With Air India's Gulf monopoly under threat and likely to end very soon if the civil aviation ministry has its way, the state-owned airline is now pitching aggressively for direct flights to the US and Australia to make up for the loss.
An IAF flight carrying Indian student Harjot Singh, who was shot in Ukrainian capital Kyiv a few days ago, landed at the Hindon airbase in New Delhi on Monday evening, officials said.
The Union home ministry on Thursday announced that with this, the restrictions placed on visa and international travel since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic stand further eased given the present overall pandemic situation.
Playback singer Sonu Nigam on Friday lashed out the Jet Airways for suspending the crew members, who allowed him to perform impromptu on the aircraft's address system.
A day after Air-India gave away its entire Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) deal for 50 aircraft to American company Boeing
The addition of new flights at airports will now be based on passenger-handling capacity at security checkpoints, according to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The civil aviation security regulator issued directions in this regard on May 22 in a move to reduce congestion and delays inside airport terminals. Following this, airports will have to check passenger-handling capacity at security checkpoints before allotting slots.
Airline systems across airports, which were impacted due to a global IT outage on Friday, have started working normally, and all issues are likely to be resolved by noon on Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said. The ministry is constantly monitoring the operations at airports and airlines to ensure travel readjustments and refunds are taken care of, he added.
SpiceJet announced it has started a five-day "1+1 offer sale" where it was offering one-way base fares starting as low as Rs 899, excluding taxes, on its domestic network.
They say it will have severe impact on their financial strength
The 'Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham' has become the 68th civil airport terminal in the country to come under the umbrella of the specialised aviation security group of the central force.
The facility will be available for domestic as well as foreign carriers flying in Indian skies.
Govt gave 36,000 seats per week more than inter-ministerial group's recommendations.
An independent probe from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is unlikely in the Jalgaon train tragedy due to the negligence of passengers, according to railway sources. The tragedy occurred when 12 passengers were killed after stepping down from their train due to a fire rumor and were struck by another train. Experts say the CRS probe is unlikely because the passengers' actions were deemed negligent. While the CRS is typically involved in serious railway accidents, the 1998 rules allow for discretion when deaths or injuries result from passenger negligence. Passengers had ample time to move to safer locations but remained on the side tracks, ultimately leading to the tragic incident.
The first to take off will be Air Pegasus, promoted by Bengaluru-based ground-handling firm Deccor Aviation.
Domestic carriers seek week's time for suggestions on fares.
According to the resolution plan, the airline is planning to start with six to seven aircraft on domestic routes and looking to restart international service within six months of resuming operations.
The government proposes to divest 76 per cent of Air India, along with its shareholding in Air India Express and its ground-handling subsidiary, AISATS.
Pakistan's national flag carrier on Thursday suspended flight operations to Afghanistan due to what it called "security concerns", hours after the Taliban government threatened to ban the airline unless it reduced the fare on the Kabul-Islamabad route to previous levels.
At a meeting with airline chief executive officers and top officials here, the Civil Aviation Ministry also decided to amend Aircraft Act and Rules to safeguard the interests of aircraft leasing companies, many of which have started imposing stringent conditions for leasing planes to Indian carriers in the aftermath of Kingfisher Airlines shutting down.
New airline Akasa Air on Monday said it is on track to receive its first Boeing 737 Max plane by mid-June and launch commercial operations by July. The airline on Monday released the photographs of its first Max plane from the Boeing production facility in the USA's Portland as it gets ready for delivery. "The airline recently reaffirmed its commitment of being on track to receive its first aircraft in India by mid-June and launch commercial operations in India by July 2022," its statement mentioned.
Air India Express on Thursday cancelled 85 flights or around 23 per cent of the total daily capacity as the disruptions due to the cabin crew shortage continue and said Air India will operate services on 20 of its routes to minimise inconvenience to passengers.
The warning had come after SpiceJet's dues to AAI (including interest at 12 per cent) exceeded Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) this month -- from Rs 230 crore (Rs 2.3 billion) early December last year.
The government has requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to reduce the number of flights from these states in view of high prevalence of coronavirus cases there, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said in a statement.
