The civil aviation sector will attract an investment worth Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 1000 billion) in the next four years for development, modernisation and aircraft acquisition, according to Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
If the Ministry of Civil Aviation has its way, the proposed regulatory authority for the sector will act as an arbitrator in case of disputes over airfare. The airlines, however, will be free to decide on ticket pricing.
More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, according to sources.
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
Taking note of numerous complaints on refund on air tickets, the government on Thursday issued a new set of rules which stipulate that the amount should be refunded within seven days of the tickets being cancelled. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued the rule or Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), making it effective forthwith.
80-year-old passenger collapsed and later died after walking from plane to terminal at the Mumbai airport after not getting a wheelchair.
Magic Air, a start-up airline slated to be launched from November by a Person of Indian Origin, Neera Radia , has already run into turbulent weather, with the government on Thursday saying it cannot permit PIOs to operate an airline.
In a major relief for pilots in dealing with fatigue, aviation watchdog DGCA on Monday came out with revised norms that increase their weekly rest time to 48 hours and limit the number of landings to two during night operations. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also extended the night hours for pilots and now, it covers the period from 0000-0600 hours whereas it was 0000-0500 hours earlier. Besides, all airlines have to compulsorily submit quarterly fatigue reports, which "should follow a follow a non-punitive and confidentiality policy".
Amid concerns over alleged poaching of pilots, Air India told Akasa Air that petitioning a competitor to collude in restricting the rights of staff to change an employer could potentially violate the competition law. Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson wrote a letter to Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube against the backdrop of Akasa Air raising concerns about Air India Express hiring pilots from the airline. The letter, dated September 21, followed a letter by Dube to Tata Sons on September 11.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released a draft procedure that calls for testing pilots, other aviation personnel and crew members for psychoactive substances before they take to the skies. The Indian civil aviation regulator has sought comments from stakeholders over the next 30 days before issuing a regulation to this effect. Asking airlines and airports to do random checks on crew and air traffic controllers, DGCA proposed that violators be suspended for a minimum of three years or their licence be permanently cancelled as maximum punishment.
The decision has been taken after Kamra was found 'guilty' for alleged misbehaviour by an internal committee of IndiGo, an airline official said. The ban on Kamra comes into effect immediately.
The airport, being developed by the Adani Group, is expected to start commercial operations early next year.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
A notification from the ministry has raised the minimum equity capital requirement for a five-fleet carrier that wants to fly Airbuses and Boeings (or aircraft above 40,000 kg weight) from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday suspended operations at Redbird Flight Training Academy, one of India's largest flight schools, across all five of its training bases in the country. This action was taken after five accidents involving the institute's planes in the past six months. The DGCA announced it would conduct an audit of the academy's maintenance practices and also proficiency checks of the institute's flight instructors before allowing it to resume operations.
The report quoted the civil defence as saying that there were no survivors in the incident.
The move would come as a relief to air passengers.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has prepared a pool of more than 100 personnel to man additional security counters expected to be handed over to it for easing the ongoing congestion at large airports of Delhi and Mumbai, official sources said Wednesday.
IndiGo had on May 9 said the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was visibly in panic.
The airlines in their representation had said that pilots had to be spared for the renewal procedure, which took a lot of time.
The US has said that it was committed to work with India to help it get back the Category 1 aviation safety rating "as soon as possible", a day after Washington downgraded India's ranking, bringing it below Pakistan and at par with countries like Ghana and Bangladesh.
An airline official said the ban is with immediate effect and is in addition to the 30-day ban it had imposed on the individual earlier.
The commercial flight operations of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air will be launched in July instead of June. "As we get closer to the airline launch date, we can now confirm refined estimates on our timelines. "We expect our first aircraft delivery by early June 2022, with the intention to start commercial operations in July 2022," Vinay Dube, CEO, Akasa Air, told PTI.
Whether this happens because DGCA actually cares about the future of the national carrier or for other motives is not clear.
The proposal is awaiting final policy sanction from the home ministry.
Jet Airways on Friday suspended their crew for allowing playback singer Sonu Nigam to sing from the aircraft's address system during a flight.
According to e-mails accessed by ANI, the Air India cabin crew supervisor had reportedly sent out emails on November 27 at around 1 pm to the head of the Inflight Service Department (IFSD), base operations in India, Lead HR head of IFSD, and head of the northern region of IFSD and of complaints (customer care), informing them about the incident.
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.
An additional 1,400 CISF personnel have been sanctioned to secure the expanding terminal areas of the Delhi airport and also to meet the challenge of its growing passenger traffic, officials said on Thursday.
Increasing cases of aviators in India complaining of fatigue and in some cases leading to death have spurred the DGCA to bring in draft rules to reduce stress.
The union cabinet is likely to consider on Thursday a policy, which, among other issues, suggests relaxation of norms to allow domestic carriers to fly abroad.
'DGCA cares a damn for human life.'
There is increasing friction between the IAF's military requirements, and the AAI's need to provide infrastructure to many more airlines.
Telecom operators will need to shut down 5G services in high-frequency bands in and around airports following restrictions imposed by the Department of Telecom at the request of the civil aviation ministry, according to sources. Based on buffer and safety zone details provided by the aviation ministry, the DoT has asked telecom operators to not install 5G base stations in the 3.3-3.6 Ghz band in the area of 2.1 kilometres from both ends of the runway and 910 meters from the centre line of the runway of Indian airports with immediate effect. "Telecom operators will need to shut down 5G service in the 3.3-3.6 Ghz band only in and around airports based on the order.
The threats via microblogging platform X came a day after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats, causing trouble to hundreds of passengers and airline crew.
The relaxation has been given to facilitate "smooth conduct of air operations", the ministry's order stated.
Commercial pilot licenses will now be valid for ten years, with the government amending rules as part of efforts to further improve ease of doing business in the aviation sector. Till now, the validity of Commercial Pilot License (CPL) was for five years and after completion of that period, it had to be renewed. The civil aviation ministry amended the Aircraft Rules, 1937.
This isn't the first instance of Vistara facing scrutiny from the regulator over improper pilot training.
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.
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