Page 2 - Aviation Sector In India

Air India flight emergency prompts call for better medical kits onboard

Doctor treating a passenger mid-air flags the absence of basic medical tools like ECG machine and oximeter, prompting airline response and wider concern

Kempegowda Airport posts record profit for first time since inception

Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru has reported a record profit for the first time since its inception, signifying a robust financial turnaround, according to the BIAL sources. The Bangalore International Airport Authority (BIAL) held its board meeting on May 16, presided over by its Chairperson and Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka, Shalini Rajneesh, a press statement said. "The meeting marked a historic milestone as Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport) reported a record profit for the first time since its inception, signifying a robust financial turnaround and a testament to the airport's strategic growth, sustainability initiatives, and operational excellence," the statement added. In addition to its strong financial performance, BLR Airport has earned multiple prestigious global recognitions in 2025, further cementing its position as a leader in sustainable and safe airport operations worldwide, it said. According to the statement, BLR .

AERA sets new tariffs, differential UDF for intl flyers from Mumbai airport

Regulator AERA has fixed differential User Development Fee (UDF) for economy and business class passengers on international flights from Mumbai airport, while the fee for departing domestic passengers has been set at Rs 175. The revised tariffs have been finalised by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) for the period from May 16, 2025 to March 31, 2029. In a move to ensure equitable allocation of aeronautical charges among all concerned stakeholders, it has been decided that the UDF for domestic passengers will be Rs 175 per departing domestic passenger, which will remain constant throughout the 'fourth control' period, the regulator said in a release on Thursday. Earlier, a charge of Rs 120 per departing domestic passenger was levied till August 2024 in the form of development fees. "The UDF for international passengers has been rationalised with a differential rate for economy and business class travelers. The UDF for the international departing passenger i

Delhi airport T2 shut for maintenance works; flight ops moved to T1

IndiGo and Akasa Air on Tuesday shifted their flight operations to Terminal 1 from Terminal 2, which has been temporarily closed for maintenance works. An official on Tuesday said flight operations are normal. Now, T1 and T3 are operational at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by DIAL, in the national capital. The airport has four runways, and one of them is shut for maintenance works. Only IndiGo and Akasa Air were having flights from T2, which was constructed nearly 40 years ago. Flight operations from T2 have been completely shifted to T1, the official said. On Monday, IndiGo said it has taken proactive measures to ensure that customers are well-informed about the change in terminals. Akasa Air, on Monday, said its teams were working diligently to ensure a seamless transition of our operations from T2 to T1. On March 20, DIAL said the expanded T1 can accommodate 40 million passengers, and T3 can handle 45 million passengers annually. T2 has an annual ca

ICRA expects 18-20% growth for airport operators in FY26 on higher traffic

Indian airport operators are expected to see an 18-20 per cent topline year-on-year growth in this fiscal, driven by a sustained improvement in passenger traffic and tariff hike as well as ramp-up in non-aeronautical revenues, ratings agency ICRA said on Thursday. At the same time, ICRA estimates overall air passenger traffic growing at a healthy 7-9 per cent Y-o-Y to reach at 440-450 million in FY26, on the back of an around 10 per cent estimated increase in the just concluded financial year, it said. The overall passenger traffic (domestic and international) is estimated at 412-415 million in FY25, as per ICRA. The ratings agency said its estimation is based on a sample set of airports, including those managed and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), as well as Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin International Airports, which operate under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Also, given the capacity bottleneck faced by a few airports, the sector will ...

AAI plans to invest Rs 1,625 crore to expand Ayodhya airport capacity

Move aimed to increase its passenger handling capacity to 6 million passengers per annum

India's air passenger traffic to see 7% growth in 2025: Alton Aviation

India's air passenger traffic is expected to grow at a strong pace of 7 per cent in 2025, supported by a growing middle class and increasing air travel affordability, according to Joshua Ng, Director of US-headquartered Alton Aviation Consultancy. Bullish on aviation prospects in India, Ng said the country, which contributes approximately 10 per cent of Asia Pacific's domestic and international air traffic demand, has already returned to pre-pandemic levels. "Such growing demand in turn supports India's massive aviation development programmes including setting up of 150 airports across the country," Ng told PTI on Friday. He further noted that "India's passenger traffic is expected to grow at a strong pace of 7 per cent in 2025, supported by an order book of nearly 1,900 aircraft among airlines based in the country." Besides, "the recent merger between Air India and Vistara is also expected to bring more stability to the industry, with Air India and IndiGo emerging as the two prima

