Page 4 - Aviation News

Indian aviation industry outlook 'negative'; weak near-term demand: ICRA

Ratings agency ICRA on Friday revised its outlook on the Indian aviation industry to negative from stable, citing disruptions in international airspace following escalation of geopolitical tensions in West Asia. The revision in outlook is also on account of a sharp depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar and an expected increase in jet fuel (ATF) prices, ICRA said. These factors are likely to significantly increase cost pressures for airlines, even as demand growth faces downside risks, it said. The ratings agency said it expects domestic air passenger traffic growth to be at 0-3 per cent for the ongoing fiscal year and international passenger traffic growth for Indian carriers at 7-9 per cent, indicating a relatively weak near-term demand environment. Prior to the West Asian crisis, ICRA had estimated domestic air passenger traffic growth at 6-8 per cent and international traffic growth for Indian carriers at 8-10 per cent for FY27. However, these projections now carry a

DGCA is looking to ease rules for airlines to help them grow: Chief

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is trying to promote ease of doing business for airlines to help them grow and flourish as well as taking steps for passenger rights, its chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai said on Thursday. There are big challenges for airlines, including taking longer routes and higher operational costs due to airspace restrictions, he said, expressing hope that there would be "better days". The ongoing West Asia conflict is posing more challenges for airlines, which have curtailed services to the region. "It is not only passenger rights which we are looking at... we are trying to ease things for the airlines also and the rules and regulations which are there, promote ease of doing business because we want our airlines to grow and flourish," Kidwai said. He said many airlines have gone bust in India and emphasised the need to support carriers. India is one of the world's fastest-growing civil aviation markets and the DGCA as well as the civil aviation minist

Indian airlines to operate 10% fewer domestic flights in summer: DGCA

Indian airlines are set to operate a little over 23,000 weekly domestic flights during the summer schedule starting from March 29, which is 10 per cent less than the services flown during the same period a year ago. Aviation watchdog DGCA has published the domestic flights summer schedule, which is from March 29 to October 24, for nine scheduled airlines. A senior DGCA official on Thursday told PTI that the airlines would be operating around 10 per cent fewer flights in 2026 summer schedule compared to the previous summer schedule. During the 2025 summer schedule, there were 25,610 weekly flights and this time, a 10 per cent reduction would mean the number of services will come down by 2,561. Accordingly, the total count will be about 23,049 weekly flights, as per an analysis. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put out the airline-wise domestic summer schedule for 2026 on its website but has not provided a consolidated figure and comparison with the previous summe

British Airways to add extra Delhi, Mumbai flights amid West Asia crisis

British Airways will operate additional flights from Delhi and Mumbai for a short term to meet the traffic demand amid the disruptions due to the West Asia crisis. From April 7 to May 31, the airline will operate a third daily flight from Delhi to London Heathrow and from Mumbai, it will have a third daily flight to London Heathrow from May 15 to 31, a release said on Thursday. "The airline is adding short-term capacity on these routes to meet strong demand and provide customers with greater choice and flexibility when travelling between India, the UK and beyond," it said. With the additional capacity, British Airways will operate up to 63 weekly flights with more than 1,000 additional seats per week between India and the UK. British Airways' Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Neil Chernoff said the airline has been able to reallocate additional capacity to meet strong demand to other destinations across its route network and that India remains one of its most important global ...

DGCA seeks corrective steps from Air India over Vancouver flight error

Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked Air India to take corrective measures after the airline deployed a wrong aircraft for operating a flight to Vancouver last week, a senior official said on Thursday. Action has also been taken against an airline official for the incident, the senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told PTI. A Vancouver-bound Air India Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, after being airborne for over seven hours, returned to Delhi on March 19 after it was found that the plane was not approved for operating the flight. The approval is only for Boeing 777-300 ER to operate that flight. Following the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had sought a report from the airline. Air India has been asked to take corrective measures to ensure that such incidents do not happen again, and action has also been taken against an airline official, the DGCA official said. Specific details could not be ascertained. There was no immediate com

