The partnership comes after the announcement of Qatar Airways’ Official Airline and Global Partner with Formula 1®(F1®) earlier this year. The partnership will include specialised branding on the driver helmets and caps for the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023, along with various events held during the race weekend featuring the BWT Alpine F1 Team and Qatar Airways executives, cabin crew and the public. The airline partnership with BWT Alpine F1 Team showcases the airline’s continued commitment to promoting and expanding motorsport, both within Qatar and globally.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are proud to be partnering with the BWT Alpine F1 Team on a multi-year partnership to help us promote the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023 and to deliver the best quality experiences for our passengers, customers, and fans who will be attending the Formula 1® race.

Both of our organisations are committed to precision engineering and excellence to make the greatest technological advancements in our fields and to drive the most environmentally sustainable outcomes for our respective industries. We look forward to hosting the Formula 1® community at the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023 and wish the BWT Alpine F1 Team all the best for the remainder of the season.”

David Gendry, Vice President, Alpine Sponsoring, Partnerships and Communications, said: “We are proud to team up with Qatar Airways, an incredible global airline that has such high standards. Both Alpine and Qatar Airways share the common objectives of a sustainable future and the use of sustainable fuels, in line with Formula 1®’s goal of becoming net zero by 2030.

We look forward to a close collaboration that represents a unique opportunity for Alpine to further strengthen its presence in Qatar and to connect with fans in the region. The entire team is very much looking forward to visiting Qatar at the beginning of October for the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023.”

To rev up the excitement and reflect its commitment to motorsport enthusiasts worldwide, the airline unveiled its new Formula 1® livery painted on a specially branded Boeing 777 aircraft. In just a few short weeks, motorsport fanatics will have the opportunity to watch their favourite teams and drivers push their cars to the limit at the Lusail International Circuit when F1® heads back to Qatar for the Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix 2023 from 6-8 October 2023.

Both Qatar Airways, BWT Alpine F1 Team, and F1® are committed to working to reduce the environmental impact of their respective industries through responsible practices. As part of the partnership, both entities aim to collaborate on sustainability-focused initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and strive for a greener future.

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These new routes will boost tourism and trade between the two continents by facilitating the movement of travelers.

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Australia, Senator Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister for State, visited Vietnam to congratulate the airline on the launch of direct routes connecting the two countries.

The Minister’s visit follows a recent visit to Vietnam by Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley, who also welcomed the new flight routes connecting Australia and Vietnam. 

Minister Farrell also welcomed the plans for new routes, including the first ever direct flight to Brisbane from Vietnam, which demonstrates the growing connection between Australia and Vietnam.

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The order comprises 40 Airbus A350s, 20 Boeing 787s, and 10 Boeing 777-9s widebody aircraft, as well as 210 Airbus A320/321 Neos and 190 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft.  The A350 aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines and the B777/787s by engines from GE Aerospace.  All single-aisle aircraft will be powered by engines from CFM International.

Commenting on the occasion, Tata Sons and Air India Chairman, N Chandrasekaran, said: “Air India is on a large transformation journey across safety, customer service, technology, engineering, network, and human resources. A modern, efficient fleet is a fundamental component of this transformation. This order is an important step in realising Air India’s ambition, articulated in its Vihaan. AI transformation program, to offer a world-class proposition serving global travellers with an Indian heart. These new aircraft will modernise the Airline’s fleet and onboard product, and dramatically expand its global network.  The growth enabled by this order will also provide unparalleled career opportunities for Indian aviation professionals and catalyse accelerated development of the Indian aviation ecosystem.”

The first of the new aircraft will enter service in late-2023, with the bulk to arrive from mid-2025 onwards.  In the interim, the airline has already started taking delivery of 11 leased B777 and 25 A320 aircraft to accelerate its fleet and network expansion.

The acquisition of new aircraft, which will come with an entirely new cabin interior, complements the Airline’s previously announced plan to refit its existing widebody B787 and B777 aircraft with new seats and inflight entertainment systems. The first of these refitted aircraft will enter service in mid-2024.  

The group currently comprises full-service Air India, as well as two low-cost subsidiaries Air India Express and Air Asia India which are in the process of merging.  Its parent, Tata Sons, recently announced its intention to merge Air India with full-service airline Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines in which the former holds a 51% share. 

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Resuming a service that was suspended in early 2019, the new flight is the third non-stop service from Mumbai to the USA, joining flights to Newark (EWR) and San Francisco (SFO).  The resumption is in line with the airline’s concerted endeavour to develop Mumbai as a significant hub, second only to Delhi, providing maximum international connectivity between India and the rest of the world. 

The flight will operate daily with the newly inducted Boeing 777-200LR aircraft and take Air India’s India-US frequency to 47 non-stop flights per week. Presently, Air India operates non-stop flights from Mumbai to San Francisco and Newark, from Delhi to New York, Newark, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Chicago, and from Bengaluru to San Francisco. 

The first flight AI 119 from Mumbai to New York is set to depart Mumbai at 00:55 hrs and arrive in New York at 06:55 hrs (local time) on the same day. The return flight AI 116 will depart New York at 10:55 hrs (local time) to arrive in Mumbai at 11:35 hrs+1 day.

Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, “A key element of Air India’s Vihaan. AI transformation is considerably improving connectivity between India’s major cities and major global destinations.  Adding this new service from Mumbai to New York JFK, following December’s launch of non-stop flights from Mumbai to San Francisco, affirms our commitment to developing a major international hub in India’s commercial capital. With the opening of this route, Air India will offer 47 nonstop flights available each week between India and the United States, with a further 14 serving Canada every week.”

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 IATO had to resort to legal recourse, as there was no positive response coming from the airlines about refund of air tickets which were cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic. The tour operators are already in dire straits due to shutdown of business and they were further under tremendous pressure from their foreign tour operators/foreign tourists to refund the advances they had paid.

According to Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO,“ Almost all our prayers have been accepted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Now we are waiting for the orders on refund of air tickets to be issued by DGCA to the airlines as per the court orders. The ruling will help ease the liquidity problem being faced by operators to some extent and by honouring the commitment to foreign operators it will also help operators preserve long-standing business relations. “    

Highlights of the judgement are:- 

• All other International Tickets, whether booked on Indian Carriers or International Carriers (Ex-India) booked during Lockdown either direct or through Travel Agent to be refunded within 3 weeks in case of Direct or immediately in case booked through Travel Agent. 
• Further, in all other cases: Airlines are directed to refund the same within 15 days from today. 
• However, the court has considered the appeal of the Airlines who are in financial distress to give a Credit Shell in the name of the Passenger, which is transferrable. The Court has directed the airlines to give an incentive compensation of 6% up to 30th June 2020, and 9% up to 31st March 2021 for the delay in refunding. In case the Credit shells are not utilized by 31st March 2021, the Airlines have to refund the same to the same source it was booked through.

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Vistara will offer in-flight Wi-Fi internet connectivity onboard international flights operated by its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, starting 18 September 2020 on flights between Delhi and London Heathrow. This makes Vistara the first Indian airline to offer the service.

As an introductory offer, the service will be available free of cost to all Vistara customers for a limited period. Vistara plans to soon introduce the service on its Airbus A321neo aircraft as well, subject to regulatory approvals.

Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are delighted to offer onboard WiFi internet connectivity which takes our onboard travel experience to truly global standards. We are also glad to be the first Indian carrier to be able to offer this service to our customers.”

The state-of-the-art wireless connectivity system by Panasonic Avionics on Vistara’s Dreamliner allows passengers to access the internet on all Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Vistara customers can now stay seamlessly connected at 35,000 feet above the ground, send email, access information, use social media, and more.

During the limited period of the free offering, The airlines will gather information on system functionality and feedback on the overall customer experience to further fine-tune the service. The airline will announce the tariff plans for the service in due course.

With this cutting-edge In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system, customers can also access a rich multimedia library of nearly 700 hours of wide-ranging engaging content that includes movies, TV shows and audio compilations of various genres as well as games.

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How many of us have heard the recorded toneless voice: “Dear customer, due to the Corona virus and shortage of manpower we regret we cannot accept any phone calls regarding your inquiry on refund matters. Please press 1 to continue. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Corona has found its most unexpected victim … the refund category.

With business and leisure travel plans cancelled and hotels partially closed, airlines, train, cruise and travel agencies have gone crazy handling the humongous volume of requests for cancellation reimbursement once the government ordered it.

Online travel agencies (OTA) and brick and mortar agencies have red flagged refunds as a hurdle and sought immediate government aid.

An an example, an estimated £7 billion was spent by Britons on holidays booked pre Corona that will no longer take place. These holidaymakers are demanding a full reimbursement and are entitled to it.

The second major category of refunds are weddings and private events, trade and corporate shows, sports matches and glitzy calendar season tickets…all of which stand cancelled or postponed. 

Take the thousands of big fat Indian weddings booked for the year that have been cancelled and you can understand how event managers and venue platforms are struggling to find ways to recompense the parties.

Thats not all.

The steep drop in disposable income in business and family finances have led to mass cancellation of various orders.

From the urgent to the mundane, the most common refrain is can you cancel and refund the booking?
So the list progresses…airline, travel, hotel, event and entertainment, gym and club membership, season ticket, all the way to app upgrade pay back to shopping voucher compensation, cancellation of edu upgrade fees, to premium status rebates.

We are in a world where everyone is turning their figurative back to a known universe of constant consumerism.

Banks are registering a staggering amount of queries on refund status on cancelled orders of services no longer required/possible to deliver or fulfill.

School, college and tution reimbursement are another important category affecting every other family. When universities and schools are closed what happens to fees gathered? What about schools which had charged annual fee increases to reluctant parents and were asked to rollback the fee hikes and were flooded with irate calls: where’s my refund?

Consumer outrage at delay in processing and honouring refund requests has found expression on social media. Virtual credit shells and virtual wallets are not acceptable and cash transfer to bank accounts is a loud demand.

Finally, refund rights and class action suits are coming up and legal eagles are getting ready for the battle which asks ‘Are refunds legal in a Covid pandemic?’