Global Airlines Sector Outlook : Reduced margin, Asia Pacific To Perfrom Well, Fuel Prices Plays Spoilsport



Flights Sector Outlook

 The global airlines sector outlook is showing a little dimmer picture with profit margin forecasts being slashed. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) further downgraded its 2011 airline industry profit forecast to just $4 billion which is significantly lower than the last years stats. This would be around 54% fall in profit as compared with the $8.6 billion profit forecast in March 2011 and a 78% drop compared with the $18 billion net profit (revised from $16 billion) recorded in the year ending 2010. The total expected revenues is $598 billion, a $4 billion profit equates to jus 0.7% margin. The operating profit margin is seeing many pressures with rising fuel costs and increasing competition being some of them. Also there have been external constraints such as the Japenese Tsunami and various political upheavals.
The Airlines Industry Forecast Highlights:

Fuel Costs: The cost of fuel is held as the primary cause of reduced profitability for the airlines sector. The average oil price for 2011 is now expected to be $110 per barrel (Brent price), a 15% increase over the previous forecast of $96 per barrel. For each dollar increase in the average annual oil price, airlines face an additional $1.6 billion in costs. With estimates that 50% of the industry’s fuel requirement is hedged at 2010 price levels, the industry 2011 fuel bill will rise by $10 billion to $176 billion. Fuel is now estimated to comprise 30% of airline costs—more than double the 13% of 2001.


Demand for airlines not increasing very fast: Despite high energy prices, world trade and corporate earnings continued to improve. As a result, global GDP projections increased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.2%, which is supporting continued growth in demand for air transport. However, growth rates for both cargo and passenger markets have been revised downward because of higher fuel costs. Passenger demand is now expected to grow 4.4% over the year, a full 1.2 percentage points below the 5.6% previously forecast in March. Similarly, cargo demand is expected to increase 5.5% and not 6.1% as predicted earlier.

The number of price-sensitive leisure travelers has fallen 3–4% over the past five months, as travel costs were forced higher by fuel prices and, in Europe, by new passenger taxes. Less price-sensitive premium travel demand has been more robust in the face of rising prices and continues to be driven by growing world trade and business investment. Premium passenger growth has dipped from the 9% of 2010, but is expected to be close to the historical trend this year at a 5–6% rate.

Capacity Enhancement: Overall capacity (combined passenger and cargo) is expected to expand 5.8%, which is above the 4.7% anticipated increase in demand. The gap between capacity and demand growth has widened to 1.1 percentage points from 0.3 percentage points in the previous forecast. Due to schedule commitments and fixed costs, capacity adjustments are expected to continue lagging behind the fall in demand, driving load factors down. By April, passenger load factors were hovering around 77%. This is more than a full percentage point below the 78.4% achieved for international traffic in 2010. Aircraft utilization is also falling. This decline in asset utilization, represented by lower load factors and average hours flown per aircraft, is the most significant downward pressure on airline profitability.

Yields: Robust economic conditions have given airlines some scope to partially recover higher fuel prices. This is reflected in an increased yield growth forecast of 3% for passenger traffic (double the previously forecast 1.5%) and 4% for cargo (up from the previously forecast 1.9%). The problem is that higher travel costs are now weakening price-sensitive demand and airlines are not expected to be able to offset higher costs with increased revenues.

Risks: The key risk to this outlook is a weakening of global economic growth. High energy prices will certainly have a slowing impact on economic growth. However, the impact will be mitigated by two factors. First, while high oil prices previously triggered recessions, today’s economies (which generate a unit of GDP using just half the energy required in the mid-1970s) are less sensitive. Second, the corporate sector is cash-rich, business confidence is high, and world trade continues to expand at around 9% annually. The International Monetary Fund and others have raised global growth projections, which would indicate a recovery in demand growth to the historical 5.6% level for the second half of 2011. IATA’s forecast for continued, albeit lower, airline profits despite $110 a barrel oil prices, is dependant on a strong economy to generate sufficient revenues to partially offset higher fuel costs.

Regional Highlights

Asia-Pacific Airlines

Asia Pacific airlines carriers are expected to earn around $2.1 billion and it is the largest profit earning group among all the regions. But still it has been impacted by the same forces that affects other region but two developments are in its favor. First very High demand for Airlines Tickets and second the cargo market is also on the rise. Though the forecasts is dramatically down from the $10 billion profit that the region achieved in 2010. Airlines in this region are more exposed than others to cargo markets and fuel price fluctuations. Asia-Pacific airlines carry 40% of all air freight volumes, while low labor costs and relatively low hedging means fuel accounts for a bigger proportion of total costs. In addition, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are expected to dent the region’s prospects for the remainder of the year. However, this will be more than offset by robust growth in both China and India. The continued dynamism of these economies means that Asia-Pacific is the only region where demand increases (6.4%) are expected to outpace capacity growth (5.9%). Here again India and China are the driving force with the Emergence of major airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher airlines, Cathay Pacific, Hainan airlines and others such as Air India. Tourists demands are also rising in India and China.

North America

North American Airlines carriers will see the $4.1 billion profit of 2010 fall to $1.2 billion. The region’s carriers are being hit on the cost side by rising fuel prices, exacerbated by an older, less fuel-efficient aircraft fleet. The region is also taking a hit on the demand side with 12% of international revenues linked to the Japan market. This is being offset somewhat by a stronger than expected US economy and stronger inbound demand and exports fueled by the weak US dollar. Careful capacity management is expected to see an overall demand increase of 4% balanced by an equal increase in capacity.

Europ Airlines Outlook

European Airlines carriers will deliver a $500 million profit, down from $1.9 billion in 2010. The sovereign debt crisis is dampening demand from the peripheral European economies. Core economies are benefiting from strong exports, but new and increased taxation of passengers is damaging price-sensitive demand. Much of the profit forecast for this year is expected to be generated on more buoyant long-haul markets. A capacity increase of 4.8% is expected to outstrip demand growth of 3.9%.

Middle east Airlines
Middle East carriers will deliver a $100 million profit, down from $900 million in 2010. Political unrest in parts of the middle easy region is hurting the airlines booking demand. The major airlines in the region such as Emirates airlines, Etihad airlines, Air Arabia and Middle East airlines are expected to continue to win market share on long-haul markets, flying passengers via Middle Eastern hubs. However, high fuel costs will weaken demand from key passenger segments and asset utilization will be under downward pressure. Capacity growth of 15.5% is expected to outstrip demand expansion of 14.6%.


