Page 19 - Aviation Industry

Clear skies ahead: IndiGo sets the course for strong growth altitudes

Airline maps out its FY25 route, powered by double-digit pax growth, 11-13% year-on-year capacity boost, and expansion into 10 new destinations

Pak flag carrier suspends crew member after being detained in Canada

Pakistan's ailing flag carrier PIA has suspended a crew member after she was briefly detained by Canadian customs authorities along with two others for carrying the passport of an unrelated person, according to a media report on Saturday. The incident comes as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) grapples with flight attendants' disappearances amid a crew shortage. Hina Sani was detained along with two other crew members who were also on duty with her on flight PK-789 from Lahore to Toronto, the Dawn newspaper reported. However, the three crew members were later freed and allowed to travel back to Pakistan following investigations. Later, the PIA management suspended Sani and announced it would take further action in line with the Canadian customs' investigation report, the report said. It is against international law to carry someone else's passport while travelling abroad. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said the airline management was in touch with the Canadian authorities

'Shortcuts everywhere': How Boeing favoured speed over quality

Boeing employees said the incident reflected longstanding problems. Several said employees often faced intense pressure to meet production deadlines, sometimes leading to questionable practices

SpiceJet settles Rs 755 crore liabilities with aircraft lessor EDC

This will allow airline to own 13 of the 15 Bombardier Q400 aircraft financed by the Canadian agency

Boeing considers turning to outsider CEO for tackling spiraling crisis

Boeing board member David Gitlin has been widely mentioned as a potential CEO candidate

17% more flights in Thiruvananthapuram airport summer roster than in winter

The International Airport here has announced its summer schedule with 17 per cent more weekly flight operations than the winter schedule. The summer schedule is effective from March 31 to October 24, 2024. A total of 716 weekly ATMs (Air Traffic Movements) is the highlight of this schedule against 612 in the winter schedule, an airport statement said here Monday. New destinations like Hanimaadhoo in the Maldives will be added, the statement said adding that additional services to Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad in the domestic sector and Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur in international destinations are also listed in the new schedule. In the international sector, air traffic movements will increase by 21 per cent from the current level of 268 weekly ATMs to 324 for summer, it said. In the domestic sector, the ATMs will increase by 14 per cent from the current level of 344 weekly ATMs to 392 for summer, the statement said, adding that the number of daily services to Bengalur

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down this year, board chairman to exit

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year after a series of mishaps at one of America's most storied manufacturers. Board Chair Larry Kellner has also told the company he doesn't plan to stand for re-election. Boeing also said Monday that Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, will retire from the company. Stephanie Pope will now lead the division. The Federal Aviation Administration has put the company under intense scrutiny and recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout on Jan. 5. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Shares rose more than 2% before the mark

India has extremely affordable airfares: Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube

India has "incredibly affordable" airfares and the country's aviation market has the kind of growth potential where Akasa Air as well as other carriers can do well, according to the nearly two-year-old airline's chief Vinay Dube. As Akasa Air prepares to take the international skies on March 28 with the first overseas flight from Mumbai to Doha, Dube also asserted that the airline is not about "marketing gimmicks". Akasa Air is aiming to be among the world's top 30 airlines by 2030 and will go public in future. "We think we have a great financial future. Listing is in our future... but you never say never. We hope to list some day," he told PTI in an interview this week. While acknowledging that aviation competition has always been intense, he said that as long as the focus is on fundamentals, there is enough room not just for Akasa Air to thrive in the future but for others as well. "Thanks to the growth that we are going to see in India, it is not that Akasa will do well only if

India may glide to third spot in airline seat capacity in second quarter

India's projected airline seat capacity in Q2 of 2024 is far higher than that of Japan, Spain, UK, Italy, Germany, Indonesia and Turkey

DGCA imposes Rs 80 lakh penalty on Air India for violating FDTL rules

On Friday, the regulator stated it conducted an audit of Air India in January to check compliance with regulations related to FDTL and the fatigue management system (FMS)

Budget carrier IndiGo forecasts slowdown in capacity growth next year

The carrier aims to add more than one aircraft to its fleet every week next year. As of Feb 29, it operated 366 planes, and had a further 960 on order

IndiGo exploring purchase of widebody aircraft to counter Air India

IndiGo has repeatedly toyed with the idea of introducing long-haul services to tap the growing pool of affluent Indians flying further afield to places such as the UK and Europe

