A day after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security filed an FIR against Continental Airlines for frisking former President A P J Abdul Kalam, the government on Wednesday said it knew about the incident and had issued a show cause notice to the airline on July 9."The BCAS, after getting the information in time, first conducted an inquiry and then issued the show cause notice on July 9. On Tuesday, they filed an FIR also Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
The home minister held a video conference with Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra -- Vijay Rupani and Uddhav Thackeray respectively -- and Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Praful Patel, and assured them all central help in view of the impending cyclone, an official statement said in New Delhi.
Air India is considering a proposal to extend its low fare services to some domestic routes to compete with private carriers.
Tenders for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport are likely to be floated in the next six month and the project is 'very much on track', Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
The government is understood to have approached industrialist Ratan Tata to head an advisory board of the ailing Air India.
NACIL had submitted a proposal in October 2008 for equity infusion of Rs 1,231 crore (Rs 12.31 billion) and provision of soft loan of Rs 2,750 crore (Rs 27.5 billion), with an interest of approximately 5 per cent payable over 15 years.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said some of the airlines have not been settling their dues in time. The minister said several airlines, including international carriers, had outstandings to privatised airports.
Turning down Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's plea for a fare cut, full service carrier Kingfisher Airlines on Monday said that at present there was no case for reducing air fare.Other airlines like SpiceJet and IndiGo also said that after the recent round of cuts in fuel surcharge, customers should not expect further benefits in the short term, though there would be some advance purchase packages in January.
Asked about a possible bailout for Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said, "I think it will happen because as the owner of the airline, the government has its responsibility to put in equity, like private airlines where their promoters put in money." Asked if the government was looking at a Rs 15,000 crore bailout, Patel said: "No, Rs 15,000 crore is not the number. The number is far less than that."
The minister said under the agreement between the Airports Authority of India and the joint venture companies -- Delhi International Airport Limited and Mumbai International Airport Limited -- 'the target rating after completion of the stage 2 shall be 3.75 on the scale of five.'The stage II of development of the Delhi airport is expected to be completed by 2016. Patel added the two companies had undertaken several initiatives to improve the satisfaction levels of customers.
The government on Wednesday asked promoters of the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) to keep in mind local sensibilities during its modernisation amid claims of change of name of the airport.The Civil Aviation Ministry has strongly refuted allegations that the present name of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is being altered and the location of the statue of the warrior king is being replaced.
The government will infuse equity into Air India by March, but only if the ailing state-run carrier manages to generate another Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) by increasing revenue and cutting costs.
Highly placed sources said Oil Minister Murli Deora took exception to Menon's proposals during a meeting of the Federation of Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to resolve the crisis arising out of mounting fuel bill arrears. "There should not be any layoffs. Why are you raising it now," sources quoted Deora as telling Menon.
Aviation experts say the existing airports cannot be viable.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday referred the proposal for allowing People of Indian Origin to invest in domestic airlines on par with NRIs to a Group of Ministers.
The government on Friday announced it had entered into an agreement with the United States to establish an Aviation Cooperation Programme to modernise the sector's infrastructure.
The eight members -- distributed among the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party -- were suspended earlier in the day for the remainder of the Monsoon Session over their 'unruly behaviour' during the passage of farm Bills in the Upper House of Parliament.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Indian airlines had suffered major losses in the past two years over the unprecedented rise in prices of aviation turbine fuel.
Real Kashmir FC, on Tuesday, became the first football club from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify for the country's top tier I-League
The government will consider the issue of infusing equity into ailing Air India shortly, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
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.
In a statement criticising the levy, the IATA said on Thursday that the ADF came at a time when the industry was badly in need of a stimulus package to boost demand.
The Nationalist Congress Party said on Thursday it will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat with the Congress and talks on seat sharing has already started and it is expected to be finalised in next couple of days.
The biggest constraint to achieve a higher growth rate in South Asia is infrastructure. Growth in the region could have been higher if more investment in infrastructure would have been made, says Patel.
The directorate general of civil aviation has shot off a letter to all airlines seeking details of the sudden and steep fare hikes announced on Wednesday. The move came close on the heels of civil aviation minister Praful Patel's remark that the ministry was against cartelisation, widely believed to be behind the latest fare hikes.
India's ailing aviation sector can finally hope to get some relief. The Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel has announced that a Group of Ministers (GoM) has been formed to look into the issues faced by the aviation sector.
The Union Cabinet is likely to take up the airline industry's concerns over high taxes on jet fuel and airport charges at its next meeting and a Group of Ministers (GoM) may be set up to focus on ATF pricing.
Private airlines collecting taxes from travellers other than the passenger service fee will be penalised and made to refund such money, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Lok Sabha on Thursday. Patel made it clear that the government did not regulate the air fare levied by Airline companies. The government only levies Rs 221 as passenger service fee which is used for security of airports and to cover other related expenses, he said.
The Airports Authority of India, would be turned into a company by amending laws to enable the body raise funds from market for carrying out modernisation of a large number of major airports across the country, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
International flights from the Srinagar airport would operate from February 14, when it would be formally inaugurated as an international airport. The first international flight will take off for the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement issued by the Union Water Resources Minister, Saif-ud-Din Soz.
Kingfisher Red topped the list of loss-makers with Rs 79,8.34 crore (Rs 7.98 billion).
Replying to questions on losses to Air India, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the rally in international crude oil prices that touched $147 a barrel in July 2008, hit Indian carriers by Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in jet fuel bill. Air India loses are a result of high jet fuel prices and fall in air traffic following global economic slowdown, he said. "There are (also) systematic issues which need to be corrected."
A senior civil aviation ministry official said this was one of the key issues discussed during Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to ask for a relief on ATF. Top airline executives like Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya also met the PM to highlight the issue.
The Centre will come out with a policy by next year that will prescribe guidelines to state governments, private investors and Airports Authority of India for building airports. This was announced by the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at an Assocham function to discuss the need for building aerotropolis (cities around the airport).
Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Kingfisher and other airlines have told the government that they would curtail services frequency and air routes to cut losses after oil companies raised the prices of aviation fuel.
The minister said airlines must reciprocate the government's gesture to help the aviation industry, which has been been going through rough weather this year. State-run oil companies on Monday slashed jet fuel prices by over 11 per cent. ATF in Delhi was cut by Rs 4,208.37 to Rs 32,691.28 per kilolitre.
The government's support is there for Air India, (but) it comes with a condition, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
To overcome hurdles in land acquisition for airport projects, the government is planning to allow private players to build airports on their own land.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday lashed out at the Planning Commission, holding it responsible for the delay in the modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports.
The Indian hockey team recently won the Asia Cup, but the recognition the players received was nothing like what the cricket team is getting after the Twenty20 World Cup triumph.
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