Page 3 - Directorate General Of Civil Aviation

DGCA issues license for Ambikapur airport to begin flight operations

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued the aerodrome license for Ambikapur airport in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district to start flight operations, officials said on Saturday. Maa Mahamaya Airport, Ambikapur, has been developed in the 3-C VFR category to expand air services in the state, a public relations department official said. An application, seeking a license to start air services from the airport, was submitted to the DGCA in December 2022. The aviation regulator on Friday granted the license to the state government for Ambikapur Airport, he said. With this, the state now has three licensed airports -- Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Ambikapur under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), he added. The license has paved the way for the operation of 72-seater flights from Ambikapur, he added. The state government has already been making efforts to start air service from Ambikapur Airport to Raipur, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Patna, and Ranchi. With the commencement of fl

DGCA sticks to June 1 deadline for revised flight duty norms for pilots

Aviation regulator DGCA has decided not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots and asked airlines to submit the revised schemes by April 15, according to a communication. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo, had written at least twice to the regulator seeking more time for implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms were issued on January 8. The new norms, to come into force from June 1, provide for rest time for pilots and seek to alleviate pilot fatigue. In a communication to the FIA, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that airlines have to take all necessary steps to roll out the revised FDTL CAR, with effect from June 1, 2024. Further, the carriers have been asked to ensure that the FDTL schemes in tune with the revised norms are submitted for approval by April 15. The revised norms provide for increased weekly rest time to 48 hours for

Domestic air traffic rises 4.8% to 12.64 mn in Feb, 155K faced delays

Domestic air traffic rose 4.8 per cent on an annual basis to 126.48 lakh in February, while more than 1.55 lakh passengers were affected by flight delays during the same period, according to official data released on Friday. In February, Air India's market share rose to 12.8 per cent from 12.2 per cent while that of IndiGo marginally dipped to 60.1 per cent from 60.2 per cent in January. The domestic air traffic climbed to 126.48 lakh in February compared to 120.69 lakh in the year-ago period, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. However, the traffic was less than 1.31 crore reported in January. "Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January - February 2024 were 257.78 lakh, as against 246.11 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year thereby registering an annual growth of 4.74 per cent and monthly growth of 4.80 per cent," DGCA said. As many as 1,55,387 passengers were affected due to flight delays in February and scheduled carriers shel

Goa-based airline FLY91 to start commercial services from March 18

Regional airline FLY91 will start commercial services from March 18, with flights connecting Goa to Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Besides, it will have flights to Sindhudurg from Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The Goa-based carrier plans to start flights to Lakshadweep from April, its chief Manoj Chacko said on Tuesday. The airline received its air operator permit from aviation regulator DGCA on March 6. At a briefing at the Mopa airport, FLY91 MD and CEO Manoj Chacko said the airline will have a total of six ATR 72-600 planes in six months. Currently, there are two aircraft in its fleet. "We aim to connect Bharat," Chacko said and added that initially, it will connect 13 city pairs. The carrier plans to start flights to Lakshadweep from April. In the next five years, FLY91 plans to have around 35 planes, connect 50 cities and 6 bases, Chacko said. The carrier, operated by Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd, seeks to enhance air connectivity across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Chacko said the airli

DGCA fines Air India Rs 30 lakh over failure to provide wheelchair

The 80-year-old passenger died of heart attack after he walked from plane to the terminal in Mumbai airport

Air India fined Rs 30 lakh over man's death after wheelchair unavailability

The man, in his 80s, died on February 12 after collapsing when he decided to walk after being told by Air India that the waiting time for the wheelchair was long due to heavy demand

Mumbai-bound flight returned to Delhi due to 'momentary foul smell': IndiGo

A Mumbai-bound IndiGo aircraft returned to the national capital on Friday morning, with the airline saying the plane came back as a precaution due to a "momentary foul smell". The flight 6E 449 returned to the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) sometime after take off. In a statement, IndiGo said there was a "momentary foul smell" and the pilot following standard operating procedures landed back in Delhi as a precaution. Specific details could not be immediately ascertained. "An alternate aircraft was arranged for the passengers. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to all the passengers," the airline said.

