Indian Aviation

India's pilot fatigue rules explained: Why FDTL is disrupting flight schedules

India's tighter FDTL pilot fatigue norms have triggered cancellations and delays, exposing crew shortages, roster stress and a fresh debate over safety, planning and preparedness

Anoushka Shankar expresses dismay at Air India's handling of her Sitar

Anoushka, who performs across multiple genres and styles, classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic, last month picked up multiple Grammy nominations

Centre confirms GPS spoofing at Delhi, other major airports; orders probe

Days after Delhi airport reported GPS spoofing incidents, the Civil Aviation Ministry has confirmed similar signal interference at major airports nationwide and directed agencies to trace the source

Airlines complete software upgrades for 323 operational A320 family planes

Aviation regulator DGCA on Sunday said Indian carriers have completed the software upgrades on 323 operational A320 family planes to address a potential issue related to flight controls. On Friday, Airbus said intense solar radiation might corrupt data critical to flight controls in a significant number of A320 family aircraft and that the software changes required to fix the issue would lead to operational disruptions. A total of 338 A320 family aircraft with the three Indian airlines -- IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express -- were initially identified for the software upgrades to address the issue. Among them, 323 were operational, 6 were under base maintenance and later it was found that the upgrades were no needed for 9 such planes in the fleet of Air India, according to a senior DGCA official. IndiGo has completed the upgrades on all the 200 of its operational A320 family planes. Air India had 113 affected aircraft and out of them, the upgrades have been done for the ...

Ahmedabad-bound Air India flight returns to Delhi after false smoke alert

An Ahmedabad-bound Air India plane returned to the Delhi airport on Thursday evening due to suspected smoke in the cargo hold area, according to sources. After checks, the smoke indication was found to be false, the sources said. The Delhi-Ahmedabad flight AI2939, operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, had around 170 people onboard, they added. An airline official said the aircraft returned to Delhi shortly after take off due to a smoke indication, which was later found to be false after the aircraft underwent thorough precautionary checks. Following standard operating procedures, the aircraft landed in Delhi and the passengers and crew were disembarked safely, the official said. Passengers were later flown to Ahmedabad in another aircraft.

Volcano ash cloud to clear India by 7.30 pm as it drifts toward China: IMD

Forecast models indicated ash influence over Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said

SpiceJet resumes online services after technical glitch on website

The airline said the issue has been fully resolved and digital services are now operating as usual

Air India lobbies to use airspace over China's Xinjiang amid financial woes

For Air India, the country's only carrier with a major international network, fuel costs have risen by as much as 29% and journey times by up to three hours on some long-haul routes

IndiGo, Akasa Air to begin flights from Navi Mumbai airport on Dec 25

IndiGo on Saturday announced that it will start flight operations from the newly-constructed Navi Mumbai International Airport from December 25 with domestic air services to 10 cities. IndiGo also said it plans to expand its operations, progressively from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region's second airport by adding direct routes to more destinations in due course. Spread across 1,160 hectares, the airport will have one terminal and one runway in the first phase with an annual passenger handling capacity of 20 million. The first phase of the airport has been built at a cost of Rs 19,650 crore. The facility was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8 this year. IndiGo said it will connect the future-ready airport to ten cities across India including Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, North Goa (Mopa), Jaipur, Nagpur, Cochin, and Mangalore, starting December 25. Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is designed to complement the existing Mumbai ...

Airlines need to be properly rewarded, says IATA chief amid supply woes

With supply chain woes continuing to impact aircraft deliveries, IATA chief Willie Walsh on Saturday said airlines need to be properly rewarded as he flagged concerns about talks of original equipment manufacturers planning to increase prices due to tariffs and other issues. The International Airport Transport Association (IATA) represents nearly 350 airlines that account for around 85 per cent of the global air traffic. Speaking at the 69th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) here, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said there was huge frustration that the supply chain issues are not getting much better. While airlines are a low margin industry, he said the margins of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are high. Taking examples, Walsh said engine makers are actually improving their financial performance during a period of massive disruption which has added massive costs to the airline industry. Walsh pointed out that it is bothering when

Upcoming Vizag international airport to house largest MRO: GMR founder

The upcoming Bhogapuram international airport near here will house the world's largest Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) unit, said GMR Group founder and chairman G M Rao here on Friday. The GMR Group is developing the project. Addressing the 30th edition of the two-day CII Partnership Summit 2025 here, Rao said the airport will be ready by June 2026, six months ahead of schedule. "In line with the vision of the honourable chief minister (Chandrababu Naidu), we are also developing an integrated aerospace ecosystem on 500 acres of land. This park will attract global aerospace and defence manufacturers and house the world's largest MRO and create a complete aerospace ecosystem," he said. He further said the upcoming airport will also attract OEMs, Research and Development units, training and suppliers, besides others which would empower the region's youth and create job opportunities for them. GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Airports

Every 50 days new airport coming up in India: Aviation Minister Naidu

Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday said every 50 days a new airport is opened in India, which is unprecedented anywhere in the globe. Addressing the 30th edition of the two-day CII Partnership Summit-2025, the minister said Andhra Pradesh currently has seven airports and an equal number of aerodromes are coming up in the state. "Every 50 days we are opening a new airport which is unprecedented anywhere in the globe, and that is the kind of success we have achieved in terms of building up airports, the passenger capacity, and many other verticals in aviation," Naidu said. He further said that as many as four flight-training organisations are coming to the state, and that an MRO ecosystem and an aviation skilling university are coming up in Visakhapatnam. The minister further said the state is expected to expand the drone sector by creating a drone city, and aerospace and aircraft manufacturing also.

