Top Aviation News this week!

Here's a quick summary of major airline/aviation news this week

1. Cabinet approves Air India stake sale in principle.
Govt of India in principle has decided to sell its stake in National Carrier Air India. Now the formalities would begin to decide the details- like how much, how, to whom, what parts of Air India are to be sold etc. Detailed news here on NDTV.

Main concern will be to what to do with Air India's elephant size debt not backed by any assets. My guess is govt will be eventually forced to write it off.

2. Indigo expresses interest to buy Air India
While spicejet was in news for their quick recovery and mega aircraft order with Boeing, rival Indigo is probably considering an inorganic growth by acquiring part of Air India- primarily Air India Express. This will give Indigo a headstart over rivals. Air India owns lots of key slots across the world (like gate timings etc). Detailed story in Hindustan Times

Apparently Indigo shareholders are not really happy with this idea- Indigo shares nosedived as the news broke out. [details on NDTV Profit]

3. Spicejet and Indigo sales
Two budget airlines, Spicejet and Indigo have announced a sale this week, still going on, valid for travel till 24 March 2018. Detailed posts already available- click here for Spicejet Mega Monsoon Sale, Here for Indigo sale

4. Air Asia's Perth-KL flight developing an uncontained Engine failure and returning to Perth 90 mins into its flight was a major news last week.[Details] Cause of the engine failure is not known yet- it may take months of investigation. Air Asia has managed to send a recovery plan and re-schedule all affected passengers without any major delays or social media outrage. While few have critcised the pilot for asking passengers to pray and suggest that budget airlines are cutting cost on safety, majority opinion is in favor of the pilot and the airline. Pilot statement available in this news.

Few have criticized why pilot didn't land at nearby airport Learmonth (25 mins away) instead of flying back to Perth. I am sure Pilot had his own reason- may be plane was too heavy and he had to burn some fuel (dumping fuel carried a risk of fire as engine is damaged), may be he was instructed to fly back to Perth where AirAsia has a base, ground staff and the airport is probably better equipped for emergency (Air Asia doesn't fly to Learmonth). I think we will have to wait for a Nat Geo ACI episode.

5. BLR-BOM Passenger arrested 
A Jet Airways passenger flying from Bengaluru to Mumbai was arrested yesterday for inappropriately touching a female co passenger. Mid-Day news has more details

There's no news of any politician creating some sort of ruckus in any airport this week- seems like a decent week overall.

6. Near miss over J&K
An Indigo plane and a BSF plane reportedly came to close over Jammu & Kashmir this week. TCAS (Tactical Collision Aversion System) kicked in and the pilots were able to avoid a collission. News here

7 New airport near Delhi
Govt has cleared a plan to build a new airport at Jewar near NOIDA, close to expressway. This airport will take 6+ years to be operational and will take some load off IGI airport, Delhi. [News]

Contextual Image

International News
1 Laptop Ban Updates: Many US airports will have enhanced security measures while allowing in cabin laptops, as per this Reuters report. Keep extra time for security!

2. Speedy clearance for low risk Indian passengers:
Select Indian Origin people can now have faster (automated) clearance and major US Airports, provided they clear a one time personal appearance and pre-clearance and have a machine readable passport. This is useful for regular travelers. Detailed news here

Any other news of interest you've come across this week? Do share with us.

Indigo sale on! A spicejet copycat?

Spicejet announced their Mega Monsoon sale on 28th June morning (Check my previous post for details) By same day evening, rival Indigo has rolled out a sale as well. But as I checked Indigo site for the fares, below are what I found

1. Indigo sale and travel period is exactly matching Spicejet sale & travel period
2. Indigo fares are aimed to match Spicejet sale fare on sectors both airlines compete
3. On sectors Indigo doesn't compete with Spicejet- No discount (Example Chennai-Indore- Indigo has a direct flight but not Spicejet. No discount for this sector)

Convenience fee and tax not included in above- check final amount before paying

The good thing about Indigo Sale
1) Indigo website provides a full list of lowest fares by sector. This makes it easy to decide if the fares you're getting for a particular date is lowest or not. On spicejet website multiple attempts are needed to arrive at this conclusion

2) It is good to have a competition and more options. Spicejet may be cheap but say flight timing is not convenient- you can try in Indigo if similar priced tickets are available for a timing suitable to you.

