Page 8 - Civil Aviation Ministry

164 planes lying idle at 15 airports in country, govt shares data in LS

As many as 164 planes are lying idle at 15 airports in the country, the government said on Thursday. Out of the total, the highest number of grounded aircraft is at Delhi airport at 64, followed by Bengaluru (27), Mumbai (24) and Chennai (20). As per data shared by civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in a written reply to Lok Sabha, 164 aircraft are lying idle at 15 airports. The airports are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa (Mopa), Hyderabad, Jaipur, Juhu, Kolkata, Kannur, Mumbai, Nagpur and Raipur. The grounded aircraft include those of IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go First, Air India, Zoom Air and Alliance Air. At the Delhi airport, IndiGo's 24 aircraft and Go First's 23 planes are lying idle. Other carriers whose planes are grounded there are SpiceJet (6), Air India (2), Zoom Air (5), Jet Airways (3) and Alliance Air (1). According to the data, 17 planes of IndiGo, nine aircraft of Go First and one plane of SpiceJet are lying idle at the Bengaluru

IndiGo pays revised penalty of Rs 20 lakh to DGCA over 4 tail strikes

InterGlobe aviation -- the parent company of IndiGo -- said on Thursday that it has paid Rs 20 lakh towards revised penalty to the aviation safety regulator DGCA for four tail strikes involving some of its aircraft. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had in July issued a showcause notice to the company alleging four tail strikes on IndiGo's A321 aircraft and subsequently imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh, InterGlobe aviation said in a regulatory filing. "The company had filed an appeal against the said (Rs 30 lakh penalty) order. DGCA considered submissions made by the company in support of the appeal and revised the penalty to Rs 20-lakh vide its order dated October 13, 2023, to be paid within 30 days of the order," the company said in the filing. Accordingly, the penalty was paid on November 9, InterGlobe Aviation said.

AERA directs airports to drop extra charges on chartered flight operators

Regulator AERA has directed certain airport operators to withdraw additional charges being levied on chartered flight operators and the operators concerned are refunding the additional charges, according to the government. The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) regulates and approves the tariff cap for ground handling services at major airports in the country. On Monday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh told the Rajya Sabha that recently, AERA received complaints from some of the chartered aircraft operators that certain airport operators have increased operational charges relating to handling of chartered flights. "Accordingly, AERA took up the issue with the concerned airport operators for immediate withdrawal of additional charges/making of non-aeronautical services (elite meet and greet services) as a pre-requisite for charter aircraft operations for landing at these airports." "Subsequent to AERA's intervention, concerned airport operator had withdrawn

Scindia lays foundation for Rs 350 cr new terminal at Rajamundry Airport

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday laid the foundation for a Rs 350 crore new terminal building at Rajamundry Airport. Spread across 17,029 sq metres, the new terminal can handle 2,100 passengers during peak hours and has a capacity to handle 30 lakh passengers annually. "Andhra Pradesh is a culturally rich state with traditional festivals, arts and handicrafts. Expanding Rajamundry airport will protect and encourage this legacy," said Scindia's office in a post on 'X'. According to the Civil Aviation Minister, the new terminal will be four times larger than the existing one. Insulated roofing, LED lighting and a rainwater harvesting system are some of the environmental friendly features of the new terminal, which will also be equipped with 28 check-in counters and four conveyor belts.

Historic day for Rajahmundry: Scindia on new terminal building at airport

Rajahmundry Airport is a domestic airport that is spread over an area of 1223.46 acres. The Runway of the airport is 3165 metres long, capable of operating Code 'C' type of aircraft

DGCA plans to come out with framework on gender issues early next year

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to come out with a framework early next year on what could be done to address gender issues, a top official said on Saturday. Speaking at an event here, DGCA chief Vikram Dev Dutt said the issue of gender has been debated at the regulator informally. "Systemically, when we as a regulator when we look within it... we thought we will show the mirror to ourselves as an organisation... early next year... we will come out with a framework for DGCA in terms of what we would do for gender, beyond paper and beyond official circulars," he said. Specific details about the proposed framework could not be immediately ascertained. Dutt also mentioned DGCA's larger role in influencing positive change within the private sector and sought suggestions from stakeholders. Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said the tremendous growth story in Indian aviation is synonymous with the vision, inspiration, and strength embodied by women in

Govt enacting checks to monitor airfares, says Jyotiraditya Scindia

The Civil Aviation Ministry has a tariff monitoring unit (TMU) that monitors airfares between 30 days to one day ahead of a scheduled flight

Airlines advised to self-regulate on airfares: Scindia on price concerns

The Civil Aviation Ministry has discussions with airlines over the airfares and these were advised to self-regulate and keep passengers' interest in mind while fixing the fares, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday, asserting that the airfare is neither established nor regulated by the government. Scindia made the statement in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha about surge in airfares and steps taken by the government to address the issue. "As per prevailing regulations, airfare is neither established nor regulated by the government. The airline fare system runs in multiple levels (buckets or RBDs) which are in line with practice being followed globally. "The fares are fixed by airlines keeping in mind the market, demand, seasonality and other market forces. The airfare increases with increase in demand of seats as the lower fare buckets get sold out faster and move to higher fare buckets," he said. Scindia informed that the Ministry had consultation

Parl panel advice to start process of approval of 2nd airport in Chennai

As per the report, the Tamil Nadu government has identified two locations Mamandur and Parandur for the development of a second airport in Chennai

