Air-India is India's finest flying
Ambassador. The urge to excel and the enthusiasm which characterised Air-India's
first flight way back on October 15, 1932 is quintessential even today-thanks
to eighteen thousand Air-India's who have kept alive the tradition of living
high!
FLEET
Air-India's has a fleet of six Boeing
747-400s, seven Boeing 747-200s, two Boeing 747-300 Combos (passenger and
cargo), eight Airbus 310-300s and three Airbus 300-B4s. The Boeing 747-400s,
inducted in the fleet between August 1993 and November 1996, are equipped
with the latest inflight on board, including the skyphone, airshow and
state-of-the art inflight entertainment system. A personal television monitor
with a choice of six viewing channels in the Executive Class of the A310
aircraft allows every passenger the liberty to select the programme to
his choice. Seating in the Executive Class of all the aircraft has been
made more comfortable with increase in the seat pitch.
The proposal to acquire one more
747-400 and three A310s is under the active consideration of the Government.
Air-India also plans to purchase small/medium capacity long range and small
capacity short range aircraft for induction by the turn of the century.
These aircraft will enable Air-India to offer an upgraded product on the
India/Europe, India/Far East and other long haul routes as a result of
non-stop operations, and help in phasing out the old 747-200s which joined
the fleet in the early seventies.
NETWORK
Air-India at present operates flights
from Mumbai, and ten other Indian cities, viz. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta,
Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvanthapuram to:
| UK |
: |
London |
| Europe |
: |
Moscow and Paris |
| Asia Pacific |
: |
Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala
Lumpur, Osaka, Singapore and Tokyo |
| Gulf & Middle East |
: |
Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dhahran, Doha,
Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Muscat and Riyadh |
| USA & Canada |
: |
Chicago and New York |
| Africa |
: |
Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi |
Additionally, Air-India has increased
its market access by operating code-share flights to
| Europe |
: |
Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt
Geneva, Paris, Vienna and Zurich |
| Gulf & Middle East |
: |
Kuwait-Thiruvananthapuram-Kuwait |
| USA & Canada |
: |
Singapore-Los Angeles-Singapore
and Seoul-San Francisco-Seoul |
| Africa |
: |
Lagos and Mauritius |
| Korea |
: |
Seoul |
Air-India operates hub spoke operations
out of Mumbai and Delhi to Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, and between Delhi and
Amritsar jointly with Indian Airlines. Air-India also code-share arrangements
with Indian Airlines whereby the letter has made available a certain number
of seats to Air-India on its flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Bangalore,
Calcutta, Chennai, Hyederabad, Kochi, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram Varanasi.
DINING
Dining aboard Air-India is a gourmet
experience. The airline offers a choice of there menus to suit all types
of palates-Indian vegetarian, Indian non-vegetarian and Continental non-vegetarian.
Apart from these, there is western nouvelle cuisine, an appetising choice
of Asian specialities, and even Japanese meals on certain routes.
The menus are constantly revamped
and the wines carried on board live up to the food they complement! Besides,
if any passenger has a special food requirement, all he has to do is to
advise Air-India when making his booking, or through Air-India's websites
www.airindia.com at least 48-72 hours before the departure of the
flight, and the rest is taken care of! Passengers can select the meal of
their choice from a list of 23 kinds of meals listed on the website. These
cater amongst others to food preferences that arise from religious or medical
requirements e.g. Jain meal, a vegetarian meal devoid of onion,
garlic and tubers; Moslem meal prepared in accordance with Shariat
law; Kosher meal prepared according to Jewish law; diabetic/sugar
free meal; low cholesterol/low fat meal; low sodium meal
suitable for those with high blood pressure and kidney problems; low
calorie meal for those trying to weight, etc. For children special
meals comprising of items such as hamburgers and French fried potatoes,
are also available.
Meals are served to First and Executive
Class passengers in Royal Doulton bone china crockery, the most popular
and up- market brand name in chinaware. Economy Class passengers travelling
on India/Europe, India/UK-USA, India/South East Asia and India/Far sectors
are served complimentary alcoholic beverages on board.
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
The selection of music on board
Air-India aircraft would be the envy of any radio station. Passengers can
choose from Indian popular music, Indian classical, ghazals or bhajans
and from Western classical pop, jazz, country or Euro-mix combination of
French/Italian/German or Japanese music. A specially compiled music channel
features 90 minutes of the songs form Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu and Kannada
cinema.
The video programmes on board the
Boeing 747s and Airbus 310s commence with the BBC World Service News which
enables passengers to keep themselves abreast with news round the world.
The programme is updated several times a day to offer the latest to each
departing flight from Mumbai. This is followed, on selected sectors, by
"India Business Week", a weekly review of current affairs and business
news in India.
Air-India's non-stop theatre includes
a choice of English and Hindi feature films, one hour video magazine programmes
representing the finest in comedy, sports, adventure action and life style,
Children's Hour plus a special feature for Gulf passengers. There is a
special range of entertainment for passengers travelling from Thiruvanathapuram,
Kozhikode and Chennai to the Gulf and Sinagapore. The video programmes
include feature films in Malayalam and Tamil with English subtitles and
"Geetanjali", 45-minute song and dance sequence programme
featuring evergreen hit songs from Malayalam, Tamil and Telegu cinema.
Executive Class passengers travelling on board the A310 aircraft can, however,
view a variety of programmes on their six-channel personal television monitor.