Should I book?
These are reasonable fares, not dirt cheap. For most short distance flights, the fares are similar to what an AC bus would cost between the two cities. So might be lot convenient and time saving to just fly in and reach your destination in an hour or so, than spending whole night in a bus. If you find fares closer to the minimum  fare advertised and if the date and time are suitable to you, go ahead and book. Beware of cancellation terms and long lock in period.

Best wishes.

Spicejet Mega Monsoon Sale- Roundtrip fares 2k onwards!

I do look forward to Spicejet sale for some really cool discounts. Spicejet website has announced a mega monsoon sale, starting today (June 28th) till 4th July.

Points to note about this Spicejet Mega Monsoon sale:
- Applicable on direct flights only, not on one stop connections
- Applicable on domestic flights only, not on international
- Baggage included
- Non refundable. If you cancel you will get about 15-20% only, which is tax component of the ticket price
-Though sale is on for travel dates 14th July onwards, probability of finding low fare is high only for late 2017/early 2018 dates. For July-October period no tempting discounts.
-Couldn't figure out from where to where the advertised 699 is for. Chennai-BLR (which is a short distance and often the cheapest route during a sale) is 899 +tax, making it to about 1.1k

Below is some of the fares I could see on Spicejet's current sale.

From	To	Dates	Lowest total fare in current sale*	Lowest I’ve seen earlier
Chennai	Hyderabad	Feb 2018	2450 (+500*)	1900
Chennai	Coimbatore	Feb 2018	2300 (+500)	1750
Chennai	Ahmadabad	Feb 2018	4900  (+500)	NA
Chennai	Madurai	Jan 2018	2500 (+500)	2000
Chennai	Kochi	Jan 2018	2500 (+500)	1800
Chennai	Bengaluru	Jan 2018	2200 (+500)	1600
Chennai	Port Blair	Jan 2018	7500 (+500)	5100

*In addition to fare shown in this page, a convenience fee of Rs 500 will be charged during payment. (Rs 250 per person per flight now, was Rs 100 earlier)

Because I am based in Chennai I have checked Ex-Chennai fares. Do check for your city.

The current sale prices are not the lowest I have seen. But then, the lowest fares I had seen was when the airline was trying to recover from its bad times. Now they are fully profitable, have very good load factor. So it is very unlikely that they will reduce fares much lower.  If you have decided to travel and if dates are suitable and fare is reasonable, book.

Also pay proper attention- in many scenarios sale price is expensive than regular (may be 1 stop flight)

Should you book on this Spicejet Mega Monsoon sale?
My recommendation: Yes, provided you have a reasonably high certainty of not ending up cancelling the trip, date n time is convenient and you had some serious plans of visiting the destination.

Best wishes. Do comment below if you book a ticket after seeing this post, or have any comments..

Meanwhile, let us take this opportunity to congratulate Spicejet for their amazing recovery from a near collapse. Spicejet had maximum appreciation of share prices in 2016 among all airlines in the world (124%- read news here) and was mentioned by US President Trumph for their mega order of aircrafts from American manufacturer, Boeing. [news].

Cheapest Airport Transfers: Chennai airport (MAA): Rs 5 onwards!

Reaching city centre or your hotel or home from airport can sometime get very expensive. Reasons could be many. Such as

• Airport could be far from city (like BIAL)
• No public transport to airport, forced to take Taxi
• Expensive airport parking fees make taxi even more expensive
• New visitors not familiar with their options or reasonable fare can get conned by taxi drivers

In this series, I am planning to publish a series of posts, suggesting cheaper options to reach your final destination from airports. Beginning with Chennai airport and will try to cover more airports in days to come. Please share tips related to airports in your city, so that I can compile and share as a post. (Will give credit if your tip off is used)

Cheapest way out from Chennai Airport

Thankfully Chennai airport is within city limits. Sometimes when I book tickets on a sale, my return ticket cost will be as low as Rs 1500-1700. If I have to spend several hundreds on airport transfer, the entire trip economics go for a toss. So I always look for cheaper ways to reach airport,even if it is not the most convenient one. Below are the list of options.

