Government considering to reduce Rs.8,000 per flight RCS fund levy

New Delhi: With a view to keep airfares unchanged, the National Democratic Alliance government may reduce the earlier planned charge of Rs.8,000 per flight from airlines to fund the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
The government has come up with RCS to connect remote locations of the country by utilising existing airstrips and develop new ones to put these locations on the aviation grid.
A sum of Rs.500 crore has already been earmarked for RCS in the current financial year.

Jet Airways to deploy wide body aircraft on congested domestic routes

New Delhi: Jet Airways will use wide body aircraft for some domestic flights on congested domestic routes. Aviation minister Jayant Sinha had on last Friday told TOI that the ministry was keen on airlines using bigger equipment on India's busiest route: Delhi-Mumbai, due to serious congestion at Mumbai airport.
"Jet Airways is set to introduce wide-body services on the busiest domestic routes. Beginning October 30, Jet will expand its wide body wings with 9W 346/362 on the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai and with 9W 907/946 on the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi routes, which will significantly boost its capacity on these key sectors. In fact, introducing the A330 will nearly double Jet Airways' current capacity on the fast growing Delhi - Kolkata - Delhi route," a statement from Jet Airways said.

Advent of foreign low-cost airlines

Though India’s airline industry started well before Independence, it remained accessible only to the well-off, mostly because of high ticket cost. The advent of low-cost carriers in early 2000s opened the sky for masses but international air travel was still out of bounds for them with complete dependency on full-service airlines.
It was in 2007 that foreign low-cost carriers started taking interest in India to operate international flights. Around June that year, several Asian low-cost carriers received or applied for permission to fly to India.
Airlines such as Tiger Air (a joint venture between Temasek Holdings and Singapore Airlines), Malaysia’s AirAsia and Saudi Arabia’s Sama Airways, Thailand-based private carrier Nok Air, Indonesia’s Lion Air, United Arab Emirates’ Ras Al Khaima (RAK) Airlines were jockeying for Indian market share.

Partnering In India's Air Transport Growth

Maneesh Jaikrishna is vice president of SITA for India and the Subcontinent. In this role, he has the overall P&L responsibility of the Indian Subcontinent, including areas of sales, operations, delivery, customer satisfaction and account management.

Based in New Delhi, he heads a team of professionals catering to the airport, airline and government sectors while driving SITA's focused strategy in the tremendously growing Indian marketplace. In an interview, Jaikrishna talks about the company's market presence and growth strategies.

Heritage air-service to link 5 UP cities by 2017

Lucknow: In a bid to promote tourism along its major historic cities, Uttar Pradesh would be kick-starting a "Heritage Air-Services" from next year, an official said on Monday.

This air network would be started in Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad and Kanpur, the official added.

The air service will have small aircraft that will fly between the selected tourist and heritage cities, an official said while adding that the state government was in the process of finalising the players for this ambitious scheme.

Does wide-body planes for short haul work, asks Sanjiv Kapoor

New Delhi: Full service airline Vistara's top executive Sanjiv Kapoor wondered whether wide-body planes for short haul services can work amid high costs, a day after rival Jet Airways announced that such aircraft would be deployed in select domestic routes.
 In an apparent dig at Jet Airways against the backdrop of stiff competition among airlines, Kapoor also said the yields are low and fuel costs are high in the country.
“Short-haul wide-body flights are a challenge due to high trip costs. With low yields and high fuel costs in India, can it work here…?,” Kapoor, who is Vistara’s Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, said in a tweet.

Chennai airport ranks fourth in receiving foreigners with e-tourist visa

Chennai: The Chennai international airport ranked fourth in India in receiving foreign tourists who visited the country on e-tourist visa in September this year.
According to an official statement, a total of 68,809 foreign tourists arrived in September 2016 on e-tourist visa as compared to 31,729 during September last year registering growth of 116.9%.
While the United Kingdom continues to occupy the top slot with 15.5%, it was followed by the US and China. E-tourist visa is available for 150 countries, which is facilitated in 16 international airports across India.

SpiceJet seals deal for over 100 aircrafts at $12 billion

Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has finally sealed the deal for over 100 aircrafts valued at around USD 12 billion (over Rs 80,000 crore) by next month.
Speaking to reporters at the Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YLFO) SpiceJet's chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said, "We are going to finalize the deal in a month or so."
The low-cost carrier would also buy five aircrafts from Boeing and lease three aircraft from Bombardier this fiscal to increase daily flights and enter into newer international destinations.
To Read the News in Full 17/10/16 Sify Finance

22 Indian Highways Will Also Become Runways For Planes, To Aid Cities With No Full Airports

Road Transport and Highways Ministry is working on a proposal with Ministry of Defence to construct runways on highway stretches and 22 such spots have been identified across the country.
Mr Gadkari said his ministry is shortly going to convene a meeting with the Defence Ministry to firm up the proposal.
According to an official, a committee comprising officials of both ministries has been constituted to come out with specifications of such highway stretches which can double up as airstrips.
The committee will look into details like feasibility of the stretches, their length and breadth apart from other issues.
To Read the News in Full 16/10/16 India Times

Telugu Desam tries to fly high with Air India profits

Air India has made an operating profit of Rs 105 crore for the first time in nine years, during the 2015-16 fiscal. The Telugu Desam, which is the government’s alliance partner both at the Centre and in the state, was quick to take credit for it.

