Page 10 - Aviation Industry

India's air passenger traffic to see 7% growth in 2025: Alton Aviation

India's air passenger traffic is expected to grow at a strong pace of 7 per cent in 2025, supported by a growing middle class and increasing air travel affordability, according to Joshua Ng, Director of US-headquartered Alton Aviation Consultancy. Bullish on aviation prospects in India, Ng said the country, which contributes approximately 10 per cent of Asia Pacific's domestic and international air traffic demand, has already returned to pre-pandemic levels. "Such growing demand in turn supports India's massive aviation development programmes including setting up of 150 airports across the country," Ng told PTI on Friday. He further noted that "India's passenger traffic is expected to grow at a strong pace of 7 per cent in 2025, supported by an order book of nearly 1,900 aircraft among airlines based in the country." Besides, "the recent merger between Air India and Vistara is also expected to bring more stability to the industry, with Air India and IndiGo emerging as the two prima

Inside Akasa Air's struggles with Boeing delivery delays and idle pilots

The Mumbai-based low-cost airline, Akasa Air, which started operations about three years ago, has a fleet of 27 planes, but has 226 jets - all Boeing 737 MAXs - on order

DGCA, IIT audit findings put Terminal 2 on the repair runway: DIAL

Delhi Airport has three terminals: T1 with a capacity of 40 million passengers per year, T2 with 15 million, and Terminal 3 (T3) with 45 million

IndiGo Airlines world's second fastest-growing airline in seat capacity

At 10.1% growth in 2024, it is only behind Qatar Airways, which grew 10.4%: OAG

Airbus expects jet deliveries to increase 7% to around 820 in 2025

Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus said he would be happy if space merger talks with Thales and Leonardo led to a venture like the MBDA European missile project

Toronto plane crash: Investigators recover black boxes for further analysis

Delta said earlier that 19 of 21 passengers transported to local hospitals after the plane crash had been released

Cheaper indirect routes pull Indian flyers away from direct Europe flights

Data from OAG, covering December 2023 to November 2024, shows that as much as a third of flyers between Mumbai and London and a fourth of flyers from Delhi to London travel indirectly

Missing commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice, all 10 aboard dead

A small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea ice and all 10 people on board died, authorities said. Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft's last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. They lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate. The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska's Department of Public Safety. The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, has said. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service. Officials lost contact with the plane less than an hour later. The Coast Guard said the plane went missing about 30 miles (48 .

Industry's supply chain issues slowed Air India's growth, says Boeing

Airline CEOs in India don't want to talk about any new plane development, they want to talk about timely deliveries: Boeing

JetSetGo enters urban air mobility mkt with new partnerships for air taxis

JetSetGo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SkyDrive, a Japan-based company, to explore deployment opportunities for its three-seat fully electric multicopter, SD05

Boeing resumes 777X test flights after grounding in Aug due to engine issue

The grounding came just five weeks after it had started certification flights for the 777-9 with officials from the US aviation regulator onboard

Azul, Gol draw closer to potential partnership to form major Brazil airline

Azul Chief Executive John Rodgerson said in an interview that the combined carrier, which would continue operating two separate brands despite the combined ownership, would be 'a national champion'

An aviation hub: Indian airports must upgrade to attract global travellers

Air India's major competitor domestically, low-cost carrier IndiGo, has also ramped up international operations of late

Boeing's aircraft deliveries, orders in 2024 reflect company's rough year

Boeing delivered less than half the number of commercial aircraft to customers than its European rival in 2024 as the American aerospace giant's output suffered under intensified government scrutiny and a factory workers' strike, according to data released Tuesday. Boeing said it supplied 348 jetliners during the year. That was more than a third fewer than the 528 the company finished for airlines and leasing outfits in 2023 and less than half the number of jetliners that Airbus delivered last year. Deliveries are an important source of cash for plane manufacturers since buyers typically pay a large portion of the purchase price when their orders are fulfilled. More than three-quarters of the planes that Boeing furnished were 737 Max jets, a stark reminder of how integral its best-selling airline model has been to the company's fortunes and challenges. Boeing has lost money since 2019 following the crashes of two then-new Max jets that killed 346 people. The company expected to ram