Latin  American Airlines
Latin American carriers will be the only region to deliver a third consecutive year of profits. The regional economies continue to show good growth, and trade links with the United States and Asia in particular are boosting traffic. Innovative business models and consolidation have combined to generate reasonable profits from these growing markets. But a $100 million profit is down considerably on the $900 million profit of 2010. Capacity growth of 6.9% will outstrip the 6% increase growth in demand. African carriers are forecast to be the only region to post a loss, $100 million, in 2011. Political unrest across Northern Africa is dampening demand, particularly in Egypt and Tunisia, which have proportionately large tourism industries. Economies and air transport demand in many African countries have grown strongly but the local industry has struggled to turn this into profitable growth, hampered by poor infrastructure and restrictive government regulation. To compound the problem, capacity growth of 7.4% will outstrip demand growth of 6.5%.

Airline Sector Broad Trends: Analysis

The forecast point to the following Broad Trends
1. The airlines in future will continue to operate on lower profit margins

2. Alliances: The airlines will continue to form groups or enter into alliances to reduce the expenditure on various sectors

3. The Asia pacific will be the region for airlines expansion and it remains to be seen how the competition plays out in the long run.

4. The corporate and tourist sector will see the most Growth over time

Hong Kong Taiwan Flights to get a Boost

After China and Taiwan agreed in principle to allow Chinese travelers to visit Taiwan, Taiwan and Hong Kong have agreed to increase the number of their weekly flights by 28 for each side, effective from June 2011.The pact will allow more airlines from each side t benefit and among many airlines Hainan airlines is the major beneficiary. Besides the 28 flights, both Taiwan and Hong Kong will also add seven extra flights from the summer, thereby boosting the total number of flights for Taiwan-Hong Kong route to 410 a week, up from 340 now.

Under the agreement Hong Kong Express Airways, a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, will be able to provide regular flight service between Hong Kong and Taiwan, as it has the experience of undertaking Hong Kong-Taichung charter flights for many years now.

Emirates to Resume Flights to Abidjan

Emirates Airlines

Emirates airlines have confirmed that they are resuming the flights service to Abidjan in coming days. At present Emirates will operate daily flights to Abidjan via Accra Flights , the capital of Ghana. Emirates Flights to Abidjan will be served by an Airbus A340-300 aircraft which offers 12 First, 42 Business and 213 Economy Class seats.The Aircraft to Abidjan, EK 787 will depart Dubai at 0730hrs, arriving Abidjan at 1400hrs. EK788 departs Abidjan at 1520hrs, arriving Dubai at 0550hrs the following day. Emirates Airlines at present servers  around 19 passenger destinations and  many other cargo destinations  in various cities of the African continent. The major Cities In African Continent Includes Nairobi Flights , Shram -al- sheikh Flights,

About Emirates airlines Emirates are one of the largest airlines in the world and the biggest air carrier of the Middle east.The airlines has the largest expanding fleet and it operates on maximum number of routes. The airlines have flight service to most of the Important International cities such as Beijing, Basra, Bangkok, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Tehran, Dhaka and others.

Easy Jet Denied Flight Rights in Egypt

The Egyptian airlines have refused the LCC access to the services of Cairo Airport unless they renovate their No Frills Model and offered various other services to the Passengers.U.K. and Egypt had a bilateral agreement June 2010, offering landing rights for Easy Jet to three flights per week. The agreement between the two nations also raised the number of weekly slots on the London to Cairo Flights or Alexandria routes to 14 slots from 11, but also capped seating at 4,500 per week in each direction.

The bilateral agreement permits only scheduled U.K. airlines to land at Cairo or Alexandria and were previously split between British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa AG's British Midland International. BMI also borrows three weekly slots from Star Alliance partner Egyptair.Easy Jet application for certain time slots was rejected because of its low-cost model. In order to gain approval, they said Easy Jet has been asked to change its no-frills strategy, including having two classes of service instead of one at present, halting the sale of food on board and introducing a member of staff to collect taxes.

About Easy JetEasy Jet is a low cost carrier based in UK With London as its major base. The airlines offer no frills services from many European countries and cities such as Paris, Amsterdam and Amman Flights . Emirates Airline confirmed that it will resume its flights to and from Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, effective 12 May.

Spice Jet Aircraft Lands In Jaipur Instead of Delhi

Delhi Bound Spice jet passengers had a harrowing experience when the Flights originating from Guahati to Delhi Landed in Jaipur Instead of Delhi. This is not all. The flights were finally canceled in Jaipur after being diverted, without being offered valid reasons. The passengers were not even refunded the money.
According to the Spice jet management, the plane was diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather in Delhi. It was scheduled to take off once weather gets cleared in Delhi, but it was cancelled. Though AAI officers have said that an enquiry would be setup and report sent to the Director General Civil Aviation's ( DGCA).It is also a fact that five other Delhi-bound flights which were also diverted to Jaipur later but they took off after the weather cleared.

Air Asia to Make Bangkok its Hub for South operations

Air Asia

The Malaysia based Air Asia airlines have decided to make Bangkok its Hub For all its South India Operations and to facilitate Indian tourist to Visit South East Asia in trouble free manner. To this end the airlines has also Launched Direct flights between Coimbatore and Kovai. The airlines which operates from South India to Kuala Lumpur, also plans to add more originating points in India such as Chennai and Tiruchy to South East Asian countries. Malaysia has been one of the most Favored destinations for the South Indian travelers, other being Thailand and Bangkok flights have always been in demand , the other being  Manila Flights.

About Air Asia The Malaysian based  Low cost airline carrier, Air Asia is one of the largest Airlines in the Asia Pacific region and having Flights services to most of the Asian Countries capital and Cities. no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Asia. Air Asia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. The major Destinations Include Jeddah,  New York, Los Angeles, Riyadh, Toronto and others.

Air india starts Mobile check in service

Air India become one of the few airlines in India to extend Mobilecheck In facility for the passengers. But the Facility will initially be extended to only six metros in India and that too for only domestic travelers. The facility to be started from April 7 will be available to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. This is expected to cover Flights to Manila, Hongkong and others as well in near future.

The mobile check in facilities enables the passengers to check-in for their flights from their web enabled mobile handsets anytime they wish.The air India URL for accessing the service is  http://flyai.mobi/ users have to follow the sequnce of instrauctions aftehr accessing the URL. Air India hopes to reduce the need for enhancing cutomer ticketing and flying experience.

Emirates Named Top Middle East Brand

Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines is in the new again wiht the airlines being named the Top brand in the Middle East region. The airlines featured in top 500 Global Brand report borught by Brand Finance and the value of the Emirates brand was pegged at US$3.6 billion.

Emirates airlines is already the biggest airlines in the Middle Easta and largest in the world in termsof passengers carried. Further the airlines is in an expansion mode and is on aircraft buying spree with billions of orders placed with AirBus. The Emirates Airlines was founded in Dubai in the UAE in 1985. It is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world. The aviation firm made headlines by ordering 90 new A380 Airbus planes in 201 eventhough its fleet currently consists of 146 planes. Emirates has more than 36,000 employees.

