Page 2 - Civil Aviation Sector

Black box of crashed AI plane is in India, being examined by AAIB: Minister

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said the black box of the Air India plane which crashed in Ahmedabad earlier this month was being examined by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, and dismissed speculation that it would be sent abroad for an inquiry. The London-bound Air India flight crashed into a hostel complex in Ahmedabad moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport there on June 12 afternoon, killing 270 persons, including 241 on board. One passenger survived. The black box of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane was recovered from the site on June 13. A black box is a small device that records information about an aircraft during its flight. It helps in the investigation of aviation accidents. Asked about some media reports suggesting the black box would be sent abroad for a probe into the incident, Naidu said, "...it is all speculation. The black box is very much in India and it it currently being investigate

DGCA suspends 3 crew rostering heads, warns A-I of licence revocation

DGCA suspends three crew rostering officials and warns of future licence action as safety lapses and operational rule breaches emerge after AI171 crash investigation

Civil Aviation ministry issues new rules to remove obstacles near airports

The draft, titled Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 2025, was issued on June 18 and will come into force once published in the Official Gazette

Govt sets up high-level panel to examine causes for Air India plane crash

A high-level multi-disciplinary committee, headed by the Union home secretary, will examine the causes that led to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, and also suggest comprehensive guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future. The civil aviation ministry said the committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations. The panel "will focus on formulating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future, and will publish its report in three months, the ministry said. On June 12, a London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed soon after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport, killing 241 people on board, and several others on the ground as it plunged into a medical college complex. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is already probing the fatal crash. Chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, the panel has the civil aviation secretary and the additional secretar

Datanomics: Tragic Air India crash renews focus on aviation safety

Engineering faults remain the most common cause of aircraft incidents including accidents and other mishaps

Airbus sees supply chain stability, targets 75 A320s per month by 2027: CCO

Airbus aims to boost A320 family aircraft production rate to 75 per month by 2027 as supply chain stabilises, says Chief Commercial Officer Benoît de Saint-Exupery

Delhi HC reserves verdict on Turkish firm Celebi's plea on airport contract

The single-judge bench, hearing Celebi's pleas against revocation of security clearance, has asked the petitioners as well as the Union government to file their written submissions by Monday

Çelebi files plea in Delhi HC against revoking of its security clearance

Turkish firm Çelebi says it will challenge the revocation of security clearance and termination of agreements in India through all administrative and legal remedies

AERA sets new tariffs, differential UDF for intl flyers from Mumbai airport

Regulator AERA has fixed differential User Development Fee (UDF) for economy and business class passengers on international flights from Mumbai airport, while the fee for departing domestic passengers has been set at Rs 175. The revised tariffs have been finalised by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) for the period from May 16, 2025 to March 31, 2029. In a move to ensure equitable allocation of aeronautical charges among all concerned stakeholders, it has been decided that the UDF for domestic passengers will be Rs 175 per departing domestic passenger, which will remain constant throughout the 'fourth control' period, the regulator said in a release on Thursday. Earlier, a charge of Rs 120 per departing domestic passenger was levied till August 2024 in the form of development fees. "The UDF for international passengers has been rationalised with a differential rate for economy and business class travelers. The UDF for the international departing passenger i

Air India explores new routes for North America flights amid airspace curbs

Air India is looking at various alternatives for its North America flights from the national capital, including operating the services with a technical stop in a city within India, to reduce operational costs that have shot up due to the Pakistan airspace closure, sources said on Friday. Currently, Tata Group-owned Air India operates 71 flights a week to North American destinations and out of them, 54 services are from the national capital. The airline flies to Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco, and Newark in the US, and to Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. In his message to the staff on Friday, Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson said there have been a number of network-related developments and the airline has temporarily adjusted some of its Europe and US routes in response to recent airspace restrictions, as well as adding a few technical stops. "We have made good progress in identifying other alternatives so aim to reduce the number of overseas tech-stops, and restor

AAIB to launch detailed data analysis system for aircraft incidents

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) plans to put in place a system for carrying out granular analysis of incidents and accidents involving planes in the Indian airspace based on various parameters. Coming under the civil aviation ministry, AAIB is responsible for classification of safety occurrences involving aircraft operating in the Indian airspace into accidents, serious incidents, and incidents. It carriers out detailed investigations into accidents and also suggests measures to improve safety. A senior official told PTI that AAIB will be procuring the software for carrying out granular analysis of data. The data related to occurences, including incidents and accidents, can be analysed on the basis of various parameters like the time period, hard landings, airfields, operators and aircraft type, the official said. The official also said such an analysis will be helpful in preventing possible incidents in the future. For instance, if the analysis shows that there are

Air India asked me to fly in broken seat or get refund: Goa AAP leader

Goa AAP president Amit Palekar on Friday evening claimed Air India told him that his seat on a Delhi to Seoul flight was broken, and he could either choose to fly or take a refund, which prompted the airline to respond that it was "reviewing his concern". Palekar shared a post and video on X about his experience. "I am at the counter (at the Delhi airport) and I have been told by the staff...that my confirmed seat is unserviceable, it does not recline. I have to give a consent, which is a kind of forced consent because I have no other choice but to fly because I have connecting flights....and Air India is saying either we will give you complete refund and you choose another option, or you fly this seat which is a broken seat," he said in the video. In his post, Palekar wrote, "Welcome to @airindia. This is a common feature for those flying on Air India to face this ordeal of being told that your seat is not reclining or broken after paying full fare." "This is my third time. I ...