Delhi airport's air traffic control faces glitch, about 300 flights delayed

Over 100 flights were delayed at the Delhi airport on Friday morning due to technical problems with the air traffic control system and authorities are working to fix the issues, sources said. The national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the country's busiest airport, handles more than 1,500 flight movements daily. The sources said air traffic controllers are unable to get flight plans automatically due to the technical issues since Thursday evening. There are some issues with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) that provides the information for the Auto Track System (AMS), which gives the flight plans, one of the sources said. With the system issues continuing, air traffic controllers are preparing the flight plans manually with available data, which is a time-consuming process and as a result, many flights are getting delayed, the sources said. They also said the issues are also causing air traffic congestion at the airport and authorities are work

Airbus India chief urges govt to include voluntary SAF spend under CSR

To promote sustainability, Airbus India chief Jurgen Westermeier on Thursday pitched for bringing corporates' spending on airlines' voluntary sustainable aviation fuel programmes under the government's CSR framework. Under the companies law, certain class of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two per cent of their annual profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in a financial year. The President and Managing Director for India and South Asia said that the voluntary corporate SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) programmes launched by airlines represent a direct, measurable investment in climate change mitigation. "We urge the government to recognise the funds spent by corporates on voluntary SAF contributions as a valid expenditure under their mandatory CSR obligations. "Such an inclusion would immediately unlock a substantial, new pool of capital to support SAF demand, instantly turning a compliance requirement into a powerful engine for a gre

Air India ferries 228 passengers stranded in Ulaanbaatar to Delhi

Air India ferried 228 passengers who were stranded in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar to Delhi on Wednesday morning. The passengers were stranded in the Mongolian capital after their San Francisco-Delhi flight was diverted to the Mongolian capital on Monday due to a technical issue. An official said Air India's relief flight carrying the passengers from Ulaanbaatar landed in the national capital at around 8:24 am on Wednesday. The relief flight was operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. There were 245 people, including 228 passengers and 17 crew members, in the Boeing 777 plane that was diverted to Ulaanbaatar, a source said on Monday. The relief flight AI183 had taken off for Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, the Tata Group-owned carrier said, "AI174 operating from San Francisco to Delhi via Kolkata, made a precautionary landing at Ulaanbaatar after the flight crew suspected a technical issue en route." The Boeing 777 aircraft, which operated the flight, had landed

Too much liberalisation of flying rights may hurt Indian airlines: A-I CEO

Air India chief Campbell Wilson on Wednesday said the pace of liberalisation of bilateral flying rights should not be "too much" that it undercuts the investments by Indian airlines and other aviation players. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets, and various foreign carriers, especially from the Gulf, have been raising concerns that the country is not providing more bilateral rights as they look to tap the market potential. The Tata Group-owned Air India is working on revamping and expanding its fleet to offer more services amid rising air traffic demand. According to Wilson, around 95 per cent of the traffic that Indian airlines carry is terminating or originating in India. "For some of the other carriers, upwards of 60 per cent, 70 per cent and in some cases 90 per cent of what they are uplifting from India is transiting and going somewhere else. "And to the extent that Indian carriers have invested tens of billions of dollars in wide-body aircraft

Aviation ministry to review performance of training organisations soon

The civil aviation ministry will soon convene a meeting to review the performance of flying training organisations in the country against the backdrop of most of them not faring well in recent rankings. In the first-ever ranking of Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) by aviation watchdog DGCA, none of the 35 organisations in the list managed to get top ratings of 'A+' and 'A'. Out of the 35 FTOs, 13 got 'B' and 22 received 'C' rankings. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told PTI that he will meet with representatives of FTOs to discuss ways to improve their standards. Their rankings will be conducted every six months, the minister said, adding that monthly meetings to review the FTOs' performance are not required. FTOs provide training for pilots and other aviation professionals. Operational aspects, performance, safety standards, compliance standards, and assistance to students were considered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in evaluating the FTOs for

Air India Express to launch direct Agartala-Bagdogra flight from Oct 26

The service will coincide with the beginning of the winter flight schedule, marking a new chapter in Tripura's aviation connectivity

DGCA seeks funding, powers like global peers to strengthen oversight

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, wants authority to independently recruit and offer competitive salaries to attract qualified professionals

DGCA seeks Boeing response after emergency system glitch on Air India jet

The crew of the aircraft - which was flying from the northern Indian city of Amritsar to Birmingham, UK - detected deployment of the power system