There are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports in the country.
Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.
The Delhi airport, the country's busiest airport, on Friday early morning witnessed the collapse of a roof at Terminal 1 amid heavy rains that killed one person, prompting the government to order a detailed probe and an inspection of the structural strength of all airports.
Noting that Indian civil aviation sector is experiencing high levels of growth, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said the industry must tackle the shortcomings of inadequate infrastructure and shortage of skilled manpower to sustain growth.
When passengers book a flight, they could receive a secure 'journey pass' on their phone that stores all relevant travel information including passport data, seat assignment.
India, which plans to start flights to Kabul whenever Pakistani airspace opens, on Wednesday agreed to take a slew of steps, including waiving off expenses, to assist Afghanistan in building up its aviation infrastructure.
In what can be seen as a major setback for the civil aviation sector, the new aviation policy, to be announced soon, is likely to continue with the existing practice of not allowing equity participation by foreign airlines in domestic operations.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of Air India's AI 171 crash, said he still cannot believe how he miraculously survived the accident of the ill-fated London-bound flight in which 265 people lost their lives.
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Such direct import was formally allowed in February 2012 but the aviation companies lack the infrastructure to do so.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said that up to Rs 2 lakh crore investment is expected in the country's civil aviation sector in the next five years, higher than any other sector.
Civil Aviation Ministry approved grants new rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe.
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, who died in a tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, joined the list of several top Indian politicians and prominent personalities who lost their lives in aviation accidents.
Government said on Wednesday the merger and acquisition policy for the civil aviation sector was not tailor-made to suit any airline but based on the best international practices.
A proposal to hike foreign direct investment cap in helicopter and sea-plane operations, MRO facilities, charters, air-cargo and non-scheduled air operations has been moved by the civil aviation ministry for the Cabinet's consideration.
The specific reasons for the crash of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick will be known only after the completion of the detailed probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
Economic Survey says Indian carriers operate in an exceptionally high-cost environment.
The civil aviation industry, which was hit hard by the global financial meltdown and high fuel cost, saw a strong recovery in 2010 with the domestic passenger traffic rising 19 per cent to 51.53 million, the Economic Survey said on Friday.
'...rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time.'
Aviation Minister Praful Patel has requested FM to rationalise taxes on aviation fuel in Budget 2008-09.
The move is aimed at checking further labour trouble and garnering support for the process of implementing the post-merger integration of Air India employees, as resentment is expected over salaries and career progression issues.
Scindia claimed Tharoor is "lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus", and for him "data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as "research".
A preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad reveals that both fuel switches were cut off before the crash, followed by pilot confusion. The report also indicates that fuel samples were satisfactory and no immediate action is recommended for Boeing 787-8 operators.
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
The Centre asked state governments on Friday to review and rationalise their taxation policy on jet fuel and land acquisition practices to encourage the expansion of civil aviation sector so that they could themselves reap the benefits of its unprecedented growth.
An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar encountered severe turbulence after a sudden hailstorm. The pilot requested permission from Lahore Air Traffic Control to use Pakistani airspace to avoid the turbulence, but the request was rejected. The flight, carrying over 220 passengers, including Trinamool Congress MPs, landed safely at Srinagar Airport. The incident is being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Aviation security regulator BCAS on Wednesday slapped fines totalling Rs 1.80 crore on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport's apron. The apron is the area around the aircraft where it has finally parked for deboarding.
Stating that the Centre was planning construct 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airport Policy, Singh said the civil aviation ministry is in process of identifying the most suitable low cost viable model for development of small airports to increase regional connectivity.
'CORSIA has set impossible targets. It tries to limit countries to the emission levels of the number of aircraft that they had in 2020. That has to be opposed.'
When specifically asked about the reason for the crash and whether Air India is privy to any preliminary findings, Chandrasekaran said, "One would have to wait for the probe to conclude."
Aviation Working Group (AWG), a global aviation leasing body comprising major planemakers and lessors, on Monday further downgraded India as lessors have not been able to repossess their planes from Go First more than four months after the airline filed for insolvency. The leasing cost stands as a prominent expense for Indian airlines. With AWG's downgrade, it is likely that lessors will increase the aircraft leasing rates for Indian carriers.
India's scores in the ICAO's air safety oversight audit will improve substantially as the international watchdog's just-concluded validation mission was highly successful as per the initial reports, regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16.
The SOEC clause says only airlines owned by a country or its citizens can fly from the nation concerned to India and use the quota of seats allotted under a bilateral pact between the countries.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Friday said the airline industry in India has grown by 400 per cent in a short span of about six-and-a-half years.
The Reserve Bank of India's decision to allow airlines hedge jet fuel in global markets came in for praise from the industry and the civil aviation ministry, but end-users are unlikely to benefit in the form of lower airfares.
So far this week, more than 90 flights have received bomb threats and most of them have turned out to be hoaxes.
On the issue of allowing domestic carriers to fly overseas before their completing 5 years of domestic operations, the document does not mention anything.
"When the fuel control switch has to be cut off, the pilot flying will say, fuel control switch left, confirm. So, after the confirmation is made by the second pilot, the pilot monitoring will cut off (the switch).
