Page 2 - Airlines

SpiceJet resumes online services after technical glitch on website

The airline said the issue has been fully resolved and digital services are now operating as usual

IndiGo to invest $820 mn in IGA Financial Services for aircraft acquisition

Domestic carrier IndiGo on Friday said it has approved an investment of USD 820 million (about Rs 7,270 crore) in its wholly-owned subsidiary InterGlobe Aviation Financial Services IFSC Private Limited for aircraft acquisition. The investment will be made through a combination of equity shares and 0.01 per cent non-cumulative optionally convertible redeemable preference shares (OCRPS), in one or more tranches, the airline said in a statement. The funds raised by the subsidiary firm will be primarily deployed towards acquisition of aviation assets, thereby enabling ownership of aircraft, the airline said. IndiGo has 411 aircraft in its fleet as on November 21, according to aircraft fleet tracking website planespotter.net, with 365 in operations and the remaining 46 on ground.

Spicejet Q2FY26 results: Loss widens to ₹621 crore, revenue dips 13%

The airline had recorded a consolidated net loss of ₹457.8 crore in the second quarter of FY25

Airlines and ATCs must report GPS spoofing within 10 minutes: DGCA

Reporting such incidents was already mandatory under a DGCA circular issued in November 2023, but this is the first time the regulator has set a specific deadline for doing so

Akasa Air to start international flights from Delhi in coming weeks

Akasa Air will soon start overseas flights from the national capital and also expects faster aircraft deliveries from Boeing, a senior airline official said on Monday. The airline, which started flying in August 2022, currently has a fleet of 30 planes and flies to 24 domestic and six international destinations. "We will soon have international departures from Delhi," Akasa Air Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer Praveen Iyer said. Currently, the airline has 24 daily departures from Delhi. At a briefing in the national capital, he also said the airline will look at operating flights to various overseas destinations, including Singapore, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Tashkent. Akasa Air, currently, flies to six international cities -- Doha (Qatar), Jeddah, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kuwait City (Kuwait) and Phuket (Thailand). The airline has a firm order for a total of 226 Boeing 737 MAX planes and has been facing aircraft delivery delays. With Boeing increa

US air travel will fall to a trickle due to shutdown: Transportation Secy

Major airlines were dealing with a third day of government-mandated flight cuts after thousands of delays and cancellations snarled traffic on Saturday

IndiGo to adopt evidence-based training to enhance pilot competencies

The country's largest airline IndiGo aims to implement evidence-based training programmes for its pilots, as part of its continuing efforts to enhance their competencies, including improved situational awareness, according to a senior official. IndiGo, which operates over 2,300 flights daily, is expanding its fleet by adding wide-body planes and currently has more than 5,300 pilots. Currently, Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) is implemented at the airline. "When you become CBTA-compliant, you eventually end up, once you mature, you become EBT-compliant," the senior airline official told PTI. EBT refers to Evidence-Based Training. "So right now, we are just baselining the CBTA. Now, with all the data we are going to use, and with the help of the world's best practices...or having consultants on board, we need to see how we can eventually reach the EBT stage," the official said. Various skills, enhanced situational awareness, decision-making, and corporate resource .

China Eastern resumes Shanghai-Delhi flights with 95% occupancy

China Eastern Airlines started its Shanghai-Delhi service on Sunday with a 95 per cent occupancy, becoming the first mainland Chinese carrier this year to resume direct flights to India after a gap of five years. Flight MU563, carrying 248 passengers, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport for Delhi, the state-run Global Times reported. Indian airline IndiGo will begin its daily Delhi-Guangzhou service from November 10. China Eastern becomes the first Chinese mainland-based airline in 2025 to resume direct passenger flights between China and India, the report said, adding that the Shanghai-Delhi flight achieved a load factor of over 95 per cent. The Shanghai-Delhi route is considered a key corridor linking two major economic centres and is expected to boost exchanges in trade, economy and culture, the report said. Flights between India and the Chinese mainland resumed on October 26 when an IndiGo aircraft landed at Guangzhou in Guangdong province from Kolkata, ending

