Page 8 - Civil Aviation Sector

India needs over 2,500 new aircraft deliveries by 2042: Boeing outlook

Backed by high traffic growth, India will need more than 2,500 new aircraft deliveries by 2042, Darren Hulst, Boeing vice-president of Commercial Marketing said on Friday. Addressing a press conference, Hulst said to meet rising passenger and cargo demand, South Asian carriers are projected to quadruple the size of their fleets over the next two decades and they will require more than 2,705 new airplanes to address growth and fleet replacement. "Over 92 per cent of that (2,705) or over 2,500 (aircraft India will need) by 2042. It is based on the (forecast given in) middle of the last year," he told reporters. "We project that carriers here (South Asia including India) will need more than 2,700 aircraft deliveries by the year 2042," he said, adding a similar composition of the fleet with more than 2,300 single aisle, nearly 400 wide body aircraft for long haul. According to Boeing, India is the only large economy, a large market in Asia that has evolved to pre-pandemic levels both .

JetSetGo signs 280 hybrid-electric aircraft deal worth $1.3-bn with 3 firms

Air services operator JetSetGo has signed a 280 hybrid-electric aircraft deal, including 130 on option, worth over USD 1.3-billion with three global aviation tech firms. These planes can be deployed for airport transfers, regional connectivity, inter-city commute, intra-city shuttles and urban air taxis, JetSetGo said. The strategic collaboration with Electra.aero, Horizon Aircraft and Overair, was unveiled at the on-going mega aviation event Wings India 2024 in Hyderabad. "As part of the agreements signed this week, JetSetGo is set to acquire 150 aircraft for an aggregate deal value of USD 780 million. "The agreements include further options to acquire additional aircrafts for a potential fleet size of 280 to scale its innovative air mobility solutions, raising the overall deal value of above USD 1.3 billion," the company said. Advanced Air Mobility utilizes new aviation technologies like electric and hybrid-electric propulsion to enable air taxi-style services for short distance

Akasa Air announces commercial flight ops from upcoming Noida Airport

Akasa Air on Friday became the second airline to announce commercial flight operations from the upcoming Noida International Airport in Uttar Pradesh. IndiGo was the first airline to announce a tie-up with the greenfield airport, located near the national capital, for commercial services, according to a statement. A partnership agreement was signed between Akasa Air and Noida International Airport in Hyderabad on Friday on the sidelines of industry event 'Wings 2024', the statement said. "We are excited to welcome Akasa Air as our airline partner, marking a significant step forward as we progress towards airport opening. This partnership highlights our commitment to strengthen air connectivity in the Delhi-NCR and western Uttar Pradesh," Noida International Airport Chief Executive Officer Christoph Schnellmann said. "Akasa Air is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the country, and we are thrilled to have them join us on our mission to establish a comprehensive air network, ...

GMR Group, IndiGo tie up for digital transformation in Indian aviation

GMR Group and IndiGo Airlines on Thursday announced a strategic collaboration forming a digital consortium aimed at reshaping the landscape of the Indian aviation industry. A press release from GMR said the partnership brings together the diverse strengths of GMR's infrastructure expertise and IndiGo Airlines' innovative approach to air travel. The consortium will focus on deploying cutting-edge technologies to enhance operational efficiency, passenger experiences, and overall industry sustainability. While GMR Group and Indigo will be the founding partners of this industry consortium, the initiative aims to collaborate with multiple stakeholders of the aviation ecosystem to drive the key objectives of driving technological innovation, enhancing passenger services, achieving operational excellence, and embracing sustainable practices to minimize environmental impact. The key objectives of the consortium includes technological innovation, enhanced passenger services and operational .

Akasa Air, IndiGo, Air India order 1,120 planes in less than one year

With Akasa Air announcing an order for 150 aircraft on Thursday, three Indian carriers together have ordered a total of 1,120 planes in less than one year as they expand their presence in the country's fast growing civil aviation market. The less than two-year-old Akasa Air has placed a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 Max planes, comprising 737 Max 10 and 737 Max 8-200 jets. In 2023, which also saw domestic air traffic climbing new highs, Air India and IndiGo together placed orders for 970 planes with Boeing and Airbus. Tata Group-owned Air India ordered 470 planes -- 250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing -- in February last year. Later in June, the country's largest airline IndiGo announced an order with Airbus to buy 500 narrow-body planes. Now, Akasa Air, Air India and IndiGo together have placed orders for 1,120 planes since February last year. Besides these orders, Indian carriers are set to take deliveries of new planes that were ordered earlier. IndiGo alone has an order book o

Airbus signs agreement with Tata, Mahindra for aircraft components

Airbus on Thursday said it has signed contracts with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Mahindra Aerospace Structures Private Limited (MASPL) to procure commercial aircraft components. Under the contract, TASL and Mahindra Aerostructures will manufacture metallic detail parts, components and assemblies for Airbus' A320neo, A330neo and A350 programmes, a press release from Airbus said. The two companies are already among more than 100 India-based suppliers that provide components and engineering and digital services for various Airbus programmes. Airbus has made Make in India' front and centre of its strategy in the country. Our ambition is not only to support the growth of the Indian commercial fleet but also to grow the complete aerospace ecosystem here and that includes developing and strengthening manufacturing and engineering capabilities from our Indian partners, said Rmi Maillard, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia. Tata Advanced Systems and

Air passenger traffic in India likely to reach 300 mn by 2030: Scindia

The number of domestic passengers in India is expected to surge to 300 million annually by 2030 from 153 million in 2023, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. Speaking at the inaugural session of Wings India 2024, a civil aviation conclave and exhibition here, Scindia also said the number of airports, and waterports will increase to over 200 from the existing 149 in the country. With 300 million passengers a year in 2030, India's aviation penetration would be at 10 to 15 per cent and still be a potential market. He noted that the domestic air passenger traffic witnessed 15 per cent growth CAGR while that of international 6.1 per cent in the last decade. In the last 15 years, domestic cargo witnessed a growth of 60 per cent international at 53 per cent. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh and Telangana Minister K Venkat Reddy also spoke on the occasion.

