Page 14 - Aviation

Japan Airlines signs a codeshare pact with IndiGo to expand its services

Japan Airlines on Monday said it has entered into a codeshare arrangement with IndiGo, which would help the Japanese carrier expand services to 14 destinations of the domestic carrier's network. At present, Japan Airlines operates its services to Delhi and Bengaluru from Tokyo. It offers daily flight services to the national capital from Haneda Airport, while its thrice-a-week services to Bengaluru are operated from Narita Airport. "Japan Airlines (JAL) and IndiGo have agreed on codeshare partnership which will benefit the customers by providing more travel options between Japan and India," a statement said. The codeshare partnership will allow Japan Airlines to strengthen its connectivity into India initially, while enabling more travel options for IndiGo customers on JAL's extensive domestic and international network in later phases, the statement said. The partnership will enable codeshare on India routes that connect to JAL-operated flights from/to Delhi and Bengaluru, as per t

Global airlines raise profit outlook for 2024, projects $1 trn in revenue

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it expected the worldwide industry to generate $30.5 billion of profit this year

Increasing flights, more observations of clear air amid turbulence scare

As more and more flights criss-cross the skies, there are more observations of clear air turbulence, which has increased over the decades very likely due to climate change, and airlines are continuing with efforts to mitigate the impact of turbulence. Though rare, a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore experienced severe turbulence on May 20 that caused the death of a passenger and left more than 70 people injured. While investigation is still on, the incident has also brought the focus on turbulence, especially the factors of climate change and Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). In recent weeks, there have also been other incidents of turbulence. Generally, CAT is defined as any turbulence where there is no cloudiness, and is invisible, which also makes detection difficult by pilots and radars in an aircraft. "While variations in climate can cause variations in CAT, a robust increase in CAT over decades is very likely to be because of climate change," Manoj Joshi, a Profess

Airlines ride AI: Less work for agents, human-like responses for passengers

From human-like responses to reduced workload for customer service agents to utilisation of trillions of parameters for answering air passengers' queries, artificial intelligence is providing the technological tailwinds for Indian airlines as they cater to rising traffic. For Air India, which has embarked on a five-year transformation plan, Artificial Intelligence (AI) use will be "pervasive" and its generative AI virtual agent AI.g handles over 1,300 topics. And the country's largest airline IndiGo has AI chatbot 6Eskai that has 1.7 trillion parameters, allowing it to answer questions with ease. Also, the bot can understand written, typed language, and verbal instructions using speech-to-text models. Akasa Air, which describes itself as a "cloud-native and digital-native brand", said it will continue to invest heavily in proven technology solutions across all business functions. India, one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets, is seeing rising domestic air traffi

FAA to not allow Boeing to boost 737 MAX production due to safety issues

The FAA's enhanced oversight of Boeing will continue in the coming months, with weekly meetings and quarterly exchanges between the heads of the company and the US regulator

Universal Vulkaan to bring 30 Leonardo helicopters to India in next 3 years

Bullish on the Indian market which is "ready for expansion", Universal Vulkaan Aviation on Wednesday said it will bring 30 Leonardo helicopters into the country over the next three years. Universal Vulkaan Aviation Pte Ltd (UVA) is the distributor in India for Italy-based Leonardo Helicopters. The company, which is based in New Delhi, will bring a total of 30 helicopters -- 16 new and 14 from the pre-owned market -- over the next three years. "After signing the pre-sales contract for 5 units of AW09 machines in January 2024, UVA has ordered 11 units from types AW109 Trekker, AW139, AW169, from the Leonardo Helicopters... This is in addition to the 14 helicopters that were purchased by the Vulkaan Group from the pre-owned market, which include the AW 119Kx and AW 109 Trekker," a release said. The models have seating capacities varying from 5 to 15. Karan Sethi, Sales Director at UVA, told PTI that the current Indian market is ready for expansion, and its product portfolio in both .

