India Weekly: China, Israel, SpiceJet, Davos and Coldplay

Indian aviation focused this week on a potential resumption of direct flights between India and China, aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu’s comments at Davos, SpiceJet’s fleet, and Coldplay's starry performance. India-China India and China have finally agreed to restart direct flights that have remained suspended since the pandemic of 2020 and a tense border stand-off between the two Asian giants that led to the death of troops on both sides and intense military fortification in the northwest of the Himalayas. IndiGo flew to Chengdu, and Air India flew to Shanghai earlier, but are still awaiting more clarity after India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the two sides “have agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries; the relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date." Most Indian travelers have been flying on airlines like Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and then to the mainland without direct options. Israel Air India, meanwhile, announced this week that it will resume its flights to Israel on March 1st. The airline had pulled out its flights from Israel after the military operations in Gaza escalated. Both have since announced a truce. Air India will now offer five weekly services to Tel Aviv from Delhi on its Boeing 787s. Many Israeli tourists also travel to India for vacations after their military training. Davos Meanwhile, Indian aviation minister Naidu said in Davos that the country was keen to make Delhi Airport a key hub over the coming two years. There was also afoot to develop 50 additional airports. “We have become the 3rd largest domestic aviation network. Now the whole world is looking at India on how to improve their aviation networks. We are trying to speak to the aircraft operator and also kind of facilitate for more transit network in the airport itself and we have a plan that within two years we want to establish Delhi as a major international aviation hub,” he told the news agency ANI in Davos, "We are speaking to the airlines, speaking to other countries, how we can support this kind of aviation hub, and there has been a lot of interest in that area also." SpiceJet SpiceJet has shrunk to one-third its size since the pandemic. It is also trying to pull up its recovery. After months of default, it finally raised around $300 million late last year, which it said would also be used to unground some of its fleet. This week, the airline announced that it will re-induct its first ungrounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into operations on January 29th. According to the airline, nearly ten aircraft, including four Boeing 737 MAX planes, are expected to be back in service by mid-April 2025. Coldplay Even as Indian airlines expand their footprint globally, an IndiGo pilot made his local Ahmedabad flight special. Coldplay’s concert in Ahmedabad had been sold out, and people were finding it difficult to get tickets. “How many of you are going to the Coldplay concert? How many of you have two extra tickets?” he jokingly asked passengers during the flight and later posted a video on social media. It seems most were flying to the city for the concert as they cheered and recreated Coldplay’s famous Sky Full of Stars moment by switching on their phone flashlights in the dimmed Airbus A320 cabin.

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