While the better showing with regard to the operating profit has been attributed to plummeting global crude oil prices by many, a post on Telugu Desam’s official page on the social networking site Facebook, read: “Much credit for the amazing turnaround goes to our very own Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Civil Aviation Minister.” The post is accompanied by a photograph of the minister.

Some netizens begged to differ on the cause of the turnaround. One Adamvalli Mangapatnam posted this comment: “All because of lower fuel prices...all the airways (sic) India are doing better with profits...there is nothing spl with Air India.”

Pakistan International Airlines cancels some flights to New Delhi, Mumbai

New Delhi/karachi: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has cancelled some flights from Karachi to New Delhi and Mumbai due to “very poor” passenger numbers amid tensions between the two countries. In a statement issued on Saturday, PIA said that its flights from Lahore to New Delhi are operating normally.
Tensions have been running high between India and Pakistan following the Uri terror attack last month.

Another AI flight to Delhi from Kerala

New Delhi: Air India is planning to introduce another daily direct flight to New Delhi from Thiruvananthapuram from October 30, Bureaucracy Today has learnt.

The flight AI 263 will depart from New Delhi at 5.15am to reach Trivandrum Airport at 8.35am and will depart from Thiruvananthapuram at 9.20am to reach Male at 10.10am. And AI 264 will depart from Male at 4.35 pm to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram at 6.25pm and will depart from Thiruvananthapuram at 7.15pm to arrive in New Delhi by 10.35pm
To Read the News in Full 15/10/16 Bureaucracy Today

Vistara gets DGCA nod to fly in low visibility

New Delhi: Domestic carrier Vistara today said it has secured Category-IIIB certification from aviation regulator DGCA, allowing its aircraft to operate even with a visibility of less than 50 metres.
Domestic airlines are required to deploy only CAT-III compliant planes and crew trained to fly under low visibility conditions while operating in and out of Indira Gandhi International airport (IGIA) here during fog season.

The certification will enable Vistara to safely operate under low visibility conditions due to fog or any other poor weather conditions, which is anticipated in north east and northern parts of the country typically during year-end and the beginning of the year, the airline said in a release.

GoAir to take fleet strength to 26 by March, to fly overseas by summer

Hyderabad: Low-cost carrier GoAir today outlined plans to consolidate its domestic market presence with the addition of six Airbus aircraft to its fleet of 20 by March next, while connecting to select overseas destinations by next summer.

Announcing Hyderabad as its 23rd destination in the domestic network, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Chief Executive Officer of GoAir, said the airline would introduce daily flights connecting Hyderabad to Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata. Hyderabad will also be connected to Port Blair via Bengaluru, which is seen to provide leisure travellers additional options.

New Delhi's T1D May Go All IndiGo

In a first-of-its-kind agreement, budget carrier IndiGo, India's biggest airline by market share, may get Delhi airport's domestic terminal, better known as Terminal 1D, for its exclusive use.

Civil aviation secretary RN Choubey confirmed to HT that talks between GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the consortium that operates the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, and IndiGo were at an "active" stage. "Talks are now at a very active stage between the airport operator and airlines."

Besides IndiGo, T1D is used by low-cost carriers SpiceJet and GoAir for domestic operations. IGI's T3 handles all international, as well as some local flights.

AI to operate new Delhi flight from Thiruvananthapuram

With the beginning of winter schedule from October 30, Air India will introduce another daily direct flight to New Delhi from Thiruvananthapuram. It will be the second direct flight to New Delhi operated by the airlines from Thiruvananthapuram.

The flight AI 263 will depart from New Delhi at 5.15am to reach Trivandrum Airport at 8.35am and will depart from Thiruvananthapuram at 9.20am to reach Male at 10.10am.

Mangaluru international airport stands third in customer satisfaction survey

Airports Authority of lndia (AAI) carries customer satisfaction survey through an external agency in all 52 airports owned by AAl. Mangaluru lnternational Airport is also
one of the airport under this group.
Every six months, the survey is being carried out. Survey is mainly based on its performance, staff performance, facilities, cleanliness, infrastructure and airline/customs/immigration, security staff performance with respect to passengers.

Branded retail shops likely in airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will call a tender in a week to identify a contractor to set up branded retail shops in the domestic and international terminals at the Chennai airport.
Airport officials hope that the attempt will work this time as the terms and conditions have been tweaked so as to keep it attractive for the big names in apparel, leather goods, stationery and books, handlooms, handicrafts and other things. Though food and beverages and duty-free contracts were awarded and new stalls set up a long time ago, setting up of stores was getting delayed.

