Page 8 - Flights

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

Travel portal ixigo finds lowest fare at Rs 150 for a 50-min flight

Shell out just Rs 150 as base airfare and take a 50-minute flight from Lilabari to Tezpur. Not just this route, there are many more flights where the base ticket price is less than Rs 1,000. All of them are operated under the regional air connectivity scheme that provides various incentives for the airline operators. According to an analysis shared by travel portal ixigo with PTI, there are at least 22 routes where the base airfares are less than Rs 1,000 per person, with the lowest being Rs 150 for flights connecting Lilabari and Tezpur in Assam. The cheapest one way base fare is Rs 150 for a flight to and from Lilabari to Tezpur (Assam). The flights are operated by Alliance Air. While booking a ticket, there will be addition of convenience charge to the base fare. Broadly, the duration of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) flights on these routes are around 50 minutes. Majority of the routes where the base airfares range between Rs 150 and Rs 199 per person are in the North

Domestic carriers set to operate 6% additional flights in summer

The largest domestic airline, IndiGo, is slated to operate 13,050 flights every week, a 13.8 per cent (Y-o-Y) rise from 11,465 flights in the previous year

Fly91 to operate first commercial flight from Goa to Bengaluru on March 18

DGCA has given the air operator permit to Fly91 on March 6

FSSAI finds mismatch in licence by food operators serving airlines

FSSAI said flight kitchen operators would endorse the food service (caterer) business in the FSSAI licence

Air India restarts flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv after five months

Air India has restarted flights from the national capital to Tel Aviv after suspending the services for nearly five months due to tensions in the wake of the Israeli city coming under attack by Hamas militants. The Tata group-owned carrier recommenced the flight on March 3, an airline spokesperson said on Tuesday. For now, the flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv will be operated by a Boeing 787 aircraft three times a week -- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, the spokesperson said. Air India had suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv starting from October 7, 2023, in the wake of the Hamas attack on the Israeli city. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Israel issued an advisory on Tuesday, urging its nationals to move to safer areas in the country. The advisory comes a day after a missile fired from Lebanon killed one Indian and injured two others. "In view of the prevailing security situation and local safety advisories, all Indian nationals in Israel, especially those working in or visiting

1 accident reported for every 1.26 mn flights operated in 2023: IATA

There was one accident for every 1.26 million flights operated globally in 2023 and it was the lowest rate in more than a decade, according to airlines' grouping IATA. Releasing the data, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Wednesday said there were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023. "However, there was a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities. There were 37 million aircraft movements in 2023 (jet and turboprop), an increase of 17 per cent on the previous year," it said in a release. IATA represents around 320 airlines comprising 83 per cent of global air traffic. "The all accident rate was 0.80 per million sectors in 2023 (one accident for every 1.26 million flights), an improvement from 1.30 in 2022 and the lowest rate in over a decade. This rate outperformed the five-year (2019-2023) rolling average of 1.19 (an average one accident for every 8,80,293 flights)," the release said.

Air India Express looking to operate 40% more flights next fiscal

Low-cost carrier Air India Express is looking to operate 40 per cent more flights next fiscal on the back of fleet expansion, sources said on Wednesday. At the same time, the airline will focus more on consolidating on the domestic routes and will not be adding many destinations, while the international network may see some marginal increase, said the sources aware of the developments. Air India Express currently operates 350 daily flights and has a fleet of 69 planes. It has some 1,300 pilots, including 400 of AirAsia India and another 400 on training. Express will commence flights to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the forthcoming summer schedule, as per the sources. They also said that Air India Express will complete acquisition of its 50 white tail Boeing 737 Max plane order by December this year, of which it has already inducted 13-14 planes so far. Sources also say that the airline is expected to complete the merger of AirAsia India with it by the second quarter if t

Delay in flight arrivals reduced, traffic improved at Mumbai airport: Govt

The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday said air traffic situation has improved and delays in flight arrivals have been reduced at the Mumbai airport, nearly two months after directions, including a reduction in flights, were issued to tackle congestion at the airport. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the city is one of the country's busiest airports. Giving a comparison of the air traffic trends based on flight arrivals between the time periods November 11-December 10, 2023, and February 16-24, 2024, the ministry said its initiatives are yielding results and that the situation is also being closely monitored. During the February 16-24 period, the ministry said there were 4,337 arrivals at the airport, and out of them, there were no delays of more than one hour while 178 planes were delayed for 30-60 minutes. As many as 570 aircraft came before schedule, 2,469 planes were delayed for 0-15 minutes, and 1,120 aircraft for 15-30 minutes, as per the ...

Flying high: Big spike in airfares, demand for hotels during Holi week

Holi falls on March 25 this year, whereas it was celebrated on March 8 last year

Akasa Air to cancel 4 Mumbai-Bengaluru flights daily from Feb 15-Mar 30

Akasa Air on Tuesday said it will be cancelling four flights daily between the city and Bengaluru following government guidelines issued to reduce congestion at the Mumbai airport. The civil aviation ministry has asked Mumbai airport operator MIAL to cut the number of scheduled flights and also restrict private jet operations for longer hours, according to reports. In a statement, an Akasa Air spokesperson said it will be rationalising network with respect to flights operated from Mumbai. "Flight operations of airlines to/from Mumbai are expected to be impacted with guidelines being implemented to reduce runway congestion at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. "... we have to rationalise our network resulting in cancellation of flights QP 1374 & QP 1367 (Mumbai to Bengaluru) and QP 1362 & QP 1366 (Bengaluru to Mumbai) between February 15 to March 30," the statement said. The airline is communicating to the passengers about the flight cancellations and is giving .

Plane carrying mine workers crashes in Canada, multiple deaths reported

The incident happened on Tuesday, and the Northwest Territories coroner also said that there were fatalities in the crash but did not specify the number

'Ayodhya airport is anticipated to see 100 flight movements on Monday'

The Ayodhya airport is expected to see around 100 flight landings and departures on Monday as thousands of people attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. More than 7,000 people are on the list of invitees for the consecration ceremony. The new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, an event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Monday afternoon, a senior Ayodhya airport official said that the number of flight movements is expected to be around 100 by the end of the day as people will start going back after the ceremony. Till around 2.30 pm, the airport saw 18 landings, including chartered flights, and 17 departures, the official added. Another official in the know also said the airport is anticipated to see about 100 flight movements, including landings and departures. On Sunday, when many people, including corporate heads and prominent personalities, reached Ayodhya, the number of flight movements at the airport was around 90, the official

PM Modi urges int'l investors to link their growth with India's rapid rise

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated Boeing's new global engineering and technology centre campus near here. Built at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore, the 43-acre state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus is the plane-maker's largest such investment outside the US. The campus at Hightech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli on the city outskirts will become a cornerstone for partnerships with the vibrant startups, private and government ecosystem in India, and will help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry, according to official sources.

Boeing's legacy vanished into thin air. Saving it will take years

Yet as smartphone images and video of the terrifying incident went viral worldwide, Boeing engineers, investors and, above all, the flying public, were reminded of just how far this company has fallen

Go First's lenders seek investor bids by January 31, says report

Go First filed for bankruptcy protection in May but lenders have more recently been considering liquidating the airline after failing to secure new investors

Hyundai Motor debuts air taxi ahead of test flights later this year

The South Korean company will apply for certification of the vehicle in the US by the middle of 2024 with the goal of starting technology demonstrator flights by the end of the year

'Donkey' flight, stranded in France, lands in Mumbai. Here is all we know

The Airbus A340, carrying 303 passengers, had taken off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was grounded at the Vatry airport