The airlines is putting uip toughest competition for its rivals woldwide and has virtually forced a number of airlines to eneter into coalition, such as Unted airlines and Continental airlines have now merged operations. The airlines has its main hub in the Dubai airrport and from there it connects virtually all imkportant cities of the world such as Beijing, Abidjan, Accra, Amsterdam and Bangkok.

Jet Airways Invited to Join Delta, Air France and Alitalia Alliance

The largest Airlines in India, Jet Airways has been requested by the alliance of Air France, Delta Airlines and Alitalia to join their cross Atlantic Joint venture towards better and closer cooperation among the four airlines. All the Atlantic airlines have seen a reduced market both internationally and in their home turf, thereby forcing a rethink on strategy on their part. Jet Airways at present remains non-committal about any such plans though the cooperation can go a long way in collaboration among the airlines in terms of Code shares, common Customer reward programs as well as using each other facilities in different countries.

Jet Airways is in an expansion mode and any such alliance would help cost effective toward the expansion strategy. This also becomes relevant as Jet Airways is seeking inclusion in the SkyTeam Alliance even as its rivals such as Air India plan to Join Star alliance and Kingfisher to the Oneworld alliance. Jet Airways is the largest airlines in India in terms of market cap and is also in expansion mode offering flights to cities such as  Cairo, Dhaka, Jakarta, Manila and others.

Tsunami Hits Japan: Airlines Connectivity Hit

A Tsunami triggered by Earthquake measuring 8.9 Ricter scale in Japan proved very disastrous for the North Eastern Japanese regions with many casualties reported. "the whole world are with the Japanese people" is the common sentiments echoed by most nations and heads of stated cutting accorss boundaries. also Google has issued warning on its home page regarding fallout of the Japanese tsunami in other areas such as Indonesia, Australia, new Papua guinea and other north pacific nations.connectivity of many Japanese airlines were also hit with many airlines such as British airlines temporarily suspending many flight to some areas in Japan. other airlines may also adopt such measures.
More at: Airlines Operations Hit

Air Bus to Now Focus on Asian Market

It is not for nothing that Air Bus is having grand plans for Asia. Almost one third of its business is going to come from the Booming Asian aviation market as predicted by the firm based on its market demands.The two of the fastest growing economies India and China contrasts starkly  to the declining economies in the western sphere and hence an enhanced demand for Air Bus is all but expected. This is provided the Air Bus is able t meet the invincible competition from the bigger player Boeing and many regional jets such as Brazil Embardier.

The reason for the Air Bus optimism are many Fold:

• All the major Air lines in Asia such as Emirates airlines, Jet airways and Kingfisher are on an expansion spree and some are Air Bus customers as well. In India Kingfisher is one of the largest Air Bus customer and Air India is also among them. Emirates Airline is one of the biggest customers of Air Bus and in fact the  for the Airbus Dream liner series they are the first ones also.

• The demand will also be high as the airlines in Developing countries of Asia Pacific are seeking to expand Internationally backed by enhanced Airlines Booking demands due to greater outflow of Tourists, Corporates and Travelers .

• The spurt in Mid Size carriers: The is predictably more demand for Mid sized carriers as sooner or later all airlines will have to offer the Low cost carrier model and also fly to suburban domestic destination where need for larger aircraft are non existent.

As per Air Bus Predictions the market for the asia pacific is expected at $1.2 trillions or more than 8000 aircrafts over  next 20 years.

Air India to Focus on the Gulf Region for Profit

Air India

The Air India may soon see resumption of flight to many flights destinations in the Middle East and Gulf region. With the appointment of a New CEO of Air India and various reports suggesting that Air India actually withdrew services from 32 most profitable routes that are now capitalized by Air India competitors, the decks may now be cleared for this strategic move by the airlines.The national carrier of India is also facing many internal crisis such as manpower unrest and pilot protests.



Flights to West Asia account for one-fourth of total revenue and covers all cash costs for the airline, except for a few routes. Recently Air India  Express shifted its base to Kochi and it is almost certain that Air India may follow suit as Kerala is one of the Top destinations for Air Travelers to the Gulf region. But the Air India's competitors  such as Kingfisher airlines and Jet Airways are not worried as they have already been on an aggressive marketing and route expansion spree pushing air India to the Fourth largest airlines position in India.Hefty Government Funding is also expected besides clearing away of Outstanding dues by the Government of India. The major Flights to the gulf region includes Air routes through  Kuwait city, Riyadh, Teheran, Muscat and others.

Kingfisher Airlines Regains the Second Largest Carrier Tag

Kingfisher Airlines Booking

Kingfisher airlines is on the move with the January aviation figures pointing towards the fact that Kingfisher has again captured the Second largest carrier tag. Indigo airlines has climbed the graph pretty well in recent time and has pipped Air India from the third position recently and even Kingfisher from the second slot with a robust enhancement in domestic passengers growth.

 As per the data of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation the aviation market  witnessed an increase of 20.7 per cent in passenger traffic during this period on Y-O-Y basis.The total market share of Kingfisher Airlines stood at 19.5 per cent for the month of January followed by IndiGo Airlines at 19.2 per cent. Also both the airlines carried 18.6 per cent of the total passengers each in December 2011.

At the same time the Air India is on market losing curve with declining route operations and passengers flown. The market share of Air India stood at just 15.8 per cent of the total domestic passengers while in December 2011 it stood at 17.1 per cent of the total.

The January share for other airlines in India Stood as: Spice Jet at 14.3 per cent and GoAir 6.4 per cent

 In keeping with the past year trends, Jet airways retained the Top slot with overall market share 24.8 per cent. This figure include its subsidiaries Jet airways and Jet lite (The LCC model) — The former accounting for 17.3 per  and  the latter 7.5 per cent.

Top Asian Airlines to watch for in 2011

With the balance of the Airlines Booking  industry growth shifted in favor of the Asia Pacific region, there is renewed interest in keeping track of the best airlines that have performed in the past and holds promising 2011 financial year ahead. Here is the list of top 15 airlines in the Asia Pacific region that are worth to watch for in terms of Fleet growth, Passengers Flown besides strong financial prospects.

Air China

Air China

With a market cap exceeding $ 20 billions Air China has emerged as the largest airlines financially upstaging Delta air from the much Vouched after position.

This coupled with the fact that Hong Kong is destined to be the fastest rising Air Cargo market will assist Air China in scaling the Cargo sector as well. And further help will obviously come from the growing number of Chinese international passengers.


China Southern Airlines

China Southern Airlines

The next big thing in the Asian Aviation market China Southern airlines together with Air China will be the major growth factors in Global aviation as predicted by the IATA.

The lone Chinese carrier that will soon operate and Airbus380, but surging oil prices and the airlines next steps remains to be watched.



Kingfisher airlines

Kingfisher Airlines

One of the largest private players in India and also the fastest growing, Kingfisher remains the only listed airlines that has not broken even though  the airlines forecast remains promising give its top of the lines Customer service , addition of ever growing number of Fleets and most importantly  venturing into new Flights to India routes. But Rising oil prices and growing competition from the fellow airlines Jet Airways and Indigo may play spoilsport.


