Page 22 - Airlines

IndiGo withdraws fuel charge; airfares to reduce by up to Rs 1,000

The country's largest airline IndiGo on Thursday announced the withdrawal of fuel charge that was collected from passengers, a move that will reduce airfares by up to Rs 1,000 on certain long routes. In the wake of a spike in jet fuel prices, the airline started levying the fuel charge on each domestic and international ticket from October 6, 2023. The quantum of the fuel charge varied from Rs 300 to up to Rs 1,000 depending on the distance. The airline, which is expanding its operations, said the fuel charge has been withdrawn with effect from January 4, due to the recent reduction in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. "As ATF prices are dynamic, we will continue to adjust our fares and components thereof, to respond to any change in prices or market conditions," IndiGo said in a statement. Fuel cost accounts for a significant chunk of a carrier's operational costs. Last year, IndiGo was also the first Indian carrier to announce that they would levy fuel charge to offset the spi

FSSAI issues show cause notice to IndiGo for serving 'unsafe food'

Food safety regulator FSSAI has issued a show cause notice to the country's largest airline IndiGo for serving unsafe food to a passenger, days after a worm was found in a sandwich served onboard a flight. On Wednesday, the airline said it has received the show cause notice and would respond as per protocol. The incident happened onboard flight 6E 6107 from Delhi to Mumbai on December 29. The airline had apologised after the passenger shared a video on social media. On January 2, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked the airline to show cause why its licence should not be considered for suspension or cancellation and action be initiated as per Food Safety & Standards (FSS) Act for serving unsafe food to a passenger on the flight, according to the show cause notice. The airline has been given seven days to respond to the notice. An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline is in receipt of a "show cause notice from FSSAI with regard to a food item served on ...

5 dead, hundreds evacuated safely after planes catch fire at Haneda airport

A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said. All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the Airbus A350 was fully engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed. The pilot of the coast guard's Bombardier Dash-8 plane escaped but the five crew members died, Saito said. The aircraft was preparing to take off to deliver aid to an area affected by a major earthquake on Monday, officials said. Television footage showed an orange fireball erupting from the Japan Airlines plane as it collided while landing, and the airliner then spewed smoke from its side as it continued down the runway. Within 20 minutes, all passengers and crew members slid down emergency chutes to get away. As firefighters tried to put out the blaze with streams of water, the area around the passenger plane's wing ..

Akasa Air set to close order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody planes

Contract negotiations are ongoing and a deal is expected to be announced at Wings India, the country's largest civil aviation event scheduled for Jan. 18-21, said two sources familiar with ongoing ta

DGCA probes A-I plane hard landing at Dubai in Dec; airline derosters pilot

Aviation watchdog DGCA is probing the hard landing of an Air India A320 neo aircraft in Dubai last month, an incident in which the airline has derostered the pilot, officials said on Monday. The aircraft that operated a flight from Kochi to Dubai made a hard landing in Dubai on December 20 and the plane remained grounded there for almost a week, a senior DGCA official said. Air India said it has initiated a probe into the incident and the pilot concerned has been derostered pending investigation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident, the official said and added that the aircraft concerned returned to Mumbai on December 27, according to the official. Details about the number of passengers onboard and whether any one was injured could not be immediately ascertained. An Air India spokesperson said an investigation has already been initiated as per DGCA norms into the incident. "The pilot was appropriately trained and licensed to fly the aircraft.

Time-consuming training, pilot shortages causing fog-related flight delays

During the pandemic, only a few pilots could train on these simulators as these enclosed spaces carried a high risk of transmission, exacerbating the challenge with simulator availability today

Pratt & Whitney engines caused damage of Rs 10,000 crore to Go First: Wadia

Nusli Wadia said that P&W engines started failing right from the earliest delivery in 2017 'not just once, but several times'

Grounded plane with Indian passengers finally takes off from France

The departure of a Romanian aircraft carrying nearly 300 passengers, mostly Indians, to Mumbai was delayed on Monday as some of them did not want to return to their country of origin, media reports said on Monday, three days after being grounded by the French authorities at an airport near Paris over suspected "human trafficking." The situation was, for a time, confusing, according to Me Liliana Bakayoko, lawyer for the Romanian airline Legend Airlines. Speaking to BFMTV, she said that some passengers did not want to return to their country of origin and that they had refused to board the plane initially this Monday morning. "Some of the passengers would be unhappy with this return because they wanted to continue their journey to Nicaragua as planned, the French news broadcast television and radio network reported. According to the Le Monde' newspaper, the local prefecture, or official in charge, confirmed that the plane would indeed take off "but not before noon local time. Two .

