Page 15 - Aviation Industry

Go Air crisis: Central Bank set to auction Wadia's land for Rs 1,965 cr

Over 94 acres of land will be sold under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act 2002

Surge in aerophobia treatment in Singapore after severe turbulence on SQ321

More people in Singapore are seeking treatment for aerophobia -- the fear of flying -- following the severe turbulence incident that struck a Singapore Airlines flight over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar last month. Aerophobia can range from slight uneasiness to very severe panic attacks triggered by a thought or impending occasion of flying, according to a Channel News Asia report on Friday. While aviation experts say that flying remains among the safest forms of travel, some service providers have seen a spike in people seeking to address this fear, according to the report. On May 21, SQ321, en route from London to Singapore, encountered extreme turbulence. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was carrying 211 passengers and a crew of 18 when it made an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. One passenger a 73-year-old British man died and dozens were injured, some of them seriously. Some SQ321 passengers painted a harrowing scene in an interview with the channel. Thos

Airport industry to see profit before tax of $1.3 bn this fiscal: CAPA

The country's airport industry is projected to report a profit before tax of USD 1.3 billion in the current financial year. The profit is anticipated to be Rs 256.1 (USD 3.1) per passenger in the fiscal ending March 2025, aviation advisory firm CAPA India said while giving projections at its aviation summit in the national capital on Friday. In the current fiscal, passenger throughput at Indian airports is estimated to rise to 404.9 million. Out of the total, 81.1 per cent will be domestic and 18.9 per cent will be international traffic, it said. As per the report, the Airport Authority of India's (AAI) profitability is likely to remain robust in FY2024 and FY2025. "The topline will grow due to an increase in aeronautical revenue along with the receipt of revenue share from the recently privatised six non-metro airports, without having to incur any expense associated with it - resulting in higher profitability," it added. The industry's profit before tax is expected to be USD 1.3

Akasa Air expects deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft by 2027

Akasa Air had ordered 150 737 MAX narrow-body planes in January, including the MAX 10 and MAX 8-200 versions. It had not specified how many of each type were ordered

Domestic air traffic expected to rise 6-8% to 164 mn in FY25: Report

India's domestic air traffic is expected to rise 6 to 8 per cent to 161 to 164 million in the current financial year, according to a report. Aviation advisory firm CAPA India in a report on Wednesday said international air traffic is projected to jump 9-11 per cent to 75 to 78 million in the fiscal ending March 2025. The domestic carriers are projected to report consolidated losses in the range of USD 0.4 to 0.6 billion this financial year. The losses are estimated at USD 1.3 to 1.5 billion, excluding IndiGo, which is profitable. One of the reasons for the losses would be on account of capacity shortage due to the grounding of aircraft. At present, around 130 planes are grounded due to various reasons, and the number would be about 180, including the aircraft of Go First, it said. Go First stopped flying last year. In terms of the total fleet, CAPA India said net inductions are expected to be 84, taking the total number of planes with domestic carriers to 812 at the end of March

SpiceJet plans to raise $250 million by mid-August, says Ajay Singh

The airline's shareholders had earlier this year approved the issuance of equity and warrants for raising Rs 2,241 crore, out of which the airline has raised Rs 1,060 crore to date

Air India: Now lock your flight rate for two days by paying nominal fee

Air India's 'Fare lock' feature allows passengers to secure a fare for two days by paying a nominal fee, allowing them to confirm their travel plans

Govt to develop more airstrips, calibrate airport rules, says official

The civil aviation ministry is looking at developing more airstrips as well as calibrating regulations for major and small airports to boost air connectivity, a senior official said on Wednesday. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world, with domestic air traffic on the rise and airlines expanding their fleet as well as operations. Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said the number of airports in the country has increased to 157 from 74 in the last ten years. The ministry has reviewed the full list of 453 airstrips in the country and around 157 of them are operational, he said and added that more airstrips would be developed as brownfield projects. Also, efforts will be made to jointly develop more defence airfields for civil aircraft operations. Speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024 in the national capital, the secretary said the ministry would look at calibrating regulations for major and small airports. These are steps aimed at

India to host IATA's annual global airlines summit after 42 years

IndiGo, India's largest airline by market share, will be the host airline of the AGM and the World Air Transport Summit, which will take place in Delhi between June 8-10, 2025

Global airlines on track for $30 billion profit in 2024, predicts IATA

The outlook compares with the $27.4 billion in profit achieved last year, IATA said at its annual general meeting in Dubai

Current, former Boeing execs unlikely to be charged for 737 Max crashes

The department's decision about what to do next will advance just one of the multiple legal threats Boeing now faces after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max mid-flight in January

Air India failing 'time and again' in taking care of passengers: DGCA

Regulator issues show cause notice to airline as passengers suffer on "inordinately delayed" flights

FAA to not allow Boeing to boost 737 MAX production due to safety issues

The FAA's enhanced oversight of Boeing will continue in the coming months, with weekly meetings and quarterly exchanges between the heads of the company and the US regulator