Domestic aviation sector likely to clock Rs 2k-3k cr net loss in FY25: ICRA

The country's civil aviation industry is projected to report a net loss of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 crore in the current and next financial year as supply chain challenges and engine issues are expected to continue for some more time, according to a report. In the report on Tuesday, rating agency Icra also said that domestic air passenger traffic was estimated at 153 lakh in December, 7.3 per cent higher compared to 142.5 lakh recorded in November last year. "Further, it grew by ~10.8 per cent on a YoY basis and was higher by ~17.5 per cent than the pre-Covid levels, i.e., December 2019. The airlines' capacity deployment in December 2024 was higher than December 2023 by ~7.5 per cent and by ~3.8 per cent over November 2024," it added. Giving a stable outlook for the Indian aviation industry, Icra said there are expectations of moderate growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a relatively stable cost environment in FY25. Moreover, the industry witnessed improved pricing power durin

Air India to roll out key initiatives in 2025, may turn profitable: CEO

Air India will see progress on various key initiatives, including refitting of wide body and narrow body planes, in 2025 as well as tighten practices and processes to ultimately become profitable, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Friday. After taking over the loss-making Air India from the government in January 2022, Tata Group has been working on an ambitious transformation plan to turn around the airline, which recently also placed orders for 100 more aircraft. In his message to the staff on Friday, Wilson said 2024 saw the realisation of some of the most significant milestones, including the completion of the mergers of Air India Express and AirAsia India, and Vistara with Air India that "position us as the fourth largest business, by revenue, in the Tata group". Air India group operates 300 aircraft across both brands, flying over 60 million customers annually to more than 100 destinations in India and around the world. While describing 2024 as a transformative year

Akasa Air expects to add more planes to its fleet by March 2025: CEO

Akasa Air is in continuous discussions with Boeing on aircraft deliveries and expects to add a few more planes to its fleet in the current fiscal ending March 2025, the airline's chief Vinay Dube has said. The carrier, which started flying in August 2022, currently has a fleet of 26 Boeing 737 MAX planes and 200 aircraft are on order. In a recent interview to PTI, Dube said that 2024 has been a good year for the airline and will continue to build on it in 2025. "On the service excellence we have provided, I think consumers look at Akasa as being a kind and gentler airline, little more empathetic. We will continue to treat our travellers in a kind, gentle manner," he said and added that the airline also continues to make sure its employees feel loved and respected. Earlier this month, some pilots flagged concerns about alleged training and safety issues, and the airline had rejected them as baseless and untrue. This year, the carrier has inducted 4 planes into its fleet. When aske

SpiceJet to operationalise 3 grounded B737 MAX planes by April 2025

SpiceJet has entered into an agreement with US-based StandardAero that will provide the services for operationalising the airline's grounded Boeing 737 MAX planes and three of the aircraft are expected to return to service by April 2025. Seven Boeing 737 MAX aircraft of the no-frills carrier are on the ground. The airline has inked an agreement with MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) services provider StandardAero for enabling restoration of its grounded Boeing 737-8 MAX fleet, according to a release on Friday. StandardAero is also a MRO services provider for CFM LEAP-1B engines, which power SpiceJet's Boeing 737 MAX planes. The agreement with StandardAero follows successful arrangements with CFM International -- the manufacturer of LEAP-1B engines -- and the lessor for the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. "These developments pave the way for the un-grounding and return to service of three Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by April 2025," SpiceJet said in the release. SpiceJet Chairman and Man

Asia-Pacific regions lead 2024 with 7 of top 10 busiest airline routes

Asia-Pacific dominates Official Airline Guide's 2024 report, claiming seven of the 10 busiest airline routes. Hong Kong-Taipei leads, signalling a strong recovery in post-pandemic air travel

The aim is to make India a top global domestic aviation hub: Minister Naidu

India's civil aviation sector has witnessed rapid growth over the last ten years and now the aim is to make the country the top global domestic aviation hub, Union minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Friday. The civil aviation sector in India has witnessed rapid growth over the last ten years and the aim should be now to become the number one domestic hub globally, Naidu said. Launching the centenary celebration logo on completion of 100 years of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata, he noted that the last ten years have been glorious for the civil aviation sector with expansion of several airports and the way the number of passengers has expanded. "Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we have pushed all the boundaries, and now we are the third largest domestic country a civil aviation hub in the whole world itself, and now we need to take it forward," Naidu said. "We need to break the barriers once again, level up the civil aviation sector in the country,