Page 2 - Aviation News

Airlines to operate 26,495 weekly domestic flights in winter schedule

Airlines will operate 26,495 domestic flights every week connecting 126 airports in the winter schedule starting from October 26. The winter schedule is from October 26, 2025, to March 28, 2026. "There are 26,495 departures per week which have been finalised to/from 126 airports as per WS25 compared to 25,610 departures per week from 129 airports in Summer Schedule 2025 (SS25)," the civil aviation ministry said in a release on Friday. The ministry said there will be a 5.95 per cent increase in departures per week in the Winter Schedule (WS25) compared to WS24. In the latest winter schedule, Amravati, Hissar, Purnia and Rupsi will be the new airports that will have flight services, while operations will be suspended at Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, Bhavnagar, Ludhiana, Pakyong and Shravasti airports, the ministry said.

Plane crashes in Massachusetts, kills two, wounds one on the ground

A plane crashed along a highway in Massachusetts early Monday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and forcing the closure of the major highway, the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. It was unclear whether there were injuries in the crash in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. In videos taken by people passing by in cars, smoke could be seen billowing up above Interstate 195 from scattered, blazing debris. State police said the plane may have been attempting to land at New Bedford Regional Airport, though officials said it does not appear that the pilot provided the airport with a flight plan or passenger details. Officials shut down traffic moving in both directions on the section of the interstate near the crash, according to the state department of transportation. At the time of the crash, the National Weather Service said a nor'easter had brought rain and winds from 30 to 40 mph (48 to 64 kph) to the area.

Airbus expects supply progress; Spirit deal to close in fourth quarter

The European planemaker is also on its way towards a longer-term goal of increasing underlying output of narrow-body jets to 75 a month in 2027

Cathay Pacific appoints Vinod Viswanathan as head of sales for India, Lanka

Cathay Pacific on Monday said it has appointed Vinod Viswanathan as its Regional Head of Trade Sales for India and Sri Lanka. The airline also announced the appointment of Piyuli Bhattacharjee as Regional Head of Marketing for SAMEA (South Asia, Middle East and Africa) and Arjun Bhatia as Regional Head of Corporate Sales for these regions. All these three key officials will be based at Cathay's regional headquarters in Mumbai, the airline said. Viswanathan, who brings over 15 years of experience in aviation, global distribution, corporate and leisure travel, in his new role, will focus on strengthening trade partnerships, driving strategic initiatives, and expanding Cathay's footprint across key markets. Apart from serving as Cathay's Regional Head of Corporate Sales for the region earlier, he has also performed senior leadership roles with Air Mauritius, Flight Centre Travel Group, British Airways, Oman Air, and Travelport, Cathay Pacific said. Bhattacharjee, in her new role, wil

K Rammohan Naidu asks airlines to ensure reasonable fares in festive season

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday held a review meeting with officials of airlines to assess their operational and technical performance, and asked them to keep airfares at reasonable levels during the festive season. Representatives of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, Fly91, FlyBig and IndiaOne Air, among others, participated in the meeting. They presented their performance metrics, including action taken reports on security incidents and passenger grievances, according to an official release. During the meeting with the airline representatives that went on for more than five hours, Naidu emphasised that they should strictly adhere to safety protocols. The periodic meeting also came against the backdrop of two incidents involving Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Naidu asked airlines to adopt best practices in passenger convenience and service quality. "Detailed discussions were held with each airline on identifying ...

DGCA releases first ranking of flying schools, none achieve top grade

Aviation regulator DGCA has come out with its first-ever ranking of flying training organisations in the country, and none of the 35 organisations in the list have managed to get top ratings of 'A+' and 'A'. Out of the 35 Flying Training Organisations (FTOs), 13 got 'B' and 22 received 'C' rankings, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Operational aspects, FTO performance, safety standards, compliance standards and assistance to students are taken into consideration for evaluating the FTOs under four categories. Those having a score of 85 per cent and above are classified as 'A+' and those with score of 70 per cent to less than 85 per cent are categorised as 'A'. FTOs having a score of less than 70 per cent to 50 per cent are in 'B' category and those with a score below 50 per cent are in the 'C' category. According to the regulator, 5 FTOs were excluded from the current rankings as 4 of them were yet to complete 18 months of operations and 1 FTO's approv

Noida Airport to begin operations after Diwali; foreign airlines in talks

The Noida International Airport (NIA), being developed as a greenfield aviation hub in Jewar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, is on track to begin operations by the end of this year. Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu recently told reporters that the airport would be inaugurated on October 30 and flight operations begin within next 45 days with 10 routes. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also reiterated the airport's commercial flight operations to commence by 2025 end. Billed to be India's largest airport upon full development before 2050, the project -- which started in 2019 and saw COVID-19 pandemic too -- was initially scheduled to launch operations in September 2024. The airport, which is being developed in four phases, has completed key aeronautical infrastructure for Phase 1, including one runway and one passenger terminal with an annual capacity to handle 12 million passengers. Technical installations and finishing works inside the terminal are underway, wh

SpiceJet to add 8 new Boeing 737 aircraft ahead of winter schedule 2025

Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer, SpiceJet, said the induction will help the airline increase frequency on key routes ahead of the festival season

DGCA may allow import of aircraft up to 20 years old for commercial use

Aviation watchdog DGCA is set to amend norms to allow airlines to import aircraft that are up to 20 years old at a time when global supply chain woes have been impacting plane deliveries. Currently, pressurised aircraft that are up to 18 years old are permitted to be imported into the country, subject to certain conditions. The DGCA has proposed amendments to the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) pertaining to 'Age of Aircraft to be imported for Scheduled/ Non-Scheduled including Charter, General Aviation and other Operations'. A senior official told PTI that the draft CAR proposes changes for pressurised aircraft permitted to be imported subject to certain conditions up to 20 years instead of 18 previously, un-pressurised aircraft up to 25 years instead of 20 previously. According to the draft CAR, pressurised aircraft intended to be imported and used in passenger services (scheduled/ non-scheduled) and general aviation operation, shall not have completed 20 years of age or 65 per