Cheapest Option 1: MRTS from Thirusalam Railway Station

You will have to walk about half a km from arrival point. Take underpass and cross the road to Thirusalam railway station. Operational from about 4 AM till midnight. From Tirusalam, you can take local train to Tambaram or Chengalpet in one direction and Chennai central/beach station on the other. Fare is Rs 5/10 only.  Go as far as you can and take a bus/auto/ola for the last few miles. This is my most preferred option, except while hauling heavy luggage or when arriving/departing at a time during which trains do not operate.

Cheaper Option 2: MTC City bus

City buses stop right on the main road opposite the airport. You need to know which direction your destination is, to avoid boarding wrong bus. If you're not sure of exact bus number, take any bus that goes to Guindy/Saidapet/Kathipara (for destinations north of airport) or to Pallavaram/Tambaram (for destinations South of Chennai airport). From these hubs you can take another bus to your destination. Bus fare is usually Rs 5 onwards, but approx Rs 13 to Rs 17 if you're destination is about 10-15 kms away. You can also buy a Rs 50 all day pass- valid across MTC non-AC fleet.

This link is useful to find out route numbers. There're many other sites and apps as well.

MTC had an airport shuttle that plies between Airport arrival area and Koyambedu CMBT, but I think it is discontinued now. It had a fare of Rs 120 per person and would leave every 30 mins or so. Metro is better.

Cheaper Option 3: Chennai Metro

Chennai metro service to airport is now operational. You might have to change trains at Alandur but still can reach Koyambedu or Vadapalani etc for under Rs 50.  Metro operates 6 AM onwards till midnight

Cheaper Option 4: Uber/Ola

If first 3 options are not preferred (if you have lots of bags or elders or simply prefer a convenient way), you can try Uber/Ola. Under normal conditions a 12-15 km journey from airport can cost between Rs 150-200. More if there's high demand, less if there're some offers etc. On any day Uber/Ola is far more better than airport prepaid taxis which will be minimum 3 times expensive.

Using Ola Share/Uber Pool could save you little more. Uber/Ola drivers might ask you to walk a bit to a spot away from regular taxi pickup point, to avoid confrontation with airport cab drivers or to ensure they don't have to pay parking fee (cars entering airport get 5 mins free time beyond which parking charges apply)

Expensive Option 1: Govt Prepaid taxi (Black n yellow cabs)

The prepaid counter operated by govt runs a fleet of old Ambassadors and AC Swift Dzires. Ambassador fleet is very old, without AC. Their charges are cheaper than fast track and Aviation Express but still nowhere close to normal fares of Uber/Ola. A 20km journey can cost Rs 600+

Expensive Option 2: Fast Track call taxi

Fast Track has a prepaid taxi counter in airport and operates a large fleet of cars. Their fares are bit expensive than Black n Yellow cabs but cars are better. Few guys pretend to help you with your luggage and then expect some tip. A 20km journey can cost about Rs 750.

The same fast track, if you call from nearby Tirusalam Railway station through their call centre can cost you half the airport fare. This is because airport taxis need to pay hefty parking fees and wait all day for customers, the cost of which is transferred to those who decide to book them.

Expensive Option 3: Aviation Express: They are the most expensive taxi service of the lot. They run a fleet of Innovas, convenient if you have lots of bags or lots of people. You will get loads of salutes and respect for the extra money you pay.

Alternate Option 1: Zoomcar/Myles/Revv Self-drive car rentals

Zoomcar has a station half a km from Chennai airport. You can walk in (or they can deliver for extra 300 Rs) and drive out. This option is very convenient if you plan to return to airport within a day or two. Price varies depending on car model, rental duration, kms used, weekday/weekend etc. For a 2 day weekend rental for a small car like Ford Figo, expect an expense of around INR 4500

Few other companies like Myles or Revv can also be considered. Read my comparison of these self drive car rental agencies here on my other blog.