Simaero to invest $100 million over five years to train 5,000 pilots

Last month, IndiGo placed an order with Airbus for 30 A350-900 widebody aircraft at a deal size estimated to be between $4-5 billion

Boeing due to tell regulators how it will fix aircraft safety, quality

Boeing is due to tell federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years. The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Nobody was hurt during the midair incident. Accident investigators determined that bolts that helped secure the panel to the frame of the Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing before the piece blew off. The mishap has further battered Boeing's reputation and led to multiple civil and criminal investigations. Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in the aircraft maker's safety culture. In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and ease the

Universal Vulkaan to bring 30 Leonardo helicopters to India in next 3 years

Bullish on the Indian market which is "ready for expansion", Universal Vulkaan Aviation on Wednesday said it will bring 30 Leonardo helicopters into the country over the next three years. Universal Vulkaan Aviation Pte Ltd (UVA) is the distributor in India for Italy-based Leonardo Helicopters. The company, which is based in New Delhi, will bring a total of 30 helicopters -- 16 new and 14 from the pre-owned market -- over the next three years. "After signing the pre-sales contract for 5 units of AW09 machines in January 2024, UVA has ordered 11 units from types AW109 Trekker, AW139, AW169, from the Leonardo Helicopters... This is in addition to the 14 helicopters that were purchased by the Vulkaan Group from the pre-owned market, which include the AW 119Kx and AW 109 Trekker," a release said. The models have seating capacities varying from 5 to 15. Karan Sethi, Sales Director at UVA, told PTI that the current Indian market is ready for expansion, and its product portfolio in both .

Claims of KAL Airways, Maran on damages 'legally untenable': SpiceJet

In an escalation of the ongoing dispute, SpiceJet on Tuesday said the claims made by KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran for more than Rs 1,323 crore in damages are baseless and legally untenable. On Monday, KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran said they will seek more than Rs 1,323 core in damages from SpiceJet and its chief Ajay Singh as well as challenge the recent Delhi High Court order in the ongoing dispute between the two sides. In a regulatory filing, SpiceJet said it strongly refutes the claims made by KAL Airways and Maran regarding seeking damages of Rs 1,323 crore. "These assertions are not only legally untenable but also a regurgitation of previously rejected claims by the arbitral tribunal and then the Delhi High Court," the airline said in the filing on Tuesday. According to the carrier, KAL Airways and Maran initially sought damages of more than Rs 1,300 crore during the arbitration proceedings. "This claim was thoroughly examined and subsequently rejected by a panel of thr

'Domestic airfares on northward trajectory; still among lowest globally'

Domestic airfares are sailing northwards, surging up to 40 per cent in key routes on higher traffic and capacity constraints in the last six quarters. Still, ticket prices are among the lowest in the world, according to experts. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and on average, 4.5 lakh passengers travel on domestic flights daily. While only a small percentage of the country's population travels by air, capacity constraints are a key challenge as many aircraft are grounded mainly due to supply chain issues. Aviation consultancy firm CAPA India said that average fares on the top 20 domestic routes had not moved significantly in nominal terms for the last two decades, until the last six quarters during which they have been up by close to 40 per cent. The routes include Mumbai-Delhi, Bengaluru-Delhi, Bengaluru-Mumbai and Delhi-Hyderabad. The trend has been driven by serious capacity shortages with an average of 150 aircraft on the ground due to supply

SIA passengers endured 62 sec of extreme turbulence on May 21 flight

The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Flight SQ321 that was rocked by severe turbulence on Tuesday climbed and descended rapidly twice in 62 seconds, stunning the passengers with one dying of heart attack, as the aircraft flew over the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar, it emerged on Saturday. One passenger -- 73-year-old Briton Geoffrey Kitchen -- died, and dozens were injured in the incident. It is the first SIA aviation accident involving a fatality since the SQ006 crash in Taiwan in October 2000. As the flight, which was heading to Singapore from London, experienced sudden severe turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin during the breakfast service, the pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the plane carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, where the plane made an emergency landing at 3.45 pm (4.45 pm Singapore time). Granular flight data from flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows that the Boeing 777-300ER climbed and descended rapidly twi

Air India's Mumbai-San Francisco flight delayed by 5 hours; rescheduled

Passengers of a San Francisco-bound Air India flight from the city had a tough time on Friday as they had to wait inside the aircraft for more than five hours. The flight was later rescheduled for Saturday. An airline official said the Boeing 777 plane, which was scheduled to take off at 1600 hours, was first delayed due to a technical glitch, then some passengers deboarded and subsequently, another passenger fell ill. After deboarding the passenger who started feeling unwell at around 1917 hours, it was noticed that by the time the flight AI 179 would have reached San Francisco, there would be night-landing restrictions and also, the crew would have crossed the flight-duty limitations. The official said the flight has been rescheduled for Saturday and would take off at 1030 hours. The number of passengers onboard the aircraft could not be immediately ascertained. According to the official, AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 1600 hours, was delayed due to