Video: First A350 XWB undergoes slow speed taxi testing, first Rolls Royce Trent XWB engine start-up

The A350 XWB program appears to be moving along well towards the first flight of this new aircraft soon.

Here is some video of the first taxi tests of MSN1. Below is an official video from the Airbus channel showing the first start of the massive Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines. The white smoke emanates from the engine as the protective layer of oil on various components is burnt off as the engine starts up for the first time and heats up.

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Bangalore International Airport revamps cab operations, introduces unified brand "The Airport Taxi"

A revamp of taxi operations at the Bengaluru International Airport has taken place, with the airport operating company BIAL launching an all new fleet of taxis under a new unified service brand called “The Airport Taxi”.

Bangalore becomes the first airport in India to develop and offer a taxi service with a unique identity.

The all white taxi fleet will be at 2,000 cars comprising of brands such as Toyota Etios, Maruti Swift Dzire, and Mahindra Verito (formerly Renault Logan). 1,400 taxis were introduced today and the balance 600 will be added through calendar 2012. The taxi service will be operated by two existing operators, Meru and KSTDC, and one new operator, Mega cabs. The bookings can be done at 080-4422-4422 or 080-4747-4747 or 080-4900-7777.

Leaving airport operations is the cab company Easy Cab. Bangalore Aviation understands that the taxi contracts came up for renewal and Easy Cab's offer was not as attractive as the others and hence was replaced.

What is surprising is the inclusion of Meru. The cab company has a poor reputation amongst frequent travellers due to the numerous strikes and incidents in the past, which led to disruptions of service at the airport.

Bangalore Aviation once again strongly advises travellers to and from the airport to discourage the touts and use only the official "The Airport Taxi" service or the Vayu Vajra Volvo airport bus service.

Editor's note: Bangalore Aviation regrets the error in the original story which indicated Meru had left the airport operations. The release from BIAL did not contain cab company details and there was a mis-understanding, by us, on which cab companies continued. Our sincere apologies.

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Online booking of BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvo bus, and Bengaluru airport taxi information

December 3, 2008 update

BMTC is no longer booking via Redbus and Viaworld. For online booking please visit www.ticketvala.com.

If you find this article useful, before jumping off the blog, I will appreciate if you can leave a comment or your thanks. Also consider subscribing to the blog via RSS or choose to receive e-mail updates when new articles are posted. See the right side of this page.

The Karnataka State Tourism Development Coporation (KSTDC) is now the third taxi operator at Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). According to Vinay Luthra, managing director, KSTDC, 100 new taxis, mainly Mahindra Logans and and Tata Indigos, have commenced operations.

At the same time, BMTC has done some route rationalisation and changes in bus stop locations to accommodate the Metro construction.



I am summarising the contact information for all the various taxi and bus services to BIA for your ready reference.

Bus Service
Without a doubt, still the most value efficient airport service are the BMTC, Vayu Vajra (air-conditioned Volvo) and Suvarna (non-AC) bus service. Both services are known for their 24x7 service, comfort, efficiency, and safety. At an average fare (to/from City Centre) of Rs.150 ($3.10), for the AC and Rs.80 ($1.70) for non AC, they are unbeatable.

BMTC has also tied up with Cel Cabs and SGL for Home Connect taxi service which offers a door pick-up/drop-off, to the nearest Vayu Vajra/Suvarna bus stop for an additional Rs.100 ($2).

For details on service, routes, and timings, visit the BMTC information website.

For the Home Connect taxi service call +91 (80) 6060-9090 (Cel) or +91 (80) 4299-4399 (SGL).

Individual Taxi Service
Next in the list are the three paid taxi service operators listed in alphabetical order. These are available ad-hoc from the airport terminal, but require an advance booking of 2 hours, from the city. All services are air-conditioned, GPS equipped, and charge Rs. 15/- per kilometer. A trip to/from the city centre will cost you about Rs.650 (US$14).

Easy Cab. Call them on +91 (80) 4343-4343 or book online at www.easycabs.com.
KSTDC. Call them on +91 (80) 4242-5555.
Meru Cab. Call them on +91 (80) 4422-4422 or book online at www.merucabs.com.