US airlines cancel over 1,000 flights for 2nd day amid govt shutdown

US airlines again cancelled more than 1,000 flights on Saturday, the second day of the Federal Aviation Administration's mandate to reduce air traffic because of the government shutdown. So far, the slowdown at many of the nation's busiest airports hasn't caused widespread disruptions. But it has deepened the impact felt by the nation's longest federal shutdown. We all travel. We all have somewhere to be, said Emmy Holguin, 36, who was flying from Miami Saturday to see family in the Dominican Republic. I'm hoping that the government can take care of this. Analysts warn that the upheaval will intensify and spread far beyond air travel if cancellations keep growing and reach into Thanksgiving week. Already there are concerns about the squeeze on tourism destinations and holiday shipping. Here's what to know about the flight reductions: How many flights have been cancelled? Flight disruptions ticked up a bit on Saturday typically a slow travel day as each of the first two days cr

China Eastern Airlines to commence Delhi to Shanghai flight from Sunday

Chinese airline China Eastern is set to begin its Delhi-Shanghai flight from Sunday, days after IndiGo's flight to Guangzhou from Kolkata, marking the resumption of the flight services between the two countries after a gap of five years. The China Eastern flight will leave Delhi at 8 PM and arrive in Shanghai early Monday. It will leave Shanghai at 12:30 PM and reach Delhi by evening 6 PM. The flight will operate on alternate days. India's Consul General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, who plans to greet the passengers coming from Delhi by the China Eastern flight, said that the resumption of the flight services will usher in a new age of greater connectivity and encourage stronger people-to-people ties between India, the fastest growing economy, and the business hub of the eastern China Region led by Shanghai. This will help to bring India closer to the fast-growing Eastern China Region, which also includes the AI hub of Hangzhou and trading hubs of Yiwu and Keqiao, the textile capit

US airlines cancel Friday flights, more coming as shutdown drags on

With more than 700 Friday flights already cancelled by the four largest airlines, the world's busiest aviation market has become a flashpoint in the long-simmering clash between Republicans, Democrats

Qatar Airways to sell holdings in Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific for $896 mn

Qatar Airways will sell its stake in Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways in a share buyback valued at $896 million, the companies announced, ending the Qatari carrier's eight-year involvement with the airline. The announcement came late Wednesday in a stock market filing by Cathay Pacific, which saw its shares gain 4.2% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday. Under the agreement, Qatar Airways will sell all of its holdings, which represent 9.57% of Cathay Pacific stock. The airline's other major shareholders are Swire Pacific and Air China. The plan is subject to shareholder approval. The buy-back reflects our strong confidence in the future of the Cathay Group and underscores our commitment to the development of the Hong Kong international aviation hub," Cathay Group chairman Patrick Healy said in a statement announcing the sale. Qatar Airways, a state-owned airline flying out of the sprawling Hamad International Airport in Doha, did not acknowledge the sale itself. Howeve

Air India's Newark-bound plane returns to Mumbai following technical issue

A Newark-bound Air India flight, operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft, returned to Mumbai on Wednesday morning due to a technical issue. The Boeing 777 plane, which took off at around 1.50 am for Newark on Wednesday, was airborne for over three hours before returning to Mumbai, according to information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. "The crew of flight AI191 operating from Mumbai to Newark on 22 October, made a precautionary air-return to Mumbai due to a suspected technical issue. The flight landed safely back in Mumbai, and the aircraft is undergoing necessary inspections," the airline said in a statement. Air India said AI191 and AI144 (scheduled to operate from Newark to Mumbai) were cancelled. All affected passengers at Mumbai have been provided hotel accommodations and have been rebooked on alternative Air India and other airlines' flights to their destination. Details about the number of passengers were not disclosed. The passengers of AI144 from Newa

Power bank catches fire on Dimapur-bound IndiGo flight at Delhi airport

A passenger's power bank caught fire on board a Dimapur-bound IndiGo plane while taxiing at the Delhi airport on Sunday, with the cabin crew extinguishing the fire, sources said. No injuries were reported in the incident, and all passengers and crew on board were safe, IndiGo said. The airline said in a statement that flight 6E 2107 operating from Delhi to Dimapur, Nagaland, on October 19 returned to bay due to a minor fire triggered by a passenger's personal electronic equipment stored in the seat-back pocket on board. The sources said a power bank caught fire when the aircraft was taxiing at the airport. "The crew managed the situation quickly and diligently following the standard operating procedure and the incident was controlled within seconds," the statement said. Details about the number of passengers on board the flight were not available.

