Airport Service Company Gets IATA Certification

Thiruvananthapuram: Airport services company Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd. (AISATS) received the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) registration for adhering to safety standards at Trivandrum International Airport. The agency became the First ground services provider to receive the registration in Thiruvananthapuram.

Guess what? Budget airlines only slightly lower than full service ones, reveals DGCA study

New Delhi: A detailed fare analysis by the DGCA for domestic airlines in the calendar year 2014 has thrown up some interesting insights into how the Indian airline industry functions. If we set aside DGCA's assertion that all airlines were following the rule book and not really earning massive profits by selling many tickets at very high prices, it is clear that the myth of low fare versus full service airlines is just that - a myth.

Air India loses Rs 5400 crore this year, misses most milestones; Govt clueless on turnaround

New Delhi: The government has asked SBI Capital Markets to review Air India's Turnaround Plan (TAP) and submit a report to it within three months, a move which comes following "drastic changes" in the ground situation in the last three years.

SBI Capital Markets, which is the investment banking arm of public sector lender SBI, has been asked by the Civil Aviation Ministry to carry out a thread bare analysis of TAP, which the erstwhile UPA dispensation had approved for the carrier in 2012, entailing a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package with certain riders, sources said today.

Centre directs asks SBI Cap to review Air India's Turnaround Plan

New Delhi: The government has asked SBI Capital Markets to review Air India's Turnaround Plan (TAP) and submit a report to it within three months, a move which comes following "drastic changes" in the ground situation in the last three years.
SBI Capital Markets, which is the investment banking arm of public sector lender SBI, has been asked by the civil aviation ministry to carry out a thread bare analysis of TAP, which the erstwhile UPA dispensation had approved for the carrier in 2012, entailing a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package with certain riders, sources said today.

Avg fare of carriers during peak seasons near min fare: DGCA

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA has said that the average fare of domestic carriers during peak demand seasons was closer to the minimum fare.

The finding by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation comes as an apparent 'clean chit' to the domestic airlines, which face allegations of charging "exorbitant" fares during such seasons.

"The average fare is closer to the minimum fare being offered by the airlines indicating that most of the tickets sold by the airlines are not at exorbitant price," according to the findings of an analysis of fares during 2014 by the DGCA.

Air India’s new psychometric tests criticized by would-be pilots

While Indian regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) considers introducing psychometric tests for pilots, and has approached domestic carriers for their views, Air India – in what some consider a knee-jerk reaction to Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz’ intentional crash of flight 9525 – has opted to mandate psychometric testing, leaving the airline open to criticism.

Aspiring pilots have alleged the interview is not objective and lacks a standardized approach. “Some people were asked questions for five minutes, others for ten or more,” says one of the candidates, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Can anybody decide on a person’s psyche in five minutes?”

Centre Soon to Clear Uttarakhand's Proposals for Aviation Sector'

Dehradun:  Assuring quick disposal of Uttarakhand's pending demands pertaining to the civil aviation sector before the Centre, Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said Pantnagar airport will be developed as a cargo airport and facilities at the Jollygrant airport in Dehradun will be further upgraded.
Giving the assurance to Chief Minister Harish Rawat at a meeting here, the Civil Aviation Minister said all the proposals sent by the state government to the Centre regarding upgradation and expansion of airports in the state will soon be disposed of after taking all security aspects into consideration, an official release said.

Air India Crew Member Detained At Jeddah Airport

A cabin crew member of an Air India flight was detained by the Jeddah Airport authorities on charges of smuggling out gold.

The detained cabin crew was to board the flight bound for Kochi, along with 11 other crew members, sources said here tonight.

No flights but Surti lalas still flying high

Surat: The Diamond City may be desperately crying for more flights. But the moneyed Surti businessmen are not unduly worried.

The diamantaires and textile barons don't mind splurging on chartered flights. This is evident from the sheer number of chartered flights coming to Surat airport since January. While Ahmedabad records around 25-30 chartered flight movements per month, Surat has handled more than 100 every month since January.

Mostly, the chartered aircrafts arrive from the neighbouring Mumbai and Pune and other destinations like Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Chennai etc.

GoAir plans to increase daily flights, annual passenger count 4-fold by 2020

Mumbai: Budget carrier GoAir plans to more than double the number of destinations in its network, and increase daily flights and annual passenger count by about four times by 2020, as the airline takes deliveries from its 72-aircraft order.

