8 airports have no scheduled flights, loss in 3 years Rs 82 crore

Eight non-metro airports modernised using public money have no scheduled flights operating there, leading them to incur a total loss of about Rs 82 crore in the last three years.

As government pushes for air connectivity in remote areas, official figures show that these eight airports have jointly incurred a total loss of over Rs 25 crore in 2011-12, over 27 crore in 2012-13 and almost Rs 30 crore in 2013-14, official sources said.

Reacting sharply to the "precarious" situation prevailing at these airports, aviation industry experts said only market conditions and operational viability and "not political compulsions" should determine developing airports or creating new ones.

SpiceJet delays salaries due to 'technical reasons', but promises it's the last time

SpiceJet has told its employees that for the first time ever there will be a delay in the payment of salaries for 'technical reasons' linked to finding a investor for the budget airline, but has promised that it wouldn't happen again.

According to a Times of India report, COO of the budget airline, Sanjiv Kapoor, wrote to all employees on Saturday saying that the payment of salaries had been delayed by one to three days depending on the pay grade due to the ongoing restructuring and recapitalisation activities being carried out by SpiceJet.

ATF price cut to help airlines save big

New Delhi/Mumbai: With state-owned marketing companies reducing the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Rs 59,943 a kilolitre from December 1 - 4.1 per cent lower than the previous month - domestic airlines' fuel bill in the second half of 2014-15 is estimated to come down by a combined Rs 1,200 crore.

ATF for domestic carriers has become 11.22 per cent cheaper since October and is expected to see more price cuts in the next three months. According to estimates by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa), fuel costs could fall by an average 15 per cent in the January-March period.

Hundreds of passengers hit after Air India's check-in system fails

Hundreds of passengers across several city airports were stranded on Saturday morning after the check-in system of Air India developed a snag. The services were resorted after about three hours.
The airline staff had to complete the check-in procedures manually, which caused flight delays, triggering much frustration among the passengers, many of whom claimed to have not been informed about reason for the delays. The glitch happened at around 7.30 am and last till about 10.30 am, said sources.

UPA privatization move nixed, PPP to take off at airport

Ahmedabad:  The only international airport in the state Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport will now be developed on a public- private partnership model. This move comes after the NDA-led government scrapped the privatization of six airports which was initiated by last UPA government in July 2013.

Central government has cancelled the requests for qualification (RFQs) for process for modernising six airports at Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

Bomb blast threat at IGI triggers security upgrade

New Delhi: One month ago, security officers at Indira Gandhi International Airport received a fax. It contained a threat to execute a bomb blast at the airport.

While officials in charge of airport security are used to hoax messages, they did not take the fax received on October 26 lightly. One of the reasons for this was the fact that it arrived just three days after threats to bomb flights between Kochi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai following which all three airports were put on high alert.

Lucknow-Flyers to get SMS alerts on delays in fog spell

Lucknow: Flyers to and from Lucknow will soon be able to get SMS and email alerts in advance from airlines about flight delays because of foggy conditions this winter. For this, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will coordinate with the met department and the airlines to bring the facility into operation. The Lucknow airport, as a matter of fact, happens to be Delhi's secondary airport where flights could be diverted in case of foggy conditions at the national capital.

Amausi airport officiating director Pradeep Chaddha said a meeting with the meteorological department as well as the airlines was held to put the system in place. As per the arrangement, the met department will issue a weather forecast to the air traffic control (ATC) which would then transmit the information to the airlines. Subsequently, the passengers would be informed about the possible delay in flights. The facility would be available for both domestic and international flights.

Hurrying passengers, 'rude' recliners annoy the most in planes

New Delhi: Passengers rushing out of seats before the seat belt sign goes off as the plane comes to a halt, reclining seats without warning those behind them and not switching off mobile phones unless asked by the cabin crew are some of the habits that annoy most of the air travellers.
According to a survey of air travellers in India, around 83 percent of them like to travel in their casuals and only 7 percent in formal clothing.
Another habit of air travellers which leads to arguments and even scuffles is passengers rudely reclining  their seat without informing those seated behind. 51 percent people said they hate this behaviour.

IGI Airport gears up to deal with fog

New Delhi: With fog being a huge problem at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here from December to February, airport officials, the Meteorological Department and airline operators are getting ready to deal with the situation.

While the Delhi airport has CAT-IIIB-enabled runways and all the technical ability to deal with the low-visibility period, there is not much that can be done when visibility falls below 50 metres.

New Airbus A320 joins Air Seychelles fleet for Indian Ocean regional flights

Air Seychelles took delivery of its third large aircraft, an Airbus A-320, this morning, which will be used for its regional network, including three new destinations; Mumbai, India, Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania and Antananarivo, Madagascar, starting this week.
Arriving from Abu Dhabi, the new 136- seater plane touched down at 9.20 local time on the Seychelles main island of Mahe, painted in the national airline’s colourful livery and was showered by the traditional water canon by fire engines of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA).
"We know the islands were familiar to Arabs, Chinese and Indian mariners from ancient times, who harnessed the seasonal monsoon winds in a quest for riches. Today, we sail the jetstreams to again tap into the great flows of trade between Africa and Asia, connecting India, Mauritius, Madagascar, Tanzania, South Africa and the Middle east," said the airline's General Manager for Corporate Affairs, Alan Renaud as he described the aircraft's name and the regional routes it will service.
On Monday, the aircraft will fly its first route to Mauritius, where the existing three weekly flights will be maintained. Mumbai will also be served by three rotations as from Tuesday evening. There shall be two weekly services to Dar Es Salaam and Antananarivo.

IndiGo’s Q2 load factor dips below industry average

Bengaluru: Low-cost airline IndiGo, perhaps the only profitable airline in the country, has seen its load factor dip below the industry average in the second quarter of this fiscal. For the quarter, the airline’s average domestic passenger load factor was 73.3 per cent compared with the industry average of 74.8 per cent, largely because of aggressive pricing by some of its competitors. Although the load factor increased in October to 76.2 per cent, the trend of trailing average load factor continued. The average industry domestic load factor for October was 77.6 per cent.

Former captain debunks all 'MH370 theories'

A former senior captain with a major international airline, who has flown a Boeing 777 aircraft, has debunked all the crash theories proposed by other experts on the Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 by saying that the flight is so automated that even if the flight crew left the cockpit it would have flown to its destination via the preprogrammed computer Flight Profile.

Contradicting the theory that suggested that the Boeing 777 aircraft could have flown on autopilot for hours and ran out of fuel before crashing, Byron Bailey said that the flight could have flown on autopilot for hours and reached its destination unless a human intervention changed the flight profile, reported The Daily Telegraph.

BAOA opposes DGCA's proposal to prescribe minimum three aircraft for NSOPs

Delhi: The Business Aircraft Operators’ Association (BAOA) today said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) proposal to prescribe operation of a minimum of three aircraft for non-scheduled operator permit (NSOP) holders would severely retard the growth of connectivity to regional and remote destinations in the country.

In a statement here, the BAOA said the proposal was also contrary to the policy of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).

The association said a majority of NSOPs operate only one aircraft and are looking forward to deploying them on remote routes. "It would be in the best interest of aviation industry to frame regulatory requirement in conformity with the policy of MoCA," it said.

Air Asia plans to induct 10 more aircraft next year

Bangalore:  Budget carrier Air Asia plans to induct 10 more aircraft next year that would take the strength of its fleet to 15.

"I think realistically we may do ten aircraft by next year. January and February, probably we won't have many. Ten more aircraft next year, taking the total tally to 15 aircraft," Air Asia CEO Mittu Chandilya told PTI.
He was speaking on the sidelines of unveiling of Bangalore Raptors official team jersey ceremony in the presence of ace Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj who is conducting the Champions Tennis League (CTL).

Jet Airways reply to clarification sought by the exchange

The Exchange has sought clarification from Jet Airways  with respect to news article appearing in The Financial Express on Oct. 27, 2014 titled "Etihad drops plan to lease Boeing aircraft from Jet".

Jet Airways (India) replied stating, "We wish to inform you that Etihad has already denied it. Etihad has also issued the clarification in this regard.

Tigerair increases connectivity on Chennai-Singapore route

Chennai: Singapore-based budget air carrier Tigerair has announced two more weekly flights between Chennai and the city state from December.

"The airline has added two additional weekly flights on this route that will ensure more convenience for travellers from and to the city", a company statement said today.

Tigerair currently operates seven weekly flights between Chennai and Singapore. The two additional weekly flights will come into effect from December 4, 2014, it added.

Heads may roll at Air India after delays last week, one in 5 aircraft on ground

New Delhi: The story is becoming repetitive. Air India network reports massive delays and passengers take to social media to vent their ire for severe delays and clubbing of flights. The airline says frequent engine failure of its Airbus fleet has lead to grounding of 20% of the fleet strength.

This, coupled with Diwali rush on some days and inadequate loads on other days, has lead to flight delays, clubbing two or more flights or even advancing some flights.

Extension for Air India boss. PTIExtension for Air India boss. PTI
But the story does not end there. It now transpires that the airline is helpless in getting the engine manufacturer to compensate it or bear the costs of engine trouble with the fleet because at the time of buying these aircraft, no performance guarantee was sought from the manufacturer!

Air India violates flying norms, puts lives of passengers at risk

New Delhi: In the news yet again for wrong reasons, India's state air carrier Air India has been accused of flouting civil aviation guidelines and putting lives of hundreds of passengers at risk everyday.
A month before the Unites States aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency that downgraded India to Category 2 of safety standards, is scheduled to come to India for an audit, reports reveal that Air India has been violating the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.
The data from several voluntary reports of Air India's Delhi-Sydney and Sydney-Melbourne-Delhi flights shows the crew members were made to fly for 17-18 hours and perform two consecutive landings without the prescribed rest period.

