Page 7 - Aviation Industry

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

Air India Express flight aborts first landing at Gwalior, lands safely

An Air India Express flight from Bengaluru with 160 passengers on board failed to land at the Gwalior airport in the first attempt on Saturday afternoon but landed safely in the second attempt, an official said. The airline said the flight "conducted a go-around followed by a safe and uneventful landing". The aircraft later took off for Bengaluru and reached there safely, Gwalior airport director A K Goswami told PTI. The failure to land in the first attempt caused panic among the passengers for a brief while, he said. "Technical staff examined the aircraft after landing and found no fault," he added. Goswami also said that a failure to land in the first attempt is a normal occurrence. Some passengers lodged complaints with the airport and airline officials after deboarding, another official said. An Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement that "one of our aircraft conducted a go-around followed by a safe and uneventful landing at Gwalior". "Crew are trained to carry

Over 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants go on strike, flights cancelled

More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike after a deadline to reach a deal passed, the union confirmed early Saturday. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike has started after no deal was reached. Air Canada has said all flights will be cancelled for the duration of the work stoppage. Canada's largest airline has already cancelled more than 620 flights, leaving travellers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. A bitter contract fight between Canada's largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as the union turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.

Severe weather, delayed re-routing likely caused May IndiGo incident: DGCA

Severe weather and non-timely action in re-routing the aircraft clear of weather were the probable causes that led to IndiGo's Delhi-Srinagar flight incident where the aircraft's nose radome was damaged on May 21, according to the probe findings by aviation regulator DGCA. On May 21, IndiGo's A321 neo aircraft VT-IMD while operating flight 6E-2142 from Delhi to Srinagar encountered severe weather, including hail, during cruise. After landing in Srinagar, the aircraft radome was found damaged, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The incident was investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). "The investigation has revealed that severe weather existing en-route and non-timely action in re-routing the aircraft clear of weather was the probable cause of the occurrence," the minister said in a written reply. On May 23, two days after the incident, DGCA had said IndiGo flight crew initially attempted to return but as the

Air India looks to complete widebody planes' retrofitting by Oct 2028

Air India aims to complete retrofitting its widebody fleet by October 2028 as part of its US$400 million fleet upgrade programme, enhancing the flying experience and operational reliability

Govt seeks global 'code of conduct' to curb poaching of pilots, cabin crew

India, one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, is wrestling with a shortage of experienced pilots