Airlines can save Rs 1,000 cr annually with use of flexible airspace: Govt

Airlines will have potential savings of Rs 1,000 crore annually with the flexible use of airspace that helps in reducing flight time, fuel usage and carbon emissions, according to the civil aviation ministry. In a review of the aviation sector released on Saturday, the ministry also said that a record number of commercial pilot licences at 1,562 have been issued this year till December 18 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). To address the issue of congestion at airports, the ministry said additional space has been created at various airports by restructuring the available terminal infrastructure to augment capacity at several passenger touch points. Meanwhile, the ministry said that earlier about 40 per cent of the airspace was unavailable for civilian use, resulting in aircraft adopting circuitous routes to reach their destinations. The Indian Air Force controls 30 per cent of the national airspace and out of that, 30 per cent has been released as upper airspace .

Christmas cheer: Spot airfares on major domestic routes remain in check

This month, the priority is to maintain fares at a reasonable level to ensure consistently high load factors

World's best and worst airports for 2023 offer plenty of surprises

This year's survey reflects data collected from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, plus survey responses from more than 15,800 passengers.

SpiceJet shows interest in acquiring bankrupt carrier Go First: Report

The lenders of Go First have been contemplating liquidation as they think it will lead to a better recovery as compared to selling it

Go Air troubles mount as billionaire-backed Indian airline nears collapse

Chief Executive Officer Kaushik Khona quit at the end of November, saying he couldn't get the carrier flying again and that staff hadn't been paid for six months

IndiGo occupies sixth position in global mcap, surpassing United Airlines

On Wednesday, shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, ended 1.73 per cent higher at Rs 2,982.50 on BSE

SpiceJet board okays Rs 2,250 crore fundraising from 64 investors

Airline slips back to loss in second qtr

India's domestic aviation capacity soars beyond pre-pandemic level

The top 20 domestic markets, according to OAG, account for 88 per cent of the global domestic travel capacity with nine countries now reaching 2019 levels once again

Airlines can save Rs 150-180 cr by using Eastern Cross Taxiways: DIAL CEO

Airlines are likely to save around Rs 150-180 crore annually by using the Delhi airport's Eastern Cross Taxiways that help reduce taxiing time as well as fuel consumption by aircraft, according to a top official. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital, operated by DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd), handles up to 1,500 aircraft movements daily. In a recent interview, DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said assuming 10-15 per cent of aircraft use the Eastern Cross Taxiways (ECT), it is expected that there would be saving of around 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. There can be savings of Rs 150 to Rs 180 crore for airlines by using the ECT, he said. The ECT, which is 2.1 km long and can accommodate wide-body aircraft, will reduce the time spent on the tarmac by passengers after landing and before take-off of their flights. It was inaugurated on July 14. Citing back of the envelope calculations, Jaipuriar said DIAL has made an estimation of how many ..

Unable to repossess Go First planes, global aviation body downgrades India

Country tagged 'negative' due to 'material non-compliance', says Aviation Working Group

Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal with debt

Alaska Air Group said Sunday it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal including debt. The combined company would keep both airlines' brands, which call the 49th and 50th states their homes. Alaska will pay $18 in cash for each share of Hawaiian, whose stock closed Friday at $4.86. The deal also includes $900 million in Hawaiian debt, which the airlines said brings the acquisition's total value to $1.9 billion. The deal still needs approval from the boards of both companies, as well as from the shareholders of Hawaiian Holdings. It will also need the blessing of U.S. regulators, which have shown resistance to more consolidation within the airline industry out of fear it could lead to higher fares. The companies expect the deal to close in 12 to 18 months.

UN talks weigh goal to reduce aviation emissions via less-polluting fuels

ICAO's third Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF) runs this week ahead of the COP28 U.N. climate summit in Dubai, which starts on Nov 30