Aviation Minister asks DGCA to probe into cheap airfares scheme

New Delhui: Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has asked director general of civil aviation Prabhat Kumar to investigate whether airlines have been misleading flyers by offering discounted fares.
A top ministry official told MAIL TODAY that carriers would soon have to submit to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data on discounted tickets offered in the past one year.
Raju has taken note of a complaint by Chennai-based Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) to DGCA alleging that discounted fare schemes were a gimmick as tickets were not available at the mentioned price.

DGCA rule changes leading to delay in launch, says Vistara

New Delhi: Full-service carrier Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, said that changes in rules by the aviation regulator with regards to the final approval process for new airlines is leading to delays in starting its commercial operations. The airline is likely to start flying only from around January next year, four months behind the original plan for a launch in September 2014.
“There is an approval process that every new airline needs to go through and we are also following the same process. It is however taking a little longer time than we anticipated. As a team we are quite focused and concentrating all our energies towards operational readiness,” Vistara said in a response to an email query. “There have been some new developments with respect to Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines and we are working to swiftly comply with the same,” the company added.

Vistara likely to receive flying permit by Nov end

New Delhi: Vistara — the joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines — may be able to take to skies by the end of this year, as it expects to receive its air operators’ permit from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by the end of next month.

Sources in DGCA said the airline had only recently imported two aircraft into the country and unveiled the livery on the first. Vistara is now in the process of readying itself for base audits and to conduct proving flights as required by the regulator before it can secure its permit.

Launch of Tata-SIA's Vistara delayed, likely to start flying in January

New Delhi: Full-service carrier Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, said that changes in rules by the aviation regulator with regards to the final approval process for new airlines is leading to delays in starting its commercial operations. The airline is likely to start flying only from around January next year, four months behind the original plan for a launch in September 2014.
"There is an approval process that every new airline needs to go through and we are also following the same process. It is however taking a little longer time than we anticipated. As a team we are quite focused and concentrating all our energies towards operational readiness,” Vistara said in a response to an email query. "There have been some new developments with respect to Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines and we are working to swiftly comply with the same,” the company added.

JetLite pilots threaten strike over forceful transfers

New Delhi: Jet Airways’ plan to merge its low-cost brand JetLite with itself seems to be facing turbulence. The new JetLite pilots union, JetLite Welfare Association (JLWA), has threatened mass resignations and strikes from this week because the Jet management is now invoking a bond in the contract of some pilots to force them to join the airline under “unacceptable” terms.
The development comes even as Jet faces major flight delays, especially for flights out of Mumbai, due to acute pilot shortage and inability to absorb JetLite pilots under favourable terms. The situation could get worse for the Mumbai-based full-service carrier if the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decides to act on a previous suspension notice served to 129 of its pilots for flying without mandatory certification — a decision is likely this week.

India, Vietnam agree to improve air connectivity

New Delhi: India and Vietnam have agreed to work towards improving connectivity between the two countries, via both air and maritime. In a joint statement issued by the two nations after a meeting between the respective Premiers at New Delhi, India and Vietnam have resolved to encourage more airline companies to commence operations between the two. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam, is on a two-day visit to India.

Rajasthan to have intra-state air services to religious and other tourist spots soon

Jaipur:  In order to utilize and develop the 16-air strips across the state and provide air connectivity to religious spots, the state government on Tuesday signed an MOU with a company to facilitate air travelers.

Vasundhara Raje, Chief minister in her budget speech 2014-15 had promised to get helicopter and other services to the intra-state religious places and tourist spots.

Joint Bank Guarantee Scheme expected to be rolled out for TAAI members by June 2015

The Joint Bank Guarantee Scheme for members of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has been globally approved. The Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf) has approved, without a single negative vote, the Joint Bank Guarantee Scheme as an exception for India. IATA Legal has been asked to review the legal aspects and may ask Agency Programme Joint Council (APJC) India to create norms and review its working, informed Harmandeep Singh Anand, Hon Secretary General, TAAI.

PAConf is the annual meeting of IATA airlines from across the globe to consider proposals to amend/review the Passenger Agency Program of IATA. The event was held at San Diego in California, USA from October 16-17, 2014.

Soon, boarding gate details on flight tickets

Ahmedabad: Like Delhi and Mumbai, soon people booking flights from Ahmedabad airport will have their boarding gate numbers printed on their tickets. The air traffic controller (ATC) at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is planning to start parking allocation system for regular flights operating out of the city airport.

India to manufacture commercial aircraft

Kolkata: India is well set to manufacture its own commercial aircraft, the prototype for which is currently under preparation.

G Ashok Kumar, joint secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, revealed at a press conference in Hyderabad early this month: “The specifications for the prototype of the aircraft will be revealed in four months.

Indian Hajis stranded for 80 hours as aircraft held up in Fujairah

Jeddah: Indian Haj Mission’s flawless and excellent services for the pilgrims got tainted with the 11th hour mess caused by the country’s national carrier Air India that resulted in pilgrims being stranded for nearly 80 hours in Jeddah.

Indian Haj committee pilgrims bound for Goa and Guwahati on board the last two departure flights from the Haj terminal of Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz International Airport are stuck in the city for three days due to ‘non-availability of flight.’

TripFactory all set to tie-up with 4 new airlines

Mumbai: TripFactory, travel technology platform, is planning to partner with four new airlines. Recently, the company has partnered with Air Costa, SpiceJet and GoAir. The company also has plans to strategically invest in technology tools, to enhance performance of the platform.
When asked about new tie-up plans with airlines, Vinay Gupta, founder and CEO, TripFactory.com, said, “We have been expanding very quickly. We have entered into an alliance with some really good partners. Our relationship with airlines not only helps the carrier to growth their ancillary business but for customers also it helps to get the widest range of choice at much affordable price. It is a win win situation for all stakeholders. We already have partnerships with Air Costa, SpiceJet and GoAir to power their holiday products. We are in the process of integrating with four other airlines which should go live this fiscal.”

Air India signs code-share pact with Air Astana

Air India, which is a part of the Star Alliance, officially announced here today that it has entered into a 'free flow' code-share pact with Kazakhstan's national carrier Air Astana to expand its presence in the fast growing CIS aviation market. A 'free flow' code-share arrangement gives marketing access to the operating carrier's inventory and allows it to market seats independently of the operating carrier. The agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, was signed by Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan and Air Astana Vice President for Sales Worldwide Richard Ledgerin New Delhi yesterday, according to an Air India release issued today. "As a state-run airline and Star Alliance member carrier Air India feels honoured to enter into this code-share agreement with Air Astana.

Air Costa signs MoU with VietJet on tapping biz opportunities

Mumbai: Regional carrier Air Costa today said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnamese largest budget airline VietJet to initiate discussions on exploring future business opportunities including a possible code-share arrangement with the latter.

The signing of MoU took place during the "India-Vietnam Trade & Investment forum", which was organised by the three prime industry bodies- CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM- in New Delhi and it coincided with the ongoing visit of the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung to India, Air Costa said in a release.

Civil Aviation Ministry to switch to electronic office; plans to move documents to intranet

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is switching to an electronic office by moving all of its files to the intranet, an exercise that it expects to not only speed up its work but also make it more accountable.

The ministry plans to work out details of implementing the first of its kind move in the country this week and a pilot programme may start in a fortnight, officials said.

Flydubai Set For Mumbai Launch

Low-cost-turned-premium carrier flydubai marks one of the most significant route launches in its five-year history this evening when it starts five-times weekly flights to Mumbai.

Tonight’s inaugural flight is scheduled to depart Terminal 2 at 2240 and arrive in Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 0300 local time.

Business class return fares start from Dhs2,500 and round trip economy fares are priced from Dhs925.

2 Indian cities among landing stops planned by Swiss aviators

Payerne (Switzerland): Ahmedabad and Varanasi are the two Indian cities among the dozen landing stops planned by two renowned Swiss aviators for their round-the- world trip on a solar-powered aircraft in March next year.

"If we get the permission from the Indian authorities, we will be landing in Ahmedabad and Varanasi during the first- ever round-the-world flight on a solar powered aircraft in March 2015," Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg told a visiting team of Indian reporters at a military facility here.

350 commercial pilots flying skies with invalid licences

New Delhi: Indian airlines currently have almost 350 commercial pilots flying the skies with lapsed or invalid licences due to their failure to appear in exams that have to be given after every few months to remain eligible to operate in the cockpit.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now contemplating action against the heads of training department of these airlines, while asking the carriers to complete the required training of pilots in a time-bound manner.

Air India faces turbulence again as 33 more pilots quit

The government-owned, loss-making Air India is once again facing attrition as 33 pilots have left the airline this year.

Some of them deserted the national carrier and joined other airlines without even tendering their resignations, notwithstanding the strict rules on bond liabilities.

From January to October this year, 14 pilots have left from the Delhi range of Air India, eight from Chennai, six from Mumbai and five from the Kolkata range.

DGCA to crack down on airlines over pilot test

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is examining
whether airlines are carrying out the mandatory proficiency checks for pilots as per norms after it came to light that Air India and Jet Airways have pilots without valid licences.

As per DGCA norms, airlines will have to undertake such tests every six months. The aviation regulator is now planning to take action against erring operators after it found that many of them are not conducting such tests.

