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.