Security tightened at Gaya International Airport

Gaya: Following terrorist attack at the Pathankot Air base, security at the Gaya International Airport has been tightened. Besides regular flights from countries like Thailand and Mayanmar, a sizeable number of chartered flights land and take off from the airport in tourist season between October and March.
A few months back the external affairs ministry introduced visa on arrival facility for visitors from 116 countries including all the European countries to facilitate the promotion of tourism in the seat of Buddha's enlightenment.

No entry for visitors at Rajiv Gandhi International airport

Hyderabad: The authorities at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport have restricted the entry of visitors inside the airport following the high alert declared by the Union Home Ministry amidst the ongoing terror attack at the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab.

SpiceJet ‘New Year sale’: Low on spice, high on price

New Delhi: The ongoing “New Year sale” at budget airliner SpiceJet promises base fares starting from as low as Rs 716. Those planning to travel next year between January 15 and April 12 can avail this offer till December 31.
We take a look at how cheap SpiceJet fares are in comparison to other domestic airliners such as Indigo and Jet Airways.

Runway repair may disrupt flight schedules

If you wanted a cheap flight and an on-time landing to attend a crucial meeting or a wedding in 2016, you might be in for a jolt at many domestic airports, depending on where you’re flying to.

On December 30, Airports Authority of India officials intimated airline operators about runway closures at a key metro city airport and tier-two airports for strengthening and re-carpeting work. Discussions are still on, and airlines await a final confirmation and a NOTAM (notice to airmen) for the same.

Even though it is a periodic exercise done to fix runway wear and tear, airlines and passengers have a lot to worry about in terms of last-minute rescheduling and cancellations. Ticket prices are also likely to go up.

Fog diverts, delays flights to Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar: Dense flog disrupted flight movements at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Odisha capital leading to diversion of a flight today.
“Since last three days, the visibility at the airport here is very low. Landing of aircrafts at BPIA is getting delayed as visibility at BPIA was around 50 metres (minimum level required for landing in low visibility conditions) in the morning which later improved to 100 metres. The approach necessary for landing is 750 metres. Around two-three aircrafts could not land this morning and hovered in the sky for quite a while.

SpiceJet launches travel solutions platform, SpiceVacations.com

SpiceJet has rolled out a travel solutions platform, SpiceVacations.com, offering customised travel packages to customers. The travel packages are spread over a network of domestic and international destinations.

Air India to start second Delhi-Dehradun flight from January 1

MUMBAI: The national carrier Air India today said it would start a second flight to Dehradun from New Delhi beginning January 1.

The airline also said it will discontinue its flight from Kochi to Sharjah from January 11 and will instead fly to Dubai.

"We will operate a second flight to Dehradun from New Delhi from January 1, using a 70-seater CRJ-700 aircraft on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays," it said in a statement.
To Read the News in Full 30/12/15 PTI/The Economic Times

AI offloads 9 flyers at Mumbai airport

Ahmedabad: Nine passengers — four men, three women and two children — were offloaded from an Ahmedabad- London flight at Mumbai airport early on Wednesday after they were found travelling without proper documents. All the nine passengers belonged to Delhi or Punjab and were travelling to El Salvador for New Year holidays.

Mumbai Customs arrests French couple for gold smuggling at international airport

The Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Customs on Wednesday apprehended a French couple at the Mumbai international airport and recovered 2.6 kg of gold valued at around Rs 60.88 lakhs, from them.
On the basis of profiling, the cops intercepted Mohamed Hassain and his wife Djany Mohamed Safraby, both of whom have who has a French passports. The couple had arrived in Mumbai from Dubai via Bahrain by Gulf Air flight GF-56. The AIU recovered one gold bar of 1kg, five gold bars of 100gms each, two crude gold chain weighing 700gms, 5 crude gold bangles weighing 300 gms, one necklace 94gms and gold chain and two rings 12gms.
To Read the News in Full 30/12/15 Mid Day

Civil aviation ministry concerned over domestic impact of AirAsia, Vistara's global operations

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has flagged its concerns over the impact on domestic air connectivity if Vistara and AirAsia India are allowed to fly international post abolition of the five-year, 20 aircraft rule.
The upcoming aviation policy is expected to abolish the rule, which requires Indian carriers to fly five years locally and have a fleet of 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly international. The concerns were raised in a meeting of airlines called by the ministry on Wednesday. The country's leading carriers, such as Indigo and Jet Airways, didn't attend the meeting.

Direct Durgapur-Delhi flight makes debut

The huge response for the first flight itself shows the demand from the region.

Durgapurs Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport, Indias first operational private Greenfield airport, developed by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited, is the latest addition to the countrys civil aviation network.

Amit Agarwal new Chief Financial Officer of Jet Airways

Private carrier Jet AirwaysBSE -0.91 % today said it has appointed former Suzlon senior executive Amit Agarwal as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Agarwal's appointment to the post is effective from today, the airline said.

Jet Airways did not have a full time CFO since March 2014 when the then incumbent Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, who was also the acting chief executive officer, parted ways with the airline.

Jet Airways to launch daily flights to Amsterdam from Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto

Jet Airways has announced the launch of daily non-stop services between India and Amsterdam. With effect from March 27, 2016, Jet Airways will operate two daily non-stop flights to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, one each from its home hubs in Mumbai and New Delhi. Jet Airways will also operate a daily flight from Toronto to Amsterdam. These flights will be available for sale across booking channels from December 15, 2015.

SpiceJet records highest seat factor among domestic airlines

NEW DELHI: Budget carrier SpiceJet has for the seventh consecutive month reported a seat factor of above 90 per cent in November while national carrier Air India saw seat occupancy going up by over seven per cent during the period, according to DGCA traffic data.

Also, regional carrier Air Costa did not operate every fifth of its flight for various reasons in the previous month, according to data released by the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week.

PMO rejects aviation ministry candidate for heading BCAS

NEW DELHI: The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is set to stay headless for some more time, with the Prime Minister's Office rejecting the candidate referred by the civil aviation ministry.

The ministry had in September zeroed in on 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer AP Maheshwari from among the three names sent by the home ministry for heading BCAS, the government's aviation security wing which has been doing without a fulltime head since 2012.