The Pilot Proficiency Test is required for maintaining the validity of a pilot's licence. The licences become invalid if such tests are not conducted in six months time. Earlier also, pilots had to undergo two tests but the first test could happen within eight months.

Officials said the fresh move comes amid incidents of airlines failing to renew licences and allow pilots to fly planes without necessary documents.
Read news in full 26/10/14 Deccan Herald

Setback for Jet Airways as ally Etihad drops plan to lease its 3 Boeing aircraft

Mumbai: Jet Airways' foreign equity partner, UAE-based Etihad, has dropped its plan to lease three Boeing 777 aircraft from the airline, putting the domestic carrier in a difficult situation, sources said.

These aircraft, B 777-300 ERs, were with the Turkish Airlines and have recently come back to Jet Airways after completing the lease period, an airline source told PTI here.

"Etihad had earlier sought to lease these aircraft as it wanted to deploy them on its international network. However, it has now indicated to the airline of not doing so," the source said.

GoAir takes off, triggers fare war

Bhubaneswar: With the operation of GoAir flight services starting from the city today, air passengers now have more options before them when they plan their travel.

The introduction of the service is also having an impact on airfares between Bhubaneswar and other major cities in the country.

GoAir has started four flights from Bhubaneswar to Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta and vice-versa.

Banks Study Options To Recover Loans From Kingfisher Airlines

Prrivate sector banks, which have shied away from tagging Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya a "wilful defaulter" as some key public sector lenders have done, say that they are exploring "all options" to recover their loans.

At least two banks, the third largest private sector lender Axis Bank and the south-based Federal Bank, have said they have not classified KFA, Mallya and his senior officials as wilful defaulters.

UCO Bank identifies Kingfisher Airlines as wilful defaulter

Kolkata: UCO Bank has joined the growing list of lenders to have identified grounded Kingfisher Airlines as a wilful defaulter for non-payment of dues. However, the bank is yet to formally declare the company a wilful defaulter.

“We have identified Kingfisher Airlines and its corporate guarantors as wilful defaulters. We are in the process of sending them a notice,” a senior executive of the bank told Business Standard, requesting anonymity.

New guidelines soon for privatisation of airport operations

Hyderabad:  The Centre is in the process of finalising guidelines for bringing operations and management of some airports under the Public-Private-Partnership model, Civil Aviation Secretary V Somasundaram has said.

These operations are currently under control of Airports Authority of India.

Surprise as Maharaja Keeps Fliers Tweet-dated

Chennai: One of the most compelling complaints that passengers who fly Air India is that when there is a delay, their staff at the airport just don’t seem to want to talk about it. This has led to several passenger outbursts and protests, over the years, usually needing complimentary meals and glib talking to calm their frayed nerves. All of this has turned around swiftly in the last five days, ever since the State-run airline has reinvigorated their Twitter account @airindiain.

GoAir launched its daily flights from Bhubaneswar airport

Bhubaneswar: The GoAir, a low-fare airline, launched its daily flights from the Biju Patnaik domestic airport here on Sunday. The GoAir’s maiden flight from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi took off at 8.45 am while its second flight for New Delhi is scheduled to depart from here at 7.25 pm to reach its destination at 9.50 pm. While another flight of the company left for Mumbai at 11 am from here, one more flight of the airline departed for Kolkata at 6.30 pm on Sunday.

Hyderabad intl airport on social media

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has started windows on social media. It is now accessible on Facebook along with Twitter and YouTube.
“Passengers and other stakeholders will now get updated information on new services. Passengers can now remain connected and have access at all time to information on special offerings, retail options and duty free shopping at the airport,” a press release said here on Sunday, quoting S G K Kishore, Chief Executive Officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited.

Air India evaluating leasing fuel-efficient airplanes

New Delhi: Aiming at taking growing competition head-on, Air India is evaluating leasing fuel- efficient airplanes like Airbus A-320 neos for itself and Boeing 737 Max for its subsidiary Air India Express over the next three to six years.

While the national carrier would be getting its 18th Boeing 787 Dreamliners in December, it has already started exploring options to lease A-320 neos (New Engine Option) aircraft into its fleet after 2017.

Discontent over salary and designations causing cockpit fights

New Delhi: Those driving on Indian streets often fly into a road rage but these days, incidents of pilots getting into fights in the cockpit have become a reason for growing concern. The reason is rivalry, say sources, especially among pilots of airlines like Air India and Indian Airlines and Jet Airways and JetLite, both of whom are in the midst of a merger. Most of the tussles are over seniority levels and salary, with pilots filing anonymous complaints against one another. These complaints have been made both to the DGCA and internally .

APAI questions 'non-existent' low fares offered by airlines

Mumbai: Apex air travellers body, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) today questioned the frequent "special fare" offers by domestic carriers and termed them as "non-existent", even as it urged the DGCA not to allow such schemes.

The association, in a communication to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, also sought to know as to what action the regulator intends to take against the carriers on the issue.

SIA-Airbus JV gets Competition Commission's approval

New Delhi: Singapore Airlines' proposed joint venture with Airbus Services Asia Pacific to provide flight pilot training services, has received green signal from fair trade watchdog CCI.

The proposed combination involves formation of a joint venture company, Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), to provide flight pilot training services.

In AATC, Airbus Services Asia, part of French major Airbus, would have 55 per cent stake while 45 per cent would be with Singapore Airlines.

Gulf Air restarts Hyderabad route

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced that it will be recommencing flights to Hyderabad, the fourth most populous city in India, with 5 weekly flights, starting from 15 December 2014.

Mumbai-Nashik seaplane runs into rough weather

Mumbai: A plan to connect Mumbai with Nashik by seaplane has run into rough weather. The proposed landing site at Gangapur Dam, near Nashik, has been opposed by activists and NGOs, who say the activity will affect thousands of migratory and residents birds.
Based on two separate complaints - by Bombay Natural History Society and by Bishwarup Raha, honorary wildlife warden, Nashik District - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is taking a relook at flight operations to Gangapur.

Airlines' losses soar on high fuel costs in FY14

New Delhi: For the year ended March this year, India’s top five domestic airlines reported combined losses of Rs 9,737 crore, an increase of 85 per cent compared with Rs 5,276 crore in the previous year.

But for IndiGo and GoAir’s combined net profit of Rs 323 crore, the losses would have stood at Rs 10,060 crore.

More than half the overall losses were accounted for by those reported by Air India. The state-owned airline’s net loss declined to Rs 5,388 crore in FY14 from Rs 5,490 crore the previous financial year. While Jet Airways’ net loss rose about sevenfold to Rs 3,668 crore, SpiceJet’s increased about four times to Rs 1,003 crore.

‘Goa will get just 500 charters from Russia’

Panaji: Pegas Touristik, a major tour operator in Russia, has told TOI that Goa can expect just 500 charters from Russia this season. Of the total 1,128 charter flights that landed in Goa last season, 895 were from Russia alone.
Abdullah Cankaya, director, Asia-Pacific Countries, Pegas Touristik, explained that while the weakening Rouble coupled with tour operators in Russia shutting shop is one factor, Egypt is another. Last season, Goa gained from the Afro-Asiatic country's hospitality industry lying in tatters following the uprisings there. "With Egypt returning to normalcy, Goa will have to compete hard," warned Cankaya.

Jet Airways' chief operating officer Subodh Karnik resigns

Jet Airways chief operating officer (designate) Subodh Karnik is learnt to have quit the airline. This is the eighth top-level exit in the airline in recent months.

Confirming the development, a Jet Airways spokesperson said: “Subodh Karnik, chief operating officer (designate), will be leaving  Jet Airways for family reasons and is returning to Atlanta to be closer to his wife and children who were unable to move to India. He will continue to work with Jet Airways in an advisory capacity on key strategic initiatives.”

Bangalore's engineer AK Vishwanath plans to launch flying car

Bangalore: As overseas automakers AeroMobil and Terrafugia prepare to launch their flying cars, a 56-year-old engineer in Bangalore is attempting to rewrite the science for the next generation of such vehicles.

The Wright brothers were able to recreate a bird's flight, without requiring their plane to flap its wings -something that Terrafugia and AeroMobil have followed.AK Vishwanath is trying to replicate this, using the insect paradigm.

New Indian Proposal Threatens Charter Operators

Indian lawmakers are considering a proposal by the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that would revoke the commercial licenses of nonscheduled operator permit (NSOP) holders with fewer than three aircraft available for charter. Affected NSOPs that do not augment their fleet to at least three aircraft within one year will have to operate in the private category, depriving them of permission to offer charters. India’s Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) sees the proposal as “a kneejerk reaction” to the DGCA’s shortage of flight observation inspectors (FOIs) and its difficulties in recruiting more of them. The process of registering private aircraft owners as NSOPs requires the services of an FOI. This scarcity of FOIs is also hindering India’s compliance with an FAA requirement that would help restore the country’s safety ranking to Category 1.

Fly Etihad, get an on-air Jeeves at your service!

Cabin crew retrained as butlers at London's prestigious Savoy Hotel will wear tailcoats and white cotton gloves for their new role pampering some of the world's wealthiest flyers on Etihad Airways PJSC's superjumbo aircraft. Thirteen flying butlers have completed a three-week course on etiquette, protocol, valet skills and concierge services and are ready to attend passengers in what will be the airline industry's swankiest cabin, costing Rs 12.25 lakh-a-trip.

Etihad is introducing the luxury product on its first A380 double-deckers as the third-biggest Gulf carrier vies for top-paying travellers with Emirates, the No. 1 operator of the Airbus Group plane, Qatar Airways and global rivals including Singapore Airlines Ltd.

