
Un-bee-lievable: Swarm of bees disrupt IndiGo Surat-Jaipur flight by an hour
However, this caused panic among the airport staff as the water attracted more bees for a moment.After nearly an hour of persistent efforts involving both smoke and water sprays, the authorities successfully removed the bees from the flight.Due to this, the Surat-Jaipur IndiGo flight could finally take off at 5.26 am, leaving passengers confined inside the plane for nearly an hour, the officials informed.The officials also added that no passenger or worker was injured in the incident.According to the airport officials, this was the first such incident at Surat Airport and the authorities are reviewing measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.Earlier, last year in July, another IndiGo aircraft travelling from Mumbai to Bareilly was hijacked by a swamp of bees. The bees attacked Indigo flight 6E 5316 and delayed it. The flight which was scheduled to take off at 10.40 am eventually took off at 1 pm in the afternoon. The passengers of the flight revealed that the beehive was discovered only after passengers had boarded the plane. - EndsMust Watch
IN THIS STORY#IndiGo

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
7 hours ago
- Business Standard
Greenfield airports to give India global aviation edge: Noida airport CEO
At the Business Standard Infrastructure Summit 2025, Christoph Schnellmann, CEO of Noida International Airport, highlighted why greenfield airports give India an edge in becoming a global aviation hub. 'Every airport is a hub, not just in terms of air travel but also ground travel. Larger airports in India are beginning to provide hub connectivity at global scale,' he said. Schnellmann explained that unlike older airports, Noida is not tied down by legacy systems. 'We have been able to deploy the newest technology when it comes to passenger processing, self-service bag drops. The disadvantage is that we do not have the experience,' he said. Noida International Airport is currently constructing its first terminal and plans to handle 70 million passengers over the next two decades. The CEO said the focus will be on making passenger transfers smooth. Domestic and international transfers to be key In its first phase, the airport will concentrate on domestic-to-domestic and domestic-to-international transfers. Schnellmann said, 'We will be an international airport. There will be immigration counters. But our primary focus is on safety.' Schnellmann added that the bigger challenge lies in handling rapid growth in the Delhi-NCR aviation ecosystem without affecting punctuality and efficiency. 'Working together to build hubs' Schnellmann stressed the need for industry-wide cooperation. 'If we want to succeed in India with hubs, if we want to win with hubs in India, we do so as an industry, we do so by working together,' he said. He also underlined that improving passenger experience will decide the success. 'Our transfer product needs to be better... Better may mean quicker, maybe easier, cheaper, or more luxurious for the premium travelling segment," he said. Noida International Airport The Noida International Airport, also known as Jewar Airport, is one of India's most significant greenfield projects. In December last year, it successfully conducted a validation flight with IndiGo, marking a key step towards securing its aerodrome licence. The test confirmed the accuracy of approach procedures and navigational systems in the presence of civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu. The airport has failed to meet its third deadline of May 15, set by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Earlier, the project had also missed the targets of September 29, 2024, and April 25, 2025. What are greenfield airports? Greenfield airports are facilities built from scratch on undeveloped land, avoiding the challenges of older sites. They are designed with minimal environmental impact and modern infrastructure. The Greenfield Airports Policy of 2008 allows developers and state governments to propose such projects, subject to a two-stage approval process—site clearance and in-principle approval by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Many Indian airports in urban areas are already operating at full capacity, leading to congestion and environmental stress. Greenfield airports shift air traffic to the outskirts, reducing urban pollution and supporting sustainable growth.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
9 hours ago
- Business Standard
Can Indian airports join global hub league? Experts weigh in at BS Summit
Indian airports are steadily moving towards being recognised as global hubs, with Delhi Airport nearly reaching that stage, experts said at the Business Standard Infrastructure Summit on Thursday on the theme 'Building a Global Airport Hub in India.' In a panel discussion moderated by Deepak Patel, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO of Delhi International Airport, explained that the classification of a hub is not formally defined but is largely determined by the share of transfer traffic. 'There is no criteria for any airport to be called a global hub. It is more about how well you are connected to across the world and what is the percentage of traffic that is transfer traffic,' he said. 'So, typically for a global hub, around 30 per cent of the traffic is connecting traffic with a mix of domestic to international as well as international to international traffic. We are currently at about 28 to 29 per cent. I can say we are on the verge of getting classified as a global hub and a global gateway.' He noted that five years ago, Delhi Airport had around 20 per cent connecting traffic, primarily domestic-to-domestic, but this has now expanded to domestic-to-international and international-to-international transfers. 'At Delhi airport, the current share of international to international traffic is 3 to 4 per cent. India is in a very unique situation. India is akin to many US airports. Domestic to international traffic has gone up by 30 per cent,' he added. Infrastructure challenges and planning for growth Jaipuriar highlighted how airport planning is tied to long-term traffic projections, which can change significantly over time. 'When you design an airport, it's based on a 10-year projection of the traffic... If I look at the traffic projection that we got in 2016, the overall scenario was very different. At that time, Air India was a government organisation, and they lacked funding. Indigo didn't have too many aspirations for international travel. Those aspirations have changed,' he said. He added that while modifying existing infrastructure is difficult, Delhi benefited from forward planning. 'Terminal 3 was designed in a manner that more international operations can be held in Terminal 3 by just doing a little bit of tweaking. Similarly, we saw that our international to international transfer is going multifold... We were able to actually expand that area threefold because that was something that was part of the initial planning.' Delhi's advantages as a brownfield airport Explaining the benefits of an existing, centrally located airport, Jaipuriar said: 'The benefit of a brownfield airport like Delhi is that we are in the centre of the city. So the catchment area is that much larger in terms of the overall traffic, as well as the relationship with different airlines is that long-standing.' He stressed that hub airports still need 60-70 per cent origin-and-destination traffic, which Delhi has. On passenger movement between terminals, Jaipuriar pointed to improvements: 'In spite of the passenger travelling on the city side that you have to come out of Terminal one and go to Terminal three, your baggage need not come out, your baggage can get transferred to Terminal 3, so that makes life easier.' He said increased bus frequency, the planned metro extension to Terminal 1, and a future automatic people mover would further ease transfers. On immigration, he said, 'Ours is best in the world in terms of waiting time. We have been increasing immigration counters on regular intervals. We work closely with immigration officials for ease the flow.' Noida Airport bets on technology and design Christoph Schnellmann, CEO of Noida International Airport, underlined the advantages of greenfield airports. 'Every airport is a hub, not just in terms of air travel but also ground travel. Larger airports in India are beginning to provide hub connectivity at global scale,' he said. Unlike older airports, Noida is not constrained by legacy systems. 'We have been able to deploy the newest technology when it comes to passenger processing, self-service bag drops. The disadvantage is that we do not have the experience,' Schnellmann said. Currently building its first terminal, Noida plans to scale capacity to 70 million passengers over the next two decades. 'Our efforts in this context [are] that we will make sure that the transfer from your vehicle... to the flight is as quick and easy as possible to make sure that those processes are quick or seamless or digitally supported,' he said.


Time of India
21 hours ago
- Time of India
Business-class comfort on low-cost flights soon
Kolkata: Days after Emirates and Thai Vietjet announced four-class and three-class cabin configurations on their respective flights to Dubai and Bangkok, domestic carrier IndiGo Airlines announced a two-class configuration in its cabin on flights to Delhi and Mumbai. At present, Air India offers business class seats on its flights, while Air India Express has business class on select flights to Chennai, Bengaluru, and Jaipur. Travel agents in Kolkata said the introduction of business class on 11 flights to Delhi starting Sept 12 and on three flights to Mumbai from Sept 16 has triggered excitement among flyers. Executives, businessmen, and traders who prefer flying IndiGo because the airline offers the highest frequency on most sectors, said they were willing to pay more for better comfort. "Jet Airways set the benchmark in business class. Kingfisher also had a good product. After the two went bust, there was Vistara and Air India. After the merger, only AI had business class. But since it did not have many flights, passengers had to compromise on flexibility of travel to avail of it. The introduction of business class by IndiGo will make a big difference," said Travel Agents Federation of India national executive committee member Anil Punjabi. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in Kolkata SpiceJet does have a product called SpiceMax that offers greater legroom and priority check-in, but it is essentially a premium economy offering. While all 11 daily flights that IndiGo operates to Delhi from Kolkata will offer IndiGo Stretch, which includes meals and beverages, higher baggage allowance, and priority check-in, only three out of eight flights will offer business class. "As more aircraft with twin configurations are available, more flights to Mumbai will offer business class," said an official. In addition to Stretch, the airline has a Stretch+ offering that provides an even higher baggage allowance and lower cancellation fee. Travel Agent Association of India chairman (east) Anjani Dhanuka said the business class offering would do well as business class in Air India flights from Kolkata have an average occupancy of 65-70%, with some Delhi and Mumbai-bound flights going full. "At present, people who wanted extra legroom on IndiGo flights used to pay for first row or emergency seats. Those travelling to Delhi or Mumbai will now buy business class seats. There is also a good demand on the Kolkata-Bengaluru sector where IndiGo has 10 flights a day," he said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.