Cabinet clears ₹28,840 cr modified UDAN scheme for regional connectivity

Under the revamped plan, the government will develop 100 new airports and 200 helipads, with a focus on hilly regions, the Northeast, island territories and aspirational districts

IndiGo appoints ex-Air India Express MD Aloke Singh as strategy chief

Singh previously served as managing director and chief executive officer of Air India Express, where he led operational improvements and expansion

Airlines warn free seat mandate will raise fares, hurt affordability

We were not consulted before this order was passed, said the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA)

Air India flight returns to Delhi after deploying wrong plane for Canada

The Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200LR are two long-haul variants of Boeing's 777 family with distinct capabilities in range and capacity

Indian airlines seek removal of fare cap as West Asia conflict hits ops

Indian airlines warn fare caps and rising costs could force route cuts and delay expansion, as fuel prices surge and operational pressures mount

Dubai airport closure affects flights from Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram

Flight operations to Dubai were affected after two Emirates flights returned to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram airports following security concerns reported at the destination airport on Monday, authorities said. Flight EK533 departed Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 4.30 am with 325 people on board. En route, the aircraft was directed to turn back due to the sudden closure of Dubai International Airport, airport spokespersons said. The flight landed back at CIAL at 8.30 am, and the passengers were later disembarked, the spokesperson said. Apart from this, another Emirates flight bound for Dubai was cancelled, and both flights have been rescheduled for Tuesday, he said. Flights to other Gulf countries continued to operate from CIAL. Similarly, an Emirates flight bound for Dubai from Thiruvananthapuram returned to the airport here on Monday due to similar issues reported at the destination airport. The airport spokesperson said the Emirates TRVDXB flight returned midwa

176 aircraft of non-scheduled, GA operators lack cockpit recorders: Govt

As many as 176 planes operated by non-scheduled and general aviation operators do not have flight data or cockpit voice recorders, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Under the norms, aircraft that have a take-off weight of less than 5,700 kilograms are required to mandatorily have CVRs only if they had received an airworthiness certificate on or after January 1, 2016. In a written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that a total 2,263 aircraft were registered and issued certificates of airworthiness (C of A) before January 1, 2016. "Aircraft operated by Non-Scheduled Operator's Permit (NSOP's) /General Aviation (GA) operators which are not equipped with Flight Data Recorder (FDR)/ Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) are 176," Mohol said. His reply was to a query on whether the government has data on the number of aircrafts without cockpit voice and flight data recorders. The nearly 40-year-old Beechcraft C90A aircraft that crashed in Jharkhand las

IndiGo ties up with Adani Airport for airline's loyalty programme

Domestic carrier IndiGo on Monday said it has partnered with Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) for the airline's loyalty programme, BlueChip for duty-free shopping at AAHL-managed airports in the country. Under the partnership, members can earn five IndiGo BluChips for every Rs 100 spent on duty-free products pre-booked through the Adani platform. Travellers can browse, reserve and pay for products online before departure and collect their purchases conveniently at the airport, it said. AAHL operates eight airports at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. Duty-free stores under the programme are available at airports in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Mangaluru and Lucknow, with expansion planned at Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport (LGBIA) in Guwahati and the newly operational Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), it said.

Naidu says ₹164 crore paid to passengers hit by IndiGo cancellations

Compensation to the tune of Rs 163.92 crore in the form of travel coupons has already been given to passengers who suffered due to mass cancellation of flights by IndiGo in early December, Minister of Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Replying to supplementary queries during Question Hour, he said the government is taking multiple necessary measures to ensure that this kind of incident is not repeated and consumers do not suffer. Hundreds of flights by IndiGo were cancelled during the first week of December due to shortage of pilots after the expiry of the deadline on Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). The government has blamed the airline for the lack of adequate planning in implementing the second phase of the FDTL norms as the key reason for flight disruptions and had granted a one-time exemption from enforcement of norms. Responding to a specific query on the IndiGo crisis, the Civil Aviation Minister said the ministry is taking several ...

