer are non-refundable (taxes and fees are refundable) though they are changeable with a change fee and fare difference.

There is limited inventory under the offer, and seats will be available on First-Come-First-Served basis. Sales fares are not applicable on group bookings. Fares vary from sector to sector depending on the travel distance and flight schedules and timings are subject to regulatory approvals and change(s).

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Jet Airways Posts Rs. 226.4 Crores Profit in Q1 Of FY16

Jet Airways Group today announced a Q1 profit and significantly improved performance for the quarter ending June 30, 2015 providing further evidence of the growing momentum of its three-year turnaround programme. Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways said: "Our performance in the first quarter of this financial year demonstrates once again that the measures we are taking to bring the business back to profitability are having the desired result. The airline’s total revenue (combined) for the first quarter FY16 increased by 11% to INR 5,658 crores from INR 5,097 crores. Passenger revenues for Q1 FY16 rose by 10.4 % to INR 4,707 crores from INR 4,262 crores. The combined passenger load factor in Q1 of FY16 increased by 2.2 percentage points to 82.4%, compared to 80.2% in Q1 of FY15. This improvement is largely attributable to the optimized network which ensures tighter domestic and international network integration.

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Vistara launches services to Pune

At 6.45 pm today, Vistara took its inaugural flight from New Delhi to Pune. With the addition of Pune in Vistara’s route network, customers can now travel from Delhi to seven destinations- Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad, Guwahati&Bagdogra and vice versa.The launch of the daily service between Delhi and Pune follows requests from the airport, trade, business community and consumers alike, inviting Vistarato operate on this route. Pune, a thriving commercial hub,has recently been ranked among the highest in the overall quality of life across categories of political, economic and social environment as well as housing and medical provisions.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said: “Pune has some of the well-developed conglomerates present and is one of the major modern cities in India. For Vistara, such destinations offer immense potential as their robust infrastructure and good quality of life ultimately attract more investment, trade and travel. With addition of Pune on its network, Vistara’sfootprint in India continues to grow at a rapid pace with newer destinations to be announced later this year. We are confident that the travelers between Pune and Delhi will welcome the opportunity to enjoy the quintessential Vistara experience.We have received enthusiastic response from our customers when we launched flights to Goa, Hyderabad and recently to Guwahati and Bagdogra. This clearly indicatesa resounding endorsement of Vistara’sunique value proposition.”

Vistara’s A320 aircraft deployed on the route has a capacity of 148 seats and are configured with 16 Business Class seats, 36 Premium Economy seats and 96 Economy seats, which is 20 percent less, compared to many of the single aisle aircraft operators in order to provide greater comfort and personal space to its customers. Vistara’s Premium Economy is first of its kind in domestic skies to offer enhanced comfort and personalized experience at a competitive price.

By the end of this calendar year, Vistara’s total fleet size will grow to nine aircraft.Vistara’s customers can look forward to more destinations and exciting enhancements to its product and services offerings.

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GoAir offers discount in Fares

Wadia Group-promoted budget carrier GoAir has been offering discount in the fares for January 1 to March 31, 2015 with a five-day booking period starting from Saturday.

The offer would last till the December 25, 2015 and the fares are as low as Rs 1469 for the passengers to book their travel for January to March next year.

The Mumbai-based airline GoAir operates across 22 destinations in the country with a fleet of 19 Airbus A320 aircraft.

GoAir was launched the five day offer period aiming to stimulate the demand during the lean period – January to March, putting 1.7 million seats for sale.

Domestic passers those having advance plan to fly places can get the benefit of this five days booking period.

The Chief Executive of GoAir, Giorgio De Roni told media that keeping the view of January-March, which was traditionally a lean quarter, the company has introduced discount with five days booking period.

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Air Canada Partners with Concur TripLink to Enable Full Visibility for Corporate Travelers

Air Canada Partners with Concur TripLink to Enable Full Visibility for Corporate Travelers

Concur TripLink Adds Esteemed Star Alliance Member to Suite of Suppliers

India: Concur® (Nasdaq: CNQR), the leading provider of spend management solutions and services, today announced at Fusion Exchange in Toronto a partnership with Air Canada to develop and enable corporate travel booking solutions functionality for aircanada.com and Air Canada apps. By leveraging Concur TripLink, companies can capture direct Air Canada corporate bookings while still receiving their corporate benefits and meeting their corporate travel reporting requirements through Concur.