SpiceJet to add 8 planes as it moves to add more overseas destinations

No-frills carrier SpiceJet is on course to adding five big aircraft to its fleet of 43 planes, apart from three Bombardiers during the current financial year, according to Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director.

The CMD said they are also at an advanced stage of finalising a large order of aircraft acquisition, and this could work out even within a month if business goes as per plans.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event hosted by the Young FICCI Ladies Organisation here today, Singh said the airlines currently operates about 320 flights per day and expects to increase this by about 10 per cent during the course of this financial year.

Private airline to launch flight services from Surat

There is some good news for the flyers in the Diamond City. A Gurugram-headquartered airline company has submitted a proposal to launch non-scheduled flight operations from Surat in January-2017.
Official sources said private airliner Zoom Air has submitted a proposal to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asking for operating slots at Surat airport from January-2017. The proposal has been forwarded to Surat airport director for working out the required slot for the airline.

Air India Express to launch new flight to Dhaka, Singapore, Riyadh

Air India Express is set to spread its wings to Bangladesh besides launching new flights to Saudi Arabia and Singapore and increasing its aircraft fleet size to 25 by the end of the next year.
The airline, which posted a net profit of Rs 362 crore in the fiscal 2015-16 for the first time since its launch in 2005, is estimated to have logged a good growth in both passenger numbers and revenue in the September quarter of the current financial year, Air India Express (AIE) Chief Executive Officer K Shyamsunder said.
“We will launch new flights to Singapore from Kolkata and Chennai besides a service to Dhaka from Kolkata. Apart from these, we are also going to connect Saudi city of Riyadh from Calicut during the winter schedule,” Shyamsunder told PTI in an interview from Kochi.

GAA SpeedJet Aviation, Jet Airways tie-up to train students at Mumbai Airport

GAA SpeedJet Aviation, a partnership between Gulf Aviation Academy and domestic aviation training institute SpeedJet Aviation has announced its tie-up with Private carrier Jet Airways to provide on-ground training to its students from the current batch of cabin crew and ground staff.

Jet Airways offered students lessons in ground duties - including airport check-in, passenger and cargo handling at T2 terminal of the Mumbai international airport.

Gulf Aviation Academy is part of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm for the Kingdom of Bahrain. Jet Airways is India's premier international airline which operates flights to 67 destinations, including India and overseas.

New daily air service on Hubballi-B'luru route

Hubballi Airport Director Shivanand Benal said the slot for Air Carnival has already been allotted and if the response is good, the airline will extend its service between Hubballi and Bengaluru to Chennai. The flight with 66 seats will land at Hubballi Airport at 10 am and take off for Bengaluru at 10:30 am. The regional airline has made required preparations to start the service, he said.

Meanwhile, Air India, which operates its flights four days a week between Hubballi and Bengaluru, will also become a daily service from November. With this, Hubballi Airport will have two daily flights connecting it with state capital and which in turn is expected to bring down the fare.
To Read the News in Full 13/10/16 Deccan Herald

IndiGo introduces 47 new flights to cater to festival rush

Kolkata: Low cost carrier IndiGo is introducing 47 new flights on its existing route network this month to cater to the festival rush to and from Kolkata.
During the month, the airline would operate additional services connecting Kolkata to Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Chennai and Guwahati, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said.
It gives me immense pleasure to announce our plans to further strengthen connectivity from the cultural capital-- Kolkata to key cities by offering increased frequencies to our growing customer base.
"With the continuously increasing presence and phenomenal customer uptake, we are hopeful that these flights will prove to be popular and convenient for our business and leisure passengers alike," he said.
To Read the News in Full 12/10/16 PTI/Economic Times

Air India gets new Chinese partner

Effective 2017, Juneyao will become a “Connecting Partner” of the alliance, which will enable it to coordinate its operations with other member carriers, including Air India, with connecting flights, lounge access and frequent flyer privileges.

While it will not be a full Star Alliance member, the addition of Juneyao will enable the group to enhance its connectivity in mainland China. Beijing-based Air China is already a Star Alliance member, so the presence of a Shanghai-based carrier will give Star a base in the country’s two largest cities and biggest aviation markets.

Jet Airways beefs up route

Jet Airways, the Indian airline with the most frequent flights between Thailand and India, will deploy a wide-body Airbus on its Bangkok-Mumbai route to meet expected strong demand.
From Oct 30, the A330-200 jet will be deployed on one of the three daily flights on the route, which is also served by the Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 single-aisle series. The Airbus, with 18 seats in business class and 236 in economy, will increase capacity on the popular route by 50%.

To save fuel and time, Air India to fly over Pacific Ocean to San Francisco

New Delhi: Now, you can reach San Francisco early, as Air India on October 12 announced its new route from Delhi to San Francisco over the Pacific Ocean which will save both fuel and time.

