Page 11 - Civil Aviation Ministry

Domestic airline travel sets a new record, crosses 50 million passengers

Air traffic data shows an increase in domestic air travel by 42.85%, showing rapid post pandemic recovery of airlines

Scindia discusses manpower planning for peak season with airport operators

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday held a follow-up meeting with representatives of airlines and airport operators to discuss airport-wise infrastructure and manpower planning for the upcoming peak travel season. "All players are committed towards ensuring smooth processing for passengers at all 5 touchpoints at major metro airports. The seamless point-to-point operations exercise, along with the usage of #DigiYatra, will be key in ensuring minimum queues & maximum efficiency at airports," he said in a series of tweets. The discussions with the stakeholders also focused on airport-wise infrastructure and manpower planning for the long term as well. Representatives from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) also participated in the meeting. "...held a follow-up meeting with airlines, airport operators, @AAI_Official, & BCAS to discuss airport-wise infrastructure & manpower planning for the upcoming peak ...

Government has massive game plan for civil aviation sector: Scindia

The government has a "massive game plan" and a three-pronged strategy for the country's fast-growing aviation market, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. Mentioning the aviation market's potential, he said domestic passenger numbers rose to 144 million in 2019 from 60 million in 2014, a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of about 14.5 per cent. He was speaking at the curtain raiser event here for the 'Wing India 2024' conference to be held next year in Hyderabad. According to the minister, under the three-pronged strategy, the focus is to create capacity, ensure there are no bottlenecks for aviation industry players and have simplified processes and procedures. The efforts are to increase the number of airports, heliports and waterdromes from 148 currently to more than 200 in the next three to four years, he said. Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said there is huge potential to increase international air connectivity for India.

Airports to boost infra to handle higher number of passengers: Aviation min

To ensure that there is no congestion at major airports, the civil aviation ministry on Friday asked airport operators to carry out a thorough internal analysis of their throughput and space requirements in order to boost infrastructure for hassle-free travel, according to sources. The issues related to congestion at airports during peak travel periods and measures required to be put in place were discussed during a meeting civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held with airport and airline operators in the national capital. The sources said that steps to strengthen infrastructure, especially to deal with peak hour traffic at airports, as well as to expand capacity were deliberated upon. Airport operators have been asked to do a thorough internal analysis of their throughput and space requirements, among other factors to ensure there is no clogging at any points. "Met with airline & airport operators to deliberate on a roadmap for infrastructure & processes to cater to .

Go First insolvency: Travel agents claim Rs 900 crore stuck, seek govt help

TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said there was an apprehension that the travel industry and customers would lose the amounts due to them for services not rendered by the airline

Akasa Air's occupancy soars at fastest pace among peers in April

Load factor of market leader IndiGo shows second biggest rise

Govt bailout of Go First unlikely unless engine issue resolved: Dy Minister

Deputy Aviation Minister VK Singh said the government has offered help to US-based Pratt & Whitney

Parliamentary panel to hear Civil Aviation Ministry on 'fixing of airfares'

The meeting comes amid reports of "steep hike" in fares on flights from violence-hit Manipur even as some airlines have temporarily waived off some charges including for rescheduling flights

Prudent to wait for judiciary to run its course on Go First, says Scindia

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said it was unfortunate that the operational bottleneck related to engine supplies has dealt a blow to the airline's financial position. Against the backdrop of the airline filing an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings, the minister said, "It is prudent to wait for the judicial process to run its course". Faced with a severe financial crunch, the budget carrier has also decided to cancel flights for May 3 and 4. "Go First has been faced with critical supply chain issues with regard to their engines. The Government of India has been assisting the airline in every possible manner. The issue has also been taken up with the stakeholders involved," Scindia said in a statement. He noted that it is unfortunate that this operational bottleneck has dealt a blow to the airline's financial position. "It has come to our knowledge that the airline has applied to the NCLT. It is prudent to wait for the judicial proc

Civil aviation ministry tracking Go First developments closely: Official

The civil aviation ministry is keeping a close watch on the developments at crisis-hit Go First and the proceedings that are expected at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) this week, a senior official has said. Faced with a severe financial crunch as more than half of its fleet is grounded due to the non-availability of Pratt & Whitney engines, Go First on Tuesday filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the NCLT and has also decided to cancel all flights for May 3 and 4. Against this backdrop, the senior government official said the ministry is keeping a close watch on the developments related to Go First, including the admission of the airline's application by the NCLT. The country's civil aviation sector is strong and growing but the external issue of global supply chain disruptions is a primary reason for the Go First situation, the official added. Domestic air traffic touched an "all-time high" of 4,56,082 passengers in a single day on April 30. Go .