"This is a huge phase of growth for GoAir. In 10 years, we have taken delivery of 19 aircraft and leased four planes. That's roughly two and half aircraft a year. We are now gearing up to take 72 aircraft between 2016 and 2020. That's 15 aircraft a year," managing director, Jeh Wadia told ET.

GVK Power & Infra buys 100% stake in GVK Airport Services

GVK Power & Infrastructure has acquired 100 percent stake in GVK Airport Services, which operates Mumbai and Bengaluru international airports. In a regulatory filing, GVK Power & Infrastructure said: "The company has acquired 100 percent equity share capital of GVK Airport Services Pvt Ltd on June 04, 2015 (10,000 equity share of Rs 10 each). As a result, GVK Airport Services has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company." GVK's Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) 74:26 joint venture between GVK-led consortium and Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Air India to observe 'No Car Day', 'No Plastic Day' Friday

New Delhi: Air India will mark the World Environment Day Friday on the theme of 'Swachh Bharat' and its employees will observe it by not using cars and plastic on the occasion.

Air India, which is always committed to the cause of a green World, will continue to carry out a series of environment protection initiatives this year too with the active participation of Air Indians with a mission to clean their surroundings and environment, a release said today.

Techie held for entering airport using forged ticket

Mumbai: A software engineer, who entered Santacruz airport using a forged flight ticket, was arrested on Wednesday.
The youth, Sasvath Kumar (21), had come to the airport to see off a friend. "Around 8pm, Kumar cleared the security check at the terminal's entry point by showing the bogus e-ticket on his cellphone," said Rajendra Nagbhire, senior inspector of the airport police station. "CISF officials got suspicious when they saw Kumar trying to leave the premises around 10pm. He even claimed that his flight had been cancelled when questioned by the personnel," he added.

Ramcharan’s Trujet set for July takeoff

Hyderabad: Come July and Telangana will be home to a brand new airlines. Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited promoted by city-based Turbo Aviation with active backing of Ramcharan Teja, film star and son of mega star Chiranjeevi, is gearing up to commence  commercial operations under ‘Trujet’ brand in the first week of July. “We are ready to launch the operations, but awaiting  approvals from DGCA. Once we receive the go-ahead, we will commence operations in the first week of July,” V Umesh, Managing Director, Turbo Aviation Private Limited, told The Hans India.

Civil aviation ministry begins review of Air India's turnaround plan

Mumbai: The civil aviation ministry has asked SBI Capital Markets to review Air India's turnaround plan in view of changes in the operating environment and the airline's inability to reduce losses.

In FY15, the airline is expected to post consolidated net loss of about Rs 5,400 crore, which is identical to the loss in previous year despite substantial savings in the fuel bill. The gains have been offset by lower than expected revenue, an increase in engineering and maintenance costs and lease rents.

Air India shelves plan to acquire Boeing 787-9 aircraft

New Delhi: National carrier Air India has shelved its plan to acquire five Boeing 787-9, the higher range variant of Boeing Dreamliner (787-800) aircraft, after failing to secure the nod of its Board and would stick to the original model.

Air India currently has 20 Dreamliners in its fleet. The carrier had signed a deal with the American aircraft maker Boeing Co in 2005 to acquire 68 planes, of which 27 are the Boeing 787-800s. The rest 41 are Boeing 777s (23) and 737-800 (18).

Aviation regulator finds high airfares unpopular

New Delhi: Fliers and parliamentarians believe airlines are fleecing them, but an analysis by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has shown that most tickets sold by airlines are “not exorbitantly priced”.

The report, prepared by the DGCA after analysing airfares of 18 domestic routes in 2014, showed that competition among operators is helping in containing the fares.

Centre's Move to Scrap 5/20 Rule Could Help Air Kerala Take off

Kochi: The Civil Aviation Ministry’s proposed move to ease rules for new airlines would help Air Kerala, the airline startup backed by the state government, to take wings.

In a statement given to the media after meeting senior executives of airline companies on Monday in Delhi, Mahesh Sharma,Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said his ministry had proposed a ‘domestic flying credits’ (DFC) system to replace the existing ‘5/20’ rule (at least five years of domestic operation and 20 aircraft) to help new airlines to start international operations. If approved by the Union Cabinet, it would help new airline companies including Air Kerala to commence operations, said experts.