For nearby destinations

1 Mahabalipuram

If your destination is Mahabalipuram, cheapest option will be to reach CMBT or Madhya Kailash and take a bus from there.

Alternatively consider Zoomcar self drive rental stated above. If you don't prefer bus/self drive and prefer to be driven around, book Ola oustation or Fast track/Sarman Cab company cabs.

2 Pondy

Buses to Pondy via GST road are readily available near the airport but frequency is not as high as those plying on ECR. You can try right opposite airport or go to CMBT/Madhya Kailash for more options. Taxi all the way will be expensive. Try self drive or go to Pondy by bus and rent a car locally.

Do you have any other tips/tricks to travel to and from Chennai International Airport? What is your most preferred option? Do comment below.

RollsRoyce Engine at it again. AirAsia Perth-KL plane returns after Engine failure

Major aviation news this morning is about an Air Asia plane from Perth to KLIA2 returning back to Perth due to Engine related issue, some 75 minutes into the flight. Tip off courtesy Ashwini Neetan, who blogs at http://hoppingmiles.com/

What happened?

• Airline involved: Air Asia X
• Flight No: D7-237
• Aircraft: A330-300 with twin Rolls Royce engines
• From: Perth
• To: Kuala Lumpur (KLIA2)
• Souls on board: 359
• Problem: Some sort of Engine failure/damage causing non-shop shaking (Uncontained Engine Failure)
• Casualties: None

You can read original news here on CNN or DailyMail or  Telegraph

I am not an aviation expert to comment on this incident sitting at home. May be we will have to wait till National Geographic covers this incident in their future edition of "Aircrash Investigations" to know the full story. Below are some thoughts that come to my mind.

Rolls Royce Engine again: Below are the previous major incidents involving Rolls Royce Engine

1. 4th November 2010: Qantas Flight 32: Airbus A380 with 4 Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines (each cost 20 million USD) developed a rupture in-flight from Singapore to Sydney. This incident forced Qantas to ground its entire fleet of 5 A380s and seek huge compensation from Rolls Royce. A major disaster was averted by the skillful crew who managed to turn it around and land.

Watch the video below

 2. The Dreamliner issue: The rolls Royce Engine on dreamliner had their shares of issues. ANA had to rework on all the aircrafts having this engine [News]

3. China Eastern: Not very long ago, A China Eastern flight had to return to Sydney after a hole in its Rolls Royce Trent 700 Engine casings [details ]

Rolls Royce might be making great cars, but their aircraft Engine gets lot more bad press than any other rival engine makers, such as GE. Hope they learn from mistakes so far.

Prima-facie I feel the recent Air Asia X incident is also because of some sort of fault in Rolls Royce Engine. While a minor error in one of the engines doesn't affect a flight (aircrafts can operate full journey on one engine), an uncontained engine failure like what happened on all above examples carries lot more risk as it can damage other aircraft systems critical for maneuver. Happy that pilots managed to land safely and no one is injured. Air Asia has a overall good record, except a full body loss over Indonesia and few minor incidents like wrong navigation etc. In this incident, AirAsia so far is maintaining "a technical issue" whereas some passengers reported seeing blades missing from engine. If there's a serious design flaw in the Rolls Royce Engine, all AirAsia X routes- from KLIA to Japan, Australia etc and as well as hundreds of other A330s with RR engines are at risk. I've flown AirAsia X to Melbourne and Osaka and have few more trips lined up. How this incident develops is also of personal interest to me. We'll wait to read more news of this incident.

Last year we were stranded in Macau after our aircraft developed some problems. We were treated reasonably well. Check this post to read about our experience. Right now the focus is on how AirAsia manages missed connections and re-arranges flights to all its passengers affected by this incident. We'll keep a close watch on this incident.

Untapped direct flight destination: Bali, Indonesia

If you're the CEO of any India based airline looking to expand your network what should be the destinations you should consider?

In order for airlines to consider a new destination, usually following are the criteria
1. There should be enough people flying everyday between the two cities, so that plane seats do not go empty
2. Better if competition is not tough
3. Regulatory approvals between the two countries, anti competition/anti trust laws etc

When Air India decided to introduce direct flight from Delhi to Denmark or when KLM decided to reintroduce Mumbai- Amsterdam, their team would have analyzed passenger and cargo data over years to see how many people fly between the two cities and what is the probability of their planes running reasonably full if they add a new flight.

