Page 2 - Flights

Pilots union accuses DGCA of defying court orders on flight duty time

Federation of Indian Pilots warns of contempt plea after DGCA relaxes night duty limits under new flight duty time norms despite High Court directions

Flights to Los Angeles airport halted amid air traffic controller shortage

The Federal Aviation Administration said flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted Sunday morning due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world's busiest airports soon after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travellers would see more flights delayed and cancelled in the coming days as the nation's air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. During an appearance on the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures, Duffy said more controllers were calling in sick as money worries compound the stress of an already challenging job. Just yesterday, ... we had 22 staffing triggers. That's one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began. And that's a sign that the controllers are wearing thin, he said. The FAA said planes headed for Los Angeles were held at their originating airports starting at .

US warns flight delays may worsen as government shutdown enters 23rd day

Air traffic control has become a flashpoint in the debate over the shutdown with both parties blaming the other. Unions and airlines have urged a quick end to the standoff

China Eastern Airlines to resume Shanghai-Delhi flights from Nov 9

Direct air connectivity between India, China will be restored after more than five years, starting October 26, with IndiGo resuming its flights connecting Kolkata and Guangzhou

American Airlines flight returns after false alarm of cockpit breach

Pilots aboard a commercial jet mistakenly thought someone was trying to breach the cockpit on Monday, leading the flight to return to the Omaha airport less than 40 minutes after departing for Los Angeles. The misunderstanding on American Airlines Flight 6469 came about because the intercom that pilots and flight attendants use to speak to each other had been left on by accident, an American Airlines spokesperson said. The pilots heard some static sound over this intercom and they mistakenly thought it meant someone was trying to break in. The flight was operated by SkyWest, which flies regional routes for American and other airlines. The plane was an Embraer ERJ 175, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The Omaha Airport Authority said there was no security-related incident at the airport.

Akasa Air to boost domestic, international flights; Delhi becomes 3rd base

Three-year-old airline Akasa Air on Friday said it will be increasing services on domestic and international routes, including the introduction of non-stop services to Abu Dhabi from Cochin and Chennai. Delhi will be the airline's third operational base after Bengaluru and Chennai, and the airline will operate over 165 weekly departures from the national capital. Besides Delhi, the carrier will be enhancing services from Kolkata. "The airline will further expand its footprint across the Middle East with a 14 per cent increase in departures from Abu Dhabi, introducing non-stop flights connecting Abu Dhabi to Cochin and Chennai...and strengthening its codeshare partnership with Etihad Airways. "Departures from Jeddah will increase to 26 weekly flights, an around 270 per cent increase from Winter 2024, while frequency to Riyadh will be ramped up to 5x weekly," it said in a release. With a fleet of 30 Boeing 737 MAX planes, Akasa Air currently connects 24 domestic and 6 international

Aircraft lands safely after windshield cracks ahead of its Chennai arrival

A crack in the windshield of an aircraft belonging to a private airline carrying 76 passengers from Madurai was detected by the pilot ahead of its landing at the airport here on Saturday, authorities said. The pilot noticed the crack in the front glass and informed the Air Traffic Controller at the airport here. On receipt of the information, arrangements were made at the airport and the plane landed safely, they said. The aircraft was taken to a separate bay (Bay No 95) for parking and passengers later safely disembarked. Currently, arrangements are being made to replace the windshield, they said. The cause of the incident is not yet known, they said. Due to the incident, the flight's return journey to Madurai has been cancelled, they added.

Akasa Air plane flying from Pune to Delhi suffers bird hit; lands safely

An Akasa Air aircraft flying from Pune to Delhi suffered a bird hit on Friday and landed safely in the national capital. The plane is being examined by the engineering team and will be released for service after a thorough inspection, an airline spokesperson said in a statement to PTI. "Akasa Air flight QP 1607 flying from Pune to Delhi on 10th October 2025 experienced a bird hit. The aircraft landed safely and all passengers and crew members were deplaned," the spokesperson said. Details regarding the number of passengers were not disclosed. The flight, operated with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, landed in the national capital little past 10 am on Friday, according to information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. The aircraft that suffered the bird hit was scheduled to operate the flight from Delhi to Goa. This service was delayed by a few hours as another plane was deployed for the route, according to sources.

Resuming direct flights with India positive move to improve ties: China

China on Thursday described the resumption of direct flights with India after a five-year hiatus as a positive step, saying it demonstrated that both countries are "faithfully acting" on the understandings reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to strengthen bilateral ties. Speaking at a media briefing, the first since the Chinese Foreign Ministry resumed its regular schedule following the eight-day national holidays, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the flights would resume by the end of October. India had announced on October 2 that direct flights to China would resume from October 26. This is the latest move that demonstrates how the two countries are faithfully acting on the important common understanding between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin on Aug 31, Guo said in response to a question. Modi and Xi had met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin and welcomed the positive ..