Crisis in cockpit: Pilots fail mind test

Chennai:  The recent incident where Air India turned down 40 pilots for not meeting `psychological standards` is a revelation about the kind of people in the cockpit of aircraft in the country. It was also the first time a psychologist from the Indian Air Force did the screening for pilots after the March 24 Germanwings incident in which the co-pilot flew the aircraft into a hill, killing 150 people on board. Though some have contested the manner in which the pilots were tested — a psychologist asked them a few questions about their families and background — airline officials and senior pilots feel a lot of the young crop of first officers are sometimes found too immature to handle situations.

Sky lanterns giving air traffic controllers headache

With sky lanterns increasingly getting popular among Mumbaikars, it has become a cause of serious concern for air traffic controllers at the airport.
The Mumbai branch of Air Traffic Control (ATC) department, which is responsible for civil aviation navigation, has recently written to its headquarters in Delhi highlighting the growing hazard of sky lanterns in the flight path of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). It feels that if the situation is allowed to remain unchecked, then it could lead to accidents. "Sky lanterns are increasingly becoming a cause of concern for us. So, we have intimated our headquarters about it," said a top ATC official.

Tussle between passengers, crew of Air Costa flight

Vijayawada: A major air mishap was averted when the pilot of Chennai-bound Air Costa flight detected a glitch in one of the engines minutes before it was scheduled to take off from the Gannavaram Airport on Wednesday. However, the delay caused by the technical snag did not go down well with the passengers leading to a tussle between them and the crew.

DGCA tweaks hiring norms following threats

New Delhi: Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has tweaked its hiring norms after flight operations inspectors (FOIs) threatened to resign over transfers. Civil aviation ministry officials said that the FOIs who have already been hired will continue to stay in Delhi, and in future, the location of posting would be clearly mentioned.
So far, FOIs were only verbally assured that they would be stationed in Delhi. As the DGCA began to found it difficult to recruit more flight inspectors in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, it transferred some existing inspectors from Delhi. This resulted in 12 inspectors resigning, and another 20 threatening to resign. After this large exodus the DGCA has finally stopped the transfers.

AirAsia Adds Another New Route, Fares Start At Rs 1/Km

AirAsia India has added another new route to its list of flying destinations and as has become customary, it is offering customers tickets at Rs 1 per km as part of an inaugural scheme.

The new route that AirAsia will start flying is Guwahati to Imphal. Bookings to avail the AirAsia offer are open till June 7. AirAsia is offering an all-inclusive fare of Rs 900 on the new route.

The travel period for the offer is between June 25, 2015 and May 31, 2016.

Differently-abled teacher deplaned at IGI airport

New Delhi: A differently-abled teacher from Patiala School for Deaf and Blind was deplaned from a Thiruvananthapuram-bound IndiGo fight on Wednesday morning as he was unattended. This was done despite an earlier clarification that IndiGo services will help him fly unattended. IndiGo flew him to his destination by another flight later in the day after he refused to leave the airport.
Aney Mathew, a teacher at the Patiala school, was helped onto IndiGo flight No 6E-149 slated to take off at 11.50 am on Wednesday. He was, however, helped out of the plane because he was unattended and all the crew on the flight were women. They reportedly said they would not be able to assist him to the loo.

State run Air India found selling tickets way below market rates

State-run Air India has been found selling a large number of seats much below market rates on its flights.

An inquiry by the vigilance department of Air India has found that the national carrier was selling over 85% seats on a flight to Agartala from Delhi at cheapest fares, which are less than half the normal fares.

Why Centre wants ALL passenger flights to run from Delhi Airport's Terminal 3

Strong winds of change are blowing at the Capital’s airport terminals. The Union government wants all passenger flights to operate from Terminal 3 (T3) of the Delhi airport.
Currently, both domestic and international flights operate from T3, and 1D is Delhi’s solely domestic terminal.
With a view to cutting down on passenger fares, transit time and fuel consumption, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has asked the Delhi airport operator to come up with a concrete plan to synchronise all operations of passenger aircraft at T3.

Housekeeping staff threaten strike at CIAL

Kochi: The allegations over violation of labour laws by agencies contracted by the Cochin International Airport Limited have resurfaced after a brief gap with a section of employees in its housekeeping and cleaning sections planning to go on indefinite strike from June 5.

