Page 5 - Aviation Industry

Airbus directors to visit Delhi as govt pushes for Make in India plans

The Airbus board will hold its first meeting in Delhi, reflecting India's growing role in aerospace as the Centre urges global firms to manufacture locally under Make in India

Cyberattack disrupts check-in, boarding systems at major European airports

A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems has snarled air traffic and caused delays at some of Europe's top airports, officials said Saturday. The Brussels airport says the attack means that only manual check-in and boarding was possible there, and the incident was having a large impact on flight schedules. There was a cyberattack on Friday night 19 September against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems affecting several European airports including Brussels Airport, it said in a statement. Authorities at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport said a service provider for passenger handling systems was attacked on Friday evening, prompting airport operators to cut off connections to the systems. London Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest, said a technical issue affected a service provider for check-in and boarding systems. Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally, is experiencing a .

oneworld Alliance considers Indian airline partner as market expands

Given that many of its members currently serve India, the alliance is also considering ways to leverage their joint presence in country like with a loyalty deal or a joint lounge initiative, CEO said

Air India Express to launch direct Bengaluru-Bangkok flights from Oct 18

The airline already connects Bangkok with Lucknow, Pune, and Surat, and operates direct flights between Hyderabad and Phuket

SpiceJet adds 8 more Boeing 737s, boosting fleet ahead of festive season

SpiceJet has signed multiple settlements in recent years to resolve disputes with lessors and other creditors, but has continued to struggle with capacity expansion

Delhi Airport's upgraded Terminal 2 to reopen on October 26 with new tech

Delhi Airport's refurbished T2 will resume operations on October 26 with 120 daily flights of Air India and IndiGo, featuring self-baggage drop and India's first autonomous aerobridges

Aera to hold airport operators accountable for third-party service quality

Aera draft regulation makes airport operators responsible for overall service quality, including third-party providers, linking tariffs to performance benchmarks

Air India enters into codeshare partnership with Kazakhstan's Air Astana

Air India has entered into a codeshare partnership with Kazakhstan's flag carrier Air Astana. "The codeshare partnership enables cooperation between the two carriers on trunk routes between Kazakhstan and India, covering Air Astana routes operated between Almaty and Delhi, and Almaty and Mumbai. "With this, Air India will place its 'AI' designator code on Air Astana's flights to and from India, providing its customers convenient access to Almaty, a rapidly growing tourism and business hub in Central Asia," Air India said in a release on Wednesday. Both airlines already have an interline partnership that came into effect earlier this year. A codeshare partnership allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carrier on a single ticket. Air India passengers travelling to Almaty from points beyond Delhi and Mumbai will be able to conveniently travel on a single ticket and check-in their baggage through to Almaty at the point of origin, the release said. Currently, Air Indi

Abu Dhabi-bound IndiGo flight returns to Kochi after mid-air technical snag

An Abu Dhabi-bound IndiGo flight returned to Kochi early on Saturday due to a technical snag after being airborne for over two hours, according to sources. There were more than 180 passengers and six crew members onboard the aircraft, they said. There was no immediate comment from IndiGo. The flight 6E-1403 (COK-AUH) departed from Kochi at 11.10 pm on Friday and returned to the city at around 1.44 am on Saturday due to a technical snag, the sources told PTI. They also said that the passengers were flown to Abu Dhabi in another aircraft which took off at around 3.30 am and a new set of crew operated the flight as the earlier crew had to be replaced due to flight duty time restrictions. As per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, flight 6E1403 which had returned mid-way, was operated with an A320 neo aircraft.

GST hike to make premium air travel costlier; IATA expresses disappointment

GST on Premium Economy, Business, and First class air travel rises to 18%, while economy fares remain unchanged. IATA expresses disappointment, warning of negative effects on India's aviation sector

DGCA comes out with draft guidelines for fatigue risk managment system

Aviation safety watchdog DGCA has come out with draft guidelines for a fatigue risk management system for airlines, with the proposed framework set to complement the existing flight duty time limitation norms. Amid concerns in various quarters about fatigue among airline crew, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already put in place revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms for pilots, which are being implemented in a phased manner. In the draft advisory on 'Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) Implementation for Flight Crew Members in Scheduled Air Transport Operations', the regulator said the circular provides detailed guidance on FRMS approval processes, implementation requirements, and oversight mechanisms to enhance flight safety through scientific, data-driven fatigue management approaches that complement existing prescriptive FDTL regulations. FRMS should have maximum flight time, flight duty period, and duty period limits based on scientific ...

