Page 25 - Aviation

CCS approves procurement of 70 basic trainer aircraft for Rs 6,828 cr

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft costing Rs 6,828 crore for the Indian Air Force. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years. "The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi has approved procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft at the cost of ?6,828.36 crores," Singh said on Twitter. The defence ministry said the HTT-40, produced by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, is a turboprop aircraft designed to have good low-speed handling qualities and provide better training effectiveness. Singh said the procurement decision will open new opportunities for hundreds of MSMEs (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) and create thousands of jobs. "It is a significant step towards strengthening India's self-reliance in defence," he said. The HTT-40 con

Akasa Air completes 6 months of operations; flies over 1mn passengers

The airline has flown a total of 0.5 million passengers from the city, which contributes to 70 per cent of the total number of passengers flown across its network to date

Air India's premium avatar by mid-2024; Maharaja stays: CEO Wilson

Airline to speed up $400-mn cabin refurbishment, says CEO

Air India business class passenger shares video of insect in flight meal

Earlier, on the same day, two such complaints surfaced regarding Air India

SpiceJet restructures dues to Carlyle Aviation, to raise fresh capital

The airline will also transfer $65.5 million worth of compulsorily converted debentures of SpiceXpress and Logistics to Carlyle Aviation

Air India's order for 470 aircraft will be worth $70 billion: CEO Wilson

Campbell Wilson added that the process of integration of Vistara with Air India is underway and is now awaiting approval from regulatory bodies

SpiceJet approves slump sale of cargo biz, raising Rs 2,500 cr via QIB

SpiceJet has also decided to buy AS Air Lease in the settlement with aircraft lessor Castlelake

Amid record aircraft orders, aviation remains a long-term play: Analysts

A linear profit growth is unlikely for the Indian aviation players as high oil prices hit the industry every two-three years

Over 160,000 air travellers have taken benefit of Digi Yatra: Official

The implementation of Digi Yatra under phase I is also planned at Kolkata, Pune, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad airports by March 2023

Aviation regulator DGCA recommends measures to boost mental health of crew

The regulator is of the view that the pressures and stressors at workplace and personal life cannot be addressed through these professional skills, procedures or knowledge

Unruly air passenger behaviour incidents under control, says DGCA chief

Aviation regulator DGCA's chief Arun Kumar has said that incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights are under control and rules are now being strictly enforced unlike earlier, when the enforcement was not up to the desired level that led to some embarrassing incidents. In an interview to PTI, he also asserted that existing rules to deal with unruly air passengers are "sufficient" at this point of time. In recent times, there have been multiple cases of unruly air passenger behaviour, including incidents of a male passenger allegedly urinating on a female co-passenger and people found smoking in the lavatory of flights. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken strict action in these incidents and airlines concerned had also imposed a flying ban on the passengers concerned. Against this backdrop, the DGCA chief said that airlines are empowered to take action against passengers indulging in unruly behaviour in flights. "There should be order on board ..

India, Russia finalise protocol on cooperation in civil aviation sector

India and Russia on Friday formalised a protocol on cooperation in the civil aviation sector. In a tweet, the civil aviation ministry shared pictures of the meeting between the delegations from India and Russia as part of the ninth session of the India-Russia Sub-Group on Cooperation in Civil Aviation. "A delegation from Ministry of Civil Aviation lead by Secretary, CA met Russian delegation from Ministry of Transportation of the Russian Federation lead by Deputy Minister in Moscow on 17 February, 2023, and formalized a protocol on cooperation in the civil aviation sector," the ministry said. It also retweeted a tweet by the Indian Embassy in Russia that said fruitful discussions were held in Moscow as part of the session and that the meeting was chaired by Rajiv Bansal & Russian Deputy Minister of Transport Igor Chalik. Details about the protocol could not be immediately ascertained.

Akasa Air to place large plane order in 2023, eyes international growth

The new order will be for narrowbody planes, said Akasa's co-founder, a former chief executive of now-grounded, bankrupt full-service carrier Jet Airways

Lufthansa cancels 1,200 flights due to strikes at Frankfurt, Munich hubs

Lufthansa customers endured a summer of strikes and delays at Germany's biggest airports after labor unions pushed for better pay deals

Boeing cuts India's aviation mkt outlook to 2,210 new jets over next 20 yrs

India's air traffic has "transitioned from recovery to growth," having returned to 98% of pre-pandemic levels, Boeing said, adding that domestic traffic should double by the end of this decade

India jumps to 55th place in ICAO aviation safety oversight ranking: DGCA

India's aviation safety oversight ranking has jumped to the 55th position from 112th place earlier, with a significant improvement in the country's score under the ICAO's coordinated validation mission, according to regulator DGCA. Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken in India from November 9 to 16, 2022. "After the final report India's safety oversight capability ranking has climbed from 112 to 55. It may be noted that this ranking is dynamic and is contingent upon the outcomes of various Audits undertaken by ICAO," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement on Friday. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) undertakes audit of all the contracting states under this programme. Last year's mission to India covered the areas of LEG, ORG, PEL, OPS and AGA on-site while the area of AIR was validated virtually during the same period

Air India to borrow Rs 18K-cr from SBI, BoB to refinance existing debt: Rpt

These loans will be in continuation of the debt facility Tata Group received following the acquisition of Air India

Vistara plans to launch flight services to Hong Kong and Mauritius

The Tata group-run airline on Monday inducted an Airbus A321LR, the first by an Indian carrier. Vistara now has 54 planes and will add six more in 2023

Budget 2023: Govt to revive 50 airports, water aerodromes, landing grounds

The government on Wednesday said 50 additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes and advance landing grounds will be revived for improving regional air connectivity in the country. The announcement was made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget for 2023-24. Over the past few years, the government has been taking various initiatives, especially the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, to boost the regional air connectivity. "Fifty additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes and advance landing grounds will be revived for improving regional air connectivity," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech. Besides, she said that 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grains sectors have been identified. "They will be taken up on priority with investment of Rs 75,000 crore, including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources," she added. UDAN flights have transp

Jet fuel price hiked 4% by Rs 4,218 per KL in line with rising oil rates

Jet fuel (ATF) price on Wednesday was hiked by 4 per cent in line with firming international oil prices but petrol and diesel rates remained on freeze for a record 10th month in running. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was increased by Rs 4,218 per kilolitre, or 3.9 per cent, to Rs 1,12,356.77 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase follows three rounds of reduction since November. The price on January 1 was reduced to Rs 1,08,138.77 per kl from Rs 1,17,587.64. Prior to that, the price was slashed by 2.3 per cent on December 1 and 4.19 per cent on November 1. The rate hike will increase the burden on airlines for whom fuel makes for almost 40 per cent of the operating cost. ATF price is revised on the 1st of every month based on the average rate of international benchmark and foreign exchange rates. Petrol and diesel prices, however, continued to remain on freeze for a record tenth month in a row. Petrol costs