According to VP George, President of the Kerala Civil Aviation Workers Congress (INTUC), the airport company as the principal employer, is not doing enough to prevent the exploitation of such contract workers by their employers. “The housekeeping employees are getting much below the fair-wage levels , not to speak of the additional perks entitled to them ’’, he said.

Airbus backs startups in aerospace field

Bangalore: If you are confident that your ideas will fly, then June 11 is the deadline to watch out for. Entrepr-eneurs and start-up businesses can expect wide-ranging support in the form of a six-month acceleration programme from an Airbus BizLab nearest to you. The European Airbus started off Bizlabs as part of the company-wide effort to enhance its innovation process. Those interested can simply log on to their website and submit their project proposals. This will be followed by pitching sessions on the July 1 and 2. The selected candidates will have access to a large number of Airbus coaches, experts and mentors in various domains, a dedicated mentor, access to prototyping and test facilities for six months.

Airbus brings India operations under one entity, says move to aid 'Make in India'

The Airbus Group is bringing all its Indian operations under one entity, Airbus Group India Private Ltd, in a move which the aviation major said would allow it, among other things, to "greatly support" the 'Make in India' initiative.

Mangaluru airport cleared for domestic cargo handling from next week

Mangaluru: Domestic air cargo services to various cities in the country will become operational from the local airport from next week onward, informed director of the local airport, J T Radhakrishna. A decision on this aspect was taken after a team of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) arrived here from Hyderabad on Tuesday and scrutinized the entire security system concerning cargo handling.

Secy transfer a wake-up call to the lax aviation ministry?

New Delhi: The Modi government's decision to transfer out aviation secretary V Somasundaran could be a clear sign to the aviation ministry to shun its inertia and start performing. The lacklustre leadership here -- at both the top political and bureaucratic levels — has led to decision making getting stalled, in complete contrast to what what Modi stands for — speed.

The ministry has been talking of a number of issues, none of which have been decided for months at end. The aviation policy has been pending for several months and the new rule for Indian carriers to fly abroad is also yet to be cleared. The ministry's proposed replacement for existing the 5/20 rule -- that an Indian carrier be five year old and have 20 planes in its fleet to go overseas — has been panned by both new and old airlines.

Air India Express to report profit for first time in FY15

For the first time in a decade of its existence, Air India Express, the fully-owned low-cost subsidiary of national carrier Air India, is slated to report a profit for financial year 2014-15.

The Kochi-headquartered airline, which flies to Middle-East and south-east Asian destinations, is slated to post a profit of Rs 100 crore for 2014-15, against a loss of Rs 300 crore it reported in the same period of the previous year, senior Air India officials told FE.

1st seaplane service from Ozar to Pune begins from June 15

Nashik: Despite heavy opposition from environmentalists, the much-touted commercial seaplane service in Nashik will finally start from June 15. The promoters of the service visited the city on Tuesday to complete the formalities and announce the services.

The Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd (MEHAIR) had conducted a trial landing on Gangapur dam on November 3, 2014. The aviation company got the clearance from the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) in May.

Heli-tourism Hits Turbulence

Thiruvananthapuram: The problem of finding a ‘helipad’ has hit the capital’s winged tourism dreams hard. The ambitious heli-tourism project proposed by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), which was expected to take off on March, hit turbulence over the spots that it zeroed in on.

The locations preferred by KTDC are at the three major stadia in the city centre, Central Stadium, Chandrasekharan Nair stadium and University Stadium.

Delaying airport privatisation

State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has again extended the deadline for submitting bids for management contracts of four airports at Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chennai further delaying their privatisation process.

Private players can now submit their applications for short-listing till July 1. The AAI, which invited ‘Request for Qualification (RFQ)’ to handover the management, operations and development of the state-controlled airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur last year, had previously extended the date for submitting the bids from March 24 to May 26.

Sr citizen collapses on London flight to city, Thane doc couple plays saviour

Mumbai: It was drama in mid-air. A doctor couple from Thane rushed to the rescue as a 63-year-old woman fell unconscious and went into hypotension on an Air India flight from London to the city. Seeing her condition, her 65-year-old husband almost fainted. The doctors stabilized her within the constraints of the aircraft, revived the man and ensured a smooth flight back home without any diversions for the medical emergency.