Aviation industry falling behind on net zero target, warns IATA chief

Walsh criticised fuel companies as the "cause of the problem", saying they had ignored their own SAF supply promises

India will need 30,000 pilots in 15-20 years, says aviation minister

India will need 30,000 pilots in the next 15-20 years as domestic airlines have more than 1,700 planes on order as they expand their network, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Tuesday. Asserting that the ministry is working with a collective approach for the aviation industry, he also said that officials are verifying various aspects of 38 Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) and these organisations will be rated. The minister was speaking at a function to mark the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for an order for 200 trainer aircraft. Indian airlines have placed orders for more than 1,700 aircraft and currently, there are over 800 planes, Naidu said. Presently, there are 6,000-7,000 working pilots and the country will need 30,000 pilots in the next 15 to 20 years, the minister said and also pitched for making India a training hub. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets. According to the minister, efforts are being made to

'Polythene bags, rags…': What clogged lavatories on Air India flight

AI126 from Chicago to Delhi returned to the US city on March 6. The company then stated that the flight was returned because of a technical issue

AI Express adds 100th plane in fleet; aims at 500 daily flights by Mar-end

Air India Express now has 100 planes in its fleet by inducting another Boeing 737-8 aircraft, which operated its first flight on Bengaluru-Hindon route. In a release on Monday, the airline said it will be operating over 500 daily flights by the end of this month across a fast-expanding network of 54 destinations across India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. From a fleet of 26 Boeing 737 NGs and 28 A320 aircraft in January 2022, when the airline was taken over by the Tata Group, the carrier's has almost doubled its fleet to 100 aircraft, according to the release. The 100th aircraft, featuring 'Chittara' tail art inspired by Karnataka's traditional mural painting, was flagged off by the airline's Managing Director Aloke Singh at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. "In just over three years since privatisation, we integrated and merged the LCC (low cost carrier) airlines, while scaling up rapidly with a modern and fuel-efficient fleet, broad basing our domestic network,

Govt to set up SPV for making aircraft in India: Civil aviation minister

The government is in the process of setting a special purpose vehicle for making regional transport aircraft, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday as he asserted that necessary policies are in place for India to manufacture planes and its components. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, the minister highlighted the steps taken by the government to promote aircraft component manufacturing and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) activities, including having a uniform IGST rate. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and domestic carriers have placed orders for more than 1,500 planes as they expand their fleets to meet rising air traffic demand. "We have changed the thought process that we have when it comes to manufacturing of aircraft. We are saying that India is at the stage right now where we can manufacture, we can design and we can maintain an aircraft," Naidu said. Elaborating about the way forward, the minister said the ..

Not in discussions for ventures with other airlines at present: flydubai

Gulf carrier flydubai on Monday said it continuously looks for opportunities to organically grow its network in India and is not in any discussions for ventures with other airlines at present. The statement comes against the backdrop of reports that the airline along with Busy Bee Airways might be looking at buying the assets of grounded Go First. Meanwhile, Nishant Pitti, the majority shareholder in Busy Bee Airways, on Monday said there are no discussions with flydubai. India has always been a very important market for flydubai, an airline spokesperson said in the statement and added that it continuously looks for opportunities to grow the network organically in India. "We are not currently in any discussions for ventures with other airlines. If this changes in the future, an official announcement will be made," the spokesperson said. On January 20, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered the liquidation of Go First, the budget carrier that stopped flying nearly two yea

Aircraft tech glitches reported by Indian airlines fall in last 3 yrs: Govt

The number of technical glitches in aircraft reported by various Indian airlines has reduced in the last three years, with the count at 273 for 10,69,680 flights operated during the period from January 2024 to January 2025. In 2023, there were 390 technical faults reported for 11,94,777 flights operated that year. In 2022, the number stood at 723 for 9,97,041 flights operated in that particular year, official data showed on Monday. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the data available for the last three years (2022-2024) shows there was a decrease in the number of technical glitches reported by the airlines. Technical snags are general phenomena in aircraft which may be caused due to improper function/malfunction of components/ system/ accessories fitted on the aircraft, he said in a written reply. Separately, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the government has been encouraging the development of the ecosystem for the manufacturing of aircraft, .

DGCA imposes Rs 30 lakh penalty on Air India for regulatory norms violation

Aviation safety regulator DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Tata Group-owned Air India for allegedly allowing one of its pilots to operate a flight without complying with certain regulatory requirements. The DGCA in order of January 29 also said that it has found "recurrent rostering issues...," about the airline. The order to slap penalty came after the response of a show-cause notice to Air India's head of operations and head of rostering, among other executives, on December 13, 2024 was found "unsatisfactory." The pilot "operated a flight on 7th July despite not having the mandatory recency requirement of 3 take off and landings, leading to violation of para 3 of civil aviation requirement," the regulator said in its order. Air India did not respond to a PTI query on this issue. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its order also said that "the (rostering) controllers (at Air India) overlooked the multiple spurious alerts reflecting on CAE window, as pe