Page 24 - Aviation Sector

Close to 1,500 flights from Kochi airport weekly during summer: CIAL

Close to 1,500 flights would be operated every week from the Cochin International Airport as part of its summer schedule starting from March 26 till October 28 this year, CIAL said. The summer schedule of 1,484 flight services every week would also include 332 weekly departures to international destinations by 31 airlines of which 23 are foreign carriers, the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) said in a release. Indigo, which tops the list with 63 weekly departures to international destinations, has also started operations on a new sector -- Kochi to Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, the release said. The domestic services will see an increase in flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, it said. During the winter schedule there were 1,202 weekly services from the airport, it further said. "Over the past ten years, the aviation sector in India has undergone significant expansion and transformation. With more people choosing to travel by air than ever before, India is now the ...

Aviation sector seen returning to profit in FY24 on higher traffic, pricing

Although competition from Tatas and Akasa could increase, analysts see 25% upside in IndiGo

SpiceJet's $100 mln debt rejig: Carlyle Aviation to buy stakes in airline

In a move that will help reduce its debt by USD 100 million, cash-strapped SpiceJet on Monday announced that Carlyle Aviation Partners will acquire a 7.5 per cent stake in the airline by converting outstanding dues as well as snap up shareholding in the cargo business. As it faces multiple headwinds, the no-frills carrier will also tap the Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) route to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore. SpiceJet's board has approved restructuring more than USD 100 million outstanding dues to aircraft leasing firm Carlyle Aviation Partners into equity shares and Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs). Carlyle Aviation Partners is the commercial aviation investment and servicing arm of Carlyle's USD 143 billion Global Credit platform. Fresh equity shares to the tune of USD 29.5 million (around Rs 244.28 crore) will be issued to Carlyle Aviation Partners at Rs 48 per share or the Sebi-determined price, whichever is higher. Post deal, the lessor will have a 7.5 per cent sta

When customer is king but unpleasant: How bad behaviour affects air crew

Behind the exotic travel destinations, prim and proper clothing, smiles, flawless skin, and perfectly manicured hands of the air hostesses, there's a dark world of enormous struggle

IndiGo, Go First face P&W engine headwinds; over 50 planes on ground

More than 50 planes of IndiGo and Go First are on the ground due to Pratt & Whitney engine woes amid persisting supply chain headwinds, forcing airlines to explore wet leasing of aircraft and other options to minimise disruptions, according to officials. The country's largest airline IndiGo is looking at various options, including slowing down redeliveries through lease extensions, exploring the re-induction of aircraft into the fleet, and evaluating the wet lease options within the regulatory guidelines. While the global supply chain issues continue, especially in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engine problems have been there for quite sometime. Few months back, senior civil aviation ministry officials also had discussions with the engine maker on ways to improve the supply situation. A senior government official told PTI that there are at least 25 aircraft each of IndiGo and Go First that are on the ground due to P&W engine

DGCA plans to hire 400 tech staff in 1-2 yrs; increase offices to 19: Chief

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to ramp up its technical staff to 1,100 by hiring another 400 people in the next one to two years as well as increase the number of offices to 19 as the watchdog strengthens the safety oversight capabilities, according to its chief Arun Kumar. Kumar, who will be superannuating on February 28 after being at the helm for nearly four years, described his tenure as a "roller coaster ride" during which various steps were taken to improve aviation safety and the regulator also dealt with multiple headwinds, including engine issues and safety concerns over SpiceJet. India's aviation safety oversight ranking jumping to the 55th position from 112th place earlier under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coordinated validation mission, rollout of eGCA for processes at the regulator, introduction of regulations for transgenders who want to be pilots as well as compulsory breath analyser tests for air traffic controllers are

Air India to add 4,200 cabin crew, 900 pilots after record aircraft deal

Air India has planned to hire over 4200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023 as the airline adds new aircraft and rapidly expands its domestic and international operations

Spicejet to consider capital raise amid losses, market share battle

Spicejet's market share slipped to 7.3% in January from 7.7% in December

India has enough potential for recurring aircraft orders: GE Aerospace

Leading engine maker GE Aerospace has said there is enough potential for recurring aircraft orders by Indian carriers as massive growth is happening in the country's civil aviation space. Against the backdrop of Tata Group-owned Air India placing firm orders for 470 aircraft, a top official of GE Aerospace also said that India, which is the world's third largest aviation market, has the potential for growth in both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft. Besides, GE Aerospace's Country Head for South Asia & Indonesia Vikram Rai told PTI that the supply chain situation will be better this year, compared to 2022. There are around 700 commercial planes flying in India, with a majority of them being narrow-body aircraft. The civil aviation ministry is also working on ways to make an international aviation hub for which Indian carriers will have to have more wide-body planes in order to carry international traffic. Referring to the aircraft orders, Rai said these orders are huge "but there

Air India's aircraft order ignites expectation from Indian aviation sector

From increased direct international air connectivity to being a showpiece of divestment programme to job creation in faraway US, Air India's mega 470 aircraft order has ignited myriad expectations in and about the world's fastest growing aviation market -- India. A raft of factors -- surging air traffic demand, rising middle class population and disposable incomes, demographic dividend, over 1,200 planes on order by various Indian carriers and improving aviation infrastructure -- are all fuelling the growth of the market. Out of the 470 firm aircraft order, 250 will be supplied by Airbus and 220 by Boeing, while there is also the option to buy another 370 planes from the two plane makers. The firm order includes 70 wide-body aircraft. Aircraft & Air Traffic Indian airlines have placed orders for more than 1,100 aircraft that are to be delivered in the coming years. The country's largest airline IndiGo is to take deliveries of around 500 planes, Go First is to receive 72 aircraft, .