At present, Air India is using the Atlantic route, which consumes more than 17 hours to reach San Francisco, Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani told to ANI.

"It will reduce flights hours, as earlier we use to cover the distance between Delhi to SFO in more than 17 hours and now with the new route, the time has been reduced by one and half hours," Lohani said.
To Read the News in Full 12/10/16 AFP/Deccan Chronicle

Aviation regulator concerned about airport congestion as aircraft deliveries line up

India’s airlines’ plan to seek a larger pie of the passenger traffic by lining up aircraft deliveries over the next few years has raised concerns due to lack of infrastructure at already clogged airports.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has conveyed the concern to the ministry of civil aviation, said an official, requesting anonymity, with the aviation regulator.
The official said Indian commercial carriers would add at least 40 new and leased aircraft by March 2017 and 23 more by December 2017. The regulator expects rise in congestion at large airports as Indian carriers have lined up deliveries of at least 550 planes over the next six years.
On 4 October, DGCA announced the winter schedule for domestic Indian carriers with at least 21% more domestic flights set to operate compared with the year-ago period. The winter schedule starts from 30 October and runs till 26 March 2017.
DGCA approved a total of 16,600 flights per week to be operated by domestic carriers compared with 13,744 flights during the winter schedule last year.

Air India plans mentorship programme for cabin crew to hone soft skills

New Delhi: Air India plans to introduce mentorship programme for cabin crew staff under which senior members would mentor their junior colleagues as part of larger efforts to turnaround its fortunes and burnish overall image. Faced with stiff competition, the national carrier–which is making ambitious turnaround efforts–has been looking for “out of the box” ideas to anchor its revival.
The airline has over 3,800 cabin crew members and more than 2,500 are women. A senior official said the airline plans to introduce a “mentorship programme” under which senior cabin crew members would mentor their junior colleagues and new entrants.

Airlines to fly new foreign routes from Delhi, Mumbai

Mumbai: Indian air travellers can now fly non-stop to Madrid, Vancouver and Brussels this winter as airlines launch new routes to tap leisure and business travel demand.

"We are seeing a good growth in our international business. Load factors are strong. We are launching a new non-stop service between Delhi and Madrid from December 1 and increasing frequency on the Delhi-San Francisco route. We are further looking to start many new routes next year," said Air India chairperson Ashwani Lohani.

Fog delays may lessen at Jaipur airport this season

New Delhi: The problem of fog delays may lessen for passengers flying in and out of the Jaipur airport during the upcoming winters, with the process to making it CAT-III compliant likely to be completed soon.
This would make Jaipur airport the second airport in the country after Delhi to be fitted with this high-tech navigation and landing equipment.
The calibration of the upgraded equipment (ILS CAT-III) at the runway has already been carried out by the Airports Authority of India and a report on it is expected to be submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by the third week of this month, a senior DGCA official said.

Jet Airways, Etihad Airways say partnership going strong

Mumbai: Jet Airways and its strategic partner Etihad Airways said both partners “continue to enjoy a strong, healthy relationship since the forging of the partnership three years ago”. “The two airlines benefit from each other’s networks and management skill sets. Sharing resources for the short, medium and long-term has always been part of the agreement. It was also planned for Etihad to provide support with personnel or executives until Jet Airways was able to source appropriately qualified people. Neither airline has moved away from this philosophy,” the airlines said in a joint-statement.
“Etihad Airways has representation on the Jet Airways’ board of directors, and all decisions at board level are made collectively,” the statement added.

Child-free flying: Indian airline’s quiet zone aimed at business passengers

An airline’s decision to carve out child-free zones on their commercial flights is garnering mixed reviews from flyers around the world.

IndiGo, a budget airline based in India, announced last month it would be introducing the concept across its fleet where children under the age of 12 would be forbidden in certain sections of their planes.

It's Diwali already for airlines

Airfares on sectors that draw heavy flyer traffic to and from Ahmedabad will thrust your travel plans into turbulence during Diwali: fares in the period from Vaag Baras to Bhai Dooj have increased by 35% to 350%. An economy-class ticket on a direct flight to Delhi, when booked 10 to 15 days in advance, usually costs around Rs 3,500. However, that ticket can cost between Rs 7,000 and Rs 18,500 for the Diwali period, even when booked two weeks before the travel date.
Similarly, economy-class fares for direct flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata have also taken off, reaching Rs 10,000, Rs 11,000, and Rs 18,000 levels. Airlines generally follow the dynamic pricing policy and fares keep changing based on demand, availability, and time slots.
To Read the News in Full 12/10/16 The Times Of India

Committee pushes for 24-hr Jolly Grant airport

In good news for flyers, an airport advisory committee has forwarded a proposal to keep the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun open round the clock.

Lok Sabha MP and chairman of the aviation committee Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank held a meeting with officials of both Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Uttarakhand government on preparing the roadmap for the airport's planned expansion.

Nishank said this move is necessary as the Dehradun airport is an important airport in North India and sees a lot of tourist traffic.

