Page 3 - Airline Sector

Taking steps to deal with fog, poor visibility in winter season: Air India

Air India on Thursday said it has taken various steps, including adjusting flight schedules, and increasing the number of CAT-III trained pilots, among others, to deal with the issues of fog and poor visibility this winter season. Fog and poor visibility conditions impact a large number of flights every year, particularly those originating from Northern India. The Tata Group-owned Air India faced a Rs 30 lakh fine from the DGCA in January this year for not having enough pilots trained to fly in low visibility conditions ahead of the fog season. "Air India has adjusted flight schedules to minimise disruptions to long haul and metro-to-metro flights with onward connectivity during the fog window. It has also increased the number of CAT-III trained pilots who are certified to land in low visibility operations and CAT-III instrument landing system," Air India said without giving the number of such pilots. CAT III is an instrument landing system, which enables an aircraft to land in low

Parliament passes 'Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak', replacing 90-yr-old Act

Parliament on Thursday passed a bill to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act to further improve the ease of doing business in the fast-growing aviation sector. The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024 was passed in the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote. It was earlier cleared by the Lok Sabha on August 9. The bill seeks to remove redundancies and replace the Aircraft Act, 1934, which has been amended 21 times. Replying to the debate on the bill in the Upper House, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the change in title of the bill from English to Hindi, to which many members raised objections, was done to "showcase the India's heritage and culture", and "there was no violation of Constitutional rule". It will be difficult to pronounce the name of the bill in Hindi initially but one will get used to it, he added. The bill focuses on enhancing safety, regulatory oversight, and consumer protection while aligning with international standards. The bill also promotes self-reliance in ...

DGCA to streamline norms for Indian airlines' wet-leased plane operations

Aviation watchdog DGCA will soon come out with streamlined regulations for wet-leasing of planes by Indian airlines that will also entail enhanced oversight of the aircraft, amid airlines looking to operate more planes to meet rising travel demand. With persisting supply chain woes, there is a delay in aircraft deliveries and to meet the near-term needs, carriers are opting for planes on dry and wet leases. A senior official in the know told PTI that the efforts are on to streamline the regulations for wet-leasing of planes to assist in the growth of the aviation. "Realities of the engine problems cannot be wished away suddenly and on the other side, the possible routes are also increasing all the time," the official said. Many planes of IndiGo are on the ground due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues and the number of such aircraft is slowly coming down. Generally, wet-leasing of an aircraft involves the leasing of foreign aircraft, along with crew, maintenance and insurance. The ..

Most airlines not switching quickly enough to sustainable jet fuel: Study

A lack of investment by major oil players, who have the capital to build SAF processing facilities, is hampering the market's growth, the study says

ELT signal near Nagpur airport causes panic; no sign of plane crash

The detection of an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal, which points to a downed aircraft or people in distress after a plane crash, near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport caused panic for three hours in Nagpur in Maharashtra, officials said on Saturday. An ELT is a battery operated transmitter that emits signals and is designed to get activated automatically when an aircraft experiences strong impact. It can also be manually activated by the pilot using a switch in the cockpit. The ELT signal was detected by Air Traffic Control near Mohgaon Zilpi under Hingna police station limits in the north east airspace near the international airport on Friday, an official said. "Police was alerted at 7:30pm and teams were dispatched for a search operation. Despite a thorough search over a vast area, no sign of any aircraft crash was found. The search was called off at 10:30pm after verification that it was a false alarm," he said. A probe is underway to determine whether the

Bad weather in Chennai, Tirupati causes flight disruptions from Hyderabad

According to a press release issued by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, a total of 20 flights were affected, including cancellations and diversions

Artistes voice concern over Air India baggage rule, extra seat issue

The enforcement of a rule by Air India that restricts carrying large musical instruments as cabin luggage has Indian artistes concerned who flagged the larger issue of baggage mishandling that allegedly ails all airlines across the board. Days after Zubin Balaporia, keyboardist of Indus Creed band, took to Facebook against Air India's extremely discriminating policy. Other musicians have also shared their concerns about the way musical instruments are handled by airlines, resulting in damaged or lost luggage at times. Earlier we were allowed to carry a guitar on board. Now they have stopped this and are asking musicians to pay for an extra seat for the guitar. This is ridiculous. Vistara used to allow guitars on board and IndiGo still does. Come on Air India - TATA Group. Why have such a mercenary attitude. Surely you help in promoting the arts. Have a heart and regain your soul," Balaporia wrote on the social media platform. Meanwhile, a statement by Air India to PTI clarified that

Geopolitical analysis, VIP onboard among new norms to check hoax bomb calls

Pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle, analysis of the geopolitical situation and presence of VIPs onboard are some of the new criteria that agencies will keep in mind while considering the seriousness of a bomb threat made to Indian airlines. The new set of guidelines for civil aviation security and intelligence agencies have been issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS) in view of the "evolving security challenges", especially the "emerging trend" of issuing hoax bomb threats through various social media platforms. In the past two weeks, more than 510 domestic and international flights have received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes. The threats were issued mostly through anonymous handles on social media platform X. This has caused "major" operational and financial distress for the airlines. As per the current practice, a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) is convened at a designated airport to analyse a bomb or security threat issued