Kolkata-bound IndiGo flights returns to Nagpur after suspected bird hit

A Nagpur-Kolkata IndiGo flight returned to the airport here following a suspected bird hit after take-off on Tuesday morning, a senior airport official said. As a precautionary measure, the plane, carrying 160 to 165 passengers, had to return to the Nagpur airport, the official told PTI. The flight has been cancelled, the official added.

CBI books AAI employee for siphoning off ₹232 cr into his personal accounts

The CBI has registered an FIR against a senior manager of the Airport Authority of India for allegedly siphoning off more than Rs 232 crore into his personal accounts through a complex trail of fictitious accounting entries in three years during his posting at the Dehradun airport, officials said. The alleged embezzlement by Rahul Vijay, senior manager, finance and accounts, was detected in an internal audit, which flagged abnormal capitalisation of assets in the financial records between 2019-20 and 2022-23, they said. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) constituted a committee to verify the findings, which highlighted a complex trail of fictitious accounting entries, asset inflation, and unauthorised fund transfers from the authority's accounts to Vijay's personal accounts. Chandrakanth P, senior manager (finance), AAI, filed a formal complaint with the CBI on August 18, which became the basis of the FIR to be probed by the Economic Offences Unit of the agency. Vijay's alleged .

BS Infra Summit: India becoming a global gateway, say airport CEOs

Delhi and Noida airport chiefs say India is on the cusp of becoming a global aviation hub, driven by rising transfer traffic and expanding international connectivity

BS Infra Summit: India's airports gain capacity but bottlenecks loom

India's airports now have capacity ahead of demand, with $11 bn investment, dual-airport hubs in Delhi & Mumbai, but concerns remain on airspace, parking bays and staffing gaps

BS Infra Summit: India's rise as a global air travel hub takes shape

For a lasting economic momentum and growth, India should build world-class, integrated infrastructure that matches its ambition

IndiGo gets six-month DGCA approval to keep Turkish B777 aircraft

The approval comes despite the regulator's May 30 directive that IndiGo must return the aircraft by August 31

Korean Air signs $50 billion deal to buy over 100 Boeing aircraft

Korean Air has announced a USD 50 billion deal to buy more than 100 Boeing aircraft and several spare engines and obtain engine maintenance for 20 years. The deal was formalised at a signing ceremony Monday in Washington as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with President Donald Trump. The deal includes USD 36.2 billion for 103 next-generation Boeing aircraft; USD 690 million for 19 spare engines from GE Aerospace and CFM International; and USD 13 billion for the 20-year engine maintenance service contract with GE Aerospace, Korean Air said in a statement. This deal is a strategic choice to strengthen Korean Air's partnership with the US aviation industry, the Korean Air statement said. This strategic investment in the US market will further strengthen the airline's operational capabilities and global competitiveness, and foster robust commercial ties that will drive sustained growth. It said the aircraft purchase order includes 20 Boeing 777-9s, 25 Boeing 787-10s, 50 Boein

Air Canada, flight attendants union restart talks for 1st time since strike

Air Canada and the union representing 10,000 flight attendants resumed talks late Monday for the first time since the strike began over the weekend. The strike is affecting about 130,000 travellers a day at the peak of the summer travel season. It was the first time the two sides talked since early Saturday or late Friday. In an update to its members, the union said the airline reached out and the meeting occurred with the assistance of a mediator in Toronto. It followed the union's declaration that the flight attendants won't return to work even though the strike, now in its third day, has been declared illegal. Earlier, Air Canada said rolling cancellations would now extend Tuesday afternoon after the union defied a second return-to-work order. The country's biggest airline had said earlier that operations would resume Monday evening but the union president said that won't happen. We will not be returning to the skies, said Mark Hancock, national president for Canadian Union of

Air India cancels Zurich-Delhi flight after Boeing 787 engine issue

Air India on Monday said it cancelled its Zurich-Delhi flight of August 17 due to a technical reason, days after the Tata Group-owned airline stated that it had carried out a detailed "inspection" of its Boeing 787 aircraft fleet and "no issues" were detected. However, a passenger on board said the flight aborted take-off at the last minute due to an engine issue. In the last two days, Air India has cancelled at least two flights, including one international, at the last moment, citing technical reasons. Air India operates its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft fleet to cater to the European market. "Flight AI152 scheduled to operate from Zurich to Delhi on 17 August has been cancelled due to a technical reason, and subsequently due to night curfew in Zurich," Air India said in a statement. The airline said it has arranged alternative flights to the passengers' destination and is providing hotel accommodation, along with full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling options for