Biju Pattanaik International Airport will have a commercial complex soon

Bhubaneswar: A good news for flyers of Odisha, Airport Authority of India has decided to build a commercial complex outside the terminal of Biju Pattanaik International Airport.

The authority has decided to make it in PPP mode. Officials of state government were also present in this high level meeting.

This commercial complex will have the facilities like hotels, restaurants, shopping complex, coffee shops etc.

Projected to be build in a area 1.5 Acre land, this commercial complex will also have some 3D game shows for the children.  Passengers can avail the enjoyment of shopping during delays of flight. 
To Read the News in Full 10/10/16 Prameya News7

SpiceJet leases B737-800 from Corendon Airlines

SpiceJet has wet-leased a B737-800 from Corendon Airlines  in the form of TC-TJO (msn 34253), Skyliner Aviation has reported.

The aircraft has been operating on SpiceJet’s behalf since October 5, primarily on services between Delhi Int'l, Kolkata, Chennai, and Agartala, according to ch-aviation analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data.

Presently, SpiceJet operates a fleet of forty-one aircraft including two B737-700s, twenty-one B737-800s, four B737-900(ER)s, and fourteen Dash 8-400s.
To Read the News in Full 10/10/16 ch-aviation

Vistara gives free tickets to kin of soldiers injured in Uri

New Delhi: In a humanitarian gesture, Private carrier Vistara has provided free tickets to the families of soldiers who were injured in the Uri terror attack to facilitate them visit the jawans admitted in hospitals in New Delhi and Srinagar.

Vistara, a joint venture of Tata and Singapore Airlines, has till now provided 25 free tickets to the families to visit the injured jawan and also to the soldiers to return home.

The airline will also be providing free tickets to the family of the martyred jawans and injured soldiers to visit Mumbai for a felicitation ceremony being organised by a different entity on October 20.

Jet Airways to start daily flights from Kozhikode to Sharjah

Mumbai: Jet Airways is set to launch a daily service from Kozhikode to Sharjah, further expanding its network connecting Southern India to the Gulf.

The new service will be introduced starting October 30. The outbound flight, 9W 208, will depart Kozhikode at 2125 hrs (IST) and arrive in Sharjah at 2355 hrs (local time). The inbound flight 9W 207 will depart Sharjah at 1620 hrs (local time) and arrive in Kozhikode at 2145 hrs (IST).

Flights now cheaper than trains for most tourist destinations after introduction of surge pricing

Thanks to surge pricing introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express coaches by the Indian railways, it will be cheaper to take a flight to most winter destinations in the country if the traveler plans the journey a few weeks in advance.
Take the case of Goa, the most preferred winter destination in India, for example. Air tickets to the coastal state are as low as Rs.4,100 in the second week of December and even lower in January, when it hovers around Rs.3,600. In comparison, the train journey from Delhi to Goa will cost Rs.6,165 for 1st AC and Rs.5,310 for 2nd AC coach in Rajdhani Express.
"Airline companies have introduced smart pricing. Most of the travelers are opting for flight tickets this year," a travel agent based in Connaught Place told Mail Today.

Chandigarh airport terminal building wins IBC award

The new integrated terminal building of Chandigarh International Airports Limited (CHIAL) has bagged the 2014-15 India Building Congress (IBC) Award for Excellence in Built Environment.
CHIAL, a joint venture company that runs the airport, has been conferred with IBC award and trophy for excellence in built environment in infrastructure projects for "New Integrated Terminal Building", Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a release today.

Airstrips that offer last mile connectivity to tourists will be accorded top priority while creating tourism infrastructure in Kerala during the next five years.

Creation of airstrips in districts or major tourist destinations that still lack last mile connectivity had figured in the maiden budget of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

Kerala Tourism has commenced steps to execute the project and improve tourism prospects.

India considers in-flight Wi-Fi

The Economic Times reported India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, as saying that the authorities are examining a proposal for the introduction of Wi-Fi services. But any decision is likely to depend of the resolution of perceived security threats.

“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is studying the matter to make sure that all considerations are adequately addressed, and as soon as that is done we will issue a statement,” the minister was quoted saying, adding that authorities “don’t have a timeline” for the project.

At present, Wi-Fi services and phone calls are not permitted on flights in Indian airspace for security reasons. This means that many international airlines have to switch off their Wi-Fi service when flying across the country.
To Read the News in Full 10/10/16 Mark Elliott/Travel Daily India

Air Pegasus issued show cause notice by aviation regulator DGCA

Air Pegasus, a grounded domestic carrier has been a issued show cause notice by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for failure to carry out air operations. The airline has 15 days of time to respond to the notice, which was issued on October 5.
The Bengaluru-based carrier has not operated since July 27 owing to huge losses and the airline's failure to pay rentals to aircraft leasing companies. The lenders have already approached the aviation ministry to take back their ATR planes to their countries.
"Capability to operate services is one of the conditions to secure flying permit. However, all three aircraft of Air Pegasus are grounded and its capability (to run the services) has degraded," an aviation official was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
To Read the News in Full 09/10/16 Kalyani Pandey/International Business Times