From India, there're many countries that are not connected directly. Countries in South America are probably too far and not regularly visited by Indians to fill a plane, so may not be right candidates. But many destinations in Asia are still not served by India based airlines and passengers are forced to take one stop flight via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Of all such cities that come to my mind, top of the list is Bali, Indonesia.

Bali has beautiful temples and beaches. It has nice waterfalls, rice terraces, calm forests and mountains. It is not an expensive destinations to visit. Indonesia tourism is trying hard to sell Bali as a destination to Indians and many Indians are heading to Bali now than ever. No one who came back from Bali has complained that they didn't like it. Almost everyone wanted to go back again.

• Are there lots of Indians visiting Bali? Yes
• Is there tough competition? No (no one is flying direct to Bali now) but in terms of pricing it may be hard to beat Air Asia
• Regulatory approvals: I don't know much about this but can't see any reason why govts would object to a direct flight between India and Indonesia

Right now going to Bali takes minimum half a day in travel, more in many cases. 4 hours to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, few hours of waiting there and another 4 hours to Bali. I am wondering why Air India, Jet Airways or Spicejet or Indigo considering direct flights to Bali from Indian cities?

May be their biggest question is from where to fly to Bali directly? If they launch Mumbai-Bali, would Delhi or Chennai based customer prefer to fly to Mumbai, connect to Bali or would he go with budget airlines to Kuala Lumpur or Changi and connect to Bali? Or should it be from Chennai, which is geographically closest to Bali? (like how SpiceJet and Air India fly to Male, Maldives from Kochi/Trivandrum). I think this risk they have to take anyhow. Consider one or two cities most likely to give highest load factor, fly say 3 times a week from each and assess the passenger response. If it is good, frequency can be increased or more cities can be considered.

Fares: Normal return fares to Bali on a budget airline now averages to about 25k-30 INR. During sale, it can be as low as 13-15k. If there's a direct flight many would prefer that even if it is few k expensive. Say if I can depart on Friday night, arrive Saturday early morning, spend weekend + may be 2 more days and return mid week, it will be more convenient than spending 12-16 hours it currently takes to reach Bali. Full service airlines may target regular seats at 25-30k return fare and budget airlines should target sub 20k pricing to win customers over Malindo/Air Asia/Scoot/ Silk air that take Indian passengers to Bali with one stop at their hubs.

Indians get free visa on arrival at Bali, so a direct flight will probably make some more customers consider Bali instead of Thailand or Singapore

What do you think? Do you have a better destination in mind than Bali that you wish airlines to evaluate direct flights to? Share your thoughts below.

More posts on Bali: Bali recommended 6 day offbeat itinerary * Bike rental in Bali * Read my other posts on Bali here * 

Malaysia Airline India-Australia 45k deal-worth considering?

Malaysian Airlines is currently advertising a deal on their site, claiming an all inclusive return fare of around 43k-45k from South Indian cities like Chennai, Hyd, Blr to Australian cities like Melbourne, Sydney etc

Above: My click of Sydney Harbor Bridge

Below is what they've advertised on their website. It says offer ends on 07/07/2018 which is odd because travel period is upto 31 March 2018 only. My guess is they meant offer ends on 7th July 2017.

Is this a great deal?
If your sole purpose is reaching Australia on lowest cost, 45k is not cheap. The cheapest I've seen is 20-22k during Air Asia sales. Even Tiger Air/Scoot has tickets around 25k during their sale. But these are low cost airlines that charge extra for baggage, food etc. Assuming you buy baggage and food as well, total spend will be around 32-35k approx, on low cost airline.

Malaysian is a full service airline, so may be another 10k is worth it you may think. But before you consider Malaysian, you should ideally check the prices of its main rival- Singapore Airlines. SQ offers better reliability and service, Changi Airport is more fun to spend time at. If the price difference is negligible, I would suggest go with SQ. At this moment SQ is not running any sale, so their price is 10-20k more than Malaysian.

