Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
"None of the air-carriers have asked us for either a deferral or cancellation...we are very comfortable with the market position," Boeing's Senior Vice President, Sales (commercial airplanes), Dinesh Keskar, said, while releasing the Current Market Outlook (CMO)2008-2028 report, in Mumbai on Wednesday. "We have fortunately not contributed to over-capacity as in the last ten mnonths we have not delivered many aircraft," Keskar said.
Bajaj Auto on Monday unveiled a 150 cc bike 'V', which contains metal from India's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
'Chinese are going bang, bang, bang building 30-35 reactors.' 'We should announce a programme of 50 new reactors and show that we mean business on the ground and not just announcements.'
The IPO market will be bustling next week, with four companies, including Bajaj Housing Finance, set to launch their initial share-sale to raise a total of Rs 8,390 crore. Besides these four main-board IPOs, nine SMEs are preparing to debut with their maiden public issues next week, targeting to collect Rs 254 crore. Together, these 13 firms are looking to raise Rs 8,644 crore through IPO.
Several changes have been carried out in the existing rules or Civil Aviation Requirements, including one which clearly states that a passenger airline 'shall not enter into an agreement with a foreign investing institution or a foreign airline, which may give such foreign investing institution or foreign airlines or others on behalf of them, the right to control the management of the domestic operator.'
The aircraft deal worth around Euro 5.5 billion was cleared by the defence acquisition council just before the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to France as the state guest for their Bastille Day parade this year in July.
The Supreme Court on Friday got irked over a lengthy judgement penned by a single judge bench of the Delhi high court in a case related to an arbitral award involving media baron Kalanithi Maran and SpiceJet, saying there was no "application of mind". Suggesting that the case be now transferred to another judge by the Delhi HC, the top court said the judgement "has to be carefully articulated" and "the judge must apply mind to grounds of challenge and then deduce if interference is warranted". The strong observations against the single judge bench came from a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud during the hearing of an appeal by Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways against a Delhi high court order setting aside an arbitral award asking the SpiceJet to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to the media baron and his firm.
Govt says domestic carriers' financial health a concern.
The expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday and emphasised that the country's aviation sector has been galvanised in the past 10 years.
Bleeding Indian carriers, which suffered another setback in the form of a 7 per cent-hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices on Tuesday, have decided against raising fares this month. This is the first time this year that the carriers are not increasing prices in spite of a hike in ATF rates.
The 45,000 tonne displacement carrier was to be delivered by August as per a $1.5 billion contract signed in 2004, but Russia stunned India in November by demanding $1.2 billion more for refitting and other works.
Airfares on major domestic routes such as Kolkata-Bagdogra, Delhi-Bengaluru, and Delhi-Mumbai have witnessed an increase of up to 12.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in May this year, according to data by Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel. The recent increase in aviation turbine fuel prices, rupee depreciation, reduction of flights by key players, and grounding of planes due to engine supply issues have contributed to the rise in airfares, said aviation industry experts. However, the data also shows that summer airfares on key routes such as Delhi-Leh and Delhi-Kolkata have significantly decreased due to the introduction of new flights.
Only 9% of passengers on such airlines are first-timers: CAPA survey.
Google launched Wallet in 2011.
Scheduled to be launched by Defence Minister A K Antony's wife Elizabeth Antony, the carrier will be named after Vikrant, India's first aircraft carrier, Naval Staff vice chief Vice-Admiral R K Dhowan said.
Carrier is the number one or two in most markets in the world. So I don't see why India should remain an exception.
The government plans to formulate a separate set of policies for regional airlines, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
Ajit Singh says will seek cabinet nod to scrap 5-year, 20 aircraft rule.
This, my friends, is the ultimate off-road champion, gloats Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.
AirAsia is expanding its distribution network and increasing its offline travel partners.
China on Tuesday launched its first aircraft carrier, propelling its fast expanding navy's blue-water capability beyond its territorial waters at a time when the neighbourhood is witnessing high-voltage tensions in Sino-Japan ties.
Budget carriers may soon be able to offer tickets on the global distribution system, a ticket facilitation network that till now has primarily been used by full service carriers, like Jet Airways, Air-India or Indian Airlines.
With rising costs, Indian carriers would operate 19 per cent less number of flights this winter compared to last year, though no-frill airlines would put in more flights during the busy season starting this month-end.
Foreign airlines can now pick up 49 per cent stake in India's domestic carriers, a step that is expected to give a boost to cash-strapped aviation industry.
India is the third-largest domestic airline market in the world, up from number five position a decade ago, according to analysis based on OAG data. The data shows India's domestic airline capacity doubling in a decade from 7.9 million in April 2014 to 15.5 million in April 2024. In reaching the third slot, India has replaced Brazil (pushed to fourth place with 9.7 million) and Indonesia (relegated to fifth in the rankings with 9.2 million).
The country's largest airline IndiGo on Thursday reported more than doubling of its net profit to Rs 1,894.8 crore in the three months ended March 2024 and announced the introduction of business class in select routes this year. The strong performance in the latest March quarter, which also marks six consecutive quarters of profitability, was fuelled by higher traffic, increased capacity and a favourable external environment.
To add aircraft, more services this year, even as full-service airlines hold their expansion plans.
Tech titan Google on Wednesday launched the Google Wallet app for Android users in India, allowing them to securely store essentials like boarding passes, loyalty cards, event tickets, and public transport passes. The digital wallet, which becomes operational in India from Wednesday, comes as a complementary service to existing payment app Google Pay, a top official said.
The demand for buses largely remained robust in 2023, driven by the increasing need for public mobility and replacement. Ashok Leyland Limited (ALL) recorded a 64 per cent year-on-year increase in sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) buses during the April-to-December period of 2023 to 11,216 units. Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) posted 24.7 per cent sales growth between April and December for light and medium-duty buses, and 36.9 per cent growth for heavy-duty buses.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has deregistered all the 54 planes leased by Go First, days after a court allowed lessors to take back their aircraft from the bankrupt airline. Bogged down by financial turbulence and engine woes, budget carrier Go First stopped flying in May last year and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process. Foreign lessors that have leased planes to the airline had moved the court to take back the aircraft.
Anti-aircraft and surface drills being conducted by the INS Vikramaditya during the review of the aircraft carrier's operational and combat readiness.
"We have the technical expertise and capability to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and warships of global standards," Kakodkar said, on the sidelines of a function in Mumbai last night.
Delhi's appeasement strategy may now translate as more mega arms deals with the US, generating substantial business and job creation in the American economy. Make no mistake, Americans will use it to pressure India, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Domestic carriers flew 28 per cent more people last month compared to a year ago, as no-frill carrier IndiGo remained the market leader by cornering 28 per cent share.
Kingfisher pays 37 per cent higher premium while Air India defers renewal. "The Air France crash is expected to provide a $600-$700 million hit (to global insurance companies), which is 40 per cent of the total premium collected, and therefore hardening of reinsurance rates was evident. We had seen prices go up from $2 billion to $4 billion after the 9/11 attacks (in the US)," said ICICI Lombard Reinsurance Head Rajiv Kumaraswamy.
China's first aircraft carrier has commenced its second sea trials in the Pacific Ocean to test its deck for fighter landings as well to check its weapons systems, ahead of its likely deployment next year.