DGCA to serve show-cause notice to Air Pegasus, allows Air India to take the Pacific Ocean route for San Francisco

Permitting Air India to fly over the Pacific Ocean, taking action against airlines’ aircraft maintenance engineers for violation of rules on taxiways, serving show-cause notice to Air Pegasus and issuing fresh advisory on Galaxy Note 7 by next week—these are some of the decisions taken by India’s civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The regulator has allowed state-run Air India to fly over the Pacific Ocean route to San Francisco from New Delhi, lessening the flight time by one-and-a-half hour.
A senior DGCA official, requesting not to be named, said while flying over the Pacific Ocean—through Japan’s airspace—the airline will save fuel due to favourable direction of wind from west to east.

AAI flies to new high at ICAO World Aviation Forum in Canada

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has participated in the ICAO World Aviation Forum and 39th ICAO Triennial General Assembly, which was attended by delegates from 191 countries.  The Indian Delegation, led by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju participated in the event. 

The Minister also inaugurated Airports Authority of India’s booth in the presence of Alok Shekhar, Representative of India with the Governing Council of ICAO, Anuj Aggrawal, Member HR, AAI, and other senior officers and delegates from India during the IWAF & 39th ICAO General Assembly held in Montreal, Canada. 

India rejects flight emission norms

A day after reaching an important milestone to bring the Paris Agreement on climate change into force from next month, the UN civil aviation agency arrived at a deal on Thursday to control carbon emissions from international flights.
India, however, objected to the emission cap for its airlines and refused to be part of it at this juncture keeping in view the growth of its aviation sector.
"Our stand has been clear: that the rich countries should cut emissions on priority as they have been big polluters in the past.

Are Etihad and Jet Airways enjoying a 'strong' relationship'?

Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways and India's Jet Airways have termed news reports questioning their three years old tie-up, as "unfounded."
"Reports circulating about the relationship between Etihad Airways and Jet Airways are absolutely unfounded and baseless," said a spokesman of Etihad Airways, when approached by Khaleej Times.
"Both airlines continue to enjoy a strong, healthy relationship since the forging of the partnership three years ago. Anything to the contrary is completely false, and reports of such are misguided and misinformed," said a joint statement.
In an article, India's business newspaper Economic Times reported on Sunday that the top executives appointed by Etihad Airways have left the Mumbai-based airline.

Airliners to further reduce Srinagar flights

Air traffic to Srinagar Airport has come down by about 50 percent with only 40 in and out flights presently operating daily instead of 76 in the beginning of July, due to major drop in tourist footfall after the killing of Hizbul Mujahadeen Commander Burhan Wani on July 8 resulting in continuous restrictions and shutdowns.
However, the authorities believe that the number of daily flights may further go down as the airline companies operating from the Srinagar Airport have intimated Director General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) that they are going to cut further the number of daily trips given there is not much passenger flow.

Airport to shift ATC, park more airplanes

Ahmedabad: Parking woes for aircraft landing at Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) will soon come to an end as the airport authorities have decided to relocate the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower. This will not only add more parking space for in-bound flights but also help ease air traffic congestion. As of now, parking space for aircraft on the tarmacs at the SVPIA is saturated. The ATC tower monitors the movement of all airplanes, vehicles run by the airport authorities and different airlines. It also monitors ground staff who are stationed on the runways and tarmacs.
The ATC communicates with all aircraft which are either landing or taking off and maintains communication till the flight crosses the 10 nautical miles radius.

New flights to Indore from Diwali

Ahmedabad: Gujarat State Export Corporation (GSEC) Aviation in association with Air Odisha, a non-scheduled operator, is set to launch flights from Ahmedabad to Indore from October 14. Bookings for the flights are open from Monday onwards. In addition to Indore, there will also be flights from Ahmedabad to Bhopal via Indore. GSEC Aviation has said the flights will run three days a week -- every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
To begin with, an 8-seater aircraft with business class seating and services will be launched. "We will increase the frequency of flights, once the load factor and demand increases," said Shaishav Shah, director, GSEC Aviation.

Inter-state flight from city by next week

Indore : The most-awaited inter-state flights from the city airport are going to begin from October 14. GSEC Aviation would provide flights for Bhopal and Ahmadabad. From next month  flights for Shirdi and Pune are also scheduled.

There has been a long-pending demand by public for access to various important cities within and outside the state. GSEC Aviation, a Gujarat-based company and exclusive marketing partner of Air Odisha, a non-scheduled operator has announced to start scheduled flight services connecting Indore, Bhopal and Ahmadabad on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Vistara completes induction of Airbus A320 planes

Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara has completed the induction of Airbus A320 ceo planes in its fleet, with the arrival of the 13th and the last such aircraft from Toulouse in France this week.