Madurai Airport's international status to boost region's economy: Naidu

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday said that the declaration of the Madurai Airport as Madurai International Airport will transform the region into a major economic hub driven by more trade and tourism. It would also further boost the air traffic in Madurai, he observed. "Today, with the blessings of Meenakshi Amman (Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple), the decades-old demand of Madurai has been fulfilled with the renaming of Madurai Airport as Madurai International Airport," he said. With this development, the city of Madurai would gain greater prominence on global air routes, attracting more airlines and connectivity, he said at an event to rename the Madurai Airport to Madurai International Airport. "This will further empower Madurai's cultural and spiritual legacy while transforming the region into a major economic hub driven by more trade and tourism," he said in a social media post. He remarked that the passenger footfall since 2014 at Madurai

IndiGo suspends flights to 7 West Asia destinations till March 28

IndiGo will suspend planned flights to seven destinations in the Middle East, including Doha, Kuwait and Sharjah, till March 28 amid conflict in the region. The decision is part of the airline making adjustments to its operations to the Middle East, wherein it would be operating 252 weekly flights to and from the region during the period from March 16 to 28. In a statement on Saturday, the airline said it would continue to monitor the situation given the ongoing geopolitical risk, airspace restrictions, airport constraints, consistently rising fuel and insurance costs, and other uncertainties. According to the statement, the airline is aligning capacity with the current conditions while maintaining essential connectivity. "As part of these necessary network adjustments, planned operations to Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah will remain suspended till 28 March 2026," it said. The conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran that started on February

West Asia conflict: Airlines flag rising refinery margins behind ATF spike

Airlines say jet fuel prices have surged far more than crude oil since the West Asia conflict, blaming soaring refinery margins and the Mopag-linked pricing system for rising fares

IndiGo to levy fuel charge for domestic, international flights from Mar 14

IndiGo will start levying fuel charges ranging from Rs 425 to Rs 2,300 on domestic and international flight tickets from March 14 amid the steep surge in jet fuel prices due to the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran. The move will increase the airfares. For domestic flights and those within the Indian subcontinent, the fuel charge will be Rs 425, while it will be Rs 900 for the Middle East services, the airline said in a statement on Friday. The fuel charge will be Rs 1,800 for South East Asia and China, Africa and West Asia flights, and Rs 2,300 for Europe flights. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for nearly 40 per cent of an airline's operational costs. While announcing the introduction of the fuel charge, the airline said the measure has been taken due to the significant surge in fuel prices following the ongoing geopolitical issues in the Middle East. "While offsetting the entire impact of this fuel price surge requires a very substantial adjustment to fares, Ind

Indigo has lowest pilots-to-aircraft ratio at 7.6: Govt tells Lok Sabha

IndiGo has the lowest pilots-to-aircraft ratio at 7.6 compared to other domestic airlines, the Civil Aviation Ministry informed Parliament on Thursday. SpiceJet has the highest at 9.4 pilots per aircraft followed by Akasa Air having 9.33 pilots per aircraft, according to data presented by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha. Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have 9.1 pilots per aircraft and 8.8 pilots per aircraft, respectively, the data showed. In response to another question, the minister said that Air India Express had employed the highest number of expat pilots at 48, while IndiGo hired 29 foreign pilots. The minister said that IndiGo has a total of 5,200 pilots, including 970 female pilots in the company, while Air India has 3,123 pilots with 508 female pilots. The number of total pilots with Air India Express is 1,820, and 234 of them are females, the minister said. Akasa Air has 761 pilots, including

57 India bound flights scheduled from various West Asia cities for Mar 12

Domestic carriers have scheduled 57 inbound flights from various cities in West Asia for March 12, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Thursday. A total of 1,50,457 air passengers have travelled from Gulf countries to India between February 28 and March 11, it added. Indian carriers have resumed their flight services to and from Riyadh on March 12, with three services being operated to Mumbai by Air India and IndiGo, and one service to Calicut by Air India Express, thereby restoring important air connectivity between India and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the ministry said in a statement. Amid the escalating West Asia conflict, airlines are operating services in a calibrated manner as there are airspace restrictions and closures in the region. "During the period February 28 to March 11, a total of 1,50,457 air passengers travelled from the Gulf countries to India. "Further, Indian carriers have scheduled 57 inbound flights on 12 March 2026 from various cities in West Asia, including Abu