IATA proposes raising age limit for commercial pilots to 67 years globally

Global airlines' grouping IATA has proposed increasing the upper age limit to 67 years for pilots who are operating multi-pilot commercial flights. Amid a shortage of available pilots compared to the rising demand spurred by aviation sector growth, the proposal has been made by IATA to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 350 airlines worldwide, including Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet. In a working paper titled 'Proposal to Raise the Multi-Pilot Commercial Air Transport Pilot Age Limit to 67 years', IATA said the growth of the aviation industry worldwide is causing the demand for pilots to outstrip supply. "Raising CAT (Commercial Air Transport) pilot age limits to allow more pilots to continue to work is aligned with 15 of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the initiative of the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) Programme to ensure a suffici

DGCA issues warning letter to Air India, seeks stricter compliance

Campbell, who is the CEO and MD, is also the Accountable Manager of the Tata Group-owned airline

SpiceJet to lease five Boeing 737 planes, joining fleet in October

SpiceJet has finalised an agreement to lease five Boeing 737 planes, and the aircraft are scheduled to join its fleet in October. The aircraft are being inducted on a damp-lease basis, where operational crew will be shared between the operator and the airline, according to a release on Friday. The airline said it has finalised a lease agreement to induct five Boeing 737 aircraft, and they are scheduled to join the fleet in October and will cater to the peak winter season as well as the early summer season of 2026. "SpiceJet is also in advanced discussions with other lessors to further enhance its fleet and strengthen both domestic and international operations," it added. The budget carrier, which had been facing multiple headwinds, operates Boeing 737s and Q-400s. It did not mention the current number of operational planes in its fleet. As per data available on fleet tracking website Planespotters.net, the airline has 20 planes in operation and 33 on the ground for various reasons

Air India seeks bank loan of about $200 mn for fleet of Boeing 777 planes

AI Fleet Services IFSC Ltd., a GIFT City-registered subsidiary of Air India, is the borrower of the loan, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters

Over 4,200 posts vacant in DGCA, BCAS, AAI; functioning unaffected: Govt

As many as 4,291 positions are lying vacant at aviation regulators DGCA and BCAS as well as at state-owned Airports Authority of India but the shortfall has not impacted the functioning of these organisations, the government said on Monday. Many posts were also created in recent times at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and AAI. Nearly 50 per cent or 823 sanctioned positions at DGCA are lying vacant while 441 posts, including 426 technical positions, were created between 2022 and 2024, raising the total technical posts at the regulator to 1,063, as per the official data. In 2024, 84 operational posts were created during restructuring of BCAS, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told the Rajya Sabha. At AAI, 840 posts of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) were created recently. Details about the sanctioned posts at BCAS and AAI could not be immediately ascertained. "Keeping in view the current and future expans

Aircraft glitch forces Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight to declare 'PAN PAN' mid-air

The Airbus A320neo aircraft, with 191 people on board, departed from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport en route to Goa but was forced to make an emergency landing in Mumbai

Small plane crashes at London Southend Airport, no casualties reported

A small plane crashed at London Southend Airport, police said Sunday. In a statement, Essex Police said it was alerted just before 4 pm local time to the serious incident" at the relatively small airport, which is around 45 miles (72 kilometres) east of the capital. Images posted on social media show a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site. The plane involved is said to be 12 metres (39 feet) long. No details on where the plane was heading or how many people were on board were immediately disclosed. We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours," Essex Police said. The local member of parliament, David Burton-Sampson, urged people to stay away and let the emergency services do their work. My thoughts are with everyone involved," he said.

Amsterdam crucial point for connecting with rest of Europe, America: IndiGo

Expanding its international wings, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has said Amsterdam will be an important point to connect with the rest of Europe and North America and highlighted it is a "fit for purpose" airline. IndiGo, India's largest airline with a domestic market share of 64 per cent, is fast expanding its overseas reach with new routes and partnerships. Marking the foray into Europe, IndiGo this week, commenced direct services from Mumbai to Manchester and Amsterdam, with Elbers describing the launches as a "momentous occasion". "I think the story now is by touching in Europe. The change is much more profound than just two new destinations. It's a change of product. It's a change in some of the partnerships. It's a change of profile," Elbers told PTI. With a fleet of more than 400 planes, IndiGo flies to over 90 domestic and 40 overseas destinations, with the latest additions being the start of services to Manchester and Amsterdam on July 1 and 2, respectively. Elbers said Amste

Parliament panels to review civil aviation safety, AI171 crash next week

Standing Committee and PAC to hear Civil Aviation Ministry, regulators and airlines next week on safety issues, fees regulation and the Air India AI171 crash in June

DGCA detects recurring defects in aviation checks at major airports

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Tuesday said surveillance conducted at major airports revealed several defects in the aviation ecosystem, including multiple cases wherein the defects reappeared on aircraft and centre line marking faded on runway. The surveillance, which comes against the backdrop of the fatal Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad on June 12, covered critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control, communication, navigation systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations. Without disclosing names of airlines or any other entities in the ecosystem, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said the findings have been communicated to those concerned for taking corrective actions within seven days. Two teams led by DGCA Joint Director General carried out comprehensive surveillance during night and early morning hours at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai. During the surveillance, domestic flight of a scheduled

Air India suspends three int'l routes, cuts frequency on several others

Air India temporarily halts services to Nairobi, London, and other global cities citing enhanced safety inspections and longer flight durations due to Middle East airspace closures