Page 15 - Flights

Pilots' grouping seeks changes in fatigue management norms for flight crew

A grouping of pilots has sought changes in the norms regarding fatigue management for flight crew, saying the regulations should be based on scientific principles, operational knowledge and experience. Fatigue among pilots is a concern and there have been reports of pilots falling asleep while operating flights. A recent survey of 542 pilots by NGO Safety Matters Foundation showed 66 per cent of the respondents admitted that they have fallen asleep without planning/consent of the other crew or experienced micro sleep. The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), which represents pilots of narrow-body aircraft at Air India, has urged civil aviation regulator DGCA to do away with all the current regulations related to fatigue management for flight crew and formulate new norms. In a letter, dated September 12, written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the association also said that professionals, organisations and associations like ICPA should be involved while

IndiGo starts direct flights between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah in UAE

IndiGo, India's leading carrier, has started new daily direct flights between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) from Thursday

Flight operations at Mumbai airport to remain suspended for 6 hrs on Oct 18

Flight operations at Mumbai airport will remain suspended for six hours on October 18 for runway maintenance work, which is likely to hit passengers significantly, the private airport operator said on Thursday. Mumbai airport has two intersecting runways, the main runway 9/27 and secondary runway 14/32, which handle around 800 flights per day, making it the second busiest aerodrome after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The operator, Adani Group, said it has "planned a runway closure on October 18 from 11 am to 5 pm, for repair and maintenance work on both its runways", as part of its annual post-monsoon preventive maintenance exercise. During the closure period, the facility operator will carry out major work such as runway edge lights for runway 14/32, upgradation of AGL (aeronautical ground lights ), among others, it stated. CSMIA (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) said that in cooperation with key stakeholders, it has already rescheduled flights for

Akasa Air grounds B737 Max aircraft after noticing engine fuel leak

Carrier operating with three planes, will source spare parts to repair the engine fuel pump

Race for net-zero emissions: Indian airlines take off on sustainable fuel

GREEN DEAL: Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara ink MoU with CSIR-IIP for sustainable aviation fuel

'Abundant caution': Regulator extends cap on SpiceJet flights till Oct 29

Airline will have to demonstrate that it has the resources to fly more planes and it will continue under DGCA's 'enhanced surveillance'

Sky high: Flying during Diwali likely to cost 20-30% more this year

While ATF price has jumped 83% in Sept on a YoY basis, capacity deployed by airlines has also increased. Airlines flew 37% more flights and carried 50% more passengers last month compared to Aug '21

Akasa Air filled 53% seats in August, accounting for 0.2% market share

Top-6 carriers posted much higher seat occupancy; experts say not much can be read into Akasa's load factor as airline is at a very nascent stage

IndiGo's new CEO Pieter Elbers takes over, eyes 'new frontiers'

Known for his decisiveness, new chief will have his task cut out as domestic competition heats up

Air India to redesign flight schedules to improve OTP: CEO Wilson

Air India's on-time performance at four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai -- was 83 per cent in July: DGCA

IndiGo announces codeshare with Virgin Atlantic; to cover 7 cities in India

The codeshare will allow Virgin Atlantic passengers to book a single ticket to travel from London to Delhi or Mumbai, and then take IndiGo flight to these Indian cities

Recovery tracker: Workplace visits up 26%, vehicle registrations 2%

Fewer flights and air passengers in the latest week compared to the previous one

Delhi-bound Air India flight from Sydney makes emergency landing in Kolkata

A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Sydney made an emergency landing in Kolkata on Wednesday after a 50-year-old passenger complained of breathlessness, airport officials said. The flight with 159 passengers aboard was at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport for two hours from 4.50 PM till 6.50 PM before leaving for the national capital. The flyer was admitted to a hospital in Kolkata, they added.

British Airways trims more than 10,000 Heathrow flights; Gatwick ends cap

Mixed signals are emerging about travel in Europe heading into the winter season. British Airways is cutting more than 10,000 short-haul flights in and out of London's Heathrow Airport through March, while nearby Gatwick Airport is ending its limits on the number of daily flights. Major European airports have been chaotic this summer as people eager to travel after two years of COVID-19 restrictions ran up against staffing shortages, leading to long lines, baggage delays and flight cancellations. Airports like Heathrow, Amsterdam's Schiphol and Gatwick capped how many passengers could fly each day or the number of flights to ease the travel mayhem over the past few months. Gatwick said Monday that it wasn't renewing its daily flight limits, while Heathrow, Britain's largest airport, decided last week to extend its daily cap of 100,000 passengers through the end of October. Heathrow's extension led British Airways to cancel 629 round-trip short-haul flights over the next two ...

Akasa Air expects to operate over 150 weekly flights by September end

Akasa Air, which commenced services on the Bengaluru-Mumbai route on Friday, expects to operate more than 150 weekly flights by the end of September. The airline started operations on August 7 and now flies on three routes -- Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru-Kochi and Bengaluru-Mumbai. For now, the airline will operate two flights daily in each direction on the Bengaluru-Mumbai route. "Further expanding its operations on the Bengaluru-Mumbai route, the airline will commence one additional daily flight from August 30, 2022, and another from September 19, 2022," it said in a release. It will also start a new route connecting Bengaluru with Chennai from September 10. According to the carrier, it expects to cross 150 weekly flights by end of September. Akasa Air has already announced flights for six routes across five cities -- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Bengaluru and Chennai. Currently, the carrier has three planes and the third one was received on August 16. It plans to add one new airc

Recovery tracker: Flights soar, vehicle registrations near pre-Covid level

Power generation was lower than the previous week

DGCA issues guidelines to prevent hits by bird, other animals at airports

It said that all airport operators are requested to review their wildlife hazard management programme to identify the gaps and ensure its strict implementation in and in the vicinity of an aerodrome.

Vistara takes Dreamliner aircraft on lease to boost international ops

Vistara said it has taken a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on lease, which will help the airline increase its number of flights to Frankfurt and Paris

Akasa Air to launch daily flights on Chennai-Mumbai route from Sept 15

The airliner as part of pan-India network connectivity, would also add new routes between Ahmedabad and Bengaluru routes from August 23.

Jhunjhunwala's Akasa Air to take off from August 7; air ticket sales begin

Akasa Air will connect four cities in its first phase of operations, with flights connecting Bengaluru and Kochi beginning on August 13 with two daily flights.