This is the first time an airline has made such a request to the ministry after the Tata-Singapore Airlines deal fell through in 2001 (Singapore Airlines was to have a 49 per cent share in the joint venture). The Indian government does not allow direct or indirect investments in domestic airlines, a move that was meant to protect domestic carriers. Mallya's request marks a sharp change from domestic players' stand.
In a major boost to private airlines, especially IndiGo and SpiceJet, the civil aviation ministry has lifted the freeze on them to expand abroad.
Bangalore's information and biotechnology majors have again trained their guns at the government over the closure of the existing HAL airport.
Premier British carrier Virgin Atlantic took the lead in introducing day time flights out of Delhi. British Airways followed suit by introducing its additional flight during day time. German carrier Lufthansa now also operates day time flights to Munich out of Delhi and Mumbai, apart from its night services to Frankfurt.
Amid the demand from the Union civil aviation ministry for induction of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as fresh equity into Air India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government is actively considering helping the national carrier.
The airport operations are likely to be disrupted as the employees have threatened to start an indefinite 'non-cooperation movement' from march 12 after the government today rejected their demands for continuing operations of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports. The existing airports in both the metros are to be closed down once the new greenfield airports launch their operations.
Confirming the circulation of the note, official sources said the Union Cabinet may take up the issue within the first fortnight of 2012.
Air India is the second Indian carrier to get a large bailout this year.
Air, rail and road traffic was severely affected in New Delhi on Monday as dense fog reduced the visibility to almost zero. According to senior officials of the Indian Metrological Department, the disruption is likely to continue for a few more days. There is little hope of the weather improving and it is likely to hit traffic in Delhi and neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, officials said.
On Sunday, Rashtiya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh was sworn in as Union Cabinet Minister. And the next move of the Congress, in the run up to the Uttar Pradesh elections, is to grant reservations to Jats in the central list of Other Backward Classes. Neerja Chowdhury analyses
The civil aviation ministry is soon going to move the Union Cabinet on the proposal to allow private domestic carriers, now operating to SAARC countries, to fly to ASEAN nations.
Indian Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a foreign aircraft with its origin in Iran that was moving towards New Delhi's airspace.
The government has cleared the acquisition of 46 new aircraft worth over Rs 19,000 crore by three low-cost carriers: SpiceJet, IndiGo and Jet Lite. The new planes will arrive in a staggered delivery schedule beginning November. The acquisitions were cleared on August 30 at a meeting of a civil aviation ministry empowered committee.
In December 2005, AI had ordered 111 aircraft worth Rs 46,000 crore.
The government on Wednesday issued new guidelines for international arrivals amid the spread of mutant variants of coronavirus in many countries.
Forty-five specialists will soon be joining key posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries in different central ministries as part of the Modi government's ambitious plan to infuse fresh talent to further improve ease of governance.
Civil aviation ministry has also reached a consensus to give a five-year term to the next CMD of the ailing state-owned airline.
The Kalrock-Jalan consortium - new owners of Jet Airways - has got an assurance from around 30 airports that if the airline restarts operations, 170 pairs of slots can be made available. However, whether those slots will be according to the airline's demand will depend on the order of the insolvency court, which is slated to come next week. Sources said the new management feels it is extremely important that some of those slots are restored or else its business plan of operating Jet as a premium carrier will not be viable.
In a coalition era, the smallest of parties gets almost blackmail power and that power is in direct proportion to the weakness of the senior coalition partner. Which is why, for instance, even in an era of coalitions, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a lot more powerful than Manmohan Singh is.
The creation of joint ventures by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has not impacted its revenue share, says the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The civil aviation ministry would 'shortly' come out with a comprehensive policy framework for sharing of unused bilateral air-traffic rights between the public sector and private carriers, for operating to these international destinations.
Disciplinary action against 45 suspended pilots would also be taken to its logical conclusion, they added.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
The Aircraft Acquisition Committee of the civil aviation ministry, which approved the IndiGo request in principle, also gave similar approval to a proposal of the Chennai-based business class airline Paramount Airways to acquire 10 aircraft from the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and European ATR, official sources said.
State-run City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) plans to issue a request for qualification (RFQ) for the Navi Mumbai international airport in the middle of next month.
The government on Friday decided to extend 'open sky' policy to all foreign airlines, including those from the Persian Gulf for three months in the peak winter season, subject to commercial arrangements with the national flag carriers.
Jet has pulled out flights from Northeast states and also cancelled its Srinagar flight, leading to reduction in capacity.
Aviation consultancy CAPA on Thursday said allowing domestic airlines to take advance bookings from April 15 is "unfair" to consumers since a decision on lifting the nationwide lockdown is yet to be taken. During the lockdown period only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.
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