Amazon India, Jet Airways tie up with payment gateway RuPay

After Flipkart, home-grown payments gateway RuPay has tied up with Amazon and one of the largest carriers Jet Airways. With this, the RuPay debit card holders can now shop best deals on Amazon and book air tickets on Jet Airways, the Reserve Bank-promoted National Payment Corporation which issues the RuPay cards said in a statement today.

"Acceptance on Amazon is a breakthrough for us. We are glad to offer a wider horizon to our cardholders to transact online. Also, our integration with Jet Airways will definitely benefit our cardholders,," says NPCI managing director AP Hota said. Commenting on the tie-up, Amazon India general manager for payments Srinivas Rao said, the arrangement is in line with its strategy of offering the widest set of customers a variety of payment options that will enhance their shopping experience.

Civil aviation ministry mulls to use Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for cleaner airports

New Delhi: Smelly airport bathrooms could soon be a thing of the past. The civil aviation ministry is planning to use the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2 to ensure a future in which people don't have to hold their noses while using the facilities at airports.

Airlines reduce flight frequency to Kashmir

Srinagar: Owing to the mass cancellation holiday plans of visitors to Kashmir due to recent floods, the airlines have reduced the number of flights operation on Kashmir route.
Airport Director Rajesh Shinde told Rising Kashmir that due to decrease in tourist influx to Valley, operation of seven flights has been reduced.
“Due to the floods many airlines have reduced the number of flights for Srinagar airport. Earlier, 32 flights used to fly to Kashmir which has reduced to 27 flights now days. Very less people were travelling to valley for past two months,” said Shinde.
The travel companies have also reduced the cost of tickets that normally cost high at the start of the tourist season. The tickets from New Delhi to Srinagar which used to cost Rs 13,823 in the month of March has come down to Rs 4,572 only.

Till Oct 22 this year, customs seized 815 kg gold

Mumbai: With two months left for the year to end, the Mumbai Airport Customs is confident of setting a record this year by seizing one ton of gold in its interceptions at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Having already surpassed last year’s figure of 346 kilograms several months ago, Customs has increased its surveillance at both the international and domestic terminals of the airport.

GoAir profit plunges 95% to Rs 5.5 crore in FY14

Mumbai: GoAir’s net profit slumped to Rs 5.44 crore for FY 14 from Rs 104 crore the previous year, according to the airline’s balance sheet filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

A rise in fuel costs and currency depreciation impacted the profits of all domestic airlines, including GoAir. Industry leader IndiGo’s profit dropped by 60 per cent.

GoAir is unlisted and does not disclose quarterly results. It flies 19 Airbus A320 planes and has a market share of around 9 per cent.

Aviation Ministry not taking action against Pvt airlines : Ministry

Agartala: The Tripura government today attacked the Union Ministry of Aviation was not taking action against private airlines which were charging abnormally high rate for air tickets operating on Agartala-Kolkata route.
Railway services from Lumding in Assam to Agartala was stopped due to a mega block imposed by the railways department for conversion of the railway tracks from meter gauge to broad gauge from the October 1, state Transport Minister Manik Dey said.
Taking advantage of this, private airline companies were charging undue prices from the passengers, the Transport minister told reporters here.

No more Air India booking in Kozhikode?

Kozhikode: Air India's plan to shut down its booking office in the city as part of the national carrier's decision to wind up all its city booking offices and offline ticketing centres is likely to cause hardships to passengers in Malabar apart from possibly affecting the smooth operations of both Air India and Air India Express from Karipur airport.

Air India sources said that the city booking office in Kozhikode cannot be considered as just a ticketing centre as the airline had its financial, human resources, complaint redressal and cargo handling wings functioning in the city office.

Titan Aviation marks 10th anniversary with induction of new aircraft

Titan Aviation, the Dubai-based specialist in international aviation services, is marking its 10th year of operations by adding new aircraft to its existing fleet of privately managed aircraft.
The company has inducted a Hawker 900XP, Learjet 60XR and Embraer Legacy 650 to the managed fleet, which now comprises seven business jets and one helicopter, based in the Middle East, India and Europe. The fleet already includes Embraer Legacy 600s, and Embraer Phenom 100s. Two of the managed business jets are available to the charter market.

Passenger held for assaulting immigration officials at airport

New Delhi: A passenger was arrested on Tuesday from Terminal III of the Indira Gandhi International airport for allegedly assaulting two immigration officials.
The accused, Joginder Singh, had been deported from England to Delhi for overstaying his visa.
He reportedly slapped the officials who were delaying his immigration clearance, police said.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo Locked in Fare War Again

Indian domestic carriers have sparked off another round of fare war. Jet Airways has announced all-inclusive fares starting from Rs 899 under 'Diwali Dealites' offer. The booking for this Jet Airways offer is open till October 26. And travel must commence between November 1, 2014, and December 15, 2014.

This offer is valid for travel in economy class flights within India operated by Jet Airways and JetKonnect.

SpiceJet too has come up with a promotional scheme under a "Diwali Dhamaka" offer. SpiceJet is offering all-inclusive fares starting from Rs 899. The sale is valid for travel on direct flights on SpiceJet's domestic network

Air India intercepted by 2 Italy jets?

New Delhi: After a European aviation blog claimed that an Air India aircraft heading for Rome on October 16 had been shadowed by two Italian Air Force fighter aircraft in Italian airspace after the AI aircraft appeared to have developed some communications trouble, an Air India spokesperson insisted late on Tuesday night that no such incident had occurred.
The blog had claimed that an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying between Delhi and Rome (flight AI-123) was intercepted by two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon interceptors from the Grosseto airbase on October 16.

Yet another AI Dreamliner in trouble, DGCA orders probe

New Delhi/Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident of an Air India flight, AI 123, from New Delhi to Rome losing radio contact over Italy on October 16. The regulator has directed the airline to submit a report on the incident.

An Air India Dreamliner, registered VT-ANQ, lost radio control with air traffic control in Italy on October 16. Consequently, the Grosseto airbase was asked to intercept, identify and escort the aircraft. Two Italian air force Eurofighter Typhoon F-2000A jets· ·reached the B787 at 24,000 feet to the southeast of Rome. The Typhoons identified the plane, shadowed it from a distance and at 30 km from destination they were cleared to return to their base.

Seaplane makes trial landing in Mumbai

People of Mumbai and tourists may soon avail intra-city seaplane flights between Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty as the sea plane operated by MEHAIR in association with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) successfully conduction a trail landing on sea near South Mumbai on Wednesday.

Intra-state air travel to get cheaper

Lucknow: Tourists looking to fly to Agra from Lucknow, Allahabad and Varanasi will soon be able to avail of cheaper airfares, thanks to the UP government. In a policy decision effected on Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) on aviation fuel to promote air travel to and from Agra to Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad. Against 22% VAT, airlines will now have to pay only 4% on aviation fuel.

Centre clears sixteen airlines but only two take off

Mumbai: Though the civil aviation ministry has given no-objection certificates (NOCs) to 16 companies to launch airlines in the past five years, only two - AirAsia India and Air Costa - have taken off so far.

Data secured from the ministry under the Right to Information Act show the ministry received 20 applications and it granted NOCs to 16 firms between 2009 and now.

The 16 include Vistara, Zexus Air Services, Air One, Premier Airways, Turbo Megha, Air Carnival and Zav Airways, which were granted an NOC in 2014.

Passengers stage dharna at airport after GoAir cancels two flights at the last minute due to technical snag

Mumbai: Over 90 passengers of a New Delhi-bound GO Air G8-337 flight protested at the domestic terminal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on Wednesday afternoon, after their flight got cancelled at the last minute due to a technical snag and left them stranded for over five hours. Disheartened and angry, passengers who were eager to reach their destinations on time for Diwali celebrations staged a dharna in protest. A harried passenger exclaimed, “They were not at all concerned about what we were going through. After giving us our boarding passes, they announced that the flight has been cancelled. Initially, they refused to accommodate us in some other flight. How can they leave us stranded like this for hours and expect us to leave with the refund?” Most of the 90 passengers had a connecting flight to Patna and Ranchi at 5.10 from New Delhi.

GoAir to start operations from Odisha capital to Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai from 26th of October

Bhubaneswar: This year on Diwali, AAI, Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar is proud to inform that GoAir will be starting its operations from the 26th of October, 2014, from Bhubaneswar to Delhi/Kolkata/Bangalore/Mumbai. Sharad Kumar, Airport Director, said “It is a proud and joyous moment for the state as a fourth airline operator is about to start its operations. This will give a varied plate of options to all the commuters, between lowest fares, suitable timings, etc.

India 2nd fastest growing air cargo market after Middle East: IATA

New Delhi: India has emerged as the second fastest growing air cargo market after the Middle East and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about seven per cent over the next five years, an IATA forecast said today.

India would also be among the ten largest international freight markets by 2018 led by the United States supplying 10,054,000 tonnes and China with 5,639,000 tonnes, the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Industry Forecast 2014-2018 shows.

Aviation ministry not taking action against pvt airlines: Min

Agartala: The Tripura government today attacked the Union Ministry of aviation was not taking action against private airlines which were charging abnormally high rate for air tickets operating on Agartala-Kolkata route.

Railway services from Lumding in Assam to Agartala was stopped due to a mega block imposed by the railways department for conversion of the railway tracks from meter gauge to broad gauge from the October 1, state Transport Minister Manik Dey said.

‘Served from India’ scheme adds to Indian airlines’ woes

New Delhi:  Indian carriers' financial woes have worsened with airlines unable to use their Served From India Scheme (SFIS) duty credit scrip to pay excise duty on fuel. Airlines are learnt to be having SFIS duty credit scrips worth almost Rs 1,500-2,000 crore that are about to expire without being used, with Air India and Jet Airways among the biggest sufferers.

"The SFIS scheme was applicable to the aviation industry upto January 2011 when the scheme was discontinued. The federation of Indian airlines has been asking for continuity of this scheme. Then SFIS scrips issued by DGFT are valid for 18-24 months and were issued one to two years. The unutilized scrips with Indian carriers should be made tradebale and they should be accepted for the purpose they were issued for. Otherwise it is a gross national loss," said a senior airline official.

Chennai is on Asia’s ‘worst airports’ list, yet again

Chennai: Infrastructural issues have once again pushed Chennai airport to the list of worst airports in Asia in a survey conducted by a website.

This is the third year in a row that the city’s facility has appeared on the list of “Worst airports of Asia”, in the online survey conducted by the travel website The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.

The only solace is in the fact that from the fourth worst spot last year, the airport has advanced to the tenth worst this year.

FSTC to train Vistara’s pilots

New Delhi: Pilot training FSTC (Fight Simulation Technique Centre) Wednesday said that it has signed an agreement to train pilots of the upcoming Tata-Singapore Airlines’ venture Vistara.
According to the company, its facility is already being used by airlines such as Spicejet, Indigo, Jet Airways, and JetLite to train their pilots.

Airport storage charge hike will increase cost of imported goods

Mumbai: After a proposed shortage in demurrage-free period from 72 hours to 48 hours, the prices of imported items like food, electronics, machinery and pharma drugs, are expected to rise, according to custom clearance agents.

The agents allege that airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has been slacking in developing infrastructure at cargo terminals, as its 'slow pace' helps it in recovering higher revenues from demurrage charges.

After huge jet orders, budget airlines eye rich seam of aircraft leasing

Singapore/Paris: From Scandinavia to Southeast Asia, low-cost airlines have ordered record numbers of planes in recent years, redefining the jet industry. Now they plan to lease out scores of their new planes, re-ordering the aviation business all over again.

Between them, Indonesia`s Lion Air, Malaysia`s AirAsia and Norwegian Air Shuttle have ordered more than 1,400 Airbus and Boeing jets, worth about $140 billion at current list prices. They`re about to test the growing market for rented planes, competing with established finance firms that lease out aircraft to cash-strapped carriers from China to the United States.

Air India launches mobile app and takes off on Twitter

Mangalore: Air India started the festive season on a positive note with the launch of a mobile app to make bookings quick, simple and convenient while on the go. It also took off on the micro blogging site Twitter.
The app is initially available on the Android platform but will soon be extended to the iOS platform as well. The Air India mobile app allows the user to book tickets, manage the booking, check-in for a flight, look up fare details and also make special requests for meals and wheelchair.

Did another A-380 shake up Singapore Airlines Airbus big bird?

New Delhi: People flying an Airbus A-380 may feel very safe considering that they are in the world's largest commercial airliner. However, they would now do well to be wary of another aircraft the same size! The severe turbulence caused on a Mumbai-bound Singapore Airlines (SIA) Airbus A-380 that left 22 people injured on Saturday night may have been caused by another A-380. Preliminary investigation by the directorate general of civil aviation has indicated that another super jumbo may have been flying in the opposite direction to the SIA big bird SQ-424 which was descending to land in Mumbai.

Navigation System to Track Flights Implemented: AAI

New Delhi: ADS-B, a satellite-based navigation system to track and guide flights over vast oceanic area, has been implemented to meet the challenge of a burgeoning air traffic in the region around the Indian coastline, a top AAI official said today.

"We have been consistently upgrading the systems and procedures. We have accomplished implementation of ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata flight information regions with overlapping coverage," Airports Authority of India's Air Navigation System chief V Somasundaram said here.

Diamond barons' chartered flight service to launch today

Surat: Diamond Aeronautics, a private airlines company floated by three diamond barons, will launch their first air charter services from Surat airport on Tuesday.

The company, promoted by Lalji Patel, chairman of Dharmanandan Diamonds, Govind Dholakia, chairman of Shree Ramkrishna Exports and Savji Dholakia, chairman of Harikrishna Exports Private Limited - and Lavji Badsha alias Daliya, a real estate company owner, will launch the inaugural flight to Bhavnagar.

Air Costa to start Chennai-Jaipur service, cut winter flights

Mumbai: Regional carrier Air Costa today said it will launch a direct daily flight between Chennai and Jaipur from Sunday even as it has reduced capacity by 10 per cent during the winter schedule owing to several reasons.

The Vijayawada-based airline also said it will offer a special Diwali discount of Rs 500 in fares across its flights booked between October 21 and October 25 for travel up to March 28 next year.

Star Alliance to develop Delhi and Mumbai airports as its hubs

Frankfurt: Airports at Delhi and Mumbai would be developed as 'seamless hubs' by the 27-member airline grouping Star Alliance and work on it may start next year itself, a top alliance official has said.

"We are looking at developing Delhi and Mumbai as our seamless hubs for transfering passengers with ease from international to domestic flights, domestic to international and international to international," Star Alliance Vice President (Customer Experience and IT) Justin Erbacci told reporters here.

Pilots' strike hits Lufthansa services to India

New Delhi: Lufthansa operations to India have been affected by the pilots' strike.
According to an airline spokesman, today’s early morning departures from Delhi to Frankfurt and Munich had to be cancelled, as well as from Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai to Frankfurt.
Read news in full 21/10/14 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Uttar Pradesh cuts taxes on aviation fuel

Agra: Uttar Pradesh has announced a reduction in taxes on aviation fuel in a bid to promote air travel in the state.

Officials said a policy decision has been taken according to which airlines will now pay only 4 percent VAT on aviation fuel as compared to the 22 percent they were required to pay.

They said this will promote air travel to Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad in the state and it should give a push to tourism in the new arc being promoted to benefit Buddhists visiting shrines in the state.

Air France to launch personalised 1st class service for Bangalore

Bangalore: Air France today said it would introduce La Premiere - an exclusive and personalised first class service during the coming winter schedule on its Bangalore route.

As an ongoing effort to raise the standards in luxury travel, from October 27 to March 2015, the first class service will be available on Bengaluru-Paris-Bengaluru route, Air France said in a release. A state-of-the-art Boeing 777-200 would be operated on this route.

Departure time gets a new meaning in aviation

New Delhi: The past four years have seen a steady stream of talent from the aviation sector leaving for industries such as hospitality, financial services, travel and infrastructure companies like GMR and GVK even as promoters of airline companies have been scrambling to bring in chief executives from overseas. With opportunities in India shrinking, many aviation executives who couldn't see themselves as part of any other sector have even left the country to work for airlines overseas.

"There's no denying that the sector has seen more than its share of exits in the last few years and that's mainly to do with the state of airlines in India. The churn in the sector has led to a churn in jobs," says Kapil Kaul, CEO of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation consultancy, who has been a witness to this trend in the past few years.

Andaman & Nicobar Administration plans to Charter flights to improve accessibility to the islands

Port Blair: In order to make Andaman Islands more accessible to tourists from mainland and that too at affordable rates, Andaman & Nicobar Administration is planning to charter flight to operate between mainland and Port Blair. Talking to media at the Raj Bhavan, Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar, Lt. Gen. (Rtd) A K Singh said that the Administration is in “advanced level of talks” with Air India to commence a Charter operations from Kolkata and Chennai. While 50% of the seats will be reserved for the islanders at a subsidized rate, remaining 50% will be offered to tourists, again at a subsidized cost.  “Air fare is a big dampener for tourism growth.  Despite our continued persuasion, the fares haven’t come down. That is why we are now thinking  of introducing charters,” LG said.

Adil Hussain denied boarding pass on a flight

Mumbai: Adil Hussain went through a harrowing time at the city airport on Monday morning as he was turned down by Air India despite having booked his ticket in advance. The actor was supposed to jet off to Delhi and had reported at the city airport 90 minutes prior to his 7am flight. His ordeal began when he asked for his boarding pass at the airline’s counter.

Forwarders and airlines up in arms as Mumbai Airport plans levy on e-AWBs

Forwarders and airlines are becoming increasingly concerned about a proposal by Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) to charge them a fee for e-AWBs.

Forwarders are claiming that MIAL is planning to make using its community portal, GMAX-GVK MIAL Air Exchange, mandatory, and charge a fee of about $6 per e-AWB.

“There is going to be a levy on the forwarder, who will pass it on to the customer, but forwarders are not sure that the levy is justified,” said Hemant Bhatia, director, Tulsidas Khimji, and vice-president of Indian forwarders’ association ACAAI.

TCS-developed data base for Star Alliance goes live

Frankfurt: A premium customer data base, which helps Star Alliance recognise customers who are Gold and Silver members more easily than in the past, went live on September 30 this year, said Justin Erbacci, Vice-President, Customer Experience and IT, Star Alliance.  The data base has been developed by TCS.

 The data base is likely to benefit Air India frequent flyers as the State-owned carrier joined the 27-member global airlines club in July this year.

Cathay Pacific announces two key appointments for South Asia

Mumbai: Hong Kong-based full service airline Cathay Pacific today said it has appointed Abhijit Abhyankar as its regional marketing communications manager for South Asia.