IndiGo reports net loss of Rs 987 crore in Q2FY25 due to high fuel costs

Aircraft groundings peaked to 'mid-70s' but situation is easing

Vistara planes to replace Air India's on metro-to-metro routes after merger

Vistara will be merged into Air India on November 11. However, the duty rosters of cabin crew members of Air India and Vistara will continue to remain different for some time

Airbus plans to have 5,000 direct employees in India: MD Maillard

Airbus expects to have more than 5,000 people as direct employees in India and also aims to source services and components worth USD 2 billion from the country in the next couple of years, a top company official said on Thursday. President of Airbus India and Managing Director South Asia Remi Maillard also said the company's engagement with the country is gaining new momentum. Currently, the aircraft maker employs around 3,500 people directly in India and sources services and components worth 1 billion euros from the country. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Airbus India and South Asia Headquarters - Training Centre in the national capital, he said it will further grow the sourcing footprint and that is expected to touch USD 2 billion in the next couple of years. Also, Airbus' direct employment number in India will cross 5,000 in the next couple of years, he added. Among others, Airbus will be setting up a second pilot training centre through a joint venture with Air Indi

Airline companies' stocks recover from failed summer surge to hit 2022 high

The S&P Supercomposite Airlines Index is hovering around highs unseen since May 2022, poised to close Friday with its largest weekly gain since January of last year

Cathay Pacific unveils 'Aria Suite' to provide better in-flight experience

Seeking to provide an enhanced in-flight experience to its fliers, global airline Cathay Pacific will shortly launch retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which will include a new Business class -- Aria Suite, improved Premium Economy, and refreshed Economy class cabin. Unveiled at a recent function here, the retrofitted Boeing aircraft is configured in a three-class layout with a total of 361 seats, comprising 45 flat-bed Business, 48 Premium Economy, and 268 Economy seats. The new facility will be available on select routes of airlines from October itself and will be gradually expanded. "The customer experience is at the heart of the design and conception of the all-new Aria Suite. In addition to retaining some of the customers' favourite features of Cathay Pacific's existing Business class seats -- such as the reverse herringbone arrangement, a generous bed and ample storage -- Aria Suite features a range of innovations and enhancements to take the Business class experience to t

SpiceJet to add 10 aircrafts by next month; first plane induction on Oct 10

Domestic carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday said it will enhance its fleet by another 10 aircraft by next month with the first plane set to be inducted on October 10. Seven of these aircraft will be acquired on lease, while three previously grounded ones are being reintroduced, SpiceJet said in a release. The Gurugram-headquartered airline has only 19 aircraft in operations while as many as 36 planes were on grounded as of October 8 according to the live aircraft fleet tracking website, Planespotter.net. The announcement comes on the back of SpiceJet securing Rs 3,000 crore fresh capital infusion through QIP late last month. The airline will receive an additional Rs 736 crore from a previous funding round, further bolstering its financial stability and growth trajectory. SpiceJet said it has already signed agreements for the leased aircraft, with the full induction of all seven planes expected by November 15. Two of these leased aircraft have already arrived in India and are scheduled f

SpiceJet stock jumps 9% on plans to induct 10 planes by November-end

The airline has already signed agreements for the leased aircraft, with the full induction of all the seven planes expected by November 15.

Airlines suspend flights in region amidst rising Middle East tensions

Airlines said they would avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace amid rise in escalation

AIX Connect's merger into Air India Express is complete, says DGCA

Air India Express' fleet size has grown to 88 aircraft

AI-Vistara merger: Systems integration in progress after initial assessment

A comprehensive enterprise assessment of all systems has been completed and the integration process is going on as part of the upcoming merger of Vistara with Air India, a senior official said on Monday. Vistara, a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, is set to be merged with Air India in November. The process for the merger of the two full service carriers, announced in November 2022, is in progress. Murali Karthik, VP & Head of Enterprise IT at Air India, stressed the importance of data-driven decision making process and a highly integrated system. Speaking at a session at the CAPA India Digital Aviation Summit in the national capital, he also said a comprehensive enterprise assessment of all systems has been completed with respect to the merger of Vistara and Air India. At the session, regional carrier FLY91's CTO Prasanna Subramanian said it is building the complete architecture for the digital systems. The systems are being scaled up and the focus is also on ..

Fueled by Rs 3,000 crore fundraise, SpiceJet to aim 100 aircrafts by 2026

SpiceJet will aim for 100 aircraft by 2026, announced following a Rs 3,000 crore QIP. The airline is facing financial crisis that arose due to Covid-19 driven operational challenges and other factors

Shareholders approve Rs 3,000 crore fund raising plan, says SpiceJet

SpiceJet on Thursday said its shareholders have approved the proposal to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through issuance of securities. The no-frills carrier -- which is grappling with multiple woes, including financial challenges, legal battles and grounding of aircraft -- is looking to raise money that will help it meet various obligations. In a regulatory filing on Friday, the airline said shareholders have given their nod for the special resolution for raising funds of up to Rs 3,000 crore. The funds are proposed to be raised through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and other options. SpiceJet, which had a fleet of 74 planes in 2019, is currently operating around 20 aircraft. Shares of the airline rose 8 per cent to close at Rs 71.66 on the BSE.