The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched a second generation navigation satellite, using a GSLV rocket with a cryogenic upper stage to do the job.
The civil aviation ministry has mandated airlines and ground-handling companies to phase out airport equipment older than 12 years and switch to electric or fuel-efficient variants by May 2022. While companies have welcomed the ministry's green initiative, they said that the deadline for implementation is tight. This is especially in the wake of financial challenges faced by the aviation sector during the pandemic.
The CBI has closed a case against former Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav and others over alleged corruption in the appointments of general managers after the central government refused to grant its sanction to prosecute him, officials said. The agency had booked Jadhav, then general manager L P Nakhwa (now retired), and then additional general managers A Kathpalia, Amitabh Singh and Rohit Bhasin after a year-long preliminary enquiry, they said. It was alleged that Jadhav had constituted illegal/irregular promotion panel to recommend suitable candidates for promotion to the post of general manager (operations), they said.
Jet Airways has been hit by three top-level resignations ahead of its relaunch. The three senior executives who have resigned include Captains Niraj Chandan (head of flight safety), Vishesh Oberoi (head of operations) and Sorab Variava (head of training). These posts are critical and generally senior pilots are nominated for the roles.
'The ongoing presence of extremist/militant elements operating in Pakistan poses a continued risk to US civil aviation from small-arms fire, complex attacks against airports, indirect weapons fire, and anti-aircraft fire, any of which could occur with little or no warning'
In signs of increasing differences, Jet Airways' winning bidder Jalan Kalrock Consortium on Tuesday asked the airline monitoring committee's authorised representative Ashish Chhawcharia not to issue any communication on behalf of the grounded carrier without approval of all the members of the committee. Amid the continuing uncertainty over the fate of Jet Airways, which shuttered operations in April 2019, the consortium on Tuesday wrote a letter to Chhawcharia. The latest development comes more than a week after Chhawchharia reportedly shot off a letter to Sanjiv Kapoor, asking him to refrain from using the title of CEO as he was only a CEO-designate.
Jet Airways conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport on Thursday in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate. Jet Airways, which has not flown since April 17, 2019, is currently in the process of re-launching operations under its new promoters Jalan-Kalrock Consortium. On Thursday, the airline's CEO Sanjiv Kapoor said on Twitter that the test flight's operation was a very emotional moment "for all the wonderful folks who have been working hard to get Jet back in the skies".
The whereabouts of Mahinda Rajapaksa is being speculated since his resignation on Monday.
Present at the signing ceremony was the Taliban's rarely seen Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who lost out in a power struggle last year to be prime minister.
Passengers coming from 'at-risk' countries to six major Indian airports have to compulsorily pre-book for the on-arrival RT-PCR test from December 20 onwards, the civil aviation ministry said on Tuesday.
"The strategic divestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a tweet. A new board, led by the strategic partner, takes charge of Air India, he added.
New airline Akasa Air on Thursday took delivery of the first 737 Max aircraft from Boeing in Seattle, USA, a statement said.
Any passenger from these countries found symptomatic or testing positive for coronavirus would be quarantined, Mandaviya said.
A video apparently shot by one of the five Indian passengers on board the aircraft that plunged into a gorge in Pokhara on Sunday captures the horrific moments of the crash that killed 72 people.
The mortal remains of the former Union minister were consigned to flames by his son Shantanu Bundela and daughter Subhasini in his ancestral village Ankhmau at around 5 pm.
Air India has been a subject of its passengers' ire this week as more than half of its flights have been delayed, primarily because of an old crew rostering system. Due to the existing system, the airline has not been able to handle the disruption created by cyclone 'Biparjoy' on India's western coast. The sudden grounding of two planes also added to the carrier's woes.
So should airlines play the keening, trance-like Siddi folk music from the Kutch peninsula? The Sufiana Kalam of Kashmir? Carnatic music? Rabindra Sangeet? Bihu melodies? Classical music from the Hindustani gharanas? Ghazals? Bhajans? Bollywood hits?... asks Kanika Datta.
Jet's air operator certificate will lapse on May 19.
Three months after the Modi government withdrew SPG cover to Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, they are all set to lose another special status provided to them.
