Page 7 - Indian Aviation

Govt to develop more airstrips, calibrate airport rules, says official

The civil aviation ministry is looking at developing more airstrips as well as calibrating regulations for major and small airports to boost air connectivity, a senior official said on Wednesday. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world, with domestic air traffic on the rise and airlines expanding their fleet as well as operations. Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said the number of airports in the country has increased to 157 from 74 in the last ten years. The ministry has reviewed the full list of 453 airstrips in the country and around 157 of them are operational, he said and added that more airstrips would be developed as brownfield projects. Also, efforts will be made to jointly develop more defence airfields for civil aircraft operations. Speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024 in the national capital, the secretary said the ministry would look at calibrating regulations for major and small airports. These are steps aimed at

Indian airlines poised to capture 50% of country's international travel mkt

The improvement would be driven by Indian airlines deploying additional aircraft and adding new routes in the international segment

Delhi HC asks SpiceJet to pay Rs 50 cr or face grounding of two engines

Justice Pratibha Singh instructed the SpiceJet counsel to obtain guidance by May 3 regarding the feasible time period for SpiceJet to pay Rs 50 crore to its lessors

Cheaper air fares? New DGCA guideline to make flying more affordable

The new DGCA guidelines require airlines to offer these services as "opt-in" options. This means the base fare will not automatically include these charges, and passengers can choose to add them on on

IndiGo world's third largest airline by mcap as shares hit record high

In December 2023, IndiGo airline surpassed United to become the sixth largest airline in the world

Vistara may see 70 more flight cancellations today amid crew shortage

Vistara airline, which is set to merge with Air India, is witnessing protests from pilots over revised salary contracts

DGCA fines Air India Rs 80 lakh for flight duty time management violations

Air India was fined Rs 80 lakh two months after the DGCA conducted a spot audit of Air India Limited in the month of January in order to check regulatory compliance

PM Modi virtually inaugurates 15 airport projects worth Rs 9,800 crore

Once completed, the combined passenger handling capacity of these three airports will increase to 9.5 million passengers per annum

India's aviation industry should embrace new safety rules quickly

Maximum flight times have been cut and the definition of night duty - when reduced work times are enforced - will be broadened under new rules

Air India fined Rs 30 lakh over man's death after wheelchair unavailability

The man, in his 80s, died on February 12 after collapsing when he decided to walk after being told by Air India that the waiting time for the wheelchair was long due to heavy demand

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 ...

Passengers on Air Mauritius plane stuck for over 5 hours at Mumbai airport

Passengers on board an Air Mauritius flight were stuck on the aircraft for over five hours at Mumbai airport on Saturday before the airline decided to cancel it, one among the flyers said. The Air Mauritius flight MK 749 from Mumbai to Mauritius was to depart at 4.30 am and passengers boarded the plane from 3.45 am onwards, he said. There were nearly 200 passengers on board, including a 78-year-old man who developed a breathing problem as the aircraft's air-conditioning system was not working, he alleged. Air Mauritius GSA (general sales agent) in India did not respond to phone calls from PTI. The plane developed an engine problem but the passengers remained locked inside the plane for over five hours and were not allowed to come out, he said. Though the airline called engineers with spare parts to fix the engine glitch, it could not be rectified. Finally, around 10 am the captain announced that the flight had been cancelled, he said.

Go First gets 2 financial bids as part of its bankruptcy process: Bankers

The airline has also received a financial bid from Sharjah-based Sky One Airways which is lower than the competing bid, one of the bankers said, without disclosing the amount

Decade after MH370, aircraft still at risk of vanishing off the map

With no mayday call, no known flight path and no wreckage, MH370 remains modern aviation's biggest mystery

Pay $4 million to engine lessors by February 15, Delhi HC tells SpiceJet

The airline had sought more time for payment and said they could pay $1 million upfront. SpiceJet is supposed to pay close to $11 million to the lessors

DGCA terminates chief flight operations inspector on administrative grounds

'The contract of Capt Vivek Chhabra, CFOI stands terminated with immediate effect on administrative grounds and in the public interest,' the statement added

India needs 2,840 new aircraft, 41,000 pilots in 20 years: Airbus forecast

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the aviation conclave and exhibition, Wings India 2024, Maillard said Airbus will double its sourcing from India to USD 1.5 billion

Airlines, plane makers set to unveil new orders at Indian aviation event

The activity comes despite the financial struggles of two budget carriers GoFirst and SpiceJet, in the wake of the collapse of two other Indian airlines since 2011

'Hope airfares come to right sweet spot,' says Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan

Emphasising that airfare is a function of supply and demand, full-service carrier Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan has expressed hope that ticket prices will come to the "right sweet spot where customers will travel and airlines can make money". Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, currently, operates around 320 flights daily. To a query on concerns in certain quarters about air ticket prices going irrationally high, the airline CEO said the thing with airfares is that people complain when it goes high and no one compliments when it goes down. "There are times in the year due to seasonality...our fares in 2023 were even lower than 2022," he noted. During an interaction with PTI, Kannan said that certain measures are in place to ensure that airfares are not irrational, especially when there are natural calamities or when something unfortunate happens. In such situations, "we want to make sure that it is not a price-gouging opportunity," he said. "If you

DRDO successfully conducts flight-test of new-generation AKASH missile

India on Friday conducted a successful flight test of the new generation AKASH missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, officials said. The flight test was conducted by DRDO against a high-speed unmanned aerial target at very low altitude. During the flight test, the target was successfully intercepted by the weapon system and destroyed, they said. "It has validated the functioning of the complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed Radio Frequency Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system", the officials said. The system performance was also validated through the data captured by a number of radars, telemetry and electro-optical tracking system deployed by ITR, Chandipur. The flight test was witnessed by senior officials from DRDO, Indian Air Force (IAF), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The AKASH-NG system is a state-of-the-art ...