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The Trump administration on Thursday said it is abandoning a Biden-era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers with cash, lodging and meals for flight cancellations or changes caused by a carrier. The proposed rule would have aligned US policy more closely with European airline consumer protections. It was proposed last December in the final weeks of then-president Joe Biden's administration, leaving its fate in the hands of his Republican successor. In a document posted on Thursday, President Donald Trump's Transportation Department said its plan to scrap the proposed rule was consistent with Department and administration priorities". Industry trade group Airlines for America, a vocal critic of the proposal, said it would have driven up ticket prices for consumers. We are encouraged by this Department of Transportation reviewing unnecessary and burdensome regulations that exceed its authority and don't solve issues important to our customers," the gr
Aircraft maker Airbus' annual sourcing of components and services from India will be ramped up significantly to touch USD 2 billion before 2030, its CEO Guillaume Faury has said as he emphasised that the country should play on its strengths rather than replicate what others have done in the past. For Airbus, currently the sourcing of components and services annually is to the tune of USD 1.4 billion from India, which is also one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets. Describing India as one of the most important markets for Airbus in terms of growth, Faury said the challenge for the aircraft maker is to support the speed of the growth of the aviation industry in India. The Airbus order book has more than 1,300 aircraft to be delivered to Indian carriers and IndiGo alone has more than 900 planes on order, including wide body A350s. Among them, there are firm orders for 50 A350s from Air India and 30 from IndiGo. Currently, there are around 700 Airbus planes in opera
With internationalisation as a key focus area, IndiGo chief Pieter Elbers on Tuesday said the airline has a great opportunity to address the long haul flight services market from India. IndiGo, which has more than 400 planes in its fleet, is taking wide-body Boeing 787 aircraft on damp lease and is set to start services to Amsterdam and Manchester later this year. "International air travel in India probably for quite a long time was very much taken care of by non Indian airlines... there is a great opportunity to address that market (long haul) with our planes," Elbers said. Generally, long haul flights are those having a duration of more than nine hours. The airline expects to take delivery of long range A321 XLR planes this year and wide-body A350 aircraft in 2027. Speaking at the Skift India Forum, he also said that its order book for aircraft is an "incredible asset". The airline has more than 900 planes on order. Elbers also asserted that the airline wants to have the cost
IBS Software, a leading SaaS solutions provider to the global travel industry, will look at more business opportunities in the airlines industry as well as the loyalty programmes segment in India, which is also a "price sensitive market", according to a top company official. Sounding optimistic about the prospects for the global travel industry, the company's Founder and Executive Chairman V K Mathews said the Indian market has huge growth potential. The Singapore-headquartered Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions provider has around 5,000 staff and has about 200 clients spread across aviation, travel and cruise, hospitality, and energy and resource segments. Emirates, British Airways, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Japan Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Hilton, Chevron, ADNOC and Royal Caribbean International are among its clients, as per the company's website. In India, IBS is implementing software solutions for air cargo operations, and also the staff
Dubai-based cargo operator SolitAir Holding is looking to invest USD 25 million in the domestic market in the first year of operations, its founder and Chief Executive Officer Hamdi Osman has said. Osman, a logistics industry veteran who served a 30-year stint with the American multinational conglomerate FedEx till 2011, also said that India is very "critical" to global trade and SolitAir places it at the top of its 50-city mission and vision that it is looking at in the long-term. The UAE's only dedicated cargo-agnostic airline operating express daily scheduled services between Dubai and high-yield key trade routes across the Global South, started operations last year with a Boeing 737 freighter plans to connect and service 50 cities within a six-hour flight radius of the UAE through its air cargo network. "Based on cost and investment coming into India, we are talking anywhere between USD 20-25-million investment in the Indian market in the first year," Osman told PTI. The compan
SpiceJet is facing fresh round of troubles as three Ireland-based aircraft lessors and a former pilot have filed insolvency pleas in NCLT against the budget carrier, claiming defaults. Three lessors - NGF Alpha, NGF Genesis and NGF Charlie- have filed petitions under Section 9 of IBC, seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against SpiceJet claiming dues totalling USD 12.68 million (about Rs 110 crore). SpiceJet, during the proceedings of the National Company Law Tribunal, earlier this week, sought some time to resolve the matter as settlement talks were going on. "Counsel on behalf of the Operational Creditor (SpiceJet) is present and sought time to seek instructions on the future course of action to be taken in the matter," NCLT said in an order. The insolvency tribunal directed to list all three petitions on April 7, 2025, for the next hearing. The lessors had earlier leased five Boeing 737 to SpiceJet. They had served legal notice to SpiceJet wherein they alleged theft o