Airlines will operate 24,275 weekly domestic flights in summer schedule

Indian airlines will operate a total of 24,275 weekly domestic flights during the summer schedule starting from March 31, a nearly 6 per cent increase compared to the year-ago period. The number of weekly departures is just 2.30 per cent higher as against 23,732 flights being operated by the scheduled carriers in the ongoing winter schedule, according to aviation regulator DGCA. The summer schedule for 2024 will be from March 31 to October 26. The DGCA said there will be 24,275 departures per week which have been finalised to/from 125 airports as per the summer schedule. "Out of these 125 airports, Azamgarh, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Gondia, Jalgaon, Moradabad and Pithoragarh are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release on Thursday.

India's aviation boom could support more hubs, says Air India CEO Wilson

There aren't many other markets like India in the world. Northern India has a good east to west flow, while southern India can offer an Asia to Africa or Australia-Europe flow"

CAE signs deal with Akasa Air to train budget carrier's B737 Max pilots

Agreement gives Akasa Air 'access to world's best training facilities' for 15 years

United Airlines CEO Kirby vows review of recent safety training incidents

The Chicago-based airline has experienced several safety emergencies in the past two weeks. Last Friday, an external panel was found to missing from a United aircraft when it landed in Oregon

Air India Express to operate non-stop flights to Kochi, Imphal from Kolkata

Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, is all set to begin non-stop flights to Imphal and Kochi from Kolkata this April, an airline official said. "The flights to Imphal will operate daily, while those to Kochi will fly six days a week," he said. The flight from Kolkata to Imphal will depart at 7 am and will reach in Manipur capital at 8.05 am. The return flight will depart at 8.35 am and arrive in Kolkata at 10.20 am, he said. The Kolkata-Kochi flight will take off at 11.25am and reach the destination at 2.35pm, while the return flight will leave at 3.05pm and land here at 6.10pm. The airline through route integration will be operating more flights on various domestic routes, sources said. Meanwhile, the airline has recently announced introduction of four fare products - Xpress Lite (cabin baggage only fares), Xpress Value (15 kg check-in bag fares), Xpress Flex (unlimited changes with no change fees), and Xpress Biz (business class seating with complimentary Gourmair meal

Regional airline FLY91 expects to have 350 staff in its first year of ops

Regional airline FLY91, which will commence its commercial flights on March 18, will have around 350 staff at the end of the first year of operations and aims to break even within two years, according to a top executive. The Goa-based airline currently has two ATR 72-600 planes in its fleet and four more aircraft will be added in the first year of operations. The carrier's MD and CEO Manoj Chacko said there is no need to raise funds now, as it will also be getting Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN. "We also have VGF for the sectors we have won. If we take all the sectors we have secured and if we operate the full schedule, then on an annualised basis, it will be around Rs 200 crore," he told PTI in a recent interview. The airline expects to break even in 18-24 months, he said and added that the focus is to build a profitable, sustainable and scalable business. In the inaugural phase, FLY91 will offer weekly flights between Goa's Manohar ..

DGCA issues license for Ambikapur airport to begin flight operations

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued the aerodrome license for Ambikapur airport in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district to start flight operations, officials said on Saturday. Maa Mahamaya Airport, Ambikapur, has been developed in the 3-C VFR category to expand air services in the state, a public relations department official said. An application, seeking a license to start air services from the airport, was submitted to the DGCA in December 2022. The aviation regulator on Friday granted the license to the state government for Ambikapur Airport, he said. With this, the state now has three licensed airports -- Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Ambikapur under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), he added. The license has paved the way for the operation of 72-seater flights from Ambikapur, he added. The state government has already been making efforts to start air service from Ambikapur Airport to Raipur, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Patna, and Ranchi. With the commencement of fl

DGCA sticks to June 1 deadline for revised flight duty norms for pilots

Aviation regulator DGCA has decided not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots and asked airlines to submit the revised schemes by April 15, according to a communication. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo, had written at least twice to the regulator seeking more time for implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms were issued on January 8. The new norms, to come into force from June 1, provide for rest time for pilots and seek to alleviate pilot fatigue. In a communication to the FIA, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that airlines have to take all necessary steps to roll out the revised FDTL CAR, with effect from June 1, 2024. Further, the carriers have been asked to ensure that the FDTL schemes in tune with the revised norms are submitted for approval by April 15. The revised norms provide for increased weekly rest time to 48 hours for