Boeing faces production issues; Air India, Akasa expansion may get delayed

Boeing has clarified that the planes already in service will not have an impact since this is not an immediate flight safety issue

Govt launches fifth round of regional air connectivity scheme 'UDAN 5.0'

The government on Friday launched the fifth round of the regional air connectivity scheme to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas. Under UDAN 5.0, viability gap funding (VGF) will be capped at 600 kilometres stage length for both priority and non-priority areas, which was earlier capped at 500 km. Besides, no pre-determined routes would be offered. Only network and individual route proposals by airlines will be considered, the civil aviation ministry said in a release. Under the fifth round of Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) or Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the focus will be on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (more than 80 seats). The release said the earlier stage length cap of 600 kilometres is waived and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said this new and stronger version of the scheme will raise the momentum, connecting new routes and bring

Thumbs up to safety: US aviation agency rewards top safety rating to India

Category 1 status means that airlines of the country concerned can operate and expand their services to destinations in the US and can codeshare with US carriers

Akasa Air had worst load factor in March 2023, SpiceJet topped the charts

The two carriers' load factors are in direct contrast to their on-time performance. Akasa Air was at the top, SpiceJet was at the bottom in March OTP chart, shows data from aviation Ministry

Aviation ministry to commence flights to Vellore under UDAN scheme: Scindia

The Centre would soon commence a new route connecting Vellore under its flagship UDAN scheme, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said here on Saturday. As many as 473 new routes have been operationalised under the UDAN scheme launched by the Centre to boost air connectivity in Tier-II and -III cities, he said at an event here. "In terms of airport, Salem airport has been operationalised (in Tamil Nadu). Vellore will be operational in the next couple of months. Fourteen routes of UDAN will be coming in Tamil Nadu," he said soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the new integrated terminal building at the Chennai airport here set up at a cost of Rs 1,260 crore. Scindia said under the UDAN Yojana 1.20 crore people have benefited who could never have dreamt of travelling in an aeroplane. The Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme was launched as a programme to offer air connectivity in Tier-II and -III cities by the Union government. Scindia said the new integrate

SpiceJet had worst on-time performance in March; Akasa was best: Govt data

AirAsia India and Air India had the -lowest and third-lowest OTPs among 7 major carriers

With 59 mn travellers, Delhi's airport was 9th busiest in the world in 2022

Dubai was the only other Asian airport in the list with Chinese airports missing completely, given the Covid restrictions in China in 2022

Amid staff shortage, peak demand, Air India to cancel long-haul flights

As of now, six weekly flights to the US, three to Newark and three to San Francisco, will be trimmed due to a crew shortage for the coming 2-3 months, said CEO & MD of Air India, Campbell Wilson

10 passengers put on 'No Fly List' this year till March 15: Government

A total of 10 passengers have been put on the 'No Fly List' this year till March 15, the government said on Monday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that a total of 66 and 63 passengers have been placed in the 'No Fly List' in 2021 and 2022, respectively, for the period as recommended by the airline's Internal Committee constituted in accordance with Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on unruly passengers. "In 2023, 10 passengers have been placed in 'No Fly List' up to 15.03.2023. The majority of the passengers placed in 'No Fly List' were for violation related to not wearing masks or not obeying the instructions of the crew members," he said. To deal with unruly behaviour onboard flights, aviation regulator DGCA has issued a CAR titled 'Handling of unruly/ disruptive passengers'. As per the CAR, airlines are required to follow a prescribed procedure for holding passengers accountable before they are placed in the 'No Fly List

Staff still in possession of accommodation at Air India colonies: Ministry

The mechanism envisages imposition of penal rent and damage charges on the unauthorised occupants