Page 10 - Civil Aviation Sector

Delhi airport to have full body scanners by May 2024, says BCAS chief

Full body scanners are expected to be installed at the Delhi airport by May 2024, a senior official said on Friday. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) Director General Zulfiquar Hasan also said that due to some provisioning issues, the deadline for installing full-body scanners and CTX scanners at certain airports will be extended. The deadline is to end on December 31. Once CTX (Computer Tomography X-ray) scanners are in place, passengers will not have to remove their electronic gadgets from baggage during security checks at airports.

IndiGo occupies sixth position in global mcap, surpassing United Airlines

On Wednesday, shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, ended 1.73 per cent higher at Rs 2,982.50 on BSE

Air India unveils new uniform collection designed by Manish Malhotra

Private carrier Air India on Tuesday unveiled its new collection of uniforms, designed by Manish Malhotra, for its cabin and cockpit crew. The new uniforms will be introduced in a phased manner over the next few months, starting with the entry of service of Air India's first Airbus A350 aircraft, the company said in a statement. "Air India's crew uniforms are amongst the world's most storied in aviation history, and we firmly believe that Manish Malhotra's innovative ensemble will script an exciting new chapter for Air India's future narrative," said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Air India. The crew's new uniform perfectly captures the essence of the airline's new identity, among others, he said. The female cabin crew attire features a ready-to-wear ombre saree with intricate patterns reminiscent of Indian heritage architecture (jharokha) and the Vista (new Air India logo icon), paired with a comfortable blouse and blazer, Air India said. "My ai

SpiceJet board okays Rs 2,250 crore fundraising from 64 investors

Airline slips back to loss in second qtr

SpiceJet-Wilmington Trust SP Services in deadlock over rental agreement

Spicejet said that as per the repayment schedule of arrears they received, the total amount due from February to December alone was $1,560,011

Scindia discusses airfares, ways to improve airlines' on-time performance

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday reviewed the self-monitoring mechanism for airfares put in place by individual airlines and emphasised keeping fares in check on select routes. During an advisory group meeting, there were discussions on airlines' on-time performance (OTP), and the minister instructed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to relook technical specifications at VFR-equipped (Visual Flight Rules) airports to help enhance OTP, according to an official release. Scindia held a meeting with the airline advisory group that was attended by representatives of various carriers, including Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan. In a post on social media platform X, Scindia said that he met the advisory group to discuss solutions to enhance on-time performance and "airfares on a few sectors, and in-house practices followed by each airline". Specific details about the discussion on airfares and the particular routes could not be immediately ascertained. There have been

Domestic airlines reported 406 instances of malfunctioning in Jan-Nov 2023

Domestic airlines reported 406 instances of aircraft malfunctioning in the first 11 months of this year, according to the government. Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh shared the data in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday. From January to November 2023, IndiGo reported 233 instances of aircraft malfunctioning, while SpiceJet reported 44 such cases. Air India reported 52 instances of malfunctioning of aircraft, followed by the now-grounded Go First (22), Akasa Air (20), AirAsia (India) Ltd (15), Vistara (13), Fly Big (5) and BlueDart Aviation (2). In 2022, these airlines had reported 542 instances of malfunctioning of aircraft. "Technical snags in aircraft are caused due to improper function/malfunction of components/accessories fitted on the aircraft," the minister said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has laid down regulations under Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), which requires that the aircraft is maintained in accordance with the ...

SpiceJet, IndiGo among seven airlines owing more than Rs 95 crore to AAI

Seven airlines, including Alliance Air, SpiceJet, IndiGo and Emirates, together have pending dues of more than Rs 95 crore to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), according to the government. Other foreign airlines that have pending dues are Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd, British Airways Plc and Qatar Airways, as per data provided to the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The figures exclude interest and take into account only dues that are over Rs 1 crore pending for more than one year as of November 30, 2023. As per the data provided by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in a written reply, three domestic carriers -- Alliance Air, SpiceJet and IndiGo together owe Rs 86.89 crore to the AAI. Out of them, the maximum dues amount is that of Alliance Air at Rs 83.38 crore, followed by SpiceJet (Rs 2.13 crore) and IndiGo (Rs 1.38 crore). Among the four foreign airlines, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has the highest dues of Rs 4.02 crore, followed by British Airways (Rs 1.85 crore), Emirat

Mumbai airport handled the highest-ever 4.46 mn passengers in November

On 25 November, the airport experienced peak activity, recording a footfall of 167,132 passengers. This figure comprises 120,000 domestic and more than 46,000 international passengers

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

Number of air passengers has gone up from 60 mn in 2014 to 145 mn now: Govt

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said the number of air passengers has gone up from six crore in 2014 to 14.5 crore at present and added that airfares are competitive with the railway AC first class fares. The minister was asked about rising airfares during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. Scindia said that the civil aviation sector is a deregulated sector and despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising jet fuel cost, airfares have not increased in the same proportion. "There were only six crore travellers in 2014. In the last nine years, this number has gone up to 14.5 crore," Scindia said. He said airfare today is competitive with the fare of the AC First Class of the Indian Railways. "We estimate, by 2030, there will be 42 crore air passengers and the sector will grow three times," he said. IUML MP E T Mohd Basheer asked the minister about the rise in fares during holiday and festival seasons and in case of natural calamities, and said tha