Delhi-bound Air India flight returns to Chicago due to technical issue

An Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi returned to the US city after being airborne for more than ten hours on Thursday, with the airline saying the return was due to a technical issue. However, a source aware of the development told PTI that the aircraft had to return as many of the lavatories were clogged. The flight was operated with a Boeing 777-337 ER aircraft and returned to Chicago's ORD airport after being airborne for over ten hours, according to information available on flight tracking website flightradar24.com. There are 10 lavatories, including two for first-class passengers, in the Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft operated by Air India and has little over 340 seats, including first, business and economy class seats, the source said. The source also said only 1 lavatory was functional. When reached out for comments, an Air India spokesperson said AI126 operating Chicago to Delhi on March 6 air-returned to Chicago due to a technical issue. "Upon landing at Chicago, all ..

Our 'Make in India' journey is far from complete: Boeing on expansion plans

Issued after the interview, the India-US joint statement from PM Modi's visit to Washington states that both countries expect the procurement of six more Boeing P-8I aircraft to be completed this year

Budget 2025: Civil aviation gets Rs 2,400 cr, UDAN funds cut to Rs 540 cr

The budgetary allocation for the civil aviation ministry has been cut by nearly 10 per cent to Rs 2,400.31 crore for the next financial year, with the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN set to get a lower amount of Rs 540 crore. The allocation in the Union Budget 2025-26, presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday, is less compared to Rs 2,658.68 crore in the revised 2024-25 Budget. Out of the total allocation for the next fiscal starting from April 1, 2025, UDAN will get Rs 540 crore, which is 32 per cent lower compared to Rs 800 crore in the year-ago period. Interestingly, Sitharaman has announced that UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme will be modified to connect 120 new destinations. As per the budget papers, the allocation for the DGCA and BCAS have increased marginally to Rs 330 crore and Rs 95 crore, respectively, for 2025-26. For the Customs Cost Recovery (CCR) charges to Airport Authority of India (AAI) and AAI Cargo Logistics and

Akasa Air well-capitalised, set to expand with new destinations: CEO

Akasa Air, India's youngest airline, is well-capitalized and plans to add 5-10 new destinations, including international routes, next year as it aims to maintain its position as the country's fastest-growing airline, CEO Vinay Dube said. Dube, in an interaction with PTI, also projected an "incredibly bright" outlook for the next 30 years and said the delay in the delivery of one or two aircraft does not change the fundamentals of the airline's business or growth trajectory as it has built an extremely "strong and stable" platform. The nearly two-and-a-half-year-old Rakesh Jhunjhunwala family-backed Akasa Air currently has a fleet of 27 Boeing 737 Max planes and commanded a 4.6 per cent market share in CY2024. "It is no secret that Boeing has been delayed in its delivery stream. No secret about that, either from us or Boeing or any other airline whether one or two aircraft were late or not, is not something that changes the fundamentals of our business. It does not change the growth

Domestic aviation sector likely to clock Rs 2k-3k cr net loss in FY25: ICRA

The country's civil aviation industry is projected to report a net loss of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 crore in the current and next financial year as supply chain challenges and engine issues are expected to continue for some more time, according to a report. In the report on Tuesday, rating agency Icra also said that domestic air passenger traffic was estimated at 153 lakh in December, 7.3 per cent higher compared to 142.5 lakh recorded in November last year. "Further, it grew by ~10.8 per cent on a YoY basis and was higher by ~17.5 per cent than the pre-Covid levels, i.e., December 2019. The airlines' capacity deployment in December 2024 was higher than December 2023 by ~7.5 per cent and by ~3.8 per cent over November 2024," it added. Giving a stable outlook for the Indian aviation industry, Icra said there are expectations of moderate growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a relatively stable cost environment in FY25. Moreover, the industry witnessed improved pricing power durin