The airline will now induct fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option), which are scheduled to be delivered from the first quarter of the next financial year.

Vistara plans to use the 13th A320 plane in launching its operations from Kolkata to Bangalore, Guwahati and Port Blair.

Spicejet, Jet Airways, Vistara, Air Asia launch festive offers as capacity increases

With the onset of the festival season which will be followed by the Christmas and New Year holidays, airlines have announced their winter schedule and are wooing passengers with significant reduction in base fares for travel during the November to April period, bookings for which have to be done during the Navratri period (October 3 – 7).
SpiceJet, for instance, has announced its special Great Festival Sale wherein the airline is offering discount on all inclusive one-way fares starting as low as Rs 888 for the domestic and Rs 3,699 for the international sectors respectively. On the domestic front, the offer is for selected routes like Delhi to Dehradun, Bengaluru to Chennai and Kochin.

Airlines take festive spirit to skies

Kolkata: The festive spirit is in the air, not just in the fluffy autumn clouds but in aircraft cabins 20,000 ft in the air. Two airlines -Air India that is the oldest and Vistara the latest -have lined up special initiatives during the festival.
AI has drummed up the festive fervour with promotionals of its mascot Maharajah clad in dhoti kurta in the airport terminal. Another promotional shows a plush new Boeing just landed with Devi Durga and her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartick, Ganesha scampering along the red carpet rolled out from the stepladder ushered in by the Maharajah drumming up a welcome beat with the theme saying 'Feel The Festive Beats With The Maharajah'.

Abu Dhabi witnesses over 1.52 lakh Indian travellers from Jan-June 2016

In the first half of this year 152,423 Indian visitors checked into Abu Dhabi's hotel - a 20% year-on-year uplift and accounting for 7% of all the emirate's hotel guest stays. Indian guests currently stay in the emirate's hotels for an average of 3.4 nights, stated a release. Later this month Abu Dhabi will host the 63rd annual convention of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). Around 600 TAAI delegates, and 40 Indian journalists, are due in the UAE capital for the meeting, and an associated exhibition, which will be held at the signature Emirates Palace hotel from October 14-16.

Jaipur-Bangkok direct flight to start from November 16

Flying to Bangkok from Jaipur will be easier now as the Thai Sime Airways is set to start direct flights between the two cities from November 16 this year.

"Jaipur will be connected to Bangkok by a direct flight from November 16. The four-hour flight will further encourage in-bound and outbound tourism between the two regions," said Isra Stapanaseth, director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi, here.

Indian aviation regulator, DGCA might reimpose restrictions on Note 7

Aviation regulator DGCA may issue a fresh advisory on the use of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones onboard aircraft after getting latest inputs from its US counterpart, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The DGCA is already in touch with the FAA on the issue and the fresh advisory is likely to be put in public domain by next week, a senior DGCA official said, two days after a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 caught fire on a US airline flight.
Samsung officially recalled one million of its Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones sold before September 15 after finding that some of their batteries had exploded or caught fire.

IndiGo launches 47 new flights

IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline by market share, is introducing 47 new flights on its existing route network during October 2016. With this and the induction of five new Airbus A320 aircraft during the month, the airline’s frequency will increase to 883 daily flights.

“Additionally, to further extend connectivity, IndiGo will operate more flights connecting the metros to the key cities including Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Guwahati and Patna,” the airline said.
To Read the News in Full 07/10/16 Defence Aviation Post

DGCA studying proposal on providing Wi-Fi in flights: Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: The Civil aviation regulator DGCA is examining a proposal to introduce Wi-Fi service onboard flights to adequately address all the related issues, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today.

Civil Aviation Ministry, in August, had said that security issues were being sorted out for allowing use of Wi-Fi facility in the Indian airspace.

"The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is studying the matter to make sure that all considerations are adequately addressed and as soon as that is done, we will issue a statement," the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said on the sidelines of e India Economic Summit here.

It’s good news for Northeast Indians travelling by Spice Jet Airlines

New Delhi: SpiceJet Ltd on Wednesday said it is increasing its flights to northeast India and will also start international flights from the region soon.

The airline is launching flights on the Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati; Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati; and Kolkata-Gorakhpur-Delhi routes. It is launching first direct daily flights on Guwahati-Silchar, Guwahati-Aizawl, Aizawl-Kolkata, Gorakhpur-Delhi and Gorakhpur-Kolkata routes. It is starting flights on the Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati; Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati and Kolkata-Gorakhpur-Delhi, Kolkata-Visakhapatnam-Kolkata flights. The flight will start from 1 November.

Jet Airways’ Chairman honoured with ‘The Iconic Indian Award’

Jammu: Jet Airways Chairman, Naresh Goyal has been honoured with the prestigious “The Iconic Indian Award (Aviation)” by Bharat International Tourism Bazaar (BITB / ITB Berlin) in recognition of his significant contribution towards promoting global travel and tourism to India.
The award was conferred to Naresh Goyal at a special award ceremony organized during the launch of the first BITB / ITB Berlin travel and tourism event in New Delhi.