Besides, it also announced the appointment of Sandhya Suraj Kankanady as the airline's assistant regional corporate sales manager for South Asia.

Air India to get Rs 6000 cr capital infusion from Centre this fiscal

Visakhapatnam: State-owned Air India will get around Rs 3,000 crore more in the later part of this fiscal from the Government towards capital infusion and the ailing carrier is expected to make operational profits from the next financial year, a top official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

V Somasundaram, Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation also said there is no proposal to build a Greenfield airport at cyclone-hit Visakhapatnam.

"Air India has a turnaround plan, under which a little over Rs 6,000 crore has to be infused this year. I think more than half of that has been given already. Another around Rs 3,000 crore will be infused by the end of the financial year," Somasundaram told PTI during his recent visit to Visakhapatnam.

Turbulence lands 8 Singapore airline passengers in hospital

Eight passengers and 14 crewmembers of Singapore Airlines (SA) flight SQ-424 were injured after the aircraft experienced sudden turbulence during landing at Mumbai international airport on Saturday evening.
The flight, with 408 passengers and 25 crewmembers on-board from Singapore, was scheduled to land at T2 at around 9.55 pm on Saturday. After the aircraft landed, the airport doctors and paramedics on duty rushed to attend to the injured. The passengers were shifted to Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri (East), while the airlines admitted 10 of their employees at Hiranandani Hospital in Powai. On Sunday, six of the eight passengers were discharged after their minor injuries were attended to. All the crewmembers were discharged as well.
Recounting the incident, Nanu Bhai Makwana, the husband of one of the injured passengers, Nirmalaben Makwana, told mid-day, “We couldn’t really understand what went wrong with the aircraft all of a sudden. She hit her shoulder on the ceiling and sustained injuries on her shoulder and stomach. My daughter and I were awake at the time. We had gone to Singapore to see my newly born granddaughter. We are from Gujarat and we were going to take a bus from Borivli at around midnight.

IndiGo bets big on Indian economy with historic 250 plane order, but faces risks

New Delhi/ Paris: Almost four years ago a handful of people gathered in Airbus sales chief John Leahy's spacious country house outside Toulouse and argued long into the evening over curry and cigars.
Last weekend they met up again at a Parisian hotel for more haggling, with breaks taken at a nearby cafe where the informality of old business friendships mingled with hard-nosed negotiations typical of the aircraft industry.
The sum total of money discussed over these meals? About $40 billion at catalogue prices, and the bill was for 430 jets, all sold to the same Indian airline -- IndiGo, the low-cost carrier which has grown to become the country's biggest airline in eight years of operating.

AirAsia India to start flights on Delhi-Mumbai route

New Delhi: The Indian unit of AirAsia will soon start flights from big cities, changing its strategy of connecting smaller cities to take on competition which followed the airline wherever it went since launch of operations earlier this year.

AirAsia India, which started with connecting cities like Chennai, Kochi, Goa, Chandigarh and Jaipur from its hub in Bangalore, plans to start operations from key cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The airline had earlier announced that it wouldn't operate from these cities because of high airport charge.

IndiGo Displays Its Ambition With $40 Bn Bet On Indian Aviation Market

Almost four years ago a handful of people gathered in Airbus sales chief John Leahy's spacious country house outside Toulouse and argued long into the evening over curry and cigars.

Last weekend they met up again at a Parisian hotel for more haggling, with breaks taken at a nearby cafe where the informality of old business friendships mingled with hard-nosed negotiations typical of the aircraft industry.

The sum total of money discussed over these meals? About $40 billion at catalogue prices, and the bill was for 430 jets, all sold to the same Indian airline -- IndiGo, the low-cost carrier which has grown to become the country's biggest airline in eight years of operating.

AERA extends date for charging of tariff for Delhi airport

Mumbai:  The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) in an order dated October 14, 2014 has extended the date for charging of tariff for Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (as per its order dated April 20, 2012) till the earlier of January 31, 2015 or the determination of tariff for the second five-year control period (which started on April 1, 2014).

The revenue collected by Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) during such period would be adjusted for the aggregate revenue requirement for the second control period.

Thalassemic child not allowed to travel by SpiceJet, alleges father

Ahmedabad:  A 12-year old kid suffering from thalassemia major was not allowed to travel in SpiceJet flight from Ahmedabad to Chennai for Bone Marrow transplantation because of poor health conditions, alleged the father of kid here on Saturday.

However Spicejet officials claimed that the kid did not have 'Fit to Fly' certificate as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.

Air India proposes shift from sale and leaseback

New Delhi: Air India is proposing to shift from sale and leaseback to outright purchase of 15 of the 27 Dreamliner aircraft it has ordered, in a bid to save about USD 225-300 million as part of the turnaround plan.
A proposal to this effect has been sent to the government for approval, as the national carrier feels that the shift to the outright purchase system would provide a much better internal rate of return, airline officials said here.
While leaseback turns out to be more expensive in the long run, an airline does not get the benefit of the residual value of an aircraft after its lease expires as it is enjoyed by the lessor, they said.
Sale and leaseback is a financial transaction where one sells an asset and leases it back on a long term and continues to use it without owning it.

Passengers stranded at Saudi airport as Air India flight gets delayed by over 40 hours

New Delhi: Over 200 passengers were left stranded at the Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia after an Air India flight was delayed by over 40 hours.
The Air India flight slated to take off on October 18 was grounded due to technical snag. A part had to be sent from Tiruvananthapuram to be replaced.

Chartered flight security manager nabbed for Rs 3.5 crore gold smuggling

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed a gold smuggling racket thriving with the connivance of staff of service providers at Mumbai airport. Officials seized 13kg gold worth Rs3.5 crore from two passengers in two instances on Sunday.

Raids at the residence of Vikas Ambokar, security manager of a Mumbai-based real estate major having its chartered flight services, led to the recovery of Rs1 crore cash besides 20 pieces of gold jewellery. Officials said Ambokar, who has smuggled 200 kg of gold into the country on 15 occasions, is the kingpin of the racket operating since December.

Ferrying 19 lakh people, IndiGo retains top slot

New Delhi:  Domestic airlines carried 58.22 lakh passengers during September this year, an increase of close to 28 per cent over the 45.55 lakh passengers flown during the same period last year.

Releasing the latest passenger traffic data, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the increase in the number of passengers was due to the on-going festive season. IndiGo, the Delhi-based low-cost airline, remained the market leader with 19.07 lakh passengers during the month followed by SpiceJet (10.82 lakh).

AirAsia India profitable on 4 out of 5 routes: CEO

According to a report by Adith Charlie in The Hindu Business Line, Mittu Chandilya, CEO, AirAsia India, said that the airline is making profits on four out of the five routes it operates in the country. Bengaluru-Chennai is the carrier’s only loss-making route as it has to offer low fares amid high competition from other modes of transport.

Adding capacity too fast? IndiGo fills least number of seats despite being market leader

IndiGo managed to fill the least number of seats on its aircraft despite being the clear market leader in September. Last month saw almost all airlines increase aircraft occupancieis because of the beginning of the festival season. But IndiGo was pipped by SpiceJet, GoAir and even JetLite to have the lowest load factor last month among LCCs.
Only regional airline Air Costa and newbie AirAsia India had less seats occupied across their respective aircraft than IndiGo as far as LCCs go. Is IndiGo adding capacity too fast?
Every third domestic flyer took an IndiGo flight last month and the total number of passengers carried by this airline was almost twice that of SpiceJet. But SpiceJet had the maximum loads across its aircraft. As per data released by DGCA, IndiGo filled 77.9% seats across its aircraft while SpiceJet filled 85.9%, JetLite 82.7% and GoAir 82.3%. Air Costa stood at 76.4% while AirAsia India was at just 68.7%

Alliance Air flying hours halve as 14 pilots leave

New Delhi: Alliance Air, a subsidiary of national carrier Air India, has witnessed substantial attrition as 14 pilots and many other staffers have left the company in the last few months, affecting the utilisation of its eight aircraft.

As per the fleet utilisation chart prepared daily, average hours each aircraft flies, which should be which should be at least 10-12 hours a day as per aviation guidelines, has come down to around six hours. On October 12, the fleet utilisation of the two aircraft was just around three hours.

Alliance Air thus adds to the burden of already indebted Air India, as all the air-craft are on lease and the company has to pay a premium of $ 1.75 lakh for every aircraft.

IndiGo's aircraft deal is a great boost for the image of Indian business houses globally

Low-cost domestic carrier IndiGo has placed what is being billed as one of the top five aircraft purchase deals in aviation history. Its deal to buy 250 single-aisle planes from Airbus for $26 billion, with an option to buy 100 more, is significant for Indian aviation and for India's ability to impact global growth. The deal, on top of its firm orders for 100 current-generation A320s and 180 A320neos, also shows the high level of ambition that Indian companies are now displaying. Becoming global players, and achieving scale, will increase the impact that Indian companies have in the world market.

Slugging it out: AirAsia, Vistara get set to battle for Delhi flyers

Perhaps sensing stiff competition from Vistara, the full service carrier which is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, AirAsia has decided to commence operations from Delhi as early as possible.

According to a report in the Business Standard, Vistara has already booked six slots in Delhi while AirAsia has been offered three. With these slots, Air Asia will become the first no-frills carrier from Delhi which will not fly from the airport that has been earmarked for the low-cost airline.

On Wednesday, the first Airbus A-320 aircraft of Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara airline, painted with its logo and livery, landed at the IGI Airport, taking the carrier a step closer to its launch. The A-320 would have to begin test flights and undergo other regulatory checks before aviation regulator DGCA grants Vistara and its aircraft an airworthiness certificate and the flying licence or the Scheduled Operator's Permit (SOP).

