Thiruvananthapuram International Airport will be closed for over four hours on April 11 to facilitate the "Painkuni Arattu" procession of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The procession, which involves taking the temple idols to Shangumugham Beach for a ritual bath, crosses the airport runway. The airport will be closed from 4.45 pm to 9 pm on April 11. This tradition dates back centuries and continues even after the airport's establishment in 1932. Flights will be rescheduled during this period.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a 'broken and sunk' seat, prompting his ministerial colleague K Rammohan Naidu to instruct the airline to take 'necessary action'.
Consider this: despite a traffic of over 130 million passengers flying international-to-international (I2I) routes per annum over India, only one-sixth of the long-haul traffic (26 million) emanates from the country.
The CCS meet was held at the prime minister's Lok Kalyan Marg residence, a day after he held a meeting with the top military brass and accorded operational freedom to the armed forces on the "mode, targets and timing" of India's response to the April 22 attack that killed 26 people.
The Income Tax Department has slapped a penalty of Rs 944.20 crore on IndiGo, which said it will contest the order that is "erroneous and frivolous". The order was received by InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo, on Saturday.
The Yeti Airlines aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am on Sunday and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport in Pokhara, minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia to take stock of the situation following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The meeting also included Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The attack, which killed at least 26 people, including tourists from the UAE and Nepal, has sparked nationwide shock and outrage.
Pakistani troops continued to violate the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) by resorting to unprovoked firing in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Kupwara districts, army officials said. This was the fourth consecutive night that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing along the LoC and came amid heightened tension between New Delhi and Islamabad following last week's terror attack in Pahalgam. Indian troops responded swiftly and effectively.
PBKS-DC game also uncertain, say BCCI Sources
'In those 10 seconds, they even made a MAYDAY call -- which is only issued in case of a serious, imminent emergency.'
If all 102 grounded planes could fly, there will theoretically be 400 more Delhi-Mumbai flights every day.
'The switch can't be shut off by an accidental brush of the hand, but needs effort, conscious physical action to operate it.' 'Was it the software of the aeroplane that caused the switch to turn off?' 'Was it the hardware of the aeroplane?' 'Was it both software and hardware put together?'
A passenger on a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday.
The on-time performance (OTP) of Indian carriers took a major dip in January as dense fog foiled their flight schedules. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed by Business Standard, five out of six major Indian carriers - IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, Akasa Air, and Vistara - recorded their lowest OTPs in at least the last 11 months. In response to queries, an Air India spokesperson said that during this winter, northern India experienced unusually prolonged periods of dense fog affecting traffic at the airline's two largest hubs -- Delhi and Mumbai.
The accused dumped the body parts in different locations to conceal the identity of the victim.
This marked the sixth consecutive night of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC, amidst heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following a recent terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
Pakistani troops continued unprovoked small arms firing in different sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the 10th consecutive night, prompting effective retaliation by the Indian army. The ceasefire violations, which started after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, were reported from eight places across five districts in the Union Territory during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately to the unprovoked firing, a defence spokesperson said.
An Air India flight bound for New York returned to Mumbai on Monday morning after a bomb threat was reported. The aircraft, carrying 303 passengers, was thoroughly checked by security agencies, and nothing suspicious was found. The flight has been rescheduled to operate at 5 am on Tuesday, and passengers have been offered hotel accommodation and other assistance. This incident follows a recent trend of hoax bomb threats on flights, with at least 15 flights receiving such threats this year.
'If the airlines are not given a clear deadline to change the altimeters by the DGCA, why should they do it voluntarily?' 'It means that the aircraft will be grounded for a while and lose money.'
Fuelled by rising passenger traffic and reviving local economies, the global airline industry is projected to record a net profit of $9.8 billion this year, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said on Monday and also made a strong pitch for having global standards for a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) book and claim system to help reduce carbon emissions. While addressing the Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) here, Walsh also flagged concerns about supply chain issues that are raising costs as well as limiting the ability of airlines to deploy aircraft. He also pointed out that decarbonising aviation is a serious issue and governments must not be allowed to use it to shore up exchequer finances.
IndiGo on Wednesday said it was exploring an earlier introduction of wide-body planes in its fleet to meet the growing demand for international travel. Industry sources said the airline was in talks with Norse Atlantic Airways to wet-lease six B787 planes in its fleet.
A woman passenger stripped naked and started screaming on a Southwest Airlines flight about to take off from Houston to Phoenix.
Akasa Air has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to exempt it from deploying CAT-III trained pilots on flights to and from two major fog-affected airports, Kolkata and Bengaluru, for specific periods, since there is a shortage of such pilots in its roster.
Some major contracts coming up for renewal include TCS' deals with Star Alliance, a consortium of airlines based in Germany, and Nielsen; Infosys' deals with GE Appliances and Daimler; HCLTech's with UK-based life insurer Chesnara; Wipro's with German electric utility company E.ON and Petrobras of Brazil; and Tech Mahindra's with Circle Health.
In an advisory, DGCA said there are provisions under the civil aviation requirement for action to be taken by the airline to deal with unruly passengers.
According to the officials, generally, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of liquor during a flight.
Some pro-Kashmir resistance handles on social media have claimed that the citizens who were injured in the Pahalgam terrorist attacks were not 'ordinary', but connected with internal security and counter-intelligence agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is engaged in confidential talks with Tata Sons for merging Vistara with Air India, the flagship carrier of the Republic of Singapore informed the stock exchange in the Southeast Asian nation on Thursday in a first acknowledgement of a possible integration of the two airlines. "In line with its multi-hub strategy, SIA is currently in confidential discussions with the Tatas to explore a potential transaction in relation to the securities of Vistara and Air India. "The discussions seek to deepen the existing partnership between SIA and Tatas and may include a potential integration of Vistara and Air India," SIA said in a notification to the Singapore stock exchange. SIA owns 49 per cent stake in Vistara and is among the four airlines run by Tata Group.
A passenger plane travelling from Azerbaijan to southern Russia with 67 people on board crashed near Aktau, a city in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, CNN reported, citing local officials.
The exchange of fire occurred even though the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan spoke over the hotline on Tuesday amid rising tensions between the two countries over the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
A stranded passenger said that all of them were sitting on the floor and there were no blankets available.
India has warned Pakistan against its unprovoked firings along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as the directors general of military operations of the two armies spoke on the hotline amid the escalating tensions over the Pahalgam terror attack.
The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete.
Tensions between India and Pakistan are escalating following last week's dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.
'I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.'
For the ninth consecutive night, Indian and Pakistani troops engaged in small arms fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, continuing a pattern of heightened border tensions. The skirmishes, initiated by Pakistani troops in violation of the ceasefire agreement, have led to a tense situation along the LoC and International Border (IB). The incidents come in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. Civilians residing near the border have begun preparing their bunkers, anticipating potential escalation. Despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, where India cautioned Pakistan, the ceasefire violations persist.
The couple were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters.
SpiceJet on Thursday said it has settled a $90.8 million dispute with Export Development Canada for a total consideration of $22.5 million, leading to the airline taking ownership of 13 Q400 planes. This resolution will result in savings of $68.3 million (Rs 574 crore), it said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has suspended two employees of the air traffic controller department for "carelessness", according to CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula.
