Page 36 - Air India

Air India to set up flying institute in Maha to train 180 pilots annually

Tata Group-owned Air India on Monday said it will set up a training institute at Amravati in Maharashtra with an aim to train 180 commercial pilots annually. The DGCA-licensed Flight Training Organisation (FTO) at the Belora Airport will be the largest such institute in South Asia and become operational from the first quarter of next financial year, Air India said in a statement. According to the airline, the upcoming facility will be the first by any Indian airline in the country and will have 31 single-engine aircraft and three twin-engine aircraft for training. Air India said it has got the tender from the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) to establish and operate the facility for 30 years. "The FTO at Amravati will be a significant step towards making Indian aviation more self-reliant and offering more opportunities to the youth in India to fulfil their ambitions of flying as pilots. "The young pilots coming out of this FTO will fuel Air India's ambition of becomi

Air India to deploy A350 planes on Delhi-London route starting September 1

Air India will start operating its wide-body A350-900 aircraft on the Delhi-London route with two daily flights from September 1. The flights will mark the introduction of the plane on the international long-haul route, as Air India revamps and expands its operations to strengthen presence in international and domestic segments. "The A350-900 will replace the currently deployed Boeing 777-300 ER and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on 14 of 17 weekly flights. As a result, an additional 336 seats will be available on the Delhi-London Heathrow route each week," the airline said in a release on Thursday. Besides, the airline will introduce premium economy class seats in the A350-900 planes operating on the Delhi-London Heathrow route. Air India will operate two daily flights between the national capital and London Heathrow with the A350-900 aircraft starting from September 1. The airline started operating the A350-900 plane on the international route from May 1 with services between Delhi and

London-bound Air India flight receives bomb threat, no explosives found

A London-bound Air India flight received a bomb threat here on Tuesday but no explosives were found, an official said. A man suspected of making the threatening call has been apprehended by authorities, a Cochin International Airport spokesperson said . Security personnel conducted extensive checks on the aircraft and found no danger, allowing the flight to proceed as planned, he said in a statement here. According to him, a bomb threat call was received by the Air India call center in Mumbai early on Tuesday for flight AI 149, scheduled to fly from Cochin to London Gatwick. The alert was promptly communicated to Air India here and the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 01:22 hours. Following established protocols, a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was immediately convened at CIAL. The threat was assessed and declared specific. Following this, thorough security checks were conducted by the Airport Security Group (ASG-CISF), airline security personnel, and inl

Indian mission in Ottawa marks 39th anniversary of Kanishka bombing

The Indian missions in Canadian capital Ottawa and Toronto city on Sunday marked the 39th anniversary of the 1985 Kanishka bombing in which 329 persons, including 86 children, on board an Air India lost their lives in one of the most heinous terror-related air disasters in the history of civil aviation. High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma paid homage to the victims of Air India flight 182 Kanishka on the 39th anniversary of the "cowardly terrorist bombing", the High Commission in Ottawa posted on X along with a series of photographs from the event. Addressing the gathering, Verma said, No government in the world should overlook the threat of terrorism emanating from its territories for political gains. Human lives are much more important than the transitory political interests. All terrorist activities should be met with exemplary legal and social actions, before they start harming the larger humanity. Governments, security agencies, and international organisations must work in ...

Air India banks on artificial intelligence to cut call centre costs

The airline had launched its own chatbot AI.g, earlier known as Maharaja, in May 2023

Air India to start premium economy class on a few domestic routes from July

Air India on Wednesday said it will launch premium economy class on select domestic routes from next month. As of now, Vistara is the only Indian carrier which offers premium economy-class travel category on its domestic routes. The Tata Group-owned airline said it has refitted two new A320neo aircraft in a three-class configuration, featuring eight seats in business, 24 seats with extra legroom in premium economy, and 132 in the economy category, offering a wider choice to its guests. This is the first time the airline has introduced premium economy cabins on its narrow-body aircraft. "The introduction of a three-class cabin to Air India's narrow-body fleet and commencement of interior refits are important steps in the journey of enhancing the flying experience," said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Air India. The latest upgrade of the narrow-body fleet, which operates on domestic and short-haul international networks, complements the upgraded ..

39 yrs of Kanishka bombing: India at forefront of countering terrorism

India stands at the forefront of countering the menace of terrorism and works closely with all nations to tackle this global threat, India's Consulate General in Vancouver has said as it reminded the world of the Kanishka bombing, the most heinous terror-related air disasters in the history of civil aviation. The Montreal-New Delhi Air India 'Kanishka' Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London's Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent. The bombing was blamed on Sikh militants in retaliation to 'Operation Bluestar' to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984. The Consulate General of India has planned a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the bombing. "India stands at the forefront of countering the menace of terrorism and works closely with all nations to tackle this global threat," the Consulate General of India in Vancouver posted on X on Tuesday. "23 June 2024 mark

Anticipating pilot shortage, Air India to launch its own training school

Air India's initiative marks a departure from the traditional approach of Indian airlines, which have typically partnered with independent flight schools both domestically and internationally