 Virgin Atlantic airlines

Virgin Atlantic Airlines

Gone are the day when its every move made news but the airlines is seeking suitors aggressively and in future this airlines may be merged with some other or enters into a partnership. But the market responses of Virgin Atlantic need to be watched.

Emirates airlines

Emirates airlines

The biggest airlines in the Middle East and largest in the world in terms of passengers carried the airlines is the hallmark of on flight customer satisfaction innovation and its flights safety standards are vouched for. Having presence in 110 international cities spread across 66 countries the airlines is on an expansion spree both interms of fleet growth and operating on new routes. The biggest growth factor for Emirates remains the Indian, Chinese and South Eat Asia market and how the Airlines handles its growth with financial stability needs to be watched. Flights by the airlines Include Torunto, Amman, Addis Ababa Flights.




Air India

Air India

The Troubled national carrier of India is undergoing both Financial and manpower crisis and ever shrinking routes on which it operates. Also some Indian government bailout package may be eminent. The most important thing to watch for is how the Airlines reorients itself to catch up with other airlines regarding the lucrative Middle east sector and South  East Asia emerging market where its private competitors  such as Jet Airways have fared rather better regarding Flights opeartions.




Gulf Air

Gulf Air

The national carrier of Bahrain is well placed to emerge as the prime Middle east airlines with growing air traffic from the country. Add to it the large expatriate population from South Asian countries the airlines has emerged clear winner in some market and routes for example Cochin Bahrain route. How the airlines further expand is a matter of debate in 2011.






Thai Airways

Thai Airways

 The much sought after airlines and often synonymous with customer satisfaction the airlines has a promising road ahead with ever growing south Asia economy and tourists flowing to various countries in the region and Thailand in particular.  Tourist Traffic from India and China will be important factors in Thai Airways Growth and so will be the fact that how the airlines compete with other airlines in those competitive routes besides exploring the new ones.



Air Arabia

Air Arabia

 Based out of Sharjah in Dubai, Air Arabia is in expansion mode with ever increasing open sky agreements, codes shares and direct flight agreements.

The airlines are growing in revenue but have also registered 37% loss in profit in Q4 2011 and it remains to be seen how the airlines tend to enhance its profit margins.






 Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways

Based out of Abu Dhabi the airlines is single handedly responsible for 70% traffic to the Abu Dhabi airport. Having Flights to almost all Middle East Countries the airlines has expanded to many routes most importantly in India and China.

It operates on most  UAE  India flight routes. According to some news it is even courting Virgin airlines for a possible takeover and outreach its current market.

Kinfisher Drops AirBus 380 Acquisition Plans

Owing to changes market priorities and compulsions the Kingfisher Airlines has decided to change its Aircraft acquisition plan with emphasis now on less bigger aircraft. Due to changed market circumstances the Airlines has decided to double its fleet size from 66 to 137 aircraft by the year 2015-16 but this has to be implemented sans the much publicized Airbus 380s induction.During the 2011-12 financial year the Kingfisher airlines  plans to add nine aircraft - six A320s, two A330s and one ATR. Of these Aircraft, the airline will take eight directly from the market. It plans to add 14 aircraft in 2012-13, 20 in 2013-14, 16 in 2014-15 and 13 in 2015-16.

At present the Kingfsiher Airlines is the the second-largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried and operates around 375 flights a day to 71 destinations in India and worldwide. But it is the lone listed carrier that has not turned even with reporting a net loss of around Rs 1,647 crore year ended March 2009.Hence the airlines is on damage control mode by phasing out Food Options In LCC model Kingfisher Red and also aims to phase out highly paid foreign pilots in the  coming financial year. and operate leased aircraft besides outsourcing maintenance functions.

Air India Pushed to Fourth Position in Number of Flights Operared

Air India-Now Fourth Largest

The national carrier of India, Air India has been pushed to the fourth position in terms of numbers of  total number of flights operated. As per the latest aviation  data Air India has operated less number of domestic and international flights last year than its competitors, with  figures showing that its market share has dwindled to 17.1 per cent of the total flights.As per the latest data Air India and its subsidiaries put together  stands at the fourth position in terms of its market share ans ranks after  the airlines Jet Airways, Kingfisher and IndiGo Airlines.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also indicated the reasons for dismal performance of  Air India is also due to the declining route network. As to the overall data, all Indian carriers jointly operated a total of 5,25,504 flights on the domestic network during the year 2010, Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite flew 1,42,101 flights and Kingfisher Airlines operated 1,20,362 flights, leaving AI at the third spot with only 1,01,352 flights.

 As per the latest data,  Air India withdrew Airlines Booking services from at least 32 "profitable routes"  since 2009 late 2009 and thereby giving a competitive advantage to its private competitors, both domestic, international and  foreign airlines. Incidentally most of the lucrative routes were  promising Gulf and Middle East sector.  As for its competitors, Of the total 32 routes from which the national carrier withdrew its services in over  the year, Jet Airways was operating on 11 routes and Kingfisher on 6 and further IndiGo and SpiceJet had also launched their services on these routes.Many Gulf based airlines are also operating profitably on these 32 routes and they are Emirates Airlines , Etihad Airways,Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Bahrain Air.

Airlines Booking: Steps to Cheap Airlines Tickets Booking

Airlines

With the proliferation of various airlines the air travelers are spoilt for best bargains on cheap airlines booking. Though seemingly easy it may be the airlines travelers have to be on constantly lookout for picking up the best airlines booking deals. Here are the steps for picking the best bargains every time you travel by air to any place in the world.

1. Online airlines booking portals: the numerous online booking travel portals in some way or the other are always the first choice for getting discount tickets booked for flights. The reason is that they offer last minute deals and discounts, Airlines seasonal offers as well as offers hefty discounts on tickets purchased well in advance.

2. Travel alerts: Getting some travel alerts in place always helps to know exactly what is happening in the airlines tickets market and grab the opportunity once good Airlines Booking deals comes your ways. This is important as on many occasions airlines give seasonal or special offer for frequent flyers or to popularize some low traffic routes as well as last minute deals.

3. Know your airlines: Knowing the airlines offering cheapest tickets is a must for frequent flyers. Airline offers services depending on their business model. For example they may be Low cost carrier model or otherwise. Then some airlines may always be offering cheap airlines booking for some particular destination when either there is intense competition or when the rout is not too busy. For Example Emirates online Booking and Air India Express Booking are at two differently branded carriers and hence varying travel experience.

4. Airlines Booking Engines: Getting acquainted with one or two Airlines Booking engines search engines. For example Expedia or Kayak are two good search engines with presence across all continents and offers ticket information for a large number of airlines. They also release daily quota for discount airlines tickets which can be available for cheap prices.

