French aerospace major Thales Group is eyeing major expansion in India. The group has started planning to set up a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organisation in India to support Indian airlines - many of which are its customers for avionics support. "We are looking to set up an MRO, so that they don't have to travel to West Asia or Singapore. "Final decision is yet to be taken, but this is a clear intent showing the growth potential in India that we are looking to set up a sub-centre here," said Yannick Assouad, executive vice-president, avionics at Thales, who was on her maiden visit to the group's India office at Bengaluru since taking charge.
19 per cent of all travel in India (by bus, train or air) was pilgrimage or religious travel (possibly the single largest after business and family-related travel), discovers Ambi Parameswaran.
SpiceJet's resurgence, once the new funding is in place, has the potential to disrupt the Indian aviation market in 2024 as the airline will bring its grounded aircraft back to service and lease as many planes as possible to be competitively relevant, aviation consultancy firm Capa India said on Thursday. "Although the market for procuring aircraft in 2024 is exceptionally tight, we expect that SpiceJet will bring stored aircraft back into operations, and will wet or dry lease as much capacity as possible, in order to be competitively relevant. "This will have a material impact on the industry structure, and possibly on domestic profitability," Capa India said in its report.
Two civilian planes with 200 passengers on board landed safely in emergency conditions at the airports in Mumbai and Delhi on Tuesday evening after the pilots reported some technical problems in the aircraft.
The number of Indian passengers has jumped more than 20 per cent in the past year
Airbus' $99 million payout puts a new light on Eurofighter's 'unsolicited bid' to the Modi government, reducing the cost of the Typhoon fighter by 20 per cent, making it in retrospect significantly cheaper than the Rafale.
Airbus recently bagged large orders from Indian airlines such as Indigo and Go Air.
It was found to be a false alarm.
With the Chennai airport closed till December 6 following heavy rains and flood, the nearby naval air station at Arakonnam is likely to be turned into a makeshift airport.
Full-service airline Tata-SIA, submitted its application for the grant of Air Operator's Permit (AOP or flying license) in April.
India's aviation industry could return to profitability in 2023-24 for the first time since the pandemic. The industry may pare aggregated net loss by 75-80 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to between Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 4,500 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 17,500 crore of net losses in 2021-22 (FY22). A combination of recovery in passenger volumes and easing cost pressures due to stable fuel and foreign exchange (forex) costs could spark a turnaround. CRISIL says domestic and international passenger traffic recovered to 90 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively, of pre-pandemic traffic (2019-20, or FY20), in April-December 2022, compared with April-December 2019.
India also went on an overdrive in expanding its military engagement with like-minded countries in its neighbourhood and beyond in the face of China's relentless attempts to become a regional hegemon and establish its primacy in South Asia.
IndiGo has previously placed orders for 100 A320s and 180 A320neo planes.
Glimpses from the 54th International Paris Airshow.
However, while the capacity void in the domestic market has been filled, a vacuum still remains in international connectivity, especially on the India-Europe and onwards route, which was well connected by Jet Airways via the Boeing 777, Airbus A330 aircraft and its hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.
After hectic diplomatic efforts, India finally got permission to land in Sanaa and the first flight with a passenger capacity of 120 has landed, the spokesperson in the external affairs ministry said.
We live in hope that India and its airlines might finally grow up, notes Anuli Bhargava.
West Asian carriers are up against Air India and IndiGo in the battle for seats on lucrative international routes.
The airport, being developed by the Adani Group, is expected to start commercial operations early next year.
"Indian Airlines has chosen to buy 43 Airbus planes. It's my strong wish the choice be finalised soon," said French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on Thursday.
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.
The mesmerizing march included elite marching contingents, missiles, warplanes, surveillance gadgets and lethal weapon systems, with French President Emmanuel Macron gracing the occasion as the chief guest.
The presence of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India could have prevented Go First airline from going "belly up", as sending engines abroad for servicing is not an efficient way to operate a carrier, Piyush Srivastava, senior economic advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday. On May 3, Go First suspended its flights and filed for insolvency, squarely blaming engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) for its cash crunch. The airline claimed that about half of its 54 aircraft were grounded on May 3 due to a delay in the supply of engines by the US-based company. PW has denied the charges.
Kingfisher has five A330-200s currently operating in its fleet, which ply between India and the United Kingdom. Deliveries are pending for another 15. Contacted by Business Standard, a company spokesperson said the airline did not ". . .envisage making any changes to the order book at this time".
In India, many players are in the throes of chaos and pain but at least one partnership -- Air Asia India -- that was fraying even before the pandemic now finds itself at breaking point, says Anjuli Bhargava.
India's private carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which placed orders for 30 Airbus A320 aircraft worth $1.9 billion at the ongoing Dubai Air Show, has said the carrier would go public to finance the deal.
Trudeau stayed at the Lalit Hotel in the national capital during his stay for the G20 Summit.
Close on the heels of clinching the Indian Air Force contract for supply of mid-air refuellers, European consortium Airbus will now bid for the Rs 12,000-crore global tender to be floated by India for procuring 56 medium-lift transport aircraft to replace its vintage Avro planes.
The Airbus C-295 can carry up to 71 troops, or 50 paratroopers with battle loads. It can ferry supplies to locations inaccessible to the IAF's heavy transport fleet.
Everybody talks of China as the real threat, but we aren't even building a decisive capability against Pakistan, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The company is looking at putting in one plane every month.
Modi made the comments in his address after inaugurating the 14th edition of Aero India at the Yalahanka Air Force station complex on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
On Thursday, Virgin Atlantic, for instance, cancelled its morning flight between London and Delhi. And Air India rescheduled its London-Ahmedabad flight by several hours. With the Heathrow restrictions to remain in place till September 11, air traffic between India and London is likely to see slower growth over the next two months.
AirAsia India began operations in June 2014.
Most airlines have fattened their profits, turned the corner, or cut their losses, except AirAsia India.
Travels to Gulf accounted for 40% of India's international air traffic in 2016.
The Wadia group-owned airline is building a new management team and putting in place strategies for efficient operations. Leading the change is Cornelis Vrieswijk, the airline's new chief executive officer.
Unlikely to happen in less than a year,despite the advantage of the parent airline's base.