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Aviation chaos: Fog pushes govt to hold midnight meet, set up war rooms

IndiGo, Mumbai airport slapped show-cause notices over security rule violations

Fog in North India causes flight delays, passengers express frustration

It always happens to other people. Or so I thought. Until my flight from balmy Kozhikode to fogged out Delhi was delayed thrice, took off at 12.35 am and then circled over the national capital for close to two hours before landing in almost zero visibility conditions. I reached home on Monday around 6 am, tired, cold, a little traumatised after the night-long ordeal and awake' to the realisation that I was one of the lucky ones. Hundreds of passengers, some old and ailing, others with babies and small children, were stuck at airports across the country with their flights delayed by up to 13 hours, diverted or simply cancelled. As a thick blanket of fog descends over much of north India, particularly Delhi, the very act of taking a flight is edged with uncertainty. It's an every-winter story and one that I featured in this year. Travelling with me on IndGo flight 6E 5912 that was delayed by three hours - the airline thankfully kept us in the loop with messages - were several ...

As passengers eat on airport tarmac, BCAS issues notice to IndiGo, MIAL

Aviation security watchdog BCAS has issued show cause notices to IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport tarmac on Sunday, according to official sources. Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday. Both IndiGo and MIAL were not proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport, as per the notices issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The sources said the aircraft was allotted a remote bay C-33 instead of a Contact Stand, an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate. This further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like rest rooms and refreshments

Fog delays: IndiGo passengers refuse to board coach, sit on tarmac

Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday. A short video clipping of the incident was shared on social media, following which Mumbai airport claimed that the airport operators in coordination with the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the CISF "cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone". An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline was looking into the incident and "sincerely apologised" to its customers. The flight that took off from Goa could not land at the Delhi airport due to dense fog, and was diverted to the Mumbai airport on Sunday. A significant number of flights were impacted at the Delhi airport on Sunday due to dense fog and low visibility conditions. "IndiGo flight 6E 2195 (Goa to Delhi) was diverted due to unfavourable weather conditions. As the flight was already significantly delayed in Goa, passengers

Public authorities can't claim relaxation in aviation safety: Bombay HC

Civil aviation safety norms cannot be relaxed even for a project by a public authority, the Bombay High Court held while dismissing the MHADA's petition against an order passed by the Union Ministry denying it permission to construct a 40-storey building near the airport here. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata on January 10 dismissed the petition filed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) against a decision taken by the appellate authority of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in December 2021 setting a height restriction for a residential building proposed near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The court, in its order, said the MHADA certainly cannot claim a legal, let alone constitutional, right to a taller building. "It cannot contend that civil aviation safety standards should not apply to it. It cannot contend that merely because this is an MHADA project, it exceeding a mandated height poses no danger to civi

'Hope airfares come to right sweet spot,' says Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan

Emphasising that airfare is a function of supply and demand, full-service carrier Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan has expressed hope that ticket prices will come to the "right sweet spot where customers will travel and airlines can make money". Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, currently, operates around 320 flights daily. To a query on concerns in certain quarters about air ticket prices going irrationally high, the airline CEO said the thing with airfares is that people complain when it goes high and no one compliments when it goes down. "There are times in the year due to seasonality...our fares in 2023 were even lower than 2022," he noted. During an interaction with PTI, Kannan said that certain measures are in place to ensure that airfares are not irrational, especially when there are natural calamities or when something unfortunate happens. In such situations, "we want to make sure that it is not a price-gouging opportunity," he said. "If you

India-Maldives row: Alliance Air starts additional flights to Lakshadweep

Amid the ongoing India-Maldives row, Alliance Air the only airline that operates to Lakshadweep has started additional flights

Civil aviation sector on upswing, 75 airports built in 10 years: Scindia

Earlier people only heard about airlines getting shut down in India, but now things have changed and new air carriers are being established to make flying accessible to citizens, Scindia said

UP to get 5 more airports: Scindia after flagging off Ayodhya-A'bad flight

Uttar Pradesh will have five more airports in the next one month that will take the total number of airports in the state to 19, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday as he flagged off direct flight from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad. The Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30. Scindia said that five new airports will be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh in one month. The airports will be at Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot and Shravasti, taking the total number of airports in the state to 19. IndiGo, which has started services between Ayodhya and Delhi from January 11, will operate flights between Ayodhya and Ahmedabad thrice a week. The carrier will commence operations on the Mumbai-Ayodhya route from January 15. Scindia flagged off the flight from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad virtually from the national capital. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state's Tourism and Culture

New airport for army, civilian aircraft in Lakshadweep's Minicoy on cards

From the military point of view, the airfield would give India a strong capability as it can be used as a base to keep an eye on the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region

Boeing CEO's 2024 comeback plan takes another blow with Alaska Air episode

The latest, most serious, mishap occurred on the evening of Jan. 5, when a door-shaped panel ripped out as an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 climbed out of Portland, Oregon

Full-service carrier Vistara confident of receiving Boeing 787 order by Apr

Indian full-service air carrier Vistara said on Monday it was confident of receiving its last 787 wide-body jet from Boeing by March or April