5. Choosing the traveling date: Choosing on starting weekdays or Holidays itself i always cheap as found by market reports. For example traveling on the day of Eid is always cheaper than the day before.

But at the same time the customers should not try to wait for last minute airlines Booking Deals as airlines data reveals that for last minute flight booking deals the prices are the highest from 14 days before departure date. The point here is to plan well before in advance and get last minute tickets before departure only if you know pretty well that the flight will be empty.

Emirates airlines, the national Airlines of Dubai came into being in 1985 primarily to connect Dubai with rest of the world as well as enhancing domestic air connectivity. Having Airlines operations spread over 66 countries and connecting more than 110 international cities and destinations, emirates is the largest Airlines in the Middle East and largest growing airlines of the world. The airlines is one of examples of how with growing customer care, Flight innovations and safety standards even traditional big players can be overtaken and new routes can be made profitable.

Due to the astounding success of the airlines in terms of passengers growth and  resulting revenue, the airlines has put one of the largest orders for 120 Airbus carriers to increase its fleet size. In 2010 the airline was the sixth-largest airline in the world in terms of international passengers carried, largest in the world in terms of scheduled international passenger-kilometers flown and seventh largest in terms of scheduled freight tonne-kilometres flown. With ever expanding routing and services the airlines now operates in most of the continents and countries of the world. As recognition of the contribution of Emirates airlines in Dubai Aviation, Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 was built exclusively for the use of Emirates.

The airlines are ever ready to make the journey memorable and easy for its flyers. Hence the airlines has entered into codeshare with many other airlines such as Jet Airways of India, Oman Air, V Australia, Royal Air Maroc, Continental Airlines, Air Mauritius, Thai Airways International and many others.

Emirates Booking

Emirates airlines Booking is available either through the Emirates own website or even though many online travel Flights booking portals. Further seasonal offers and discount tickets are also available from time to time. Those who fly with the airlines should know that Emirates became the first airline in the world to introduce a personal entertainment system on a commercial aircraft after introducing the world’s first seat-back screens way back in 1992 to make the in flight experience truly memorable.

Emirates Presence in South Asia

Emirates booking are available for most of the South and South East Asian countries such as India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Korea and Malaysia. The Destinations covered in India by Emirates Includes without being exhaustive includes Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Bangalore, Khozikode and Kochi. Other destinations in other countries include Dhaka, Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Many Others.

Emirates Airlines Awarded " Best Airlines of the Year Award" By Air Transport World

Emirates Booking

Dubai Based Emirates Airlines has been awarded the much sought after ‘Airline of the Year’ award for 2011 by the leading Air Transport World. The award is conferred every year in recognition of exemplary safety standards, customer satisfaction and on flight experience.As per the Awards citation Emirates was conferred the award in recognition of the Dubai-based carrier’s “strong commitment to safety and operational excellence, trendsetting customer service and superb financial performance”.

Emirates is the leading airlines of the world and is one of the sought after among the 125 airlines which serves Dubai. The airlines has made its mark on the international Flight destinations and has seen constant rise in the passengers outside Middle East as well most remarkably EU and USA.

As per the airlines statements the cornerstone of Emirates success has been a relentless drive for cabin innovation not just in premium class but in economy, strong commitment to safety and operational excellence, its trendsetting customer service and its superb financial performance including a 22-year consecutive annual profit streak. Emirates launched its services in 1985, and since then it has has grown into one of the largest and most dynamic airlines in the world, transforming Dubai into a world-class hub for global air travel. The airline is a leader in developing flexible air routing that save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.

Emirates was one of the earliest airlines too introduce individual seat back videos and to enable passengers to make authorized on board mobile phone calls. Emirates' flagship A380s are the only commercial aircraft flying in the world that features on board Shower Spas for First Class passengers. These first class on flights services together with financial strength that has allowed the airlines to experience rapid and consistent growth, above 20 per cent a year on average. Financially self-sustained and unprotected, Emirates carried 27.5 million passengers in the 2009-10 financial year – almost 4.7 million more than the previous 12 months.

Currently Emirates Airlines serves more than 110 international flights destinations spread over 66 countries across various continents such as Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Asia-Pacific.

Air India Express Changes Sharjah Kozhikode Flight Timings

Air India Express has announced changes in the departure timing of its daily flights to Sharjah from Kozhikode with starting from February 14.

As per the new departure timing divulged by The Air India Express,the IX 353 Kozhikode-Sharjah flight would leave at 5.20 am instead of 7.20 pm until the end of May 2011. then AGAIN FROM jUNE the departure would be advanced to 1.30 am. At present the Air India Express now operates a total of 43 international departures from Kozhikode daily to various destinations in the Middle East region. In the coming summer schedule effect end of March 2011,Kozhikode-Dammam sector was planned to be covered under Air India Express network with a daily flight with departure time at 6.35 pm.The Air India Express Flights have been one of the most favored in the Gulf region due to its Low costs carrier model. Most Importantly the carriers caters to most of the Suburban towns in South India and connects it to the Gulf Region.

Airlines Booking Growth to Conmtinue: But Rising Oil Prices a Concern

The Latest Aviation Data released by the International Air Traffic Association has pointed out the fact that growing oil prices may well lead to the slackening of air booking demands that have till now shown robust trends. Another impact on Airlines Booking will be reduced profit margins by the airlines industry as they compete among themselves for retaining their customer base. Thus the viability of airlines carriers already operating in thin margins are questionable.

As an overall prediction IATA has said that 2011 would see a second consecutive year of profitability but with industry profits falling by 40% to $9.1 billion. Also the present prediction depends on oil prices stabilizing at the current oil prices of $84 a barrel. The agency has predicted that for every dollar increase in the average price of a barrel of oil over the year, the airlines must recover $1.6 billion in costs to maintain the operating profit.

As per the IATA yearly trends the total traffic was up 8.2% in the current year, while cargo grew 20.6% as companies around the world re-stocked their inventories. Similarly, Passenger and cargo numbers for December 2010 showed they had outstripped 2008's pre-recession heights, with air travel volume up by 4% and cargo by 1% over 2008. Thus the broad recessionary trends are a thing of the past though the profit margin remains at 2.7%. Hence the sustainability of this is also a question.

As per the regional Flights trends, Middle East airlines led the way in passenger demand, recording 17.8% growth in 2010 despite a 13.2% rise in capacity as a steady stream of new aircraft was delivered to Gulf-based airlines. Other regions also recorded year-on-year growth in 2010: Africa with 12.9%, Asia-Pacific 9%, Latin America 8.2% and North America 7.4%.Europe finished last with a dismal 5.1% rise in air traffic.