Further, I checked if the fares are really same as what's advertised. For some date combinations I could find it close what was advertised. Like below.

For several date combinations the prices were bit higher

If you're thinking New Zealand, Air Asia has a 2 stop connection- you will need Australia transit visa- more time and money. Malaysian offers 1 stop flight, so might be more worthy overall.

Besides, Malaysian airline has its own set of drawbacks. Last year a friend returning from Bali was subjected to poor treatment because of a delayed flight and missed connections. Use your discretion.

My recommendations:
This deal I term as reasonable/decent but not super cheap/super exciting. In other words, I wouldn't say "leave everything and check this sale now", rather "just check, if everything falls in place and suits your convenience then only book"

If you've determined to go to Australia and are keen on flying a full service airline, book on Malaysian if you find a total return fare under 50k

If you are not particular about full service airline, wait for next Air Asia/TigerAir/Scoot sale. You might be able to book it at around Rs 25000 + another 10k probably for baggage and food, still lot cheaper than Malaysian.

If Singapore Airlines or Cathay is expensive but only by a small margin, book them.

Best wishes and happy journey.

Related: Australia Visa processing for Indians * 

KLM Royal Dutch Mumbai Amsterdam Direct flight

KLM is world's oldest airline still in operation. (Read my earlier review). Based in Amsterdam, KLM has a fleet of about 115 aircrafts and flies to 145 destinations around the world. But KLM's focus on India has been negligible. They were flying only to New Delhi in India, no other destination, whereas all other major airlines like Lufthansa, Air France, BA fly to several Indian metros. KLM would connect to other Indian cities only via their partner airlines (mainly AF, jet and Etihad).

KLM has recently decided to add a second Indian city- Mumbai to its network. (as per this news, KLM was flying to Mumbai 16 years ago but stopped). At present KLM's partner Jet Airways flies direct to Amsterdam daily (last year Jet Airways changed in Europe hub from Brussels to Amsterdam). So will this new KLM flight bring lots of cheer? I am not very sure, let us see.

Key details about KLM's Mumbai-Amsterdam Flight
Commencing from: 29 October 2017
Frequency- 3 days a week (Sunday, Tuesday, Friday)
Approx fare: Economy: INR 49000 onwards
Flight Timing:  BOM-AMS: 0405-0850 AMS-BOM: 1310-0215 (next day)
Flight duration: 9 hours and 15 mins approx
Aircraft Type: B787-9
Cabin options: Only Economy and Business

Key advantages of this new KLM Route between Mumbai and Schiphol (AMS)

Easier connectivity if you're flying onwards to US or any norther Europe destinations

Points to note:

KLM's cancellation and modification charges are higher than Gulf based airlines

Unless you're flying direct to Amsterdam, the fare is usually not as cheap as Etihad or Emirates

I've flown few short haul flights on KLM between Amsterdam and Copenhagen. It is full service airline so fares will be on the higher side. But service is largely good.

What to do at Amsterdam

Amsterdam needs no introduction. It is popular for its canals, windmills and cheese. You can easily spend several days around Amsterdam. Amsterdam is well connected by train to most of Europe including Brussels, France etc, or hop on a short flight to other schengen areas.

KLM's youtube account has some cool videos. Watch them when free.

If your destination is somewhere else in Europe, there could be cheaper ways of reaching there instead of flying to AMS. Via Middle East could be a better option, particularly if you're not starting at Mumbai.

Air India direct flight to Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark is world's happiest country and Copenhagen (Capital of Denmark) easily ranks at some of the best cities in the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Copenhagen  3 times so far. First visit was one stop flight via Qatar, second was two stop flight (Chennai-Delhi-Paris-Copenhagen, Copenhagen-Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi-Chennai) and 3^rd was via Frankfurt. Because there was no direct flight between Denmark and India this multi stop flight was unavoidable.

Now there’s some respite. Air India has announced Delhi-Copenhagen direct flights, 3 times a week.