MAS to stop flying to three more cities

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will stop flying to three Asian cities in the coming weeks as part of its rationalisation exercise, The Star reported today.

The English daily said the cancelled routes were to Kunming in China, Krabi (Thailand) and Cochin (India). This follows the national carrier's move to suspend flights to Frankfurt, Germany, last week.

MAS owner Khazanah Nasional Berhad said the airline had taken steps to suspend non-profitable routes, and was considering further route rationalisation.

Jet Airways forms FFP partnership with Airberlin

Jet Airways has deepened its partnership with airberlin, with the launch of reciprocal frequent flier benefits.

Effective this week, members the Indian airline’s JetPrivilege FFP will be able to earn and redeem JPMiles on airberlin’s flights. Similarly, members of airberlin’s topbonus programme can earn and redeem points across Jet’s network.

A pilot's licence in India after just 35min?

Mr Anupam Verma has a certificate that shows he has flown an aircraft for 360 hours. He says he got it after sitting in the co-pilot's seat for just 35 minutes.

He is one of dozens of pilots in India with certificates showing inflated flying hours and ground training, according to court documents and interviews with pilots, regulators and industry analysts.

The son of a poor farmer, Mr Verma was given a 2.8 million rupee (S$59,600) subsidy by the Indian government to learn to fly a commercial jet. "What if I was flying and had an emergency? I wouldn't even know how or where to land," Mr Verma said in an interview.

"We'd kill not only the passengers, but we might crash in a village and kill even more people."

When Mr Verma, 25, realised he was not going to gain the necessary flying experience, he successfully sued the flying school for return of the money he paid.

But not all would-be pilots are as scrupulous. Concern about the quality of India's pilots has been building over the past decade as a proliferation of budget airlines created demand for hundreds of new pilots.

Jet Airways edging out expat pilots

During 2014-15, Jet Airways has prematurely terminated the contracts of 50 of its expatriate pilots as a part of cost-cutting measures and reducing dependency on the high-cost foreign flight crew.

Finmin denies Air India request to treat equity infusion as grant

The ministry of finance has not accepted a proposal by Air India to treat Rs 4,300 crore of the government’s equity infusion into the airline as a grant or income so as to prop up the bottom line of the carrier. “The finance ministry hasn’t favourably considered the request from Air India,” a senior Air India official told FE.

Is premium becoming a problem for Vistara?

Mumbai: Within three months of its launch in January, Vistara, the newest Indian airline, has a fleet of six Airbus A320 aircraft, with which it operates 197 flights in a week. AirAsia India, which started operations a year back, does 182 flights a week with five Airbus A320s. When it comes to carrying passengers, the story becomes a little different. Between January and March, Vistara recorded occupancy of 53 per cent, way short of AirAsia India's 74 per cent in its first three months of operations last year and industry average of 83 per cent (Janurary to March).

Two more senior executives exit SpiceJet

New Delhi:  Two more senior officials have resigned from SpiceJet, taking the total number "highly paid" executives exiting from the airline to seven since January, when Ajay Singh took control of the carrier.

Sandeep Verma and VK Khosla stepped down last Friday, sources said today.

Airline causes flight delay, then slaps cancellation fee on passenger who missed connecting flight

An airline on Tuesday slapped massive cancellation charges on passengers for missing their connecting flights due to a delay caused by the airline itself.
Low-cost airline IndiGo slapped these charges on Mumbai-based Golaka C Nath and his family when they missed their connecting flight to Srinagar via Delhi due to a delay of a Mumbai-Delhi flight which they were also supposed to take, according to The Times of India.

Air India launches new engineering base in Hyderabad

The new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility was inaugurated by India’s Minister for Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, and will exclusively serve the Air India fleet.

“We are pursuing the ‘Made in India’ initiative of the Prime Minister of India and this MRO unit is a very strong platform in that direction,” said Rohit Nandan, chairman & managing director of Air India.

IndiGo to allow 6 trips for Rs 42,000 with a coupon scheme

Mumbai: IndiGo has introduced travel coupons for frequent flyers allowing six one way trips for Rs 21,000 and Rs 42,000.

The coupons called '6EPass' are designed for representatives of small and medium enterprises and regular flyers who can travel without worrying about ticket price fluctuations.