Chinese airlines protest US plan to ban flights over Russian airspace

China's biggest state-owned air carriers have hit back at a US proposal to bar them from flying over Russia when travelling to or from the US. The US side has said such flights give Chinese airlines an unfair cost advantage over American carriers, which cannot cross through Russian airspace. Moscow closed Russian airspace to US air carriers and most European airlines in 2022 in response to Western sanctions for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern are among six Chinese airlines filing complaints over the order proposed last week to prohibit such flights by Chinese carriers. China Eastern said in its filing this week to the US Department of Transport that the proposed ban would harm the public interest" and "inconvenience travellers from both China and the US. The additional flight time would result in higher costs and elevated air fares, which increases the burden on all travellers, it said. China Southern warned that a Russian airspace ban woul

Cathay Pacific appoints Vinod Viswanathan as head of sales for India, Lanka

Cathay Pacific on Monday said it has appointed Vinod Viswanathan as its Regional Head of Trade Sales for India and Sri Lanka. The airline also announced the appointment of Piyuli Bhattacharjee as Regional Head of Marketing for SAMEA (South Asia, Middle East and Africa) and Arjun Bhatia as Regional Head of Corporate Sales for these regions. All these three key officials will be based at Cathay's regional headquarters in Mumbai, the airline said. Viswanathan, who brings over 15 years of experience in aviation, global distribution, corporate and leisure travel, in his new role, will focus on strengthening trade partnerships, driving strategic initiatives, and expanding Cathay's footprint across key markets. Apart from serving as Cathay's Regional Head of Corporate Sales for the region earlier, he has also performed senior leadership roles with Air Mauritius, Flight Centre Travel Group, British Airways, Oman Air, and Travelport, Cathay Pacific said. Bhattacharjee, in her new role, wil

Global airlines face $11 billion supply chain hit in 2025, says IATA

"Even if you halve the number, it's still a massive drag on the industry," Walsh said in an interview

K Rammohan Naidu asks airlines to ensure reasonable fares in festive season

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday held a review meeting with officials of airlines to assess their operational and technical performance, and asked them to keep airfares at reasonable levels during the festive season. Representatives of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, Fly91, FlyBig and IndiaOne Air, among others, participated in the meeting. They presented their performance metrics, including action taken reports on security incidents and passenger grievances, according to an official release. During the meeting with the airline representatives that went on for more than five hours, Naidu emphasised that they should strictly adhere to safety protocols. The periodic meeting also came against the backdrop of two incidents involving Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Naidu asked airlines to adopt best practices in passenger convenience and service quality. "Detailed discussions were held with each airline on identifying ...

SpiceJet receives 3 new aircraft, kicking off major winter expansion

These new planes will join operations between October 10 and 11, marking the start of a major fleet ramp-up

Air India, Airbus set up joint venture pilot training facility in Haryana

Air India and Airbus have set up a joint venture training facility in Haryana that will train pilots of A320 and A350 family aircraft. The advanced pilot training centre at the Air India Aviation Training Academy will train more than 5,000 new pilots over the next decade, the airline said in a release on Tuesday. The equal joint venture facility, spread over 12,000 square metres, will have 10 full flight simulators along with advanced classrooms and briefing rooms. It was inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday. Currently, it has two full flight simulators for A320 family aircraft. The remaining six A320 simulators and two A350 simulators will be installed progressively. Jrgen Westermeier, President & Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia, said it is more than a joint venture. "It is a strategic investment in the future of the Indian aerospace industry itself. India is a strategic powerhouse for Airbus, and this state-of-the-art facility is a ...