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport's T3 Achieves 'Platinum' Rating, First In India

Mumbai: The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Thursday said the national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport's (IGIA) Terminal 3 (T3) has achieved "Platinum" rating from Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The recognition has made IGIA's T3 as the first "Platinum" rated green airport terminal building in India under "Green Existing Building O&M Rating System" by IGBC.

The announcement was made during the 14th Green Building Congress, 2016 organised by IGBC in Mumbai.

Central government rules out ‘intrusion’ in Delhi airport ATC system

New Delhi: The government on Thursday ruled out “any kind of intrusion” for the glitches in the air traffic control system at the IGI airport in New Delhi, saying the reason for its malfunctioning has been identified and work is on to resolve it.
The civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has conducted a thorough probe into the matter and such interruptions are not expected to happen again, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said.

Air India authorities lack coordination, Hajis face difficulty in luggage clearance

Hyderabad: On their return to Shamsabad Airport, Hajis faced difficulties in luggage clearance due to lack of coordination between Air India authorities. According to sources Station Manager and Manager of Air India were present at the time of arrival of first flight however they went to main terminal after the return of Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali. Following their return, no coordination was witnessed between the workers of Air India. No one was present there to help clearance and shifting of luggage of pilgrims, as a result a crowd of pilgrims gathered near the luggage clearance area.

Vistara reduces ticket prices

Vistara today announced lowering of ticket prices for all classes under a limited period festival offer.
In addition to economy class one-way fares, starting at Rs 999, the sale also includes premium economy and business class, with an all-inclusive one-way fares starting at Rs 2,999 and Rs 5,999, respectively, all-inclusive, Visara said in a statement.
The sale offer will remain open until midnight of October 7 for travel between October 12 and March 28 next year, it said.
Other carriers such as no-frill SpiceJet and AirAsia India and full service airline Jet Airways have already lowered their ticket prices for the festive season.

Fog woes: Middle East flight diverted to Calicut airport

Early morning fog rolling in over the runway at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) saw an international flight from the Middle East being diverted to Calicut on Wednesday. Flight number IX886, scheduled to land in Mangaluru at 3.50am from Damman, only arrived at MIA at 9am. The incident followed the diversion of flight IX814 from Dubai, which was diverted on Tuesday, owing to fog.
Aircraft diverted at Mangaluru, owing to poor visibility, are directed towards Kochi, Bengaluru or Calicut.

City to get five direct flights from next month

There is good news for air travelers, as five new non-stop flights for four destinations would start from the city next month. Indigo is going to start flights for Bengaluru, Raipur, Hyderabad and New Delhi. With this, there will be eight flights for the national capital and two each for three other cities.

To target Tire-II cities, Indigo has rolled out a new schedule to start five flights from the city. The airliner has already got clearances from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

According to an official information, Indigo would start direct flights for Bengaluru and Raipur from November 24, while non-stop flights for Hyderabad and New Delhi would start from November 28.

SpiceJet flags off 16 new flights with dedicated fleet of Q400s

Budget carrier SpiceJet has once again reiterated its regional connectivity agenda this time with a special focus on North-East India. Fastening the north eastern states on its pan-India radar the airline flagged off 16 new flights on the Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati, Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati and Kolkata-Gorakhpur-Delhi routes. SpiceJet is the first low-cost carrier to introduce direct daily flights on the Guwahati-Silchar, Guwahati-Aizawl, Aizawl-Kolkata, Gorakhpur-Delhi and Gorakhpur-Kolkata routes.

Centre to send team for operationalization of civil flights

Centre has assured Arunachal that a joint inspection of the ALGs by the DGCA, AAI, BCAS and Indian Air Force would be conducted in the last week of October for operationalization of civil flights. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the Tezu Airport will be operationalized by December and sought support from the state government to resolve all pending issues.
The Union Minister Raju gave this assurance to the Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who informed that the Ministry of Defence and IAF have no objection to dual use of the ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, he urged for a joint inspection of these ALGs by the DGCA, AAI, BCAS and Indian Air Force at the earliest.
Khandu also requested that civilian flight operations may be immediately started with the existing infrastructure with minimum facility upgradation wherever feasible, while the full-fledged civil terminal may take time.

Rajasthan intra-state air connectivity improves, Jaipur gets connected to Jodhpur, Udaipur

The first flight of an intra-state air service from Jaipur to Udaipur via Jodhpur was launched on Tuesday from here.

Rajasthan`s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje along with Gopaldas Ji Maharaj of Dadu Dayal sect flagged off a 9-seater aircraft of Supreme Airlines from Sanganer Airport State Hangar to Jodhpur.

“Bikaner and Kota too would soon be connected by air,” Raje said speaking on the occasion.

She said the state achieved another milestone on Monday when Scoot Airlines of Singapore started direct flight from Jaipur to Singapore.