Page 6 - Aviation Industry

DGCA flags 'repetitive, persistent' procedural lapses in Akasa Air's audit

According to the DGCA's assessment, Akasa's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) checks were repeatedly being marked as "closed" without any analyst comments or evidence of corrective action

Delhi airport can increase annual passenger handling capacity to 130 mn

Delhi airport can scale up its annual passenger handling capacity to up to 130 million as "efficiencies can thrive", its CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar has said. The national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), also the country's busiest airport, currently has the capacity to handle more than 100 million passengers annually. In the year ended March 31, 2025, the airport had seen 79.3 million. Jaipuriar, who is the CEO of DIAL, said the passenger numbers are expected to increase compared to the previous year but did not provide a particular range or estimate. The airport, which started operating the refurbished Terminal 2 (T2) on October 26, has two more terminals -- T1 and T3. International flights operate only from T3. Jaipuriar said the current plan for the airport is to have an annual passenger handling capacity of 130 million. "T1 is designed for 40 million (passengers per annum capacity). I think we can definitely stretch it by 3-4 per cent or 10 per cent more. .

Pilots' body urges DGCA to revoke extended duty hours for Dreamliner crew

Pilots' body ALPA India on Sunday urged aviation watchdog DGCA to withdraw the flight duty time extension for two-pilot Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operations, saying the decision creates a "scenario ripe for fatigue induced errors". For the Boeing 787, two-man flight crew operations, the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) has been increased to 10.30 hours from 10 hours and the Flight Duty Period (FDP) to 14.00 hours from 13 hours. FDP refers to the time duration when a flight crew member is on duty for operating an aircraft and ends when a plane comes to rest at the end of the flight. Tata Group-owned Air India operates Dreamliners. In a letter to the regulator, Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) said the whole idea of formulating a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on FDTL was based on extensive research and scientific study on human fatigue and its operational consequences. "The present deviation gives the impression that the DGCA is placing greater considerati

Govt plans seamless immigration for hub airports to aid global connectivity

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the plan would simplify both Domestic to International and International to International transfers

Lessors protest India's draft rules on payment of dues to reclaim jets

India is a key market for lessors as hundreds of new planes are on order by the likes of Air India and IndiGo

Air India Express brings limited-edition Diwali 'Gourmair' meals on flights

Air India Express' in-flight 'Gourmair' dining menu brings together the best of regional and global hot meals, lite bites, and innovative desserts

TASE Global acquires US aerospace firm Joined Alloys for Rs 106 crore

The Chennai-based aerospace and precision engineering firm expands its North American footprint with the acquisition of Arizona-based Joined Alloys

Air India's leasing arm secures $215 mn term loan from StanC, BoI

This marks the first-ever commercial aircraft financing transaction structured with a GIFT City borrower, setting a precedent for India's emerging aviation finance ecosystem

Alliance Air launches fixed fare plan amid festive season: Check details

MoCA introduces Alliance Air's "Fare Se Fursat" pilot project with fixed ticket prices on select routes till December 31, aiming to make air travel predictable and inclusive

SpiceJet receives 3 new aircraft, kicking off major winter expansion

These new planes will join operations between October 10 and 11, marking the start of a major fleet ramp-up

Akasa Air sees top-level exit as co-founder Neelu Khatri quits role

Neelu Khatri, co-founder and Senior VP for International Operations, resigns from Akasa Air, with the airline saying its expansion plans remain unchanged

Resuming direct flights with India positive move to improve ties: China

China on Thursday described the resumption of direct flights with India after a five-year hiatus as a positive step, saying it demonstrated that both countries are "faithfully acting" on the understandings reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to strengthen bilateral ties. Speaking at a media briefing, the first since the Chinese Foreign Ministry resumed its regular schedule following the eight-day national holidays, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the flights would resume by the end of October. India had announced on October 2 that direct flights to China would resume from October 26. This is the latest move that demonstrates how the two countries are faithfully acting on the important common understanding between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin on Aug 31, Guo said in response to a question. Modi and Xi had met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin and welcomed the positive ..

IndiGo to boost connectivity to UK with increased flights to Manchester

Additionally, IndiGo has recently announced the launch of direct, daily flights to London Heathrow from Mumbai, effective October 26, 2025

DGCA seeks funding, powers like global peers to strengthen oversight

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, wants authority to independently recruit and offer competitive salaries to attract qualified professionals

India will be the factory of the future, says Dassault Systemes CEO

Pascal Daloz says India's innovation, digital capabilities, and engineering talent will make it central to the global AI-driven industrial transformation

Staffing shortages cause US flight delays as govt shutdown enters day 7

Staffing shortages led to more flight delays at airports across the US on Tuesday as the federal government shutdown stretched into a seventh day, while union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners warned the situation was likely to get worse. The Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing issues at airports in Nashville, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, and at its air traffic control centres in Atlanta and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The agency temporarily slowed takeoffs of planes headed to the first three cities. Major flight delays a day earlier also were tied to insufficient staffing during the shutdown, which began October 1. The FAA reported delays on Monday at the airports in Burbank, California, Newark, New Jersey and Denver. Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said the risk of significant disruptions to the US aviation system is growing by the day" as federal workers whose jobs are deemed critical continue working without pay. The .

Adani Group to invest ₹30,000 cr more in Navi Mumbai airport expansion

Passenger operations at the Adani Group's Navi Mumbai International Airport to begin in December, with PM Modi set to inaugurate the first phase

RAT deployed on Air India's Birmingham-bound plane, aircraft lands safely

The operating crew of Air India's Amritsar-Birmingham flight reported that the Boeing 787's Ram Air Turbine (RAT) unexpectedly deployed during the final approach on October 4, but the aircraft landed safely, the airline said on Saturday. RAT deploys automatically in the eventuality of a dual engine failure or total electronic or hydraulic failure. It uses wind speed to generate emergency power. Air India said it has cancelled its Birmingham-Delhi flight as the aircraft has been grounded for inspection. "The operating crew of flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham on 4 October 2025 detected deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) of the aircraft during its final approach. All electrical and hydraulic parameters were found normal, and the aircraft performed a safe landing at Birmingham," the Tata Group-owned Air India said in a statement. The airline, however, did not share specific details, including the number of people on board. Alternative arrangements are being made to ...

PM Modi to inaugurate Navi Mumbai International Airport on October 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Navi Mumbai International Airport on October 8. The airport received its aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator DGCA on September 30. The project is being developed in multiple phases by Navi Mumbai International Airport, in which Adani Group has a 74 per cent stake, and the remaining 26 per cent is with the Maharashtra government's land development authority CIDCO. The Prime Minister will inaugurate the airport at 2.40 pm on October 8, and it will be operational from December, CIDCO Vice Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Singhal said at a briefing on Saturday. Navi Mumbai International Airport will be the second airport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and its airport code is 'NMI'. Once fully complete, the airport will be able to serve 90 million passengers and manage 3.2 MMT of cargo each year, making it one of the largest aviation hubs in Asia.

India-China direct flights to resume from October 26 after 5-year freeze

IndiGo will resume nonstop flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou from October 26