Indian Airlines to be called as Indian

[miroslav]

Indian Airlines to be called 'Indian' now

The government-owned Indian Airlines has acquired a new corporate identity and a new name as well.

It will now be called ''Indian.' The word 'Airlines' has been dropped and will hopefully shed its somewhat stodgy image.

Passengers will be greeted by a transformed attitude which will reflect its new ethos.

As its mint-fresh leased Airbus A319 arrived from Hamburg today, IA changed its name, motif and colours to be more contemporary.

The standard livery will be altered next year to enhance the look and feel of aircraft interiors. And the uniforms too will be different.

The rebranding, arrival of new planes on lease and acquisition of 43 new aircraft are all timed for initial public offering of partial stock sale early next year.

"Indian is the backbone of Indian aviation and bracing up for increasing competition," said Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

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Indian Airlines&#39; -- now renamed Indian -- new Airbus A-319 arrives at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday. IA plans to buy 43 aircraft, including A-319s, A-320s and A-321s from the European major Airbus Industries.


Miro

 

[miroslav]

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An Indian Airlines A-320 in current color scheme.

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Indian Airlines Route Map.

Dosent show some Ex-Soviet routes like Kiev,Bishek and Ashkhabad.

Miro

 

[miroslav]

History of IA

Indian Airlines came into being with the enactment of the Air Corporations Act 1953 and was entrusted with the responsibility of providing air transportation within the country as well as to the neighbouring countries. Indian Airlines was given the task to assimilate various dimensions of the eight private airlines, which were nationalized to provide well-coordinated, adequate, safe, efficient and economical air services. The airline began its operations on 1st August 1953.


At the time of nationalization, Indian Airlines inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft consisting of various types of aircraft which were gradually replaced by Viscount, F27 and HS748. Nineteen hundred and sixty four (1964) was the beginning of the jet era in Indian Airlines when the Caravelle aircraft was inducted into the fleet; B737 and A300 were introduced in 1970 and 1976 respectively while Caravelles were phased out. Between 1970 and 1982 Indian Airlines inducted 28 B737 aircraft in its fleet. Similarly 10 A300 aircraft were inducted from 1976 to 1982. Indian Airlines started inducting first batch of Airbus A320 aircraft (19 aircraft) in June, 1989.

Today, Indian Airlines, together with its fully owned subsidiary Alliance Air, has a fleet of 67 aircraft ( 4 wide bodied Airbus A300s, 47 fly-by-wire Airbus A320s, 11 Boeing 737s, 2 Dornier D-228 aircraft and 4 ATR-42).

Indian Airlines has been setting the standards for civil aviation in India since its inception in 1953. It has many firsts to its credit, including introduction of the wide-bodied A300 aircraft on the domestic network, the fly-by-wire A320, Domestic Shuttle Service, Walk-in Flights and Easy-fares. Its unique orange and white logo emblazoned on the tails of all its aircraft is perhaps the most widely recognized Indian brand symbol that has over the years become synonymous with service, efficiency and reliability.

THE IA Network

The Airlines’ network spans from Kuwait in the West to Singapore in the East and covers 76 destinations – 58 within India and 18 abroad. The Indian Airlines international network covers Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain in West Asia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanamar and Malaysia in South East Asia and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives in the South Asia sub-continent.

The Fleet

Presently, IAL has 62 flying aircrafts. Distribution as under :
Airbus A300 = 04
Airbus A320 = 41
Boeing B737 = 11
Dornier DO228 = 02
ATR-42 = 04

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Air India

Tata and sons Ltd. strarted the company back in 1932 with the first Karachi / Ahmedabad / Bombay / Bellary / Madras mail service to connect with Imperial Airways&#39; London / Karachi services. The first service carried mail which had left London on October 8. The first was operated by a De Havilland Puss Moth VT-ADN flown by Mr. J R D Tata from Karachi to Bombay and by Mr. Nevill Vintcent from Bombay to Madras. The first service arrived at Madras on October 16 and the first west-bound flight left Madras on October 17.

In 1953 Indian Parliament passed The Air - Corporations Act (No. 27 Of 1953 )
ratified by the President of India in May 1953.
In June 1953 Two Corporations - Air India International Limited and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) came into formal existence.
August 1953Nationalisation of Air India International Limited. Mr. J.R.D. Tata appointed Chairman and Mr. B.K. Patel as Vice Chairman and General Manager.

Air-India handles the International Operations where as Indian is responsible for domestic and some of the Asian routes as one can see in route maps.

Air-India fleet as of today.

BOEING 747-400 (12)
BOEING 747-400 COMBI (1)
BOEING 747-300 COMBI (2)
AIRBUS 310-300 (20)
BOEING 777-200ER (3)

Air-India also has a low budget airline called as Air-India Express which operates 3 Boeing 737-800 Jets.

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Air India

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Air India Express

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Air India route map.

Thanks,

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Other Indian airliners (private sector) are.

