Page 7 - Flights

CCPA directs Yatra to expedite refunds of flight cancellation during Covid

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has ordered online travel agency Yatra to speed up pending refunds for flight cancellations during the COVID-19 lockdown, the consumer affairs ministry said on Tuesday. In its June 27 order, the CCPA directed Yatra to establish five dedicated seats at the National Consumer Helpline to contact remaining passengers about their pending refunds. The company will bear the costs of this arrangement. This action follows a 2020 Supreme Court ruling mandating immediate refunds for tickets booked during the lockdown period. The CCPA initiated suo-moto action against Yatra following numerous grievances lodged through the National Consumer Helpline regarding non-refund of cancelled air tickets. From July 2021 to June 2024, CCPA conducted several hearings to address these issues. "As a result of these efforts, Yatra has made significant progress in reducing the total number of pending refund bookings," the ministry said in a statement. Yatra ha

Airbus delivers 67 planes in first half of June, up 2% from last year

On a quarterly basis, the preliminary figure implies a 4 per cent drop since the second quarter of last year

Air India to deploy A350 planes on Delhi-London route starting September 1

Air India will start operating its wide-body A350-900 aircraft on the Delhi-London route with two daily flights from September 1. The flights will mark the introduction of the plane on the international long-haul route, as Air India revamps and expands its operations to strengthen presence in international and domestic segments. "The A350-900 will replace the currently deployed Boeing 777-300 ER and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on 14 of 17 weekly flights. As a result, an additional 336 seats will be available on the Delhi-London Heathrow route each week," the airline said in a release on Thursday. Besides, the airline will introduce premium economy class seats in the A350-900 planes operating on the Delhi-London Heathrow route. Air India will operate two daily flights between the national capital and London Heathrow with the A350-900 aircraft starting from September 1. The airline started operating the A350-900 plane on the international route from May 1 with services between Delhi and

S Korea's Incheon airport briefly shuts down runways due to trash balloons

One balloon landed on the tarmac near passenger Terminal 2 and the three runways at Incheon were temporarily shut down

Probe into 1985 Kanishka bombing remains active, ongoing: Canadian police

Investigations into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 remain "active and ongoing", the Canadian police have said, terming it the "longest" and one of the "most complex domestic terrorism" probe, ahead of the deadly bombing's 39th-anniversary memorial. The Montreal-New Delhi Air India 'Kanishka' Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London's Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent. The bombing was blamed on Sikh militants in retaliation to 'Operation Bluestar' to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984. In a statement on Friday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Assistant Commissioner David Teboul called the bombing the "greatest terror-related loss of life involving and affecting Canadians" in the country's history as he offered "deepest sympathies, understanding and support to the families of the victims". "The Air India investigation is the longest and certainly one o

India shuns China's calls to resume flights after 4 years, say officials

India-China relations have been tense since the biggest military confrontation in decades on their disputed Himalayan border

Gatwick Airport aims to double India traffic in 5 yrs: CCO Jonathan Pollard

Currently, a total of 24 flights per week are being operated between India and Gatwick Airport. Air India has been operating all 24 services since April last year

More Indian passengers prefer non-stop flights to indirect ones: OAG data

The data breaks the myth that Indians prefer to use west Asian carriers as hubs for flights to the US and Europe

SpiceJet halts Hyderabad-Ayodhya flights, less than 2 months after launch

SpiceJet has discontinued direct flights between Ayodhya and six other cities amid tourism decline in the city

10.5 mn flights scheduled to crisscross skies, jets burn fuel like its 2019

The International Air Transport Association is anticipating record passenger numbers this year, and planes that will be about as full as they were before the virus using record amounts of fuel

Delhi-Toronto Air Canada flight gets bomb threat, nothing suspicious found

Panic gripped an Air Canada Toronto-bound flight after the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here received an email claiming a bomb had been planted on the airplane, officials said on Wednesday. The threat turned out to be a hoax. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) office received an email at 10.50 pm on Tuesday stating that a bomb had been planted in the Delhi-Toronto Air Canada flight, the officials said. "Following standard security protocols, a thorough inspection was conducted and nothing suspicious was found," a senior police officer said. Legal action in the matter is being taken, he said.