Now, it’s possible to manage Coimbatore airport from Delhi

The airport in Sweden's Örnsköldsvik recently became the first in the world to be remote controlled. Developed by the aeronautics major SAAB, the technology helps a remote tower to handle air traffic in multiple airports.

With Airports Authority of India showing interest, Manod Jinnuri, Head, Sales and Marketing, SAAB India Technologies, explains why the remote tower will be beneficial. Excerpts.

IndiGo Launches Pre-Paid Virtual Coupon Scheme for Flyers

New Delhi: No-frills carrier IndiGo on Tuesday rolled out a new pre-paid virtual coupon scheme for regular flyers, which allows a customer to use them at any time of travel without worrying about price fluctuations.

Passengers availing the scheme named '6E Pass' will be able to purchase pre-paid virtual flight coupons and use them as and when they want to travel without having to worry about price fluctuations, IndiGo said in a release.

Intra-state flight services in Gujarat to be re-launched soon

Ahmedabad: The intra-state flight services which was in a limbo soon after its launch in January is being re-launched with a fresh schedule and new routes. Apparently, demand for the services has been sluggish in Gujarat.

"Demand has been a challenge for us since the beginning. Operations had been suspended since one and a half months now. However, we are working with the Gujarat government for re-launching the services again soon," Siddharth Verma, co-founder and director of Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (Mehair), the operator of the intra-state flight services in Gujarat.

Vietnam considering opening direct air route linking India

Hanoi:  Vietnamese Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang has recently urged the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) and relevant agencies to research on opening a direct air route between Vietnam and India.

According to Thang's circular, the CAAV needs to encourage domestic and Indian airlines to do research on opening Vietnam- India direct air route, as well as facilitate activities of these airlines in granting flight permits.

Indigo, Emirates bag KIAB Pinnacle awards

Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) which has clocked 15.4 million passengers in financial year 2014-15 celebrated seven successful years of airport operation.

The airport which has established itself as South India’s busiest and country’s third largest airport organised its second edition of Pinnacle Awards – a platform created to recognize excellence and collaboration within the airport community.

Airbus is very interested in these Bengaluru startups! Know why

India has been attracting massive global attention and investor interest for the past few months. The latest is European plane-maker Airbus, which is banking on Bengaluru for new business ideas for its aircraft programmes. It is for the first time in its 46-year history that the company is seeking ideas from startups across the world. Airbus already has an engineering centre in Bengaluru.

AirAsia India flies into Rs 19 cr loss in March quarter

New Delhi: In signs that AirAsia India's target of achieving break even in the first year of operations might take longer, the no-frills carrier has reported a loss of Rs 19 crore in the first three months of 2015.

The carrier, which started its operations in India last June, raked in Rs 74.39 crore in the January-March period.

Aviation Regulator Set to Revise Cabin Crew Duty Norms: Report

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up a high-level internal committee to revisit the duty and rest period norms for cabin crew and formulate fresh and comprehensive rules.

The move comes after aviation regulator DGCA received a number of complaints about airlines allegedly violating the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms for cabin crew.

Air ticket cancellations: Unfair trade practice, anti-consumer

A recent press release from the Ministry of Civil Aviation says that the DGCA has been asked to look into the high prices being charged for air tickets to people who make last minute bookings during the vacation season. The ministry has also apparently asked the DGCA to look into the cancellation charges being levied by airlines for passengers who are unable to undertake their journey at the last minute.

Mahesh Sharma to meet airlines soon before starting airfare regulation

New Delhi: India is moving ahead to put in place some sort of airfare regulation in place. Speaking to Firstpost, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said he will call airline representatives for a meeting within the next two weeks to discuss a mechanism to regulate fares. His emphasis is especially on exorbitant last minute fares which have lead hundreds of Members of Parliament and the general public to protests.

Abu Dhabi to launch more flights to India to meet summer rush

Dubai: Abu Dhabi International Airport has planned a 22 per cent increase in flights including 49 additional flights to India per week to meet the demands of approaching holiday season.

As many as 1,504 flights will depart from Abu Dhabi each week, 22 per cent more than in the previous year, making it one of its busiest ever summer.