Air India faces scrutiny as passenger finds metal blade in his meal

The passenger claimed that Air India subsequently contacted him a few days later, proposing a complimentary business class journey to any destination worldwide

Air India passenger recounts dirty seats, uncooked food on flight to Newark

In a social media post, the business-class passenger alleged delayed takeoff, unclean and non-functional seats, and to make the experience even worse, he was served uncooked food onboard the flight

Domestic air passenger traffic rises 4.4% to 1.37 cr in May: DGCA

Domestic air passenger traffic went up 4.4 per cent to around 1.37 crore in May, according to official data released on Friday. The Indian scheduled air operators flew 1.32 crore passengers on domestic routes in May last year. "Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-May 2024 were 661.42 lakhs as against 636.07 lakhs during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering an annual growth of 3.99 per cent and monthly growth of 4.40 per cent," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. In terms of on-time performance (OTP), Akasa Air topped the list at 85.9 per cent, followed by Vistara (81.9 per cent), AIX Connect (74.9 per cent), IndiGo (72.8 per cent), Air India (68.4 per cent) and SpiceJet (60.7 per cent), as per the data. During the previous month, no-frills carrier IndiGo saw its market share growing to 61.6 per cent, while that of Air India declined to 13.7 per cent from 14.2 per cent in April. The market share of Vistara stood at

Chargesheets to cabin crew can be detrimental: Air India Express Union

The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) has termed the alleged issuance of charge-sheet by the airline's management to around 200-odd cabin crew members for reporting sick during last month's strike as unfortunate and unfair labour practice. In a letter to Air India Express chief Alok Singh on Sunday, the Union also warned the Tata Group-run airline's management that such actions could be detrimental to the interests of the company and its passengers. According to Union sources, the charge-sheet was issued to around 200 cabin crew members on June 5, with a deadline of 72 hours to file a response. Around 200 cabin crew members of Air India Express went on strike on May 7, to protest against the alleged mismanagement in the airline, resulting in cancellation of hundreds of flights. Consequently, the airline management terminated the services of 25 cabin crew members and warned the others to join work or else face the same action. Three days later, the strike was called off aft

IndiGo lands, Air India takes off on same runway at same time in Mumbai

ATC official de-rostered; DGCA, AAI probing the incident

Air India utilising group airlines' engineering skills for maintenance work

Tata Group-owned Air India is utilising the engineering skills available with group airlines to carry out more maintenance work of the aircraft under its own quality control amid multiple instances of its legacy planes facing operational issues, according to a senior company official. The official also said the airline is keen to lease aircraft but the market is very tight, especially for wide-body planes. After the takeover by the Tata Group in 2022, loss-making Air India has been making efforts for improvement and has embarked on a five-year transformation plan. To address the engineering issues more effectively, the official told PTI that Air India is bringing the work of line maintenance component in-house as well as using the licensing and skills of the group airlines to do some things in certain types of aircraft. Such an approach will help Air India in doing more "maintenance work under our own quality control", the official said on condition of anonymity. Air India is sett

'India a big market; good to have stronger Lufthansa-Air India partnership'

India is a big aviation market and a stronger partnership between Air India and Lufthansa is good, as efforts of the Star Alliance are to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition for the passengers, the airline grouping's CEO Theo Panagiotoulias has said. Air India and Lufthansa are part of the Star Alliance, whose 26 member airlines come together at more than 50 global hubs to offer smooth connections across a global network. A management company, based in Frankfurt and Singapore, coordinates Star Alliance projects and activities. It includes airport co-location, digital infrastructure, frequent flyer integration and joint business lounge projects to improve the travel experience. Talking to PTI on the sidelines of IATA annual general meeting in Dubai this week, Panagiotoulias was bullish about the prospects in the Indian market that offers "so much of opportunities". "The alliance is to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition...

NCLT approves merger of full-service carriers Vistara with rival Air India

The merger, first announced in November 2022, will include Vistara, which is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines being absorbed into Air India

NCLT nod to Air India-Vistara merger; to form world's largest airline group

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday approved the merger of Air India and Vistara, paving the way for the creation of one of the world's largest airline groups. Post-merger, which was announced in November 2022, Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group. In a 31-page order, the Chandigarh bench of the NCLT approved the "composite scheme of arrangement" involving Talace, Air India and Vistara. All are part of the Tata Group. Air India expects the merger to be completed by the end of this year. A two-member bench of the Chandigarh bench of NCLT observed that the scheme has already received necessary approvals from the shareholders and creditors of both airline companies. Moreover, it has also received applicable approvals including that of fair trade regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Besides, "no sustainab

Air India's rise could impact three Gulf hubs, says Saudia Airlines

Calling AI a "sleeping giant", Muehlen said: "They have a legacy. They have the hearts of the Indian population. If they get it right, it would be more at the expense of the super-connectors"

Plan to double international transit traffic in 5-10 years: Air India exec

Says 'out-of-the-box thinking' needed to develop Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru as transit hubs

Indian carriers divided on more bilateral rights to Gulf countries

Granting more rights to them would be equivalent to pulling rug from under our feet: Air India CEO