Qatar Airways to Serve New Flight Destinations in India

The Global Airlines players are looking set to further tap the Growing Indian Airlines market. An the Airlines in the Middle East are not exceptions. Qatar Airways one of the most well Known airlines in the Middle East has decided to Increase the flight destinations it currently serves. The Airlines is currently serving 11 Indian Destinations:

Daily Flight From Doha:Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Cochin, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad and Goa
Amritsar: Four Flights a week.
Bengaluru: Bi Weekly

The Qatar airways is the largest in middle East with a fleet of more than 90 Air Crafts. Further Qatar has many Air service Agreement with New Delhi and hence the airlines can easily launch itself in an expansion mode in the Indian Market. Qatar airways also plans to expand in the South east asian market  and  European market by offering Flights to cities such as London, Los angeles, Newyork, Madrid , Paris and Moscow. 

Airlines Booking Tips: Cheap Airlines Ticket Booking Tips and Tricks

Airlines Booking  are now easy with the presence of many online booking Travel portals as well as user friendly booking interface on most of the airlines. The users have been inundated with many cheap flights options due to presence of multiple airlines on the same routes, special seasonal offers being offered by the travel booking portals and discount scheme being run by the airlines themselves. But for cheap flights booking one has to be constantly looking for cheap alternatives and plan well in advance so that they get best price deals. Here are some tips for Airlines travelers to keep in mind before booking airlines Tickets.

1. Plan quite well in advance: One should plan quite well in advance, for example tow to three weeks before, so that the traveler have enough options to compare the airlines tickets prices being offered.

2. Board some late Night Flight: Late Night flights are generally avoided by many, especially those traveling in families. So sometimes airlines come up with special Discount tickets so that they can fill the seats for late night flights.

3. Fly during the week: Weekend are rush hours and so the ticket prices are also increased by airlines for these periods. Hence flying on weekdays is a good idea as far as cheap Airlines booking is concerned.

4.Set alerts for Airlines Booking deals: To keep yourself up[dated on the latest flights deals simply set real time alerts such as from travel portals, Google and Yahoo Travel news, and be the first to grab them as well as there are others looking for Cheap Airlines Booking too.

5. Select Airlines: Most of the travelers has liking for one airlines or other, depending on whether they like their Low cost carrier model, their customer services or others. Keep a tab on the latest services offerings by them through subscribing to their RSS feeds and newsletter.

6. Last Minute airlines deals: Sometimes last Minute airlines deals comes very cheap and worth waiting for as unoccupied seats are offered for pennies sometimes especially on less frequented routes.

7. Book returns flights as well: Some times heavy discounts are offered if traveler’s book return tickets as well form same airlines. Travel portals provides cheap airlines booking offers and have the option for booking different airlines on return journey.

8. Flexible Airlines booking options: Most important of all have flexible timelines regarding booking airlines Tickets wherever possible so that you wait for the right Moments to pick your Airlines Booking offers.

9. Airport Distance: There may be time when for particular airport, cheap tickets options are offered as incentives for travelers to travel from that airport. Hence exploring such options wherever possible also pays.

10.  Compare: Try comparing air travel rates for particular routes for a little time to arrive at the conclusions regarding general low fares for particular airlines. Look also for some Inaugural offers on some routes as they may offer cheap airlines tickets booking. For Example Air India Express  bookingcan be very cheap for the UAE to India Routes.

Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia to have 22 new Flights to France

In a major push for the Europe operations of the Emirates based airlines, both Emirates airlines and Etihad Airways has combinedly signed an agreement with French Civil aviation authority to increase the frequency of Flights between UAE and France.  The MOU in this regard was signed by the Aviation authority of both the countries.

Both the countries agreed to  add twenty two (22) New  weekly passenger flights making the total number of flihgts to  fifty seven (57) per week between the two countries designated airlines. This implies an increase of over sixty percent (60%) in the number of frequencies between the two countries. Besides Paris, Nice, Lyons, Marseilles and Toulouse, both countries also agreed to add Bordeaux in France  as a sixth point of destination  flights to be operated by the designated airlines of the UAE. Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia are the designated airline of UAE.

More On UAE Air Traffic: Abu Dhabi Passenger Traffic Data

 To be more specific about the UAE Air Traffic Data Published in last post here is the Airlines Traffic for the Abu Dhabi Airport.Abu Dhabi is growing into one of the busiest airport in the Middle East region with constant improvements in the Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The number of passengers traffic to the airport stood at nearly 11 million which translates into a 12 per cent jump from the previous year 2009.

The reasons for Growth of the passenger traffic can be found in the emergence of Various Indigenous Airlines carries such As Emirates Airlines and Most Importantly the growth of Abu Dhabi Based Etihad Airways. Both the airlines are in an Expansion spree and furiously adding more domestic and international destinations to their itinerary.

There have been also increase in the new international airlines operating in the UAE, for example Jet airways and Kingfisher Now have many flights to the Abu Dhabi Airport, besides Thai airways, Singapore airlines and other increasing their flight frequency. Air France, Jordan's Royal Falcon, Air Arabia Egypt, Air Astana of Kazakhstan, and GMG Airlines of Bangladesh all began new services into the Abu Dhabi airport last year, bringing the total number of airlines serving the UAE capital to 52.With the traffic rush Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has marketed itself heavily internationally to welcome new carriers to spur additional trade and tourism into the country. The UAE capital is positioning itself to become a major hub for air travel, tourism and aerospace. Next year it will host World Routes 2012, one of the airport industry's largest conferences.

Coupled with this there has been major investment in boosting up the airport infrastructure. ADAC has also sought to revitalize the UAE  Al Ain International Airport, which last year saw inaugural services from Ariana  Afghan Airlines and Oman Air. It has to be noted that Etihad airways has the major share of the airports of the traffic amounting to 7.1 million of the overall traffic.

UAE Air Traffic Data: Good Improvements in Airlines Traffic

There has been major increase in the airlines movement to the UAE. according to the data released by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) the total number of air traffic movements in the UAE in the year 2010 stood at 644457 which was 11.09 higher than the figure of 580,118  last year. This attest positively to the policies and reforms carried in the UAE aviation sites since last some years.



 There has been change in the daily average number of air traffic movements in 2010  to  1,766 per day, up 11.13 per cent when compared to the daily average number of 1,589 air traffic movements per day in 2009.
 According to the reports, the month of December witnessed the highest number of air traffic movements, which were 57,847, up 5.9 per cent, compared to 52,788 movements in December 2009 on Monthly basis.
 On the city basis, Dubai ranked first with around 3 Lakhs  air traffic movements, or almost 45.4 per cent of total UAE air traffic movements. Over flights stood next at 140,821, representing 21.85 per cent of overall  air traffic movements in UAE. Abu Dhabi ranked third with 94,796 air traffic movements, or 14.7 per cent of total air traffic movements. Sharjah was fourth with 64,189 air traffic movements, representing 9.96 per cent of total air traffic movements in the UAE in 2010. According to the report, local flights between UAE airports were in the fifth position with 42,812 movements, representing 6.6 per cent of total air traffic movements. Fujairah International Airport witnessed 4,578 movements, while Al Ain Airport and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport had 2,325 and 1,925 air traffic movements, respectively. The UAE's latest airport, Jebel Ali Airport, which started air-freight operations in June 2010, witnessed 349 movements. The four airports together represented 1.4 per cent of total UAE air traffic movements last year.