Emergency at Mumbai airport after AI flight develops wheel failure

Mumbai: Passengers on an Air India flight were shocked to learn that they were back in the city from where they had boarded the flight. The aircraft had to return to Mumbai airport after its pilot found out, 30 minutes before the scheduled landing at the destination, that the plane’s wheels were not functioning. The incident occurred on October 15 in Air India flight 657, which took off at the scheduled departure time of 10 am and was supposed to reach Coimbatore at 11.50 am. Around 11.20 am, the pilot tried testing the landing equipment, and to his shock, found that the wheels weren’t unfolding and coming out.

AirAsia's Mittu Chandilya in top flight

The Indian skies have turned into a boxing ring. The match is fierce: no punches are spared, and the support staff alleges foul play frequently. The pugilists are rippling with muscle. In its trademark red is AirAsia; and in elegant blue, IndiGo. The first is a global phenomenon; the second is the undisputed leader in India. At the break, the boxer in red removes his headgear and a chiselled face with bright eyes and sleek black hair is uncovered — a face made for selfies. This is Mittu Chandilya, 34, the CEO of AirAsia India, owner of the Bangalore franchise of Vijay Amritraj’s Champions Tennis League India, close friend of Bollywood hunk John Abraham and father of three boys.

Azam denies carrying bullets, calls it conspiracy

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan on Friday refuted reports that prohibited cartridges were recovered from his hand bag at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Thursday.

He termed it a conspiracy to malign his image. "I only had a mobile phone and my reading glasses in my hand. I was not carrying any hand bag so where is the scope of bullets being recovered from my cabin luggage," Azam told reporters here.

AAI partners with SITA to upgrade airport services in India

Mumbai: More than 50 million passengers at 25 airports across India can now use SITA’s common-use self-service technology to check in at the airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has collaborated with the air transport IT specialist to deploy this new technology as part of its ongoing airport modernisation programme.
The AAI has also selected SITA to provide the baggage reconciliation system for 38 airports across India. The seven-year, multi-million dollar contract was announced at SITA’s India Aviation ICT Forum in Jaipur, India. SITA’s BagManager will deliver real-time information on baggage status, helping to resolve baggage issues quickly and efficiently. The comprehensive baggage management technology has been proven to reduce the number of mishandled bags by 10 to 20 per cent.

All airports have equipment to detect Ebola: Govt tells HC

Mumbai: The Union government has informed the Bombay high court that all international airports in the country have been provided with thermal image scanners to detect the presence of 'Ebola' virus among passengers coming from African countries.

Lack of discipline and mass dumping leaves GVK-run Mumbai Airport's cargo terminal in shambles

Mumbai: Thursday, October 9, 3.30 PM. The narrow, dusty road to Mumbai airport's cargo terminal is lined with trucks as far as the eyes can see. Amol, a scraggly teenager, is asleep in a tempo he has been driving. Awakened, he says he has been in the queue since 4 in the morning. In almost 12 hours — that is, more than the time it takes to fly to any European destination — his cargo has barely moved one kilometre, and is still two trucks away from the entrance. Inside the gate, the queue scatters into several smaller lines, crawling to facilities that handle different kinds of cargo: general exports, perishable exports, imports, etc.

Gujaratis in UK want direct flights to Ahmedabad

London: Gujaratis, who constitute nearly half of the Indian Diaspora in the UK, on Friday called on the new Indian government to launch direct flight routes between Britain and Ahmedabad.

The National Congress for Overseas Gujaratis in the UK made the representation at the ongoing Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in London today.

IITians' drone may violate DGCA rules

New Delhi:  In a possible violation of a recent notice by the Director General Civil Aviation notification, IIT-Delhi students plan to fly a drone to videograph their annual festival Rendezvous.

Imposing a blanket ban on “unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)”, the aviation regulator had said it is in the process of formulating regulations for certification and operation of drones in Indian airspace.

“Till such regulations are issued, no non government agency, organization, or an individual will launch a UAS in Indian Civil Airspace for any purpose whatsoever," the DGCA said in the public notice issued on October 7.

Bihar looks for new airport

Patna: The demand for an new airport with a lengthier airstrip has gained momentum after passengers of a GoAir flight had a close shave following another bird hit at Patna’s Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport.

The state government has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry to send a team of top officials, including those from the Airport Authority of India, to hold a meeting on an new airport here.

Bihar’s chief secretary has requested the civil aviation secretary to “send officials to hold discussions and visit prospective sites for development of an new airport for Patna.” The move follows Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s recent announcement that a new airport could come up near Rajgir, around 120 km from the State Capital.

SP spent Rs 100 crore on airport at Mulayam's village, 'wasted money'

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party governments have spent almost Rs 100 crore during its different tenures on the construction of a modern airport at Saifai, the native village of the SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district, about 250 kilometres from here.

The revelation came in the reply to a query filed under the Right to Information Act (RTI) by a Lucknow based RTI activist Sanjay Sharma.

India Set To Become Third Largest Aviation Market In Next 20 Years

India is set to become the third largest aviation market in the next twenty years by adding 266 million passengers, thus taking over the United Kingdom.

"Currently the ninth largest market, India will see a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today. It is an exciting prospect to think that in the next 20 years, more than twice as many passengers as today will have the chance to fly," said Tony Tyler, director general and CEO of International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Air India, Jet may need fresh flying permits as DGCA tightens screws

New Delhi - When India was demoted to category II safety status by the Federal Aviation Administration of the US earlier this year, industry experts felt the American agency was being unfair. But the downgrade and its aftermath have helped Indian airlines and government agencies clean up their act, which can only be good for flyers.

Did you know that the certification process for airlines like Air India and Jet Airways - legacy carriers which have existed for decades and which have defined air travel in this country for long - has been flawed till now?

Had the FAA not downgraded India, the completely lax ways of the airline bosses and the aviation regulatory authorities would never have come under scrutiny. Re-certification basically means looking at almost all processes of an airline and providing it a flying permit afresh.

Vistara's First Aircraft Lands in Delhi, to Undergo Checks

New Delhi: Tata-SIA joint airline venture Vistara's first Airbus A-320 aircraft, painted with its logo and livery, landed at the IGI Airport here on Wednesday, taking the carrier a step closer to its launch.

The landing marked the 82nd anniversary of J R D Tata's first commercial flight from Karachi to Mumbai, as the aircraft was welcomed with a water cannon salute.

The aircraft was delivered on September 25 and had gone to Singapore for being painted with the aubergine and gold-coloured logo and livery of Vistara.

Air Costa to operate pan-India flights from next year

Vijayawada: The city-based regional carrier Air Costa on Wednesday said it plans to go national from the first quarter of the next fiscal with focus on small towns.

The company, which has completed one year of operations, plans to induct four aircraft each year till it starts getting the deliveries of its own planes, Air Costa Chairman Ramesh Lingamaneni told reporters here.

"We are looking at operating pan-India flights from the first quarter of the next fiscal (April-June 2015). We already have initiated necessary process in this regard," Lingamaneni said.

US-registered Bombardier aircraft grounded by DGCA after surprise check

New Delhi: A US-registered Bombardier aircraft and a private charter plane and its pilot were grounded by DGCA following a surprise safety check by the aviation regulator at Delhi airport, official sources said today.

Several "major" safety violations were found in the eight- seater Bombardier Global 5000 aircraft during a DGCA safety check drive after it landed here from Paris on Tuesday, they said. The plane is owned by the Nevada Global Aviation LLC and registered in Michigan state of the US.
It was found that the aircraft did not have the mandatory oxygen masks or operations manual on board while its emergency exit was blocked up with luggage, the sources said, adding that the records of instrument rating or competency checks of the pilots were also found missing.

Air One plans take-off next year

New Delhi: Alok Sharma-promoted Air One is looking at commencing operations of a national scheduled carrier by the middle of next year. Sources say, Sharma, who recently received a no-objection certificate to start a full-service airline from the government, has plans to import six or seven aircraft in the first year of operations.

At present, Air One is in the process of studying the feasibility of inducting A320 or Boeing 737 aircraft to start operations. The aircraft type will soon be determined by the proposed venture, after which, it will apply to the ministry of civil aviation for an import licence. Sharma is confident about the growth of the domestic aviation market. "Everyone is enthusiastic about the Indian growth story. So are we. It is an expanding market," he said.

AirAsia, Vistara book slots to fly from Delhi

New Delhi: The battle for domestic skies is set to shift to the national capital, with low-cost carriers AirAsia India and Vistara booking slots in the T-3 international airport here.
Sources in the know confirmed Vistara, the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA), had booked six slots at the airport here, adding it was ready to fly once it secured the government’s nod.
What came as a surprise was AirAsia India, which had been eyeing six-seven slots here, was offered three slots at the T3 airport. Sources said the carrier, which had earlier planned to start operations from Delhi next year, had now decided to commence these services within a year and a half.

IndiGo’s 250 A-320neos a record in plane terms

New Delhi: India’s aviation market leader IndiGo Wednesday placed orders for 250 Airbus A-320neo planes, estimated to be worth around $25.5 billion (Rs 1.55 lakh crores), making it Airbus’ largest-ever single order.
A memorandum of understanding on this was signed at Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France, by IndiGo’s co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, who is also managing director of the airline’s parent firm InterGlobe Enterprises. This was Airbus’ single-largest order in terms of the number of aircraft, IndiGo said.