Indian carriers' on-time performance plummets in November, shows data

AIX Connect's OTP dropped from 83.33 per cent in October to 73.63 per cent

DGCA suspends RedBird's authorisation to carry out maintenance of planes

Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday said it has suspended the authorisation of RedBird Flight Training Academy for carrying out maintenance of its aircraft after finding deficiencies in an audit carried out in the wake of two incidents of crash landing last month. After the two incidents of aircraft crash landing within a span of one week in October, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended the operations of Redbird Flight Training Academy at all its bases. A special maintenance audit was carried out at the training academy's main base in Baramati, Maharashtra and at four sub-bases in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh; Kalburgi and Belgavi in Karnataka; and Lilabari, Assam. "The findings from the special maintenance audit revealed deficiencies in personnel training, maintenance schedules and records, internal audit practices, tool and store management and fuel storage and handling," DGCA said in a release. Subsequently, the regulator initiated enforcement action against

DGCA slaps Rs 10 lakh penalty on Air India for CAR non-compliance

Aviation watchdog DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for its failure to comply with norms pertaining to facilities that are required to be provided to passengers. After carrying out inspections of airlines at Delhi, Kochi and Bangalore airports, the regulator observed that Air India was not complying with the provisions of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR). Later, a show-cause notice was issued to Air India on November 3. In a release on Wednesday, DGCA said that based on Air India's reply to the show-cause notice, it was found that the airline did not comply with the provisions of the CAR. These pertain to "not providing hotel accommodation for passengers affected by delayed flights, non-training of some of their ground personnel as per the stipulations and non-payment of compensation to international business class passengers who were made to travel on unserviceable seats", it said. For these lapses, the regulator has imposed a financial penalty of

DGCA transfers some officials to different centres amid graft allegations

Amid allegations of graft involving some of its officials, aviation watchdog DGCA is carrying out a reshuffle of duties of various officials, and transferring them to different centres, according to sources. A preliminary enquiry against a senior DGCA official for alleged corruption has been completed, and the report has been submitted to the civil aviation ministry, sources added. As part of the reshuffle, some officials have been transferred from Mumbai and Chennai, while some others have been shifted to other departments within the DGCA. There have been complaints of graft, the sources said. There was no comment from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the transfer of officials amid graft allegations. The preliminary enquiry was conducted as per the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) norms against the official concerned. Depending on the initial findings, authorities will decide on whether to have a detailed investigation into the matter. As per reports, the ..

Aviation ministry unlikely to take hasty call on 5G altimeter's replacement

Telcos remain confident that 5G signals in C-band won't impact flights

Aviation ministry, DGCA to look into ex-pilot's complaint against Air India

The civil aviation ministry and the DGCA will look into a complaint filed against Air India by a former senior pilot alleging that the airline operated Boeing 777 planes to the US without having the required system of emergency oxygen supply, according to sources. The pilot, who had served as a B777 commander, complained about the practice to the ministry and the DGCA on October 29. According to the sources, the pilot, in the complaint, said Air India has been operating flights with leased B777 aircraft that carry a chemically-generated oxygen system which lasts around 12 minutes, and hence should not be used for the airline's direct flights to and from San Francisco. The airline has to factor in that in case of an emergency situation of depressurisation, there should be sufficient oxygen supply to all the crew and the passengers for any period that is more than 12 minutes, the complaint said and also referred to the DGCA norms. A senior government official on Friday said the minis

House panel again asks aviation min about value of A-I disinvestment

A Parliamentary panel on Thursday again asked the civil aviation ministry to explain about how the enterprise valuation of Rs 18,000 crore was arrived for the disinvestment of Air India that was completed in January last year. The matter has been mentioned by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha. The report pertains to the action taken by the government on the recommendations/observations of the committee in the report on Demands for Grants (2023-24) of the civil aviation ministry. Tata Group's Talace Pvt Ltd has acquired Air India, Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in Air India Airport Services Pvt Ltd (AISATS) through the disinvestment process. "The committee notes that the Enterprise Valuation method was adopted for inviting bids for disinvestment of Air India, which afforded the prospective bidders an opportunity to resize the balance sheet. The committee would like to know as t

DGCA implements new rules for powered hang gliders to enhance safety

On October 7, an infiltrator of Hamas, a terror group, used a motorised hang glider to enter Israel

Govt amends aircraft rules; commercial pilot license to be valid for 10 yrs

Commercial pilot licenses will now be valid for ten years, with the government amending rules as part of efforts to further improve ease of doing business in the aviation sector. Till now, the validity of Commercial Pilot License (CPL) was for five years and after completion of that period, it had to be renewed. The civil aviation ministry amended the Aircraft Rules, 1937. Among various changes made, the validity of licenses in relation to Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) and CPL holders has been increased from five years to ten years. "This change is expected to reduce administrative burden on pilots and aviation authorities like DGCA, promoting a more streamlined and efficient licensing process," the ministry said in a statement on Monday. Besides, rules have been amended to address concerns related to the display of lights in the vicinity of an aerodrome. It has also been clarified that the term 'light' encompasses lantern lights, wish kites, and laser lights. Also, the

On-time performance of all Indian carriers falls in September, shows data

An airline executive mentioned that key cities like Delhi and Mumbai experienced heavy rainfall on certain days in September, compelling the airlines to either cancel or postpone flights

90% of our MRO expenses directed to foreign firms: IndiGo to MoCA

Reach out to aircraft equipment makers to set up MROs in India: IndiGo to govt