Shared Taxi Service
Next are the shared taxi service operators. Airlift and Zoom. These services require an advance booking of about 5~6 hours. Personally, I have had a decent experience with Airlift. I have no experience with Zoom.

A trip on Airlift will cost you Rs.340 ($7). A pick-up or drop-off at your doorstep will add Rs.100 ($2) to the tab.

Airlift. Call them on +91 (80) 4052-8888 or visit www.airliftonline.com
Zoom Airport Express. Call them on +91 (80) 6561-1999 or visit www.zoomairportexpress.com.

For those wanting to use autorickshaws or inter-city buses, there is a transit centre at the trumpet interchange. BMTC runs a shuttle bus from this transit centre to the airport terminal.

For an overview of parking at, and other transport options to/from, Bengaluru International Airport, please read my previous article. I hope you will find it helpful.

Please post your bus or taxi travel experience via a comment.

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Online booking of Taxi and BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvo bus

Updated information is available on the "BIA Bus & Taxi" link on the top menu bar.

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Taxi services to BIAL

I have updated all the BIAL transport information in October 2008. Please use the Vayu Vajra link on the main menu bar.

BIAL bound? No problem
Author: Priyadarshini Nandy

Booking a cab to and from the airport just became easier with service providers going online. You don’t have to worry about them turning up on time as stiff competition keeps these vendors on their toes...

After much deliberations and protests the Bangalore International Airport is finally in function. The only issue that continues to trouble commuters is the lack of infrastructure that leads us to the airport.

Thanks to private vendors coming forth, travelling to the airport isn’t much of a mammoth task any more.

Of these, Zoom Airport Express, Airlift cabs and Meru cabs are three of the only services to have come forward with fully integrated websites, www.zoomairportexpress.com, www.airliftonline.com and merucabs.com for consumers to use to schedule pick up and drops.

How it works

While Airliftonline allows you to schedule pick up and drops to and from the airport, all financial transactions are made directly to the cab drivers. The service has pick up points for users to choose from.

Meru Cabs has a more user friendly interface, allowing you to book cabs online and on the phone via SMS or their customer care centre. Payment however is again made to the driver Zoomexpress however, intends to take that a step further by allowing online payment for travelling to the airport.

The website is not completely operational now as the the company is still in the process of partnering with banks with card payment options.

“Once the e-commerce is set up, people will be able to use the website not only to book pick up and drops, they can also make payments as we will have fixed charges to the BIAL from every location.

So, once the customer keys in the location he needs to be picked up from, he can pay for it accordingly online itself. Since we’re focussing on BIAL as our hub, it becomes easier to fix a fee,” says TPRS Prasad, CEO Zoom Airport Express.

Zoom Express schedules cars every 30 minutes and users can actually check the next convenient pick up time and book their cabs accordingly. “Users can actually book taxis, keeping one hour windows for us to accommodate them. This way, even last minute scheduling is possible,” adds Prasad.

In comparison iT ADDA did a quick comparison between the three websites to bring out their best features.

Meru cabs: The company is not new, already operating in Mumbai and New Delhi. Their website is really comprehensive and has whatever information you might be looking for on the website. Once you register on the website, it keeps track of your previous bookings with them as well. Once booked, the website sends you a confirmation number as an alert either via email or SMS.

Airlift cabs: It allows you to take a cab either from their list of pick up points or from your home. Extra charges are applicable for door-to-door pickups. The website also asks for your flight details and automatically gives you the best pick up times for you to choose from. Again, transactions are made with the taxi driver directly as the fare is calculated according to the meter.

Zoom Express: While the website currently carries information on the areas covered, they do intend to start e-commerce within a month’s time. Once that section is up and running, customers won’t have to argue with cab drivers on faulty metres and fares as everything would be possible online.

“Since this is a cab share concept, we’ve been able to keep the fares moderate without compromising customer comfort,” concludes Prasad.

Source : The Mid-Day

Addendum

Please read my BIAL transport article and BMTC Online Booking article which details other transport options to and from BIAL.

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