Tata Sons is all set to acquire a residual stake of 16.33 per cent in AirAsia India from its joint venture (JV) partner AirAsia Berhad for $19 million (or Rs 142 crore) by early next year. The valuation is in accordance with the previous transaction under which AirAsia Berhad had sold its 32.6 per cent stake, said a banking source. Tata Group had increased its stake in AirAsia India at a valuation of $115 million.
The government is selling its entire 100 per cent stake in Air India but wants effective control to stay with Indian nationals.
Tabletop runways are constructed on hilly or elevated terrains. Also, there could be low lying areas adjacent to such runways and there could be gorges at the end of such runways. Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman Arvind Singh told PTI that tabletop runways are there at four airports operated by it.
The pilot of the ill-fated flight -- IX-1344 -- could not sight the runway in the first landing attempt due to heavy rains. The Kozhikode airport in Kerala has a table-top runway and is operated by the AAI.
The DGCA conducted the spot checks as there have been many technical malfunction incidents in Indian carriers' planes during the last 45 days.
The CISF has said it was the 'first responder' to rescue passengers on Friday as its Assistant Sub Inspector Ajit Singh was on runway patrol when the Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the table top runway, fell into a 35-foot valley and broke into two.
Sources in the know said the government would initiate talks with businesses, including Tatas, shortly for divesting its stake in the national carrier.
While Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has been dropped, the panel now has four ministers - Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
With airlines reporting multiple technical malfunction incidents, aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that there is an insufficient number of engineering personnel certifying planes of various carriers before their departure. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on the deployment of AME personnel and directed them to comply by July 28.
No-frills carrier IndiGo has expressed interest to buy Air India
The last date to submit bids is March 17 but the deadline could be extended if there are requests from potential bidders.
The government is planning to liberalise the terms and conditions for the sale of the national carrier. The Centre is still pursuing the option of selling the airline's subsidiaries before the airline itself, in order to deal with an outstanding debt of around Rs 27,000 crore.
In March 2020, soon after the cessation of airline operations globally and domestic flights within India, many in the aviation sector had written Delhi-headquartered low-fare airline SpiceJet's obituary well before that of most of its rivals. Unlike IndiGo, GoAir (now rechristened Go First), Vistara and even AirAsia India, SpiceJet did not have founders or backers with deep pockets. Although it is the only other listed carrier in India besides IndiGo, it was considered the weakest and the least likely to survive the pandemic. But chairman and managing director Ajay Singh surprised everyone by not only surviving but taking the lead on many fronts. Within a few weeks of the scheduled flight stoppage, SpiceJet was doing as many charter flights as it could get hold of.
The bench, which wanted the Civil Aviation Ministry to think over the various issues plaguing the national carrier, also said other area of concern was the priority given to private airlines with Air India aircraft being asked to hover around during the peak landing hours causing huge loss of money on fuel.
The move will help to reduce Air India's distribution cost by 60 per cent
The pilots and cabin crew were provided training in all the steps on donning and doffing of Personal Protective Equipment suits, infection control practices to be followed inflight and also the management of anticipated health emergencies during the flight, the medical college authorities said.
Sathe had suffered multiple injuries on his skull in that incident, but due to his strong will power and passion he cleared the test and started flying again, his cousin said.
Anjuli Bhargava's musings on why the national carrier is well beyond a turnaround.
In a circular issued on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said it was "suspending travel to and from the following countries: (India, Brazil and Argentina) including any person who has been in any of the mentioned countries above in the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom".
'Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,' Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, as fresh questions were raised on the safety parameters of the runway.
Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Vistara also operated all women crew flights, though on their domestic network.
As a part of its route rationalization and cost-cutting measures, Air India plans to replace its twin-class aircraft with all-economy ones belonging to low-cost subsidiary Air India Express on few Gulf routes from this month end.
A person in the know of the PIM details said an entity can put in bid for Air India on the "strength of its parent", which was not there before. A consortium can participate in the disinvestment process, provided each partner has at least 10 per cent stake as well as 10 per cent of the Rs 3,500 crore net worth requirement, according to the bid document. The lead member of a consortium should have at least 26 per cent stake. Individuals are allowed to bid as part of consortium.
Earlier, budget carrier SpiceJet said it would hire 500 from Jet, including 100 pilots. Air India Express has also inducted around 25 commanders from the grounded airline.
"Today is the birthday of Capt Sathe'smother. He had last met his parents in March and was constantly in touch with them over phone since then. They had last spoken a day before yesterday," his nephew Dr Yashodhan Sathe told PTI.
IndiGo has delivered impressive operating performance in the past six quarters as it navigated cost and capacity challenges. It has managed to mitigate the impact of faulty engine-related groundings. The airline has also managed costs related to grounding, expensive secondary leasing, increasing airport charges, and pilot compensation inflation and delivered stronger yields and spreads.
To me he always symbolised the sincere, confident, face of a Bharat whose rise is unstoppable. Ratan Tata was a Rishi who was unquestioningly trusted by people who never saw him and never met him, asserts Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
Air India must tighten costs to comes out of the red or it wil perish in no time, says experts.
Survivors of Air India Express passenger plane from Dubai that crashed outside the airport in Mangalore after overshooting the runway on Saturday, recounted their near death experience.
The Indian community in Russia are eagerly waiting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow and will be seeking his support to build a Hindu temple in the country, a new Indian school building and the availability of more direct flights to India.
The first two special flights that will operate from Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic
"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.
This is a third of Rs 33,992 crore debt that was to be passed on to the new owner during last year's failed divestment process.
She was originally scheduled to board the ill-fated Air India Express plane bound for Mangalore.
It was a double tragedy for a family in Kasargod district of Kerala which lost its Dubai-based son, who was on his way to attend his father's funeral, in the crash of the Air India Express flight in Mangalore. Siddique Sulaiman, a trading salesman, was on his way to attend his father's last rites in Kasargod and ended up boarding the fateful Air India Express flight to Mangalore.
'You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks'
Tata was speaking to reporters after he, along with Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong and Tata-SIA Airlines Chairman Prasad Menon, met the minister.
Falling jet fuel prices and a revival in domestic traffic growth offer the new CMD a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Of these four flights (except Qatar Airways) returned to Kozhikode airport as the weather condition in Kozhikode gained normalcy.
Maharaja will soon come to help wait-listed passengers of Rajdhani trains as such travelers will be provided with the option to fly by Air India by paying little extra.