India set to become most exciting civil aviation market, says IATA director

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that airline revenues globally will rise in 2024 as the sector is witnessing continued growth in post-pandemic travel

Air India changes aircraft order with Airbus, cites 'business requirements'

Indian carrier had placed order for 250 planes with European manufacturer

Airline industry projected to record $25.7 billion net profit in 2024: IATA

The airline industry is projected to register a net profit of USD 25.7 billion in 2024 as more normal growth is expected in both passenger and cargo segments, global grouping IATA said on Wednesday. For 2023, the net profit is estimated at USD 23.3 billion, significantly higher than the USD 9.8 billion projected by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June this year. IATA has more than 300 airlines as members. The airline industry's operating profit is expected to touch USD 49.3 billion in 2024 from USD 40.7 billion this year. In 2024, the total revenue is estimated to grow 7.6 per cent to USD 964 billion compared to 2023. "Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, a historic high that exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 4.5 billion recorded in 2019," IATA said. Industry passenger load factor is nearing its 2019 level, which is supporting the financial recovery of the airlines, IATA Director Policy and Economics Andrew Matters said. "The airline indus

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

With UDAN scheme, 130,000 passengers have travelled by air: Scindia

As many as 1.30 lakh passengers, including those who could never dream of travelling by air, have travelled due to the UDAN scheme and the aviation sector is set to be the 'backbone' of transportation in the country, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed Rajya Sabha on Monday. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, the minister said as of today 2.75 lakh flights have operated in India due to the viability gap funding that has been proposed and given by the central government under UDAN. The minister also told the House that the aviation sector has taken steps to ensure the safety and security of passengers, especially the elderly in case of any complain of ill-treatment. Responding to a question by independent member Kartikeya Sharma during Question Hour, the minister said 517 routes are in force under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik). He assured the member that safety and security of passengers is the priority and said the aviation regulator DGCA keeps a tr

AAI saving nearly Rs 515 cr annually from leasing out of six airports

Airports Authority of India (AAI) is saving around Rs 515 crore annually in terms of running cost of six airports that have been on lease under the public private partnership since 2018, according to the civil aviation ministry. Six airports -- Mangaluru, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati -- were leased out under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in 2018. At the present valuation, AAI has incurred an expenditure of around Rs 2,767 crore at these six airports prior to handing over them to the PPP concessionaire. The cost included capital work in progress and Regulated Asset Base (RAB) in aeronautical and non-aeronautical assets. "As per the concession agreement of 6 PPP airports, the concessionaire has paid this amount in the form of upfront fee. This amount is subject to the requisite reconciliation, true-up and final determination by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) of the quantum of such investment," Minister of State for Civil .

Penetration of international air travel remains low in India: CAPA

Even as India has become the third largest market in terms of domestic traffic, the penetration of international air travel remains low, CAPA India chief Kapi Kaul said on Friday. He also pitched for regulatory reforms, saying if corrective measures are not taken, the capacity pipeline will reduce further. "In terms of domestic traffic, we have reached number 3. But in terms of international (traffic), we are ranked at 18. In spite of being the third-largest domestic market, the penetration of (international) air travel remains lowest among the top 20 domestic markets," Kaul said. He was delivering the keynote address at a function organised here by Tata Memorial Trust to mark the 119th birth anniversary of JRD Tata. Kaul said India's seats per capita consumption stands at 0.13, whereas the same for a country like Australia is as much as 3.11. The long-term fundamentals for growth are very strong, he said, adding that "we have only searched the surface of international travel. We

Air India completes title transfer of fourth A350 aircraft, says CEO

Air India has completed the title transfer of its fourth A350 aircraft, and it is scheduled to arrive in February 2024. The Tata Group-owned carrier expects the first A350-900 aircraft to arrive in India this month. "On the aircraft front, we completed the title transfer of our fourth A350 aircraft last week, which is scheduled to arrive in February 2024 after livery changes and modifications. "We also took delivery of another two A320 neos that will commence service in December," Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said in his weekly message to the staff on Friday. He also said a brand new A350 of Air India and B737 Max of Air India Express in their new liveries will be featured at the Wings India conference in Hyderabad in January. The airline has ordered six A350-900 planes and five of them are scheduled for delivery through March 2024. Apart from these, the airline's firm orders for 470 new aircraft include 34 A350-1000s, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777Xs, 140 A320

India projected to see domestic air passenger traffic of 155 mn in FY24

India is projected to see a domestic air passenger traffic of around 155 million in the current financial year while the number of grounded aircraft of the domestic carriers is expected to be around 200, according to a report released on Monday. Aviation advisory firm CAPA India said the international air passenger traffic is anticipated to be about 70 million in the year ending March 2024. "Domestic air traffic in FY2024 has remained above FY2020 levels in every month to date, although the strength of recovery has eased in the last couple of months. "Since May 2023, international traffic has remained largely in line with FY2020 but is expected to move ahead in the remainder of the year," it said. In its March report, CAPA India had estimated domestic air passenger traffic at more than 160 million and international air passenger traffic at 72-75 million. As per the report, overall industry profitability is expected to be largely in line with our initial guidance of a loss of USD .