Air India ties up with Delhi Metro, DIAL to facilitate int'l check-ins

Air India on Tuesday said it has partnered with Delhi Metro and Delhi airport to facilitate check-in for international air passengers at two metro stations in Delhi. The check-in and baggage drop facility at the Delhi airport allows passengers to check in their baggage at the metro station, giving the outstation travellers the option to explore the city baggage-free. During this period, their baggage gets securely loaded onto the aircraft through an advanced automated infrastructure created by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). Currently available for domestic air travel, this service will now be extended to international flyers and will remain operational at two Delhi metro stations-- New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium-- from 7 am to 9 pm, Air India said in a statement. It also added that the check-in can be done 12 hours to 2 hours prior to flight departure for domestic itineraries and four to two hours prior to departure for internatio

Japan Airlines signs a codeshare pact with IndiGo to expand its services

Japan Airlines on Monday said it has entered into a codeshare arrangement with IndiGo, which would help the Japanese carrier expand services to 14 destinations of the domestic carrier's network. At present, Japan Airlines operates its services to Delhi and Bengaluru from Tokyo. It offers daily flight services to the national capital from Haneda Airport, while its thrice-a-week services to Bengaluru are operated from Narita Airport. "Japan Airlines (JAL) and IndiGo have agreed on codeshare partnership which will benefit the customers by providing more travel options between Japan and India," a statement said. The codeshare partnership will allow Japan Airlines to strengthen its connectivity into India initially, while enabling more travel options for IndiGo customers on JAL's extensive domestic and international network in later phases, the statement said. The partnership will enable codeshare on India routes that connect to JAL-operated flights from/to Delhi and Bengaluru, as per t

Global airlines raise profit outlook for 2024, projects $1 trn in revenue

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it expected the worldwide industry to generate $30.5 billion of profit this year

Cyclone Remal: Kolkata airport to suspend flights for 21 hrs from Sun noon

The authorities of Kolkata airport have decided to suspend flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday noon in view of the possible impact of cyclone Remal, an official said here. The precautionary measure was taken after a meeting of the stakeholders of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport here on Saturday. In view of cyclone Remal's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, a meeting was held with the stakeholders and it has been decided to suspend flight operations from 1200 IST on May 26 to 0900 IST on May 27 due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kolkata, NSCBI airport director C Pattabhi said in a statement. With a wind speed of 110-120 km per hour, gusting to 135 kmph, the cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall on May 26 at midnight along the adjoining coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The Met Office has warned of extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal and north Odisha on

Singapore Airline's deadly turbulence leaves 20 people in intensive care

More than 100 people had required medical care immediately after the flight landed in Bangkok

What is in-flight turbulence, when does it become dangerous? Find out here

The death of a British man and injuries impacting dozens of other people aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence on Tuesday highlighted the potential dangers of flying through unstable air. The exact cause of the 73-year-old man's death is under investigation. Authorities said he may have suffered a heart attack, though that hasn't been confirmed. Based on witness accounts, the number of injuries and the airliner's sharp descent, experts point to the significant safety hazards that in-flight turbulence poses to airline passengers and crews. While turbulence-related fatalities are quite rare, injuries have piled up over the years. Some meteorologists and aviation analysts note that reports of turbulence encounters also have been increasing and point to the potential impacts that climate change may have on flying conditions. Most incidents of planes hitting bumpy air are minor, however, and airlines have made steady improvements to reduce accident rates from ...

AI Express operations improving; expects normalcy in 2 days, says official

The operations of Air India Express slowly started improving on Friday as more cabin crew members are joining back for duty, after significant flight disruptions caused by cabin crew strike that has been called off. The strike by a section of the cabin crew since Tuesday night that resulted in the cancellation of more than 170 flights was called off on Thursday evening and the airline also withdrew termination letters issued to 25 striking cabin crew. The Tata Group airline, which operates around 380 flights daily, has curtailed operations in the wake of the strike and the official on Friday said, normalcy is expected in the next two days. Cabin crew who were on strike are joining back and the airline is extending support to them in getting the fitness certificate, which is required to resume duty, the official added. The official also said that most international flights are in the evening time and the operations on that front are expected to be better from Friday onwards with the

Boeing 737 catches fire, skids off runway in Senegal; 10 people injured

A Boeing 737 plane carrying 85 people skidded off a runway at the airport in Dakar, Senegal's capital, injuring 10 people, according to the transport minister and footage from a passenger that showed the aircraft on fire. Our plane just caught fire, wrote Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko in a post on Facebook that showed passengers jumping down the emergency slides at night as flames engulfed one side of the aircraft. In the background, people can be heard screaming. Transport Minister El Malick Ndiaye said the Air Sngal flight operated by TransAir was headed to Bamako, in neighboring Mali, late Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew. The injured were being treated at a hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel to rest. No other details were immediately available. Boeing did not respond to a request for comment. The Aviation Safety Network (ASN), which tracks airline accidents, published photos of the damaged plane in a grassy field surrounded by

Over 1,300 bird-hit cases reported in 2023, the highest in six years

Firecrackers, scarecrows, horns and zon guns being used to scare birds