Destination films on Mumbai and
Delhi are screened on board Air-India flights as the plane is about to
commence its descent. The films, besides, acquainting the passengers with
various facets of Mumbai and Delhi, also seek to ease their passage through
the airport terminal by apprising them with the various formalities, such
as Immigration, Customs, baggage clearance, duty free sales, foreign exchange,
transportation facilities, etc. available at the airports.
SKY BAZAAR
Air-India's Sky Bazaar offers superb
choice to facilitate shopping in comfort and style, on board-all at bargain
prices. The range of duty free products available includes, besides liquors,
cigarettes and wines, international brand wrist watches, sunglasses, pens,
gold-plated jewellery, make-up kits, chocolates, aircraft models, digital
diaries, stuffed toys and souvenir items. Passengers can make their purchases
by using their international credit cards, against cash or by travellers
cheques.
FACILITIES ON THE GROUND
Lounges
Air-India has lounge facilities
for First and Executive Class passengers at most international airports
where passengers can relax as they await their departure. Air-India has
its own lounges at Mumbai, Delhi, Hong Kong, London and New York.
TELE-CHECK-IN
First and Executive Class passengers
travelling from Mumbai/Delhi can now tele-check-in. Several changes have
also been introduced at Mumbai and Delhi airports with the intent o streamlining
airport procedures and enhancing efficiency to make Economy Class passengers'
experience at Airport from check-in to boarding of aircraft absolutely
hassle-free. The measures includes additional X-ray machines, floor walkers
in check-in area, the formation of a telephone enquiry cell and more efficient
communications between various sections of the airport.
FREQUENT FLVER PROGRAMME
Air-India has a joint Frequent Flyer
Programme with Indian Airlines branded "Flying Returns". Members of the
passengers, the most attractive FFP for the Indian traveller, con accrue
mileage points on either Air-India or Indian Airlines., or both, and redeem
them for award tickets. Members of "Flying Returns" can also earn miles
each time they fly Air France and redeem their miles for free tickets to
any destination on the network of the three airlines.
Through tie-ups with various companies,
members can earn more mileage points without flying and redeem their tickets
faster. Regular offers add value to the membership. The airline at present
has exclusive marketing alliances with Welcomgroup Chain of Hotels; American
Express Cards (India); Hertz India, Global One Calling Card; Diners &
Citibank Cards; Radisson Hotel, Delhi; Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Hong Kong;
and Bogmalo Beach Park Plaza Resort, Goa.
"Flying Returns", which was introduced
in India in June 1994, now boasts of nearly 90,000 members. In the Gulf,
where the Frequent Flyer Programme was launched in April 1997, there are
about 4,000 members. Plans to introduce it in Hong Kong, the UK and the
USA are underway.
Website
Air-India's website, www.airindia.com
offers interactive facilities to passengers for indicating their meal preference;
requesting special assistance viz. bassinet, wheelchair etc; finding out
availability of seats; arrival/departure information; and seat configuration.
The facility of advance seat reservations, offered to First and Executive
Class passengers is also available through the Internet website to Economy
Class passengers who are travelling on Air-India's India route via London
in groups of three or more with one common PNR booking number; or with
infant; or requiring a seat close to the toilet for medical reasons.
This is in addition to information
on all aspects of Air-India viz. Kind of aircraft used over the years,
timeline, corporate facts, menus duty-free shopping travel guide, etc.
The site, improved and upgraded in March 1998, has emerged as one of the
best in the country. It was one of the nine sites nominated for the first-ever
Interned Awards introduced by The Economic Times, a leading India daily.
AIR-INDIA EMPLOYEES
Air-India has trained its cabin
crew in the art of looking after passengers at its own Cabin Crew Training
Centre in Mumbai. Air-India's flight crew are the finest in the business
and its engineers are experienced and technically competent. The national
carrier has, over the years, trained its own pilots, engineers and technicians
to handle the most complicated and sophisticated equipment.
ISO-9002 CERTIFICATION
Two departments of Air-India-Engineering
and Ground Services-have received ISO-9002 certification. While the Engineering
Department has achieved this distinction for the critical role that it
plays in the maintenance of Air-India's fleet, the Ground Services Department
has been presented the certification for providing ramp handling services
to domestic and international carriers at Mumbai Airport and transport
services to Air-India personnel in Mumbai. Air-India's Ground Services
Department offers ground services in and out of six Indian airports,-Mumbai,
Delhi,
Chennai, Trivandrum, Calcutta and
Cochin. The airline currently accounts for 80 per cent of all ground services
business in the country.
Air-India's Engineering facility
at the Old Airport, Mumbai has also been certified by the Federal Aviation
Administration of U.S.A. as a "FAR 145 Repair Station" for overhaul of
engines and Auxiliary Power Units. (APUs) including their accessories.
The airline proposes to seek extension of this certificate to include other
engineering activities such as airframe, instruments and avionics maintenance.
This certificate will enable Air-India to provide engine and APU overhaul
services to foreign carriers, thereby generating incremental non-operating
revenue.
Significant improvements introduced
in all areas of Air-India's operations, reinforces the airline's commitment
to quality and insistence on high standards. The national carrier in proud
to have an on-time performance of 90 per cent-at par with other major international
carries. Air-India has in tune with the times, emerged as a progressive
forward looking airlines, eager to fulfil the growing needs and expectations
of the discerning jet-age traveller of today. |