Air Network of India
Air transport being the most modern and the quickest mode of transport has been gaining popularity. However, the exorbitant rates have made it the mode of travel of the rich or of the business community for whom time is more expensive than air travel. But the entry of private Airlines and their various schemes have reduced airfare drastically.
The recent tax relaxation on air fuel and such sops will further make air travel within the reach of a greater section of the Indian Populace. India had bilateral air services agreements with 93 countries as on May 31, 1999. Air India Limited is the major international carrier of the country. It operates services to USA Europe, the Russian Confederation, the Gulf/Middle East, East Asia, Far East and Africa. Air India owns a fleet of 26 aircraft consisting of six B-747-200, two B747-300 (Combi), seven B747-400, three A 300-B4 and eight A 310-300 aircraft. During 1998-99, Air India carried 3.15 million passengers as against 3.06 million in 1997-98.
Indian Airlines is the major domestic air carrier of the country. It operates to 57 domestic stations (including Alliance Air operations) and 17 international stations in 14 countries, viz., Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, UAE, Oman, Myanmar, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Its operations, including Alliance Air cover 76 destinations including 16 abroad. The Airlines owns a fleet of eleven A-300, thirty A-320, twelve B-737 and three Dornier -228 aircraft. All Boeing B- 737 aircrafts are being operated by its wholly owned subsidiary Alliance Air.
The domestic scene is now dotted with private airlines as the government has now very wisely ended the monopoly of Indian Airlines. The International service is however, still the monopoly of Air India as the private operators are only allowed to operate within the country. Some of the leading domestic private airlines are Air Sahara, Jet Airways and Air Deccan.
The government has been in the process of disinvestment of both Indian Airlines and Air India for the betterment of services. Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited has been providing helicopter support services to the petroleum sector including ONGC, Oil India Limited and Hardy Exploration at Chennai. Apart from these, it also provides services to certain state governments and public sector undertakings and in the northeastern states.Foreign airlines carrying international passenger traffic to and from India existed long before Independence.
Their operations are governed by bilateral agreements signed from time to time between the Government of India and the governments of respective countries. In 1980-81, the number of such airlines was 35. It rose to 49 in 1996-97.The share of foreign airlines in India's scheduled international traffic has increased. In 1971, their share was 55.58 per cent, which went up to 65 per cent and declined to 58 per cent during 1972-75. It fell to 55.72 per cent in 1976 and further to 55.02 per cent in 1977. Between 1978 and 1990 it gradually increased and rose to 75.93 per cent. In 1996, the share was nearly 72 per cent. The development of airports is no longer solely under the public sector; instead private participation is allowed and encouraged.
An International green field airport has been developed in Cochin, Kerala, with contributions from NRIs and loans from financial institutions. Approval for the reconstruction of four Metro Airports ( Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai) has been given to make them world class. New International airports are to be set up in Banglore, Hyderabad and Goa with the help of the private sector.
Air India
Air India, India's national flag carrier has a wide base of worldwide passenger and cargo service. Air India in its original avtaar was Tata Airlines, and founded in 1932. J.R.D. Tata, an entrepreneur in its true sense played an important role in the development of the aviation industry in India. He took off from Drigh Road Airport, Karachi, carrying a mail of Imperial Airways, in a tiny, light single-engined de Havilland Puss Moth on his flight to Mumbai via Ahmedabad. The aircraft was taken to Chennai by Nelly Vintcent, a former Royal Air Force pilot. By 1933 Tata Airlines flew over 160,000 miles, carried 155 passengers and 10.71 tonnes of mail. By August 1946, airlines emerged as a Public Limited Company under the new name of Air India. Around 1947 Air India started showing its keen interest in extending its route to the international sector. By the end of the year the Government of India, which had acquired 49% of the airline, granted the permission to do the same. And in return of doing that Government of India secured for itself the right to acquire further 2% from Air India.
The airline, which by 1948 registered itself as Air India International left for its first international maiden flight from Mumbai to London via Cairo and Geneva with a Lockheed Constellation aircraft. The enactment of the Air Corporations Act 1953 saw the nationalization of the air transport Industry and formation of two autonomous Corporations- 'Indian' and 'Air India'. While Air India looks after the international sector, Indian looks after the domestic sector. The word international was dropped in the year 1962. In 1994 the airline was registered as Air India Ltd. Over the years, Air India has built a strong fleet of aircrafts and added new routes and services. Few of the recent routes of the flight are Delhi-Frankfurt-Los Angeles, Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto, and Delhi-Dhaka-Kolkata-London. Currently, the idea of merger of Air India and Indian airlines is in news. The merger will result in a mega entity with about 112 aircrafts and it would place it in top 10 in Asia.
Indian Airlines, the government owned domestic carrier of India came into being with the enactment of the Air Corporations Act 1953. The act also led to the formation of Air India that took over the international routes. Eight former independent domestic airlines were merged and nationalized in the form of Indian Airlines. Few of those airlines were Deccan Airways, Airways-India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation, Kalinga Air Lines and others.
The idea behind the formation of Indian Airlines was to provide adequate, safe, efficient and economical services to the passengers. Indian Airlines gradually upgraded itself with new fleet of aircrafts. To begin with aircrafts such as Viscount, F27 and HS748 were added which were followed by the induction of Jets. The period between 1970 and 1990 saw the initiation of wide-bodied Airbus A320 in the Indian Airlines fleet.