UAE in particular and Middle East region has seen unprecedented flow of Air traffic in recent Months on Account of Business, Holidays and Leisure travel.The Country has also seen emergence of one  some of the biggest airlines in the world such as Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways.

Top airlines in Middle East

Middle East region, especially the Gulf is the place to be for the aviation sector. Booming economy and investment in infrastructure sector has fueled the growth of airlines sector as well.This is also due to the fact that there has been huge growth in the native visitors visiting outside the country for leisure as well as Business tours. Besides the fact that most of the population in some countries such as UAE are migratory, also contribute to the airline travel growth.

Herein, i list the top airlines in the Middle east region in terms of services offered, connectivity with the important regions in the middle east, customer care and ratings by the Customers/air travelers.



1.Emirates airlines: Dubai based Emirate airlines is already the largest airlines in the world in terms of passengers carried as well as the size of its fleet. With many more air carriers in line the airlines is set to emerge a major player in the global aviation industry. Emirates airlines connects most of the cities in the middle east region and UAE providing air services to the most of important international cities. Rated high by the consumers and passengers, the airlines has received many international awards for offering top of the line customer experience.


2.Etihad Airways:The state owned airlines of UAE, Etihad airways ahs more than 150 flights daily both domestic as well as to more than 50 international cities. One of the preferred airlines by the customers and has codeshare agreement with more than 10 other airlines for smooth customer experience. The airlines has received multiple awards for customer handling.




3.Air Arabia: Having its headquarters in Sharjah, Air Arabia is one of the biggest airlines in the Middleeast region and connects all major cities in UAE Saudi Arabia. Besides the airlines operates though its subsidiaries in Countries line Jorda, Egypt and Morocco thereby making it the most important airlines for the middle east region. The airlines also has a base in Nepal and operates thorough Fly Yeti. The airlines has fleet size of more than 22 air carriers.




4.Gulf air: Offering its service to more than 45 International destination accross countries in Asia, Africa and Europe Gulf air is one of the most trusted airlines in the Middle Est region. Formed in late 1940s the airlines has further expanded itself in terms of service agreement by having codeshare agreements with major airlines in Europe and Asia. The Airlines is based out of Bahrain and head Quartered at Muharraq city.




5.Kuwait Airways:The national carrier of Kuwait, Kuwait airways was formed in 1954 to connect major cities within Kuwait. But soon the airlines expanded to caters to other cities in the Middle east and International cities. The ailrines has alo entered into codeshares with many airlines auch as Jet Airways of India.




6.Egypt air: A member of the starallinace and Skyscanner, Egypt air caters to more than 75 destinations primarily focusing on the domestic market though also flying to international destinations.The airlines is headquartered n Cairo.The airlines has many holding companies such as EGYPT air cargo and Egypt air Medical.



7. Oman Air: The national airlines of Oman, Oman air ias baed out of Muscat and serves more than 37 international and domestic destinations and numbering more than 270 flights per week. The airlines has Code share agreements with other airlines as well as Frequent flyer and cheap Airlines Booking program and .

Airlines Industry Growth should be matched by the Aviation Infrastructure Growth

The Global Flights analysts are perplexed at the Size of Indigo's Aircraft deals and they are sitting over and calculating what the Indian aviation market has to  offer. While most of them realize that the flight sector boom in India is set to continue at the same pace and emergence of some Global Indian Airlines is eminent many of them also point out the dismal state of the Aviation Infrastructure such as Airports and high tariff structure for Fuels and Aircraft landing.


Rising economic profiles of People driven by a booming economy has also pushed up the demands for airlines particularly the suburban towns and this phenomenon is best exploited by the Airlines such as Indigo which offers Low cost carrier model. Further liberalization of the airlines sector has seen intense competition among the airlines and reduction of Airlines Booking prices.


But for capitalizing on the aviation Boom what is being forgotten is the investment in boosting aviation Infrastructure is not keeping pace with the airlines industry growth. Unless this happens , for example provision of airports in the suburban towns, the expansion phase of the airlines Booking  will soon be marked by slump in demand, which may be presently concentrated to the metros.

Indian Airlines Industry Biggest deal: Indigo Air Bus orders Unparalled In aviation History

The Indian aviation Industry has received the biggest boost till date with the Indigo Airlines Making a record deal $15.5 deal with the AirBus.

The airlines which emerged as the largest airlines in the Indian market has decided to put orders for 180 Airbus aircraft of the 320-neo series. The size of the aircraft purchase deal is by far unprecedented in aviation Industry.The aircraft are scheduled by the airbus over next 9 years starting from 2016 - 2025. This deal will go down as the largest single order deal in the history of commercial aviation history, making Indigo the launch customer for the New A320-neo series of Aircraft.

Indigo has emerged as a major Low cost airlines carrier in India and the major reason stated behind the deals is the efficiency of engines and large wing tip devices called Sharklets that are also capable of significant fuel savings of up to 15 percent are the few plus points of these new jets.


Incidentally IndiGo got the government's nod to induct 150 aircraft only recently. Going by the trends of the Indian airlines sector there is huge gap in demand and supply of Airlines seats available some projections estimate that India would requires more thousands of aircraft to meet the rising demands. It is to be noted that Indigo will receive 100 aircraft by 1015 which it ordered in 2005.

The choice of The new series of the A 320 is very mature as the aircraft offers unparalleled fuel efficiency (A-320 neo) which would help Indigo to continue to offer low fares.Indigo will also be ale to offer International flights by August 2011 and will most probably Concentrate on catering to the Airlines Booking demands in the SE Asia and Gulf region. Air India Express  is going to be a major Competitor in these regions.

Air India Express Online Booking From UAE

Air India Express

Conceived in 2004, mainly as a low cost airlines targeting the Indian migrants to the Middle east region, Air India Express now caters to many destinations in the South East region as well. A  fully owned enterprise of Air India Charters , the airlines is Now a subsidiary of Air India or Indian. The Airlines Now operate more than 110 Flights per week though the major operating base in India still remains the southern states which has High concentration of Gulf Expatriates.

Air India Express Flights From UAE: an over View

The airlines has a major presence in most of the UAE Cities and Air India Express online Booking are available to Most of The Indian Cities. The UAE cites from which Air India Express tickets Booking can be made are Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain.Air India Express offers bi Weekly Flights from Sharjah to Kochi and Dubai to Mumbai.

