Page 2 - Aviation Sector In India

DGCA to implement ranking system for flying training organisations

Aviation watchdog DGCA has introduced a ranking system for flying training organisations as part of efforts to improve the quality and safety of pilot training activities in the country. The move also comes against the backdrop of various incidents involving planes of Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) and apparent lapses. The ranking system will be implemented from October 1, 2025, and the rankings will be published biannually, preferably on October 1 and April 1 every year, according to a DGCA communication. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the initiative is part of its "continued commitment to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of pilot training in India, while fostering a performance-driven and transparent training ecosystem". FTOs will be ranked on the basis of various parameters and if the overall score of a FTO falls below 50 per cent, then the entity concerned will be served a notice for self-analysis towards improvement of their performance,

Patna-bound IndiGo flight grounded in Ranchi due to deflated tyre: Official

A Patna-bound Indigo flight was grounded at Birsa Munda airport here on Friday afternoon because of deflation in one of its tyres, an airport official said. The flight, originating from Kolkata, was scheduled to fly to Patna and then to Lucknow, he said. "The flight was grounded due to precautionary safety reasons," airport director RR Maurya said. "After landing at Ranchi, the pilot suspected one of the front tyres might be deflated and requested an inspection," he added. He added that Patna passengers were sent by road, while those traveling to Lucknow were put on other flights via alternate routes.

Black box of crashed AI plane is in India, being examined by AAIB: Minister

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said the black box of the Air India plane which crashed in Ahmedabad earlier this month was being examined by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, and dismissed speculation that it would be sent abroad for an inquiry. The London-bound Air India flight crashed into a hostel complex in Ahmedabad moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport there on June 12 afternoon, killing 270 persons, including 241 on board. One passenger survived. The black box of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane was recovered from the site on June 13. A black box is a small device that records information about an aircraft during its flight. It helps in the investigation of aviation accidents. Asked about some media reports suggesting the black box would be sent abroad for a probe into the incident, Naidu said, "...it is all speculation. The black box is very much in India and it it currently being investigate

Air India crash risks fueling up to 30% jump in airline insurance premia

Insurance claims for the Air India crash are expected in the realm of $475 million, including those for the aircraft's hull and engine as well as additional liability for loss of life

Aviation stocks fall after Air India Boeing 787 crash kills over 200

Air India's fatal Boeing 787 crash triggers declines in aviation stocks across India and the US, as investor sentiment turns cautious ahead of the Paris Air Show

European plane maker ATR bullish on India; in talks with airlines

Bullish on the business opportunities in India, European aircraft maker ATR is in discussions with scheduled and non-scheduled operators to explore sale of its aircraft. Considering the growth potential of the Indian market, a senior ATR official said it expects the country to have 300 more turboprops in the next 10 years. A joint venture between Airbus and Leonardo, ATR manufactures turboprops with up to 78 seats as well as freighters. Currently, there are 70 ATR aircraft in the country that are operated by IndiGo, Alliance Air, and FLY91. ATR is still "very bullish" on the Indian market and is in active discussions with some of the operators, the company's Managing Director and Head of Region Asia PacificJean-Pierre Clercin told PTI in a recent interview in the national capital. Without divulging specific details, he said the company is in talks with scheduled and non-scheduled operators, including those already flying ATR aircraft. India is one of the world's fastest-growing c

Rising missile threats, airspace closures increase pressure on airlines

Six commercial aircraft have been shot down, with three near-misses since 2001, according to aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions

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 .