The government is looking at a new timeline for Air India disinvestment and financial bids will be invited in the coming days, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday. Noting that there is no choice but to either "privatise or close" Air India, he said the government will have to keep the airline running till it gets divested. "We are looking at another timeline now, what is called data room for prospective bidders to look at... that is opened up, 64 days for the financial bids to come in. "After that it is the question of taking a decision and handing over the airline," the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said.
The defence ministry said Maharashtra was voted as the best tableau among the states/union territories in the popular choice category.
Both Jet Airways and Go First have met with a similar fate of landing up in insolvency, albeit for different reasons. Whether Go First will be able to avoid the sharp erosion in value like in the case of Jet, experts say, will depend on how quickly it is able to restart operations and retain its slots at airports. Go First, owned by the Wadia group, filed for voluntary corporate insolvency resolution on May 2 due to inadequate capacity utilisation that led to a cash crunch.
After the accident on Friday, Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor alleged on Twitter that there were safety lapses on the part of the civil aviation ministry.
Air India's handling of an incident in which an inebriated male flier allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger suggests an urgent need for stricter rules to deal with unruly passengers, according to legal and aviation experts.
The aggrieved lady had "rescinded" an initial request for action after the two "appeared" to have sorted out the issue.
The regulator has warned airlines and in an email on May 2 asked all Indian carriers to give compensation and facilities to passengers affected by such denial of boarding, failing which it would will impose financial penalties on them.
Nepalese authorities on Tuesday started handing over to family members the bodies of those killed in the January 14 crash of a Yeti Airlines passenger plane with 72 people on board.
Scheduled international passenger flights have remained suspended since March 23, 2020 in the wake of the pandemic and they will now restart from Sunday.
The Centre has taken a major step towards increasing efficiency in decision-making by empowering joint secretaries to report to secretaries directly, officials said on Wednesday.
Some of India's best-known royals gathered in New Delhi to watch the final of the Sir Pratap Singh Polo Cup, which is named after Sir Pratap Singh, the man credited with the foundation of modern polo in India.
"We have found that a couple of international airlines are not adhering to the rules. Failure to adhere to rules shall entail strict action," said Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar.
'There are people who left and abused the party, so they should not be taken back'
The incident took place during a flying practice at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur under Mana police station limits at around 9:10 pm.
SpiceJet has decreased its domestic services by 31 per cent to 2,995 weekly flights in the upcoming winter schedule as compared to 4,316 weekly flights that it got approved for the winter schedule of 2019, the aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday. Meanwhile, Vistara, another private carrier, has increased its domestic services by 22 per cent to 1,675 weekly flights as compared to 1,376 weekly flights for 2019 winter schedule, the regulator added. The winter schedule begins on October 31 of a year and ends on March 26 next year.
New airline Akasa Air on Friday said it will launch commercial flight operations on August 7 by operating its first service on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route using Boeing 737 Max aircraft. In a statement, the carrier said it has opened ticket sales on 28 weekly flights it will be operating on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route from August 7, as well as on 28 weekly flights it will operating on Bengaluru-Kochi route from August 13. The carrier will launch commercial operations with two 737 Max aircraft. Boeing has delivered one Max plane and the second one's delivery is scheduled to take place later this month.
India has announced suspension of all tourist visas till April 15 in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
Pakistan has declined to allow the use of its airspace for flights from Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, sources said.
According to the people aware of the matter, there are currently 10 different variants of COVID-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.
A video clip of the heated exchange onboard the flight on December 16 was shared on social media on Wednesday.
Aviation regulator DGCA has allowed IndiGo to wet lease wide-body Boeing planes from Turkish Airlines for up to six months and has rejected the domestic carrier's request for leasing the aircraft for up to two years, according to sources. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) turned down the request of the country's largest airline to wet lease the aircraft for a longer period, citing that the move could become diversion of traffic rights in collusion with a strong foreign carrier that will mainly feed the latter's hub abroad with more passengers from India, the sources said. IndiGo, which currently has only narrow-body planes in its fleet, decided to lease wide-body aircraft to operate more flights on international routes to meet rising demand.