Air India introduces yoga sessions for its newly-recruited cabin crew and pilots

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government's penchant for yoga has rubbed off to the state-run carrier Air India. The airline has introduced yoga sessions for its newly-recruited cabin crew and pilots that are currently undergoing training. It is also planning to organise a two-day workshop for its senior management comprising of the rank of general managers and above at Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of living Ashram in Bengaluru.

GOAIR HIRES SECOND AUSTRIAN AS PART OF TOP MANAGEMENT

Austria seems to be the flavour of the season for the Wadias, who have appointed Wolfgang Prock Shauer, the second national of the Germanspeaking central European country to be a part of the airline, as chief executive officer.

Shauer, who worked with Jet Airways from 2003 to 2009, joins fellow Austrian Tim Jordan, who recently joined GoAir as chief commercial officer and assisted managing director Jeh Wadia in the airline's affairs in recent times.

You can't fly abroad from Chandigarh international airport

Chandigarh: International flights would not take off from the Chandigarh international airport likely to be inaugurated in June for at least a few months. Reason: private airlines were yet to get clearance to start global operations from the new international terminal.

Sources said Spicejet and a UAE-based international airlines were trying to secure the nod for flights to Dubai with talks being held at a high-level.

Vijayawada airport to become international

Hyderabad: In a move to develop world-class infrastructure and promote rapid economic growth, the AP government has decided to upgrade Tirupati and Vijayawada airports into international airports and develop ports along coastal districts. The Union government also agreed to extend financial aid for land acquisition for the expansion of Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhaptnam airports. 

Jet Airways hands over pink slips to 50 expat pilots

Jet Airways has handed over pink slips to 50 of its expat pilots by prematurely terminating their contracts, bringing their number to 88, as part of its cost-cutting measures as well as reducing dependency on the high-cost overseas flight crew.

"We have prematurely terminated the service contracts of 50 expatriate pilots between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015," Jet Airways acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ravichandran Narayan said during a post-earnings analysts call.

Air India opens MRO facility

Air India has opened its new 9,000m2 MRO facility at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
The facility will be used to carry out work on the flag carrier’s fleet of 125 aircraft by its maintenance arm Air India Engineering Services.

Preventing bird hits ‘the natural way’

Airport Authority of India (AAI) are taking steps to discourage birds’ concentration near Coimbatore International Airport (CIA) that recorded 21 bird hits in 2014. It is learnt that over 75 per cent bird hits here are during landings and take off of flights.

Pegasus to fly to Andhra's Kadapa from Bengaluru

Air Pegasus will fly daily to Kadapa in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh from Bengaluru from June 7, the new low-cost private carrier said on Sunday.
"We are providing air connectivity to Kadapa, one of the fast-growing tier-two cities in view of its strategic location and for being a major trading centre in the Rayalaseema region," Air Pegasus managing director Shyson Thomas said in a statement here.

New system to integrate six major airports

January 3, 2015, was a particularly misty day in Chennai. A thick blanket of fog had enveloped the city disrupting air traffic.

Pilots of flights coming in from Mumbai took a while to realise that visibility was less than 100m. By then, it was too late for traffic control to relay the news to airlines in Mumbai about the dense fog.

Low fares drive passenger growth for airlines

Low fares are driving domestic air traffic growth but average revenue per passenger earned by airlines has declined from last year because a 20-25% drop in fares.

Overall volumes are up over 20% in January-April and growth has been reported in all categories - domestic leisure, corporate, small and medium enterprises and meeting-incentive segments. Air travel growth has been largely by domestic business as foreign tourist arrivals in India in January-April was up by just 2.7%.

Baloch Hijackers Executed

New Delhi: Pakistan has put to death three Baloch insurgents, 17 years after they hijacked a passenger plane with 30 people on board that they then attempted to fly to India. The Pakistan International Airlines flight was hijacked in 1998, with the hijackers ordering the pilot to fly to India, but the plane was diverted and stormed by troops.

The men - Shabbir Rind, Shahsawar Baloch and Sabir Rind - were members of the left-wing Baloch Students' Organisation (BSO), and were executed at jails in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Only 2% AI staff content with job after merger, says survey

Only two per cent of Air India employees are satisfied with their jobs, eight years after its 2007 merger with the Indian Airlines.

According to the first internal survey on employee satisfaction after the merger, about 60 per cent of respondents were unhappy with the union of the two government carriers. The survey was conducted by Air India, with help from EY.