Page 6 - Aviation Industry

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

DGCA's ranking reveals serious quality problems in India's pilot training

A granular look at the ranking criteria the DGCA has applied is concerning.

Mumbai airport sees over 5 million international arrivals in Jan-Aug: MIAL

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the city has handled over 5 million international arrivals in the January-August period this year, primarily driven by passengers from the UAE, UK, and Thailand, private airport operator MIAL said on Saturday. The facility has witnessed the international arrivals at the airport clocking a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 per cent in the past three years, reflecting the city's ever-burgeoning prominence on the global travel map and echoing the spirit of World Tourism Day that celebrates the power of travel in connecting cultures and economies, it added. Every year, September 27 is observed as World Tourism Day globally. Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is run under a joint venture, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which is 74 per cent owned by the Adani Group and the remaining 26 per cent by the Airports Authority of India. Between January and August this year, arrivals rose steadi

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