IndiGo to boost connectivity to UK with increased flights to Manchester

Additionally, IndiGo has recently announced the launch of direct, daily flights to London Heathrow from Mumbai, effective October 26, 2025

British Airways plans third London-Delhi flight to boost air connectivity

British Airways plans to start an additional flight connecting London and Delhi in 2026 as the airline looks to increase air connectivity between India and the UK, with the free trade agreement set to boost economic activities. The airline, which has been flying into India for more than 100 years, made the announcement on Wednesday as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is leading the 'Britain Means Business' trade mission to the country. The trip to Mumbai follows the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries in July. "The airline will introduce a third daily flight between London Heathrow and Delhi in 2026, subject to regulatory and capacity approval. "The popular First cabin will return on flights from London to Mumbai this month with the latest business class Club Suite on select flights across all five Indian routes by the end of 2026," the airline said in a release on Wednesday. Currently, British Airways operates 56 weekly flights connecting London with f

SpiceJet launches daily non-stop Diwali flights from Ayodhya to 4 cities

Flights from Mumbai are also under consideration to further enhance connectivity during the upcoming festive and winter season

India-China direct flights to resume from October 26 after 5-year freeze

IndiGo will resume nonstop flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou from October 26

Airline operations disrupted as Delhi NCR witnesses heavy downpour

Several airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet, posted travel advisories and weather updates on their official handles

Noida Airport to begin operations after Diwali; foreign airlines in talks

The Noida International Airport (NIA), being developed as a greenfield aviation hub in Jewar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, is on track to begin operations by the end of this year. Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu recently told reporters that the airport would be inaugurated on October 30 and flight operations begin within next 45 days with 10 routes. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also reiterated the airport's commercial flight operations to commence by 2025 end. Billed to be India's largest airport upon full development before 2050, the project -- which started in 2019 and saw COVID-19 pandemic too -- was initially scheduled to launch operations in September 2024. The airport, which is being developed in four phases, has completed key aeronautical infrastructure for Phase 1, including one runway and one passenger terminal with an annual capacity to handle 12 million passengers. Technical installations and finishing works inside the terminal are underway, wh

Air India Express to launch direct Bengaluru-Bangkok flights from Oct 18

The airline already connects Bangkok with Lucknow, Pune, and Surat, and operates direct flights between Hyderabad and Phuket

AI Express Delhi-Indore flight lands safely after mid-air engine fault

A Delhi-Indore Air India Express flight having 161 passengers on board on Friday suffered a mid-air engine fault, with the pilot making a 'PAN-PAN' call to indicate non-life-threatening emergency, but the aircraft landed safely at the airport here with a delay of 20 minutes, an official said. The aircraft landed at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore and everyone on board was safe, he said. "After receiving information about a technical fault in one of the engines of the Air India Express plane coming from Delhi to Indore, we took all precautions and the aircraft landed at Indore airport at 9.55 am. As per the schedule, it was supposed to land at the Indore airport at 9.35 am," Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Director Vipinkant Seth told PTI. The crew of this plane with flight number IX 1028 and all 161 passengers on board are completely safe, he said. Seth said that the pilot of the plane sent a 'PAN-PAN' signal to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) after which fire and medical .

IATA proposes raising age limit for commercial pilots to 67 years globally

Global airlines' grouping IATA has proposed increasing the upper age limit to 67 years for pilots who are operating multi-pilot commercial flights. Amid a shortage of available pilots compared to the rising demand spurred by aviation sector growth, the proposal has been made by IATA to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 350 airlines worldwide, including Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet. In a working paper titled 'Proposal to Raise the Multi-Pilot Commercial Air Transport Pilot Age Limit to 67 years', IATA said the growth of the aviation industry worldwide is causing the demand for pilots to outstrip supply. "Raising CAT (Commercial Air Transport) pilot age limits to allow more pilots to continue to work is aligned with 15 of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the initiative of the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) Programme to ensure a suffici

Flight operations to Leh affected due to bad weather: Delhi Airport

Due to bad conditions in Leh, flight operations to the destination have been affected, said Delhi Airport said in the passenger advisory

InterGlobe-CAE to open new pilot training centre in Mumbai by 2026

A joint venture of InterGlobe Enterprises and Canadian flight simulation firm CAE on Tuesday announced plans to set up a pilot training centre in the financial capital as it looks to cash in on the boom in the domestic aviation sector and to cater to the increasing demand for cockpit crew in the country. The new facility centre, to be spread over a 44,000 square-foot area, will have a capacity for up to six full-flight simulators (FFS). It will begin operations in the first quarter of CY 2026 with two Airbus A320 FFS, CAE Simulation Training Pvt Ltd (CSTPL) said. The JV already operates three commercial aviation training centres, one each in Greater Noida, Gurugram and Bengaluru, with a capacity of up to 23 FFS. The new facility will also offer comprehensive pilot training programmes on Airbus, ATR and Boeing aircraft, including type rating, recurrent training, and proficiency checks. CAE's 2025 Aviation Talent Forecast predicts a demand of 98,000 for new pilots in the Asia Pacific