Page 2 - Civil Aviation Sector

One-third of our traffic comes via A-I links: Air India Express MD

Air India Express currently has a one-way codeshare partnership with its parent airline. This allows Air India to sell seats on Air India Express flights through its own booking channels

Pilots' body urges DGCA to revoke extended duty hours for Dreamliner crew

Pilots' body ALPA India on Sunday urged aviation watchdog DGCA to withdraw the flight duty time extension for two-pilot Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operations, saying the decision creates a "scenario ripe for fatigue induced errors". For the Boeing 787, two-man flight crew operations, the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) has been increased to 10.30 hours from 10 hours and the Flight Duty Period (FDP) to 14.00 hours from 13 hours. FDP refers to the time duration when a flight crew member is on duty for operating an aircraft and ends when a plane comes to rest at the end of the flight. Tata Group-owned Air India operates Dreamliners. In a letter to the regulator, Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) said the whole idea of formulating a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on FDTL was based on extensive research and scientific study on human fatigue and its operational consequences. "The present deviation gives the impression that the DGCA is placing greater considerati

Direct Kolkata-Guangzhou flights resume after four-year suspension

After a hiatus of over four years, direct flights between Kolkata and China's Guangzhou city will resume on Sunday, with the first one scheduled to take off at 10 pm, said an official at the NSCBI airport here. Direct flights were operational between the two countries till early 2020 before being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The services remained suspended in view of the eastern Ladakh border row. Following recent diplomatic initiatives, private carrier IndiGo said it will resume services to China, connecting Kolkata to Guangzhou with daily, non-stop flights, starting October 26. "The first flight is scheduled to leave Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 10 pm today," the official said.

Etihad not seeking airline stakes, focuses on organic growth: CEO Neves

Antonoaldo Neves says aircraft supply, not market access, is the bigger challenge; India accounts for 20% of Etihad's business.

DGCA steps in to check festive airfare surge, asks airlines to add flights

Following discussions with airlines, the regulator said carriers have committed to deploying extra capacity to meet higher travel demand

IndiGo to start Manchester, Bali, Krabi flights from Delhi this month

The Manchester service will be operated with wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and marks the start of IndiGo's long-haul operations from Delhi

Seaplane services to restart on 2 routes by Oct: Civil aviation minister

The Civil Aviation Ministry will restart seaplane operations on at least two routes in India by October, Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said here on Monday. Addressing the Eastern Region Civil Aviation Ministers' Conference, Naidu said, "Seaplane operation was there once, but it was limited to a single route. The government has simplified the guidelines to operate seaplanes, and we hope that by October, we will have two seaplanes in the country operating either on the Andaman & Nicobar, Kerala, or Andhra Pradesh network." He added that the service could also be extended to Odisha's Chilika Lake and the entire eastern coast. "The service can be started on any water body where you have more than five feet depth and 200 metres of landing space," he said. Naidu said the norms for setting up a waterdrome, training pilots, and the rules and regulations governing seaplane operations have been simplified. He urged airline operators present at the conference to explore the opportunity, ...

Civil aviation minister hails AAIB for initial report on Air India crash

Naidu further stated that pilots and crew are the backbone of the aviation industry and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to uphold safety standards

BAOA seeks govt assistance as Mumbai airport plans to end pvt jet parking

Business Aircraft Operators Association has sought the civil aviation ministry's intervention to reverse Mumbai airport's decision to evict private jet operators from the airport's parking facilities by July 31, saying the proposed terms are prohibitive. Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), part of Adani group, is operating the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the city. In a letter to Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, BAOA's Managing Director R K Bali said CSMIA is a public asset and public assets should be available to all stakeholders in a fair and equitable manner without any discrimination. "The terms now sought to be imposed by MIAL upon the GA/BA operators are prohibitive and make the entire operation unviable and are intended to oust the GA/BA operators from the asset. Accordingly, it is crucial for MoCA to intervene and uphold legal and policy safeguards for the GA/BA sector in India," the letter, dated July 9, said. BAOA represents

Ahmedabad crash: AAIB submits initial report to Ministry of Civil Aviation

According to the Ministry, the Crash Protection Module from the front black box was safely retrieved, and on June 25, memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab

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