One of top five aircraft purchase deals in aviation history: Rao

New Delhi: It took five days of grueling negotiations in Paris last week for IndiGo and Airbus to sign the biggest ever single order deal for narrow body aircraft. The "very little sleep" days started Wednesday when IndiGo founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal and airline president Aditya Ghosh started the make-or-break talks with Airbus's top three — president and CEO Fabrice Bregier, COO John Leahy and Airbus India president Kiran Rao.

India Inc welcomes IndiGo’s new aircraft order

New Delhi: India Inc. Wednesday endorsed budget passenger carrier IndiGo’s order for 250 aircraft with Airbus as a testament to the Indian aviation sector’s potential.
According to industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the firm order for 250 Airbus A-320neo aircraft — the single largest order by a single airline — reaffirms the confidence in Indian aviation growth story.
“India is one of the least penetrated markets in terms of aircraft. The sector is just taking off and the order reaffirms the confidence in Indian aviation growth story,” FICCI secretary general A. Didar Singh told IANS.
“The sector is expected to grow at a fast trajectory as the economy improves.”
According to the Commerce Ministry’s India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), India’s aviation market is expected to become the third largest by 2020 and largest by 2030.
By market size, the Indian civil aviation industry is amongst the top-10 in the world with a size of around $16 billion.

On offer 'lowest' airfares by Indigo, Air India, Spicejet, Go Air, Jet Air, others

New Delhi: Fact. Aviation sector is not buzzing with airfare discounts as much as e-commerce sites, which are offering huge price cuts in ecommerce space, this festive season. But the anomaly ends there as the fact is that air travellers can travel at the cheapest rates this peak season thanks to the overall low ticket prices which are on offer by both full service carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways and budget carriers such as SpiceJet, Indigo and Go Air.
The October to December period is considered peak season for air travel with a jump in occupancy levels for airlines. Due to this, the trend has been for airlines to increase fares during his period between 10-30% every year. However, fares are ruling about 20% lower this year as compared to same period last year, according to travel portal Cleartrip.

Ebola-infected flyers can still sneak in despite checks

New Delhi: The rapid spread of Ebola has raised questions over whether passengers flying into Indian airports from African countries are being put through an efficient detection process and suspected cases quickly quarantined.
Every day, 12 planes land in Delhi from African countries.
Ever since the epidemic's outbreak, routine announcements are made in all aircraft taking off for India. Passengers must fill forms that ask them if they've recently travelled to Africa and are suffering from fever, cough or cold.

Vistara signs agreement with SITA

Jaipur: India’s newest airline Vistara has signed an agreement with IT provider for the air transport industry SITA for aircraft communications, airline operations and network connectivity.

Maneesh Jaikrishna, Vice President-India and Sub Continent, SITA, made the announcement on Thursday at the India Aviation ICT forum.

“SITA is enabling them to be prepared to start operations. We are going to provide them network connectively, airline communications and airline operations services, automatic flight plan, etc,” he told reporters.

Jet Airways deploys wide body planes on local routes

Mumbai: Jet Airways has said it is deploying wide-bodied aircraft on domestic routes. This follows a shortage of pilots for its Boeing 737 fleet, which has resulted in flight delays through the past few days. “It is also working on a stepped-up training and transfer schedule of pilots from JetLite to Jet Airways, in line with DGCA (Directorate of Civil Aviation) guidelines,” the airline said.

UP minister Azam Khan questioned at Delhi airport for carrying live bullets

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Urban development minister Azam Khan was on Thursday stopped by security officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) after he was found carrying four live rounds of bullets in his hand baggage before boarding a flight to Lucknow.

Officials said Khan was intercepted by CISF security personnel at the airport terminal after they detected four live rounds of .32 bore bullets in his baggage during scanning.

Eight JetLite pilots quit, join Jet Airways

New Delhi: Eight JetLite pilots have quit to join Jet Airways. Confirming this development a spokesperson of Jet Airways said that these pilots have joined Jet Airways after obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from JetLite.

“This is entirely in line with Civil Aviation requirement regulations,” a spokesman for Jet said, adding that the airline offered JetLite pilots a number of options which give them flexibility, expanded career opportunities and growth prospects.

Centre urged to start direct Muscat-Goa flight

Panaji: Goa NRI commissioner Wilfred Mesquita has written to Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati urging his intervention to start a direct flight from Muscat (Oman) to Goa for the benefit of over 10,000 non-resident Goans in Muscat.
Mesquita said that he had earlier taken up the issue with NACIL in July 2012, but, got no response. His office did not pursue the matter in the belief that Oman Air was starting a direct flight from Muscat to Goa.

Airbus to Sell 250 A320neo Jets Worth $26 Billion to IndiGo

Airbus Group NV signed an agreement with India’s IndiGo for 250 A320neo single-aisle airliners, in what will be the planemaker’s largest order by number of aircraft as travel demand in the country grows.
IndiGo, the biggest domestic carrier in India by market share, has a right to buy another 100 jets as part of the deal, President Aditya Ghosh said in a phone interview today. While Airbus didn’t provide a value of the latest accord, the A320neo has a list price of about $102.8 million, giving the entire transaction a value of $25.7 billion, not including discounts.

IndiGo Signs Deal for 250 Airbus A-320neo Aircraft

Mumbai: Budget passenger carrier IndiGo Wednesday signed a deal for 250 Airbus A-320neo aircraft - making it Airbus’ single largest order by number of aircraft.

The Memorandum of Understanding for Airbus’ leading single-aisle aircraft family was signed by its co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, group managing director of InterGlobe.

IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said that the new additional aircraft would enable the airline to continue bringing its low fares and hassle-free service to more customers and markets, besides creating more jobs and growth.

“This new order reaffirms IndiGo’s commitment to the long-term development of affordable air transportation in India and overseas,” Ghosh noted.

Delhi meeting to decide on Kerala's aviation sector

Thiruvananthapuram: The next few days could prove decisive for Kerala's dream project, Air-Kerala, the southern state's very own airline.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told IANS that he along with his cabinet colleague K. Babu, who looks after airports and the proposed airline, will discuss the floating of the airline with the aviation ministry in New Delhi on Thursday.

"We are meeting the Union Civil Aviation Minister with our dream project Air-Kerala, that has been pending following the strict rules of giving license to new airlines. We have been given to understand that the Centre is mulling to relax rules and if that happens, it's only a matter of time when our own airline will be airborne," said Chandy.

As others cut back, IndiGo, GoAir to operate more flights this winter

New Delhi: Budget airlines IndiGo and GoAir will go against the grain and fly more this winter. Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet will cut flights.

Departures per week this winter will, however, climb 3.5 per cent to 12,305 from 11,886 in 2013. Apart from IndiGo and GoAir, new airlines Air Costa, AirAsia and the yet to be launched Vistara will be adding to winter flights. Competition from the new airlines is expected to keep fares in check during the season despite a moderate rise in departures. IndiGo, the country's largest budget airline, will increase flights by 25 per cent to 3,733 a week, up from 2,987 last winter.

3 aircraft fleet to be mandatory for commercial air charter

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA is proposing to bar air charter operators from commercial flying if they do not have a three-aircraft fleet within a year of operations, provoking consternation among business jet firms.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has come up with a proposed rule which would permit a non-scheduled operator (NSOP) to launch operations with one plane or a helicopter, but raise its fleet size to at least three within a year of securing the air operator's permit.

JetLite pilots seek 6-month notice period waiver

Disgruntled with the Jet Airways’ management, pilots of subsidiary JetLite have sought a meeting with regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday to seek a one-off waiver of the mandatory six-month notice period before leaving the company. Over 70 of the 189 JetLite pilots want to quit and move to rival airlines like IndiGo and Vistara at the earliest, as earlier reported by FE. “We have already sent a letter to Prabhat Kumar (director-general, DGCA) asking for the waiver of the notice period. Alternatively, Jet should be mandated to deposit our six month salaries with a government agency, so in case JetLite is closed down, our wages are assured. Jet already owes wage arrears of about R15 lakh for senior commanders and R7-8 lakh for the first officers,” a JetLite pilot told FE.

DGCA bans smaller aircraft at Delhi airport to prevent delays during fog season

New Delhi: Passengers flying to smaller cities such as Bhuj, Dehradun or Shimla from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport are unlikely to get any air connectivity this winter, as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will ban operations by low-capacity turboprop CAT–IIIB non-compliant Bombardier Q400s, ATRs and CRJs out of Delhi airport during the fog season.

Aircraft fitted with devices matching CAT- IIIB Instrument Landing Systems can operate in low visibility conditions during fog, minimising diversions and delays.

Three Jet Airways pilots found holding expired line check certificates

New Delhi: Jet Airways' troubles with documentation of pilot records and licences doesn't seem to be ending. The airline has now found that some pilots have been flying without valid annual line check certificates.
An internal check by Jet Airways has discovered that three pilots' certificates had expired, prompting airline officials to raise the alarm. "This is not just a safety issue and the fear is that there may be many more such pilots flying with the airline," said a Jet Airways executive with knowledge of the matter.

Pilot shortage hits Jet Airways operations

New Delhi: Over 150 Jet Airways flights have been delayed since Sunday, some by over two hours, largely due to an acute shortage of pilots, with flights originating from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport hit the hardest, reports Roudra Bhattacharya in New Delhi.
The development comes against the backdrop of regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspending two Jet pilots last month after issuing notices to 131 pilots for not meeting mandatory licensing requirements. Jet has over 1,000 pilots, while subsidiary JetLite has 189 pilots.