Air-India is to acquire 18 aircraft of 160-seater plus category, worth over $1.5 billion, during the next five years, even as it has decided to scale down its requirement of long-range aircraft from 17 to 10 planes.
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.
In December 2005, AI had ordered 111 aircraft worth Rs 46,000 crore.
'Indian aviation is having a lesser number of aircraft.' 'Besides the Boeing 737 MAX, you have the A320Neos which Indigo is currently grappling with because of a lack of pilots.' 'This has led to cancellation (of flights) and therefore the prices of air tickets are on the higher side this season although generally in March ticket prices are on the lower side.'
The US aircraft manufacturer has already agreed to create a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Nagpur as part of its India commitments following the Air India order.
Capable of flying at Mach 2.5 (two-and-a-half times the speed of sound), the F-15EX is the world's fastest fighter aircraft. It carries 13.5 tonnes of weapons load, more than the Rafale or the Sukhoi-30MKI.
The airlines is in talks with Oman Air and Etihad.
About 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 are currently in service with airlines around the world, with thousands more on order. Boeing insists it has no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies.
Defence major Boeing on Monday proposed greater business engagement with India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised the US companies to provide friendlier business environment in the country.
India has got the money and workforce, but no Indian firm has so far decided to do it
The aviation regulator slapped fines amounting to Rs 2.75 crore on Indian airlines in 2023, marking a 39 per cent rise in financial penalties from Rs 1.97 crore in 2022. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023. The regulator also carried out a record number of 5,745 surveillance activities in the year to ensure compliance by airlines, aerodrome operators, and aviation personnel among others.
'Rajnath Singh's message was very clear: India's focus is on developing self-reliance.'
Another airport official said on condition of anonymity that a spark flew out of from the rear of the plane and ignited the grass. "Thank god it happened only after the passengers alighted from the plane," the official said.
Boeing's plan involves setting up an Indian factory and the aerospace ecosystem to build the Block II Super Hornet.
Though a formal purchase agreement with Boeing is yet to be signed, SpiceJet's order size could be of 40-50 planes, a source familiar with the development said. At list price, a 737 Max aircraft is valued at about $100 million (Rs 620 crore).
The incident happened while the Kochi-bound Boeing 737-800 aircraft was taxiing and after the warning, the passengers were evacuated as a precautionary measure, the source said.
Boeing India president says with the rising prices of aviation fuel, the airlines do not have any option but to increase the fares.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes on Tuesday offered to replace the aircraft leased by Air-India from South Korea with new generation ones at a 'great price' and said Indian Airlines would save over Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) if it bought planes from it.
Air India will train its pilots in Singapore for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, due for delivery from December. The move is sparking a protest from one of its pilots' unions, on promotion issues.
Whether it's navigating the labyrinthine Cu Chi Tunnels, boating on the Mekong, marveling at ancient Champa temples, or the Mekong Bay, Vietnam promises a journey like no other.
"There needs to be further inquiry," said former Premier of Ontario Province Bob Rae, the independent investigator of the trial on the bombing of Air-India flight 182, after releasing his review report.
An airline official said there were 292 passengers, including 8 infants onboard the plane.
Boeing is likely to vie for the deal to supply 110 fighter jets to the IAF in one of the biggest such procurement in recent years globally which could be worth over USD 15 billion.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Indian Navy has decided that the twin-seat Rafale will not be disqualified on the basis of its inability to operate from an aircraft carrier.
Air-India on Tuesday took the delivery of the first of the three Boeing 737-800s for its subsidiary A-I Express for operations to the Gulf.
Akasa Air said on Thursday said it has received the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from aviation regulator DGCA and will start commercial operations later this month.
'We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different.' 'Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference.'
West Asian carriers are up against Air India and IndiGo in the battle for seats on lucrative international routes.
"By the time this fiscal year ends and then next one starts and unless someone does a harakiri in lowering their fare, we see a good scenario beginning April onwards," Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar told PTI in an interview.
The maintenance, repairs and overhault firm, which has six investors, received its first external funding from GTI Group and Punj Lloyd in 2007. All existing investors will exit the company following the transaction.
Its association with India is over 70 years old and spans both civil and military aviation. The Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft used by the air force beginning the 1940s and the iconic Boeing 747 aircraft flown by Air India, both had Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines. The Indian Air Force's present-day, heavy-lift C-17 Globemaster III and the yet-to-be-inducted C-295 planes, too, have P&W power plants.
At the recently concluded Dubai airshow, Akasa, Rakesh Radheyshyam Jhunjhunwala's new airline, signed a $9 billion deal with American aircraft maker Boeing to buy its 737 MAX planes and a $4 billion one for engines with CFM, a joint venture between GE of the US and Safran of France. Unlike his financial doppelganger Warren Buffett, who divested billions from his airline stock portfolio at the start of the pandemic, Jhunjhunwala is wagering his billions in a brand new airline. The legendary investor bought a roughly 40 per cent stake in SNV Aviation in September, Akasa's holding company, started in March by three former Jet Airways colleagues. With aviation still to recover from its pandemic slump, the big question around his foray into domestic aviation, due to take off in summer 2022, is whether it is another pie in the sky.
'Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. . I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed'
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa is in talks with US aerospace company Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max aircraft. Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and his family members are promoters while ex-IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh is a board member of the airline. The airline is in negotiation with Boeing and has reached out to the government to recertify the aircraft which has been grounded since 2018 after two crashes killing 349 persons, according to sources in the know.
Sundays are generally quiet days for air travel, but this Sunday was a tad different. There was quite an excitement at Gate 28 of Mumbai airport's Terminal 1 as Akasa Air, India's newest airline, prepared to take to the skies on Day 1. With a new fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft and soft cushioned seats equipped with USB ports, Akasa Air hopes to bring freshness to the flying experience.
