Rush by Indian Airlines to buy aircraft is continuing with Air Sahara announcing that it intends to order 40 airplanes for delivery over the next five years to bring its fleet to 65. They likely will be 777s and 737s. Last week, Air Sahara announced plans to begin daily services between Delhi and London from September/October with two 777-200ERs leased from ILFC for five years.
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Qatar Airways will add 11 weekly frequencies to India following the recent successful round of bilateral discussions between the countries. Qatar currently operates 19 scheduled flights a week between Doha and Cochin, Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Mumbai. From July 14 it will add New Delhi with seven services a week, flown initially with A320s in a 144-seat, two-class configuration and later with A330s offering three classes of service. From July 15, the Mumbai route will increase from six services a week to daily with the introduction of a new Friday night flight from Doha. Cochin, currently served thrice-weekly, will be boosted with two additional weekly departures beginning July 18. On July 21, a fourth weekly frequency will be added to the Hyderabad schedule.
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Kingfisher Airlines signed a five-year contract with SITA INC for VHF AIRCOM data link services. According to the airline, SITA was selected because of its ability to provide nationwide VHF data communications coverage. SITA has four VHF ground stations operational at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Calcutta with two more being installed at Port Blair and Trivandrum. SITA INC is now in the process of installing VHF stations at 17 new sites in India as well as upgrading existing sites.
by Geoffrey Thomas
www.atwonline.com