Odisha aims to be a leading aviation hub, focus on MRO facilities: Official

In a bid to establish Odisha as a leader in India's aviation industry, the state government has started consultation to develop maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities here, an official said on Tuesday. A high-level stakeholder consultation, hosted by the Commerce and Transport Department, was held on Monday and attendees deliberated on the development of MRO in the state. Our goal is to establish Odisha as a leader in India's aviation industry. We are developing bespoke policies and offering substantial incentives and skill development programmes to empower local talent and ensure sustained industrial growth. This initiative is a pivotal step towards achieving the vision of a Viksit Odisha, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, who presided over the meeting, said. The focus has been on innovation, infrastructure and industrial growth to create a robust aviation ecosystem, he said. Commerce and Transport Department Principal Secretary Usha Padhee said the effort is made to bring .

Indian aviation set to soar in 2025 with more planes, flights, and airports

The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar. And in 2024, two airlines flew into the sunset, one airline is on a liquidation taxiway, aircraft orders climbed, single-day domestic air passenger traffic soared past record 5 lakh at least twice, and airfare movements continued to raise concerns. Not to leave out 999 hoax bomb calls received by airlines till November 14 this year. The aviation sector had its share of accidents in the form of a few trainer aircraft crashes and a roof collapse incident at Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport that killed one person. For the "fascinating" Indian market, where the domestic air traffic is projected to jump to 164-170 million this fiscal ..

Korean Air completes Asiana takeover to form one of Asia's biggest airlines

Korean Air acquired a 63.88 per cent stake in Asiana on Thursday, making it a subsidiary three years later than the smaller airline had initially anticipated

Air India to set up aircraft maintenance training institute in Bengaluru

Air India on Friday said it is setting up a Basic Maintenance Training Organisation (BMTO), which will offer an integrated 2+2 years Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) programme certified by the Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The Air India BMTO is a step towards building a robust, future-ready aviation ecosystem in India, the company said. It will serve the ambitions of the airline as it moves ahead in its transformation journey, strengthening the availability of aircraft maintenance engineers as Air India expands its fleet, making it self-reliant, it said in a release. Air India has signed an agreement with Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL), a subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), to develop a build-to-suit facility for the AME programme that will feature modern classrooms, well-equipped laboratories for practical training and a team of qualified trainers. The purpose-built campus, spread over 86,000 square f

Indian airlines' shakeup intensifies competition, expands business seats

Vistara operates its final flight on Monday before its planned merger with Air India kicks in the following day

Air India's Delhi-Indore-Mumbai flight gets hoax bomb threat; FIR lodged

A message claiming a bomb had been placed on Air India's flight from Delhi to Mumbai via Indore was posted on a social media platform which later turned out to be a hoax, police said on Wednesday. The Indore police in Madhya Pradesh have registered a case in this connection against an unidentified person, they said. The "threatening message" that a pipe bomb was placed in Air India's flight AI 636 was posted on an X social media account at 5.08 pm on Tuesday, an Aerodrome police station officer said quoting a complaint by a local official of the airline. The flight, arriving from Delhi, had already left for Mumbai from Indore at 4.38 pm, he said. "The message about a pipe bomb being placed in the Air India flight was proved to be fake in our investigation," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vinod Kumar Meena told PTI. A case was registered against the unidentified person who posted the threatening message on social media under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 351 (4) (criminal intimida

UDAN scheme helps improve passenger footfall here: Mysore airport director

Anoop JR, Airport Director said that the state government is coordinating the land acquisition process for the expansion of the airport, after acquiring land, the runway expansion work will be started

Centre plans strict norms to prevent hoax bomb threats to airlines

The civil aviation ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators on the no-fly list, a senior official said on Thursday. In four days, more than 20 flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats, including international flights, and some of them were diverted. Most of the threats have turned out to be hoaxes. Against this backdrop, the ministry is looking at amending existing rules, including those related to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), in order to ensure stringent punishments are in place for the culprits, the official in the know said. Placing individuals making hoax bomb threats in the airlines' no-fly list is one of the proposals being looked at, the official said. The official also said legal opinions are being gathered with respect to making the changes in the rules. The provisions being followed in foreign countries to deal with hoax bomb threats are also bein