Recent Air India Express News
The Airlines shifted its Headquarters to Kerala from Mumbai to have economy of scale as most of its Flights operations are carried from the Southern states. Its technical HQ remains n Thiruananthapuram.  Air India express is facing major competitions from other airlines such as jet Airways, Kingfisher and Indigo who are also  into Low cost Flights ticket Booking sector. Further Competition is accruing from the Gul;f based carriers such as Etihad  airlines and Emirates airlines who are in an expansion mode are are offering many flights on the Routes such as for Dubai Mumbai Flights, Dubai New Delhi Flights and Dubai Kochi Flights.

Air India Express New Offers
Air India express is hell bent on capturing its market share in the Low cost Airlines Booking segment and to this effort it has Launched many attractive schemes regarding domestic leg of the International Flights routs, mostly UAE To India Flights. As per the scheme for every international flights there will be five free seats for which the passengers will have to pay only the taxes. Thus this is an attempt to bring into the focus the airlines International flights and at the same time lure low cost domestic fliers. The airlines also ofefrs flights from Darresalam, Istanbul, Jeddah, Nairobi and others.

Air India Express Competitors
The major Competition to Air India express comes from Indigo Airlines, Spicejet and Jet Airways. This is due to the fact that all of them offers the Low cost Flights Model as well as have Southern Cities Flight offers. Recently Indigo replaced Air India, the parent company of Air India Express,as the Third largest Airlines Ind India.

Air India Express Online Booking Resumes from Bahrain

In a major relief for the people of Indian origin living in Bahrain, Air India has resumed its flights to Mumbai from the capital city of  Bahrain. The Flight booking will be initially available on a bi-weekly basis and with this the Fifth destination to an Indian cities from  Bahrain. The same flight that  flies to Mimbai will also connect Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

There has been growth in revenues from the Air India Bahrain operations which stood at almost 40% revenue growth Compared yearly in 2010. Air India express caters to mostly domestic market in India But Air India Express Online Bookings are available for select few states in the Gulf. Also Air India express caters to the Low cost carrier segment and is very popular with the Indians residing in the Gulf region.

Top 10 Airlines of the world: Review

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA)  is the flag carrier of Singapore, the prime island Country in East Asia. Singapore Airlines operates a hub at Change Airport and is the dominant carrier in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. The company also operates Pacific flights, including the world's two longest non-stop commercial flights from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles on the Airbus A340-500. The airlines was the first customer of the "super jumbo" Airbus A380.

SIA has diversified portfolio ranging from airline-related businesses, such as aircraft handling and engineering. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, SilkAir, manages regional flights to secondary cities with smaller capacity requirements. Singapore Air is the World's Most Admired Airline and was ranked 27th on Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies rankings in 2010

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place.The airline's operations include scheduled passenger  and cargo  services to 114 destinations in overall 36 countries worldwide, including code shares and joint ventures, with a fleet of 126 aircraft, consisting of a mix of Airbus A330s and A340s, Boeing 747s and 777s.

The airline was founded on 24 September 1946 by American Roy C. Farrell and Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow, with each man putting up HK$1 to register the airline. Cathay Pacific is also a founding member of the Oneworld alliance, with its subsidiary, Dragonair, as an affiliate member. The airline was awarded with a Five Star Airline ranking and 2009 Airline of the Year by Skytrax.

Qantas Airways

Qantas Airways Limited is the national airline of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an acronym  for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services. Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport. It is Australia's largest airline and the world's oldest continuously operating airline.[4]  Qantas headquarters are located in the Qantas Centre in the Mascot suburb of the City of Botany Bay, Sydney, New South Wales.Currently the airline is considered a four-star airline by research consultancy firm Skytrax. In 2010, Qantas was voted the seventh best airline in the world by the firm.

Thai Airways

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Thailand. The airlines Formed in 1988, are headquarters at Chanukah District, Bangkok, and operate out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Thai is a major shareholder which hold 39% shares of Nok Air - a low-cost Bangkok based carrier.

From its hub at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thai flies to 71 destinations in 34 countries worldwide, using a fleet of 98 aircraft. The airline operates one of the longest non-stop commercial flights, including the 18 hours non-stop flight from Bangkok to Los Angeles.Thai Airways International is the First Asia/Pacific Airline to serve London's Heathrow Airport. Thai’s first class lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport was awarded World's Best First Class Lounge by Skytrax in 2009. Thai Airways International has received an award for the excellence of its in-flight hygiene measures by the World Health Organization.

Asiana Airlines

Asiana Airlines Inc. South Korea's major airlines. Asiana has its headquarters in Asiana Town in Osoe-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Asiana is one of six airlines to receive a five-star rating from Skytrax.[2]  The airline has its domestic hub at Gimpo International Airport and its international hub at Incheon International Airport Asiana is a member of the Star Alliance and offers 516 daily departures throughout the Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, operating 13 domestic and 81 international passenger routes and 20 cargo routes.In 2010, Asiana was named the airline with the best in-flight service in the world by Global Travelers magazine, which was the sixth honor for Asiana in as many years. Asiana is also rated the best airline in Northern Asia of 2010. Its MAGIC shows, food created by chefs and other unique services helped it score well with 31,500 experts, passengers and other voters. Asiana also won the prestigious Airline of the Year Award by Skytrax for 2010.

Etihad Launches AbuDhabi Bangalore Flights

In yet another sign of growing importance of the Indian market for the  International Airlines, Etihad Airways , the national airline of the UAE , has announced launching of its flights to Bangalore. Bangalore is incidentally the 8th destination on which the Etihad flights operate in India.As per the announcement, Etihad operates four return flights a week to Bangalore.But the daily service would be increased int this route from March. Presently, Etihad operates an  Airbus A320 on the new Bangalore route configured to carry 140 passengers with 20 in Business class and 120 in Economy class.Other destinations on which Etihad Flights Are available includes flight to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad and flights to Kochi with a total of 49 flights on these routes per week.The inaugural flight was operated between Abu Dhabi and Bangalore.

Air India Express New Headquarters

The Low cost Aircraft carrier arm of Air India Express  has decided to shift the operational headquarters to Kochi. The Present headquarters is at Mumbai while the engineering base will continue to be at Thiruvananthapuram.

The office of the former Indian Airlines will be converted to Air India Express’s Central Administrative office in Kochi and all the employees from the Mumbai office are also to be shifted to Kochi. The moves comes int eh wake of the announcement by the Airlines to launch the Cheap Flights offering for domestic sector connecting the non metro civilities with Metros from April 2011.

The move might be an attempt by the Air India Express to improve the efficiency  through utilisation of its 21-strong fleet from nine hours to 12.5 hours daily from southern base as the lucrative LCC market has its major takers in southern states. Since the Airlines also operates to Gulf and Kerela, besides a great India Holidays destination,  is one of the Biggest destinations for flight Booking to the Gulf, this move is not unexpected.Air India Express is aggressively positioning itself in the market and even offering free tickets in the domestic leg of its international flights. The airline is also planning to get into a pact with travel portals regarding Airlines Booking.