A proposal to hike foreign direct investment cap in helicopter and sea-plane operations, MRO facilities, charters, air-cargo and non-scheduled air operations has been moved by the civil aviation ministry for the Cabinet's consideration.
Akