The Indian AvGeek

It’s the quarter-century episode of the Indian AvGeek and do we have a striker or what? Evan from ⁠AnalyticFlying.com⁠. We are diving into Airbus’s latest and greatest: .Is the A321 XLR a misunderstood aircraft? .Has aircraft marketing been taken too seriously? .What makes the XLR different from other aircraft in the A320 family? .IndiGo and the curious case of the Airbus A321 XLRWhat kind of hard product will IndiGo’s XLRs get? .Why can’t DEL-LON happen on an A321 XLR? .Why is Frankfurt a likely choice for IndiGo’s XLR ops? .Which European & African stations can IndiGo possibly open with the XLR? .How will Air India’s A321 XLR plans possibly differ from IndiGo’s? Evan - ⁠@analyticflying⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week Ajay Awtaney forecasts the year ahead for Indian aviation with me. We discussed IATA’s projections and the expected profitability for Indian airlines. Besides that: * Biggest tech advancements coming up in 2025 * Most critical challenge for MoCA and DGCA this year * How are airlines preparing to meet increased travel demand? * IndiGo’s plans for 2025 * The developing complex fleet of IndiGo * PaxEx discussion around A321 XLR * Where can we expect IndiGo to dispatch its upcoming XLRs And more. Ajay Awtaney - ⁠@livefromalounge⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode number 21 of The Indian AvGeek features Devesh Agarwal (BLRAviation) chatting with me on the final part of the 2024 recap for Indian aviation. This week, we started with the leading airports of the country (DEL, BOM, BLR), moved to Boeing, and then Airbus as OEMs. We touched on regional aviation in the country and how 2024 was an important year for it before diving into SpiceJet and Air India. Devesh Agarwal - ⁠⁠@BLRAviation⁠⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week’s show has Jagriti talking about her background in aviation journalism, stories that she is proud of covering, Air India’s latest additional 100 aircraft order, FDTL norms for Indian pilots, wet leasing rules revamp by DGCA, gender rights in Indian aviation circles, and much more. Jagriti Chandra - ⁠@jagritichandra⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week’s show features Vasuki Prasad, Embraer Commercial Aviation’s APAC Marketing Director. The first part of our chat discusses Vasuki’s time heading commercial at Vistara, his eventual move to Embraer, the aircraft sales pitch process, Embraer in India, their integrated marketing mix, the relevance of airshows in today’s world, and more. Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

As a historic week in the world of Indian aviation continues to rumble, the world’s foremost aviation marketing expert, Shashank Nigam, joins the show to talk about iconic brands of Indian aviation. We discussed the importance of airline marketing and how it differs from the usual marketing we all know. How airline marketing evolved into health ratings during the pandemic, marketing’s importance for leading OEMs like Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, GE, and so forth. His unfiltered thoughts on Vistara’s brand dilution, Air India’s brand revamp, Indigo’s marketing, and how Indian airports are marketing themselves. Shashank Nigam - ⁠⁠@SimpliFlying⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week’s guest is Nitin Sarin, Managing Partner at Sarin & Co, India’s only aviation law firm. The topics ranged from how aircraft leasing happens, to how an engine lessor takes the much bigger risk, to the Capetown convention, the emerging GIFT city, what MoCA and DGCA can do to make India more attractive for leasing companies, aircraft repossessions in India, and more. Nitin Sarin - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Deaphen⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This episode is dedicated to the greatest Indian AvGeek — Mr. Ratan Tata. Part two of my chat with the COO of Bengaluru International Airport, Satyaki Raghunath. This episode focuses on Fairfax’s management of BLR, marketing, and branding of the airport, reaching out to the new traveler, inbound tourism for the country, cargo plans for the airport, NetZero plans, how he thinks airlines like Akasa can succeed, the biggest challenge ahead for Indian aviation, and if BLR will open an AvGeek corner at the airport. Satayaki - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SatyakiRaghuna1⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠@vishal1mehra⁠⁠⁠

SpiceJet seems to have secured another lifeline. What does the future look like for the airline, Why have top Indian and International investors put their faith in it, How long will these INR 3000+ crores last for the airline? We discuss this in detail with Ameya Joshi of Network Thoughts and a radical plan to rebuild the airline from the ground up. Ameya Joshi - ⁠⁠⁠⁠@khabri_lal⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠@vishal1mehra⁠⁠

This week's episode features Captain Kishore Chinta, one of the most prolific aviators in the country with a celebrated background in the Indian Air Force and last two decades of flying civil aircraft. He has been an integral part of general aviation in the country and discusses trends, challenges and the future of private flying in the country. Captain Kishore Chinta - ⁠@Capt_CK⁠ Vishal Mehra - ⁠@vishal1mehra⁠

An unmissable episode where Vishal Mehra speaks to Sanjay Lazar, a four-decade veteran of Indian Aviation, with most of his career spent in Air India. Sanjay dishes out on ICAO's safety audit of BCAS, as well as Air India's acquisition of Vistara - and how Singapore Airlines will be calling the shots increasingly. As always, feel free to give feedback - it helps. I'm on most social platforms as @vishal1mehra

The second episode of The Indian AvGeek is here and it features one of India’s most authoritative voices on aviation, Ajay Awtaney. Ajay and I discussed a variety of topics with the launch of IndiGo’s premium product, now known as Stretch, as well as its soon-to-be-launched FFP called IndiGo BluChip. We discuss the new product, passenger perspective on these developments, how it might be a successful launch, the increasing hybridization of IndiGo, potential codeshares, increased margins, IFE, new routes, and more. And then we get into details of IndiGo’s revenue-based FFP - BluChip, whether they add more earn/burn partners, and how that promises to shake up the space in the country, considering IndiGo commands over 60% of India’s domestic market share. As always, please do give feedback - it helps. We are now on YouTube too. ⁠follow me on @vishal1mehra

Vishal Mehra, the host of The Indian AvGeek introduces himself and the show, focussing on the Indian skies, and talks about what's in store for listeners as new episodes drop every Monday.