Key details about Air India's Delhi- Copenhagen Flight
Commencing from: 16 Sep 2017
Frequency- 3 days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)
Approx fare: Economy: INR 45000 onwards (DEL-CPH and back, relatively cheaper than other alternatives), Business Class- 2.3 lakhs onwards for round trip
Flight Timing:  DEL-CPH: 1430-1845 CPH-DEL: 2045-0735 (next day)
Flight duration: 7 hours and 20 mins approx
Aircraft Type: Dreamliner
Cabin options: Only Economy and Business

Some immediate advantages of Air India Delhi-Copenhagen Direct flight

1. Delhi is well connected by all Indian metros, so you can fly to Copenhagen with a short domestic flight and short transit time
2. If you’re close to Delhi, you can fly to Copenhagen even cheaper by taking overnight train to Delhi
3. If you have Denmark issued Schengen visa, it is lot convenient now to land in Copnehagen and then fly onward to other Schengen destinations
4. In case of scenarios like flight delays, missed connections may be you’re better off being in Indian soil than get stuck in some transit airport.
5. Very convenient timing: With carriers like Emirates, Lufthansa etc usually you’ll have to take a midnight/very early morning flight to their hubs, wait a few hours for connecting flight and then reach CPH by afternoon/evening. With Air India’s afternoon departure, you can start from your origin city in the morning, reach Delhi by noon, connect to afternoon flight, reach same day evening and will have enough time to prepare for work/leisure activities next day.
6. Easier connectivity to some of the northern Europe/Scandinavian destinations like Iceland, Bergen, Oslo etc
7. Relatively cheaper: Air India's current fares are cheaper than (or at par with) any other alternative to reach Copenhagen from India

Risk: Air India is not known for its on time performance. If you’re origin city is not Delhi, you will have to keep lots of buffer time for domestic leg, as your flight to Delhi from your city carriers a high risk of delays due to various reasons such as politicians delaying flight, late arrival of incoming flight-which could be international as well and so on. If you keep very tight connection time you might end up missing the flight that day and lose a day in the process.

Copenhagen key tips:

• Local currency: DKK (1 DKK= 10 INR approx)
• Transport From CPH airport: Take Metro to city, will be lot cheaper than taxi. Taxi to city can easily cross 200 DKK, Metro costs about 36 to 48 DKK depending on zones you cross.
• Zone system: Public transportation in Copenhagen has a zone system that you need to understand before buying tickets- full details in this post.
• Best places to stay: Hostels and Hotels available to suit all budget ranges. Stay closer to Copenhagen Central for best connectivity or in Frediksberg area for quiet residential neighborhood. You can use below widget to search more. 
• Indian food in Copenhagen: Available. Details here- Indian Restaurants in Copenhagen, 
• Best time to visit Denmark: March to September is usually summer time and ideal to visit Denmark. October onwards winter kicks in, most attractions either close down or operate with reduced timings.

What to do/see in Copenhagen?

Copenhagen has lots of places of interest- within city and nearby. You can read all my posts on Denmark here. Some select tips given below

Within Copenhagen City limits:

1. Round Tower
2. Tivoli Amusement park
3. Bakken- world's oldest amusement park
4. Frederiksberg Garden
5. The little Mermaid (Copenhagen's signature landmark)
6. Rosenborg Castle near Norreport
7. Botanical Garden
8. Kastellet (A star shaped fortress near Esplanaden)

Day visit/weekend trips from Copenhagen

1. Roskilde
2. Malmo, Sweden
3. Helsingborg, Sweden (Check all my Sweden posts here)
4. Helsignor, Denmark
5. Frederiksborg Castle 

Other short haul destinations

From Copenhagen you can take overnight cruise to Oslo (Norway) or bus/train to Berlin and Prague or Amsterdam or hop on a short flight to almost anywhere in northern/central Europe, particularly Schengen areas without further visa worries. Try momondo.com for fares.

Above: with Indian ambassador to Denmark, at Indian Embassy in Copenhagen during Independence Day celebrations, 2015- More details here

What about South Indian travelers?