Airlines must look at common services facility to cut costs: Suresh Prabhu

As Indian airlines seek to expand their fleet, former Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has said the carriers should look at having a common services facility within the country for maintenance, repair and overhaul works as that will help reduce costs. With Air India placing orders for new aircraft after more than 17 years, he also said the airline should look at flying more on the profitable Gulf routes as well as restoring overseas "historical connections" which it used to operate earlier. Prabhu served as the Civil Aviation Minister from March 2018 to May 2019 and during his tenure also efforts were made to turnaround the loss-making Air India, which was finally taken over by the Tata Group in January 2022 under the government's disinvestment programme. "We should work on having international aviation hubs in India as well as look at having some sort of a common aviation services facility that can be shared by all airlines. Such a facility will help in reducing costs as

Air India Express flight from Dubai seeks airport assistance during landing

An Air India Express flight from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram sought assistance from the airport here on Sunday after the pilot experienced some problem during landing, an airline source said. "The pilot felt something uneasy during landing and sought assistance from the ATC. It was a normal landing at the scheduled arrival time of 6.30 AM. No emergency was declared by the pilot," the source said. After the IX540 Air India Express flight was checked on landing, it was found that the top layer of a wheel of the nose gear of the aircraft had de-capped, he said. "There is nothing serious about that," he added. The plane was towed to the flight bay and all passengers deboarded safely, the source said.

How secret talks in London led to Air India's gigantic plane order

On Tuesday, Air India provisionally agreed to acquire almost 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing to take on domestic and international rivals

Uphold ethical standards or face disciplinary action: AI to cabin crew

Air India has told its cabin crew to uphold ethical standards or face disciplinary action if their actions negatively affect the airline's reputation

AI asks cabin crew not to indulge in conduct that impacts airline's image

Tata Group-owned Air India has asked its cabin crew to adhere to the standards of ethics and warned of disciplinary action in case their conduct directly impacts the airline's image, according to a source. In a communication to its cabin crew members on Monday, the airline's in-flight safety department has instructed them "not to indulge in any of the act which is against the TCOC (Tata Code of Conduct)". The communication was issued against the backdrop of a recent incident where a wide-body aircraft pilot allegedly was caught with two iPhone14 at the Delhi Airport and was subsequently asked to pay Rs 2.5 lakh towards (Customs) duty, the source in the know said. There was no immediate comment from Air India on the issue. "We are in receipt of feedback that some cabin crew are carrying items in commercial quantity on their return to India from a foreign country, which is against the customs regulation," the airline said in the communication. Noting that crew members are ambassador

Air India to add over 90 planes in two years in first order since 2006

This includes 56 planes that are part of mega aircraft order signed with Airbus and Boeing. These will be in addition to previously announced leases of 36 planes

IndiGo 'inadvertently' leaves behind 37 bags of flyers at Hyderabad airport

IndiGo on Thursday said it inadvertently left behind 37 bags of passengers who took a flight from Hyderabad to Vishakhapatnam. In a statement, the airline said it ensuring that all bags are delivered safely to the customers' addresses in Visakhapatnam and regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers. "We confirm that 37 bags were inadvertently left behind for flight 6E 409 departing from Hyderabad to Vishakhapatnam," it said.

Air India's three domestic destinations to be operated by AirAsia India

Full service airline Air India on Tuesday said three of its domestic destinations will now be operated by the budget carrier AirAsia India as part of the route network rationalisation plan. AirAsia India, which currently operates 19 domestic destinations, became a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Group last November. The group has already announced its merger with Air India subsidiary Air India Express to create a low-cost airline. In the current phase, three stations -- Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra and Surat -- will now be served by AirAsia India, instead of Air India. At the same time, flight services on Delhi-Visakhapatnam and Mumbai-Lucknow routes will be operated exclusively by Air India, the airline said. In all cases, the flight frequency remains the same, it added Additionally, Air India will enhance connections from Delhi and/or Mumbai to Cochin, Trivandrum, Visakhapatnam and Nagpur to enable seamless, two-way domestic-international connectivity with long-haul international flight

Airlines faced 546 technical snags during aircraft operations in 2022: Govt

The government on Thursday said domestic airlines faced a total of 546 technical snags during operation of planes last year. Out of them, the country's largest airline IndiGo faced 215 snags while SpiceJet saw 143 snags and Vistara had 97 snags. Air India faced 64 snags while those reported by Go First and Akasa Air stood at 7 and 6, respectively, according to data provided by the civil aviation ministry in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2022, Air Asia (India) witnessed 8 snags, Alliance Air reported 3 snags, Fly Big (1), TrueJet (1) and BlueDart Aviation (1). A total of 1,090 snags were faced by airlines in the last two years. Last year, the number of snags was slightly higher at 546 compared to 544 in 2021. To a query on whether more technical snags are reported in the country due to low cost airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh replied in the negative. "No Sir, Technical snags are experienced during operation of aircraft. These may be due to improper

Indian aviation industry suffers over Rs 24,000 cr loss in 2020-22

India's aviation industry suffered a loss of over Rs 24,000 crore in the last two financial years during 2020-22