Boeing sees negative free cash flow in 2024 as deliveries remain sluggish

Top U.S. enforcement officials are also weighing whether to charge the company for violating an agreement that shielded it from prosecution stemming from previous jet crashes in 2018 and 2019

Boeing faces 'long road' on safety issues after door accident: US FAA

In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address 'systemic quality-control issues' and barred it from expanding 737 MAX production

Experts start probe into turbulence incident, S'pore Airlines cooperating

Singapore Airlines on Wednesday said it is fully cooperating with relevant authorities in the investigation into the London to Singapore flight which encountered severe turbulence, leading to the death of one passenger and injuring 30 others. Geoffrey Kitchen, a 73-year-old British passenger, died likely due to a heart attack on the flight, said Kittipong Kittikachorn, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, to where the SIA flight was on Tuesday diverted under emergency. As many as 30 passengers have been receiving treatment for their injuries in hospitals in Bangkok after the Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ321, operating from London (Heathrow) to Singapore on May 20 encountered "sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure". The remaining passengers aboard the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft carrying 229 people were examined and treated at the airport, the carrier said. SIA is fully cooperating with the relevant ...

Indian aviation industry suffers from low penetration despite rise in seats

India's total airline seats have doubled in a decade. So, why is the country not seen as realising its aviation potential?

Baggage delivery time at 6 major airports improves significantly: MoCA

The baggage delivery time at Delhi, Mumbai and four other major airports has improved significantly in the last four months, with more than 90 per cent of the passengers getting their baggage arriving within 30 minutes of an aircraft landing, according to the civil aviation ministry. The ministry has also advised all domestic and international airlines operating at other airports to improve baggage delivery timings. In January, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) started an exercise to boost the baggage delivery system of the domestic airlines at the country's six major airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The exercise under the aegis of the civil aviation ministry was started after it was noticed that baggage was getting delivered late after the landing of a plane. As per the global standards prescribed by IATA (International Air Transport Association) and the provision under the OMDA (Operation, Management and Development Agreement) with

US Prez Biden signs sweeping aviation safety, reform bill into law

Biden has repeatedly clashed with air carriers, calling for new stricter consumer rules and harshly criticizing them for imposing fees

Merger with Vistara may be completed by December, says Air India CEO

Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group with a ratio of 51:49, is currently undergoing a merger with Air India to create a unified full-service carrier

'Affordable' electric air taxis

They may not only be greener than battery-powered cars but also have the potential to upend the real estate market

Air India, Lufthansa deepen ties, expand codeshare on India-Australia route

Passengers flying with Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich can now seamlessly connect to Sydney and Melbourne via Delhi and Mumbai airports using Air India flights

Cheaper air fares? New DGCA guideline to make flying more affordable

The new DGCA guidelines require airlines to offer these services as "opt-in" options. This means the base fare will not automatically include these charges, and passengers can choose to add them on on

Go First: Busy Bee Airways to evaluate position after reviewing court order

With the Delhi High Court allowing lessors to take back 54 planes leased to bankrupt Go First, joint bidder Busy Bee Airways' Nishant Pitti on Friday said he will consider any necessary adjustments to its proposed offer for the airline after reviewing the court order. Busy Bee Airways, along with SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh, has put in a bid for Go First under the insolvency resolution process. Travel portal EaseMyTrip's co-founder and CEO Nishant Pitti is a majority shareholder in Busy Bee Airways. On Friday, the court directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to forthwith process the applications filed by several lessors for deregistration of their 54 planes so that they could take them back from the crisis-hit Go First airline. In a post on X, saying it is on behalf of Busy Bee Airways, Pitti said, "We will review the details of the order once we receive the official document". Following this review of the court order, it will evaluate the position and consider any

IndiGo's wide-body aircraft order augurs well for Indian aviation: CRISIL

Budget carrier IndiGo's decision to acquire wide-body planes augurs well for the Indian aviation industry as international long-haul routes are comparatively more profitable and will also help in creating an aviation hub in the country, according to rating agency CRISIL. Till January last year, IndiGo operated single-aisle Airbus aircraft fleet and in February 2023, it started operating wide-body Boeing 777 wet-leased from its codeshare partner Turkish Airlines. Currently, the airline has two wet-leased B777 operating flights to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai. On Thursday, the country's largest airline announced placing a firm order for 30 wide-body Airbus A350-900 planes, to be powered by Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB engines, and also has the option to purchase 70 more such aircraft. "The development (IndiGo's A350 aircraft order) augurs well for the industry as these (international long haul) routes are comparatively more profitable and open up avenues for innovative combinations as ..

Boeing hunting for new CEO to mend damage done by safety incidents

Late last month, the company announced that Calhoun would step down at the end of the year, much earlier than expected

Transforming agriculture with drone tech: The rise of Thanos Technologies

The agricultural drones automate the hazardous task of pesticide spraying, thereby improving the lives of Indian farmers