While those based in and around NCR or nearby states can take immediate advantage of Air India’s direct flight to Copenhagen, what about those in South India- say Mumbai, BLR, Chennai etc? I think South Indian travelers might still prefer the conventional way- one stop flight via Dubai or Doha or Frankfurt or Paris etc and connect to Copenhagen. But if timing and fare is good, I guess they will consider flying to Delhi and connecting to Air India’s direct flight to Copenhagen. Indian travelers have their own set of perception about Air India that probably won’t allow to prefer Air India over Emirates or Lufthansa other international airlines, particularly if they're traveling on work and company is paying. What do you prefer?

I wish all the best to Air India’s direct flight to Copenhagen. Hope to make use of it someday.

Similar: Air France premium economy review * Lufthansa Premium Economy review  * KLM

New dedicated blog for air travel and airline industry

Happy to announce a new blog dedicated to airlines and air travel. So far I have been blogging airline related news in my primary blog, www.enidhi.net. Recently Lakshmi Sharath suggested on one of my FB posts that I should start an airline blog. When I thought seriously about it, I felt that there's definitely a need, purpose and potential for such as blog. Because there's no dedicated airline/air travel only blogs in India-only regular travel bloggers double up to cover airline news. I am following this industry very closely and am in a position to provide some additional analysis, insights and reviews to add value. Thus the decision was taken to launch this blog. With your support and encouragement, I hope to make this blog successful.

What kind of posts you can expect from airlineblog?

1. Airline/Airport/Air Travel news- New destinations by airlines, new partnerships, visa related, major announcements that are relevant/useful to air travelers
2. Airfare deals and analysis- latest deals/discounts, if they are really worth?
3. Tips and tricks- Reaching airport at minimum cost, saving while booking/traveling, making most of transit times
4. Experience, reviews and feedback: First-hand experience accounts and reviews of airlines, airports etc
5. Other air travel/airport/airline related topics

Your immediate benefits by following airlineblog?
1 More than just news: I promise to add additional analysis/insights often missed by mainstream media while publishing a news. For example, while everyone else may also announce Air India's Delhi-Copenhagen direct flight, I try to add more inputs such as how this direct flight is better/worse that other existing options, making most of your trip to Copenhagen and so on. Check this post.

2 Save on your bookings: While all airlines keep announcing sales every now and then, based on my experience so far in tracking air fares I can suggest if a particular deal is worth trying or it is a total waste of time and the fineprint.  Do check my blog when a sale is announced, you can save your precious time otherwise wasted on it or save some real money by booking at lower price.

3. Benefit from others first hand experiences, tips, to avoid mistakes or to make the most of your trip.

Why this new blog?

I feel there is a need for a dedicated airline/airtravel blog. Today there’re very few airline/air travel dedicated blogs- most of them focus on US. Hardly any exclusive airline/airtravel blogs in India. Mostly general travel bloggers double up for posting air travel related contents. I feel there’s enough content and market in this niche- only any day there’re some new announcements by airlines, some deals, new destinations and other matters of interest which are of use/interest to potential flyers. My other blog, www.enidhi.net covers wide range of topics including travel, auto, reviews and so on. I felt it is better to have a separate dedicated blog for Airline Industry.

How you can help airlineblog.in?

• Read, comment and subscribe- primary motive for me to keep writing
• Link please: As this is a new blog, any link back I can get from your blogs and websites would definitely be appreciated.
• Please help spread the word so that more people can benefit from the contents. When you find this blog or any blogpost useful, do share on your social media channels, so that more and more people can possibly benefit from it.
• Contribute

I welcome guest articles, provided it meets following conditions
-          Should be first hand experience, not content churned out sitting at home
-          Couple of original photos relevant to the topic is preferred
Some sample ideas
o   You got an upgrade to business class- how was the experience
o   An issue you had and how airline did or didn’t resolve it
o   Tips specific to airports/duty free shopping/airline sales etc (based on personal experience only)
o   Any other unique/personal experience
I may choose to edit guest posts if needed or if not deemed suitable may not use it at all. If published you will get a short bio with photo and a link to your website/blog. If you’re making a complaint/accusation then related evidence will be needed.

Your suggestions and feedback are much awaited. Any particular suggestions, feedback, critics please comment or let me know through other channels.

Welcome to my new blog and wish me luck.