Concur TripLink complements travel programs by providing visibility and information continuity to enable travelers and companies to book directly with Air Canada.

Through TripLink, corporate travelers can use Air Canada channels to book their corporate fares and automatically have the trip data sent back to Concur to populate travel and expense reports on Concur and related platforms. In addition, travelers who link their profiles to Air Canada receive great benefits, including:

•  More Choice: Whether a traveler chooses to book through Concur Travel, their TMC or directly with Air Canada, Concur TripLink accommodates the travelers’ choice by allowing the user to define their travel shopping experience.
• Greater Value: Concur TripLink enables travelers to take advantage of their corporate programs regardless of where they book travel; travelers and their companies get better visibility, negotiating power and control. Organizations and their TMCs can use the information to drive programs and services to increase compliance. 
• Improved Traveler Tracking: By capturing out-of-program bookings, companies know where their employees are traveling at all times, supporting their Duty of Care requirements. This also enables their TMCs to support these travelers and deliver new services.

“Corporate travelers want to stay compliant with corporate policies, but at the same time, they crave the convenience of direct booking. With today’s announcement, we are giving our mutual customers a transparent and seamless experience so they can get the most out of their travel budgets,” said Steve Singh, chairman and CEO at Concur. “By enabling direct booking at an enterprise-level, we are creating a new and deeper level of customer experience that is centered on direct end-user connections. These are the same types of connections that have transformed other industries.” To date, Concur TripLink has the following partners, including: Airbnb, Avis, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott Hotels, Starwood Hotels, and United Airlines.
“Air Canada is very excited about partnering with Concur to ensure our high value corporate customers always have access to the best, richest Air Canada content, while maintaining the benefits of tracking and reporting of expense through Concur,” said Keith Wallis, Manager of Distribution Business Development for Air Canada. “Air Canada has a long history of being an early adopter of innovative technology to meet and exceed their customers’ high expectations. Integrating Concur technology directly into the Air Canada website is the next step in the evolution of corporate travel as we seek to deliver exceptional benefits to our corporate customers.”

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From June Onwards No Full Body scanners at US Airports

Keeping in view the wide spread privacy concerns controversial full body scanners will be removed from US airports. The scanners which are a part of the security screening at airports in the past few years, will no more be seen from June onwards, a Federal Agency announced on Friday.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said, the primary reason behind this is. The company which has installed scanners on airports has not been able to send non-imaging Automated Target Recognition (ATR) software as made mandatory by the congress.

TSA added "Due to its inability to deploy non-imaging ATR software by the Congressionally mandated June 2013 deadline, TSA has terminated its contract with Rapiscan, by June 1, 2013 travelers will only see machines which have ATR that allow for faster throughput. This means faster lanes for the traveler and enhanced security. As always, use of this technology is optional."

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US to Allow small knives, bats and golf clubs on Planes from April 25

Under a policy change announced by the head of the US Transportation Security Administration. Airline passengers will be able to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto planes beginning next month. The policy goes into effect on April 25.


The agency said in a statement, that. The new policy conforms US security standards to international standards and allows TSA to concentrate its energies on more serious safety threats.

The announcement drew an immediate outcry from unions representing flight attendants and other airline workers, who said the items are still dangerous in the hands of the wrong passengers.

Transport Workers Union Local 556, called the new policy "dangerous" and "shortsighted," saying it was designed to make "the lives of TSA staff easier, but not make flights safer. While we agree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golf club or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked in the cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flight attendants in the passenger cabin."

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the agency, said. The policy change was based on a recommendation from an internal TSA working group, which decided the items represented no real danger.

The presence on flights of gun-carrying pilots traveling as passengers, federal air marshals and airline crew members trained in self-defense provide additional layers of security to protect against misuse of the items, he said”.

The policy is aimed at allowing passengers to carry pen knives, corkscrews with small blades and other knives.

The new policy permits folding knives with blades that are 2.36 inches (6 centimeters) or less in length and are less than 1/2-inch (1-centimeter) wide, novelty-sized baseball bats less than 24 inches long, toy plastic bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs, but Box cutters, razor blades and knives that don't fold or that have molded grip handles will still be prohibited, the TSA said. The agency said, passengers also will be allowed to bring onboard as part of their carry-on luggage.

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