Jet Airways (Domestic and International operations license)

ATR 72-500 08
Airbus 340-300E 03
Boeing 737-700 1
Boeing 737-800 03 (175 Economy Class Capacity)
Boeing 737-800 03 (16 Business/First Class + 124 Economy)
Boeing 737-900 02
Boeing 737-800 13
Boeing 737-700 12
Boeing 737-400 06

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Miro

 

[miroslav]

Air Sahara (Domestic and International license)

BOEING B737-800 2
BOEING B737-800 1
BOEING B737-700 6
BOEING B737-700 2
BOEING B737-400 3
BOEING B737-300 2
BOEING B737-300 1
BOMBARDIER CRJ-200 7

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Note:- Air Sahara is also under color scheme change process.

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Air-Deccan (Domestic)

7 Airbus A320-200
5 ATR 42-320
7 ATR 42-500
2 ATR 72-212A

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An Air Deccan ATR.

GoAir (Domestic)

20 Airbus 320

36 aircrafts are planned to buy in next 3 years.

Spicejet (Domestic)

SpiceJet has a single aircraft type fleet. Its fleet has 5 Boeing 737-800 in single class configuration with 189 seats.

The airline has placed a firm order for 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft (with 10 options) for domestic routes in India. The first delivery is scheduled for 2006.

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Kingfisher Airlines (Domestic)

The airlines currently operates with a brand new fleet of 7 Airbus A-320 aircraft. It was the first airline in India to operate with all new aircraft.

On 18 February 2005 Kingfisher Airlines signed a contract with Airbus for three Airbus A319 aircraft, adding to the 10 Airbus A320 aircraft (plus twenty options) ordered in January 2005. The first of the A319s will be delivered in December 2005, complementing the A320s on routes to smaller cities in India. (ref: Air International April 2005)

On June 15, 2005 it became the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380. It placed orders for 5 A380s, 5 Airbus A350-800 aircraft and 5 Airbus A330-200 aircraft in a deal valued at over &#036;3 billion. Delivery of the A330s is due to start in late 2007, followed by the A380s in 2010 and the A350s in 2012.

On November 20, at the Dubai Air Show, Kingfisher Airlines announced that it would be buying 20 ATR 72-500s (plus 15 options). The deal is estimated to be worth &#036;500 million dollars with the deliveries starting from March 2006. The last of the 20 planes would be handed over to Kingfisher Airlines by 2008.

On November 21, at the same air show, Kinfisher Airlines placed an order to aquire 30 more A320s in a deal estimated to be worth &#036;2 billion. Engine making joint venture International Aero Engines (IAE) will supply the engines for the planes. Deliveries for the planes are likely to start from 2008.

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Kingfusher A-320 with the Chairman of UB group Dr.Mallya.

Note: - As per the Indian aviation law a domestic airliner must have an experience of 5 years of domestic operations. After that the company is eligible to fly international.

All the above said companies have come into existance after 2004 thats why the Kingfisher acquisitions of A-350/A-380 etc are to be delivered after 2010 when the company will probably obtain the International flying license.

Thanks,

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Jet Airways, which already is an A340 operator, purchases 10 A330-200s for delivery from 2007, becoming the first Indian carrier to receive new airliners in this category.

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Kingfisher Airlines signs a firm contract June 15 for five A380s to be used for intercontinental flights, becoming the first Indian carrier to order the double-deck flagship of the 21st century.

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A-350 in Kingfisher Colors

Miro

 

[Neo]

Kingfisher may very well become the best Airline in the region.
Reminds me of Virgin Atlantic owned by Richard Bronson.
I wonder how Air India and Jet airways will be affected by Kingfisher in the near future.

Btw, I don&#39;t like the new livery by Indian.

 

[Zeeshan S.]

Name air-india was just fine, i dont know why the hell they changed it. Neo looks like we have some common things.

However good luck to India, they seem to be getting a lot of stuff, but they should be considering its population and the size of the country itself.

 

[Saad]

I believe "Air-India" sounds better then "Indian"but hey I wish was on SpiceJet and get some good Gujju spicy food

 

[miroslav]

Fellas,

Let me enlighten all of you again.

The domestic (and some asian routes) Government owned and operated company called as Indian Airlines has changed it&#39;s name to Indian.

Air-India is another Government owned and operated company which operates on international routes.

Please don&#39;t get confused.

Miro

 

[miroslav]

Here&#39;s one more.

Chennai based Paramount Airways which has started from 7th September 2005.

This airline only offers business and leisure class services with Economy Class compatible fares.

Paramaount Airways will fly two Embraer 170s and three Embraer 175s.

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Embrarer ERJ-170 V of Paramount Airways.

Miro

 

[miroslav]

About the new livery/color scheme.

Fellas,

Every airline go through a livery change from time to time.

Many major airliners of the world have done it.

For 50+ years Indian Airlines had the same livery which use to indicate a typical commercial logo and color scheme.

With the purchase of new 43 Airbus babies IA has not only changed the name but also livery which is more Indian and represents the Indian culture and constitution.

One can see the blue colored round/wheel/circle on the saffron tail.

It is called as &#39;Dharma Chakra&#39;

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Dharma-chakra from King Ashoka&#39;s Lion Capital at Sarnath is the national symbol of India. It represents the dharma i.e. natural conduct of a nation.

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The National Emblem of India.

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National Flag of India.

So as I said the new livery is more Indian than commercial which represents the National Symbol of India.

Thanks,

Miro