Does govt-backed DigiYatra store passengers' personal data? Centre explains

Digi Yatra uses facial recognition technology for entry and security clearance at various airports in India. The air travel online platform is voluntary

DGCA derosters pilots after IndiGo flight leaves without ATC clearance

The DGCA is currently investigating the incident on how the flight could take off without getting the ATC clearance, officials mentioned

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

DGCA increases rest time among other reforms to address pilot fatigue

The new reforms include weekly rest periods of 36-48 hours for flight crew, increasing the official "night period" by an hour, and limiting maximum flight time & duty periods to 8 hours and 10 hours

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

No adverse findings in Boeing 737 Max planes, says Akasa post-inspection

Akasa Air on Monday said it has completed a thorough inspection of its entire fleet of in-service Boeing 737 Max planes and that there are no adverse findings. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on January 5, directed domestic airlines to immediately carry out inspection of emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets as an "abundant precautionary measure" in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident. On January 4, an Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air and the aircraft involved was Boeing 737-9 Max. In a statement on Monday, Akasa Air said subsequent to the guideline issued by DGCA, it has completed a thorough inspection of its entire fleet of in-service Boeing 737 Max aircraft. "We can confirm that there are no adverse findings. We can also confirm that there was no disruption to our operations during this time," it said. Akasa Air has 22 Max planes in its fleet. Currently, there are more than 40 Boeing 737-

Steps being taken to deal with fog impacting flight operations: Scindia

Amid dense fog disrupting flight operations at the Delhi airport in the last few days, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said the ministry is coordinating with the airport and airlines, and putting in place measures to deal with the issue. Terming the fog issue as a "transitory phenomenon", the minister in an interview to PTI also said this year the situation has been slightly unprecedented in terms of the density of fog. Many flights were diverted and scores were delayed at the Delhi airport due to dense fog. "Fog issue is an issue that we encounter 15-20 days every year... this year, there has been unprecedented fog for the last three or four days. We are coordinating with all the airlines to make sure that they have CAT II and CAT III-trained pilots during fog hours, thereby easing congestion," Scindia said. CAT II and III requirement pertains to operating flights in low visibility conditions. The civil aviation ministry is monitoring the fog situation on a

Grounding 200 aircraft to have minimal impact on passenger traffic: Report

The likely grounding of 200 aircraft by March next year will have minimal impact on air passenger traffic, according to a report. Air passenger traffic is expected to reach about 375 million passengers, 1.09 times of pre-pandemic levels, in the current fiscal, the report by credit ratings agency CareEdge said. Research and advisory firm CAPA India had late last month said Indian airlines fleet continues to be severely constrained and close to 200 aircraft may go out of operations by the end of FY24 due to supply chain issues and maintenance purposes. "Despite the projection of around 200 aircraft being grounded by March 2024, the impact on traffic is expected to be minimal, at 3-4 per cent," CareEdge Ratings Director Maulesh Desai said. This is attributed to the extension of wet leases and an increase in passenger load, he said. Noting that passenger traffic will reach new heights in the next fiscal, with a healthy Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent from FY23 to F

London-bound British Airways flight returns to Delhi due to technical issue

A British Airways plane enroute to London returned to the national capital on Friday morning due to a technical issue, according to sources. The aircraft, which took off at around 0945 hours, returned soon due to fire indication lights. There were more than 200 people onboard, one of the sources said. As per information on flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight BA 142 was operated with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The source also said the flight was cancelled for the day. Further details could not be immediately ascertained.

New surveillance tech to reduce midair gap between aircraft from Jan 1

A reduction in lateral separation of aircraft will enable flight operators to take more direct routes, saving fuel in the process

DGCA rejects telcos' proposal to provide 5G services on airport premises

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated that the frequency can interfere with aircraft altimetre and cause disruptions

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