The recent most inclusion is the Airbus A319. The hold of the Indian Airlines in the domestic sector received a setback with the opening of this sector to the private players such as Jet Airways, Sahara Airways and others. Today with the emergence of low prized airlines such as Spice Jet, Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines the competition has become stiffer for them. Since December 2005, the name of the Indian Airlines has been changed to 'Indian' as a part of its program to revamp itself in preparation for an IPO.
The company's aircraft has also been given a new look. The facelift carries a design inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa. The tail of the aircraft has a wheel over an orange background. The name Indian is written in English on one side and in Hindi on the other side. Indian Airlines with its fully owned subsidiary Alliance Air has a fleet of 70 aircrafts and flies to 64 domestic and 16 international destinations. The airlines after Jet Airways is India's second largest airline.
Indian Airlines flight operations center around its four main metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. The Indian airlines ticket can be booked at any IA booking office or approved travel agent or on their website at http://indian-airlines.nic.in. The airline serves its customers via inbound call centers. Through its toll free number 1800 180 1407 you can access info on arrival-departure of flight, reservations, promotional schemes etc.
In the past few years, several investments have been made in the Indian air industry to make use of its vast unutilized air transport network. Many low cost air carriers have also entered the Indian market in the past two to three years. This has also benefited the Indian economy and is the cause of the boom in the tourism industry. The famous tourist spots in India are Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Kerala, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. To satisfy the splurge in the demand for air travel, Air India purchased more than 68 jets from Boeing and Indian Airlines purchased 43 jets from Airbus. Others who have recently made significant investments in air travel are Jet Airways, IndiGo Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines. This has made air travel more luxurious and has immensely benefited the travelers and the travel agents.
Due to the immense increase in the demand for air travel, India's economy is flourishing. The credit for this goes to its tourism and hotel industry. The evergreen tourist places in India are Kerala, Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Orissa, Kolkatta, Bangalore and Kashmir. There are many domestic airports in the country. Almost all the important cities in India have domestic airports. There are more than 5 international airports in India and more than 65 domestic airports. Domestic Airports can be categorized into four divisions: Domestic Airports, Model Domestic Airports, Civil Enclaves and Others. In India there are 37 Domestic Airports, 13 Model Domestic Airports and 13 Civil Enclaves. Cochin and Keshoo are the two other airports.
With the luxury travel being affordable to the middle class as well, the air travel has seen a never before increase. This has promoted the country's tourism industry and has benefited India's economy and hotel industry. There are more than twenty airports in India that handle international flights. The Indira Gandhi International Airport of Delhi and the Chattrapati Shivaji International airport of Mumbai alone handle more than half of the air traffic in South Asia. Other important international airports include Begumpet Airport of Hyderabad, Calicut International Airport of Calicut, Chennai International Airport of Chennai, Cochin International Airport Limited of Cochin, HAL Airport of Bangalore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport of Kolkata, Raja Sansi International Airport of Amritsar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport of Ahmedabad and Trivandrum International Airport of Trivandrum, Kerala.
India is dotted with airports handling national and international flights. India's airport network efficiently caters to the millions of travelers and tourists coming to visit the country. Due to this India's travel and tourism industry is booming and benefiting the country's economy. India has more than 20 international airports and several domestic airports. The important airports in India include Indira Gandhi International Airport of New Delhi, Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport of Mumbai, Begumpet Airport of Hyderabad, Calicut International Airport of Calicut, Chennai International Airport of Chennai, Cochin International Airport Limited of Cochin, HAL Airport of Bangalore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport of Kolkata, Raja Sansi International Airport of Amritsar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport of Ahmedabad and Trivandrum International Airport of Trivandrum.
Air Network Map of KarnatakaKarnataka is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. It has many hotels and resorts to cater to the lodging needs of its travelers and tourists. The state economy boasts of its Real estate, Consultancies, Travel and Tourism, Educational Institutes, Hotel Industry and Insurance. Karnataka is well connected by air with other cities. The Indian Airlines and some private domestic airlines connect Bangalore, Mysore, and other major cities of Karnataka to all the major metropolitan and other cities of India like New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Thiruvananthpuram, Hyderabad, Goa, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Mangalore. International flights link Bangalore directly to Singapore, Dubai, London, Oman, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. There are direct international flights from Bangalore to Muscat, Sharjah and Singapore. There are many international connecting flights via Mumbai including flights to the Gulf countries, Paris, London, New York and Singapore.
Airports & Ports of West Bengal Flight Schedules
West Bengal, a state in east India has its capital as Kolkatta. It stretches from Himalayas in the north to Bay of Bengal in the south. It houses the world famous Sunderbans. It has nineteen districts and the major cities are Kolkatta, Siliguri, Burdwan, Durgapur, Kharagpur, Darjeeling and Malda. West Bengal is one of the most industrialized states. Tea, Steel, Jute, Sugar, Chemical, Fertilizers, Medicines and Pharmaceuticals are some of the important industries in the state. The agriculture of the state mainly constitutes crops such as rice, maize, pulses, oil seeds, wheat, barley, potatoes and vegetables. Kolkatta is a major hub for the Information Technology. Real estate, financial consultancies, travel and tourism and hotel industry are some other services that contribute to the state economy.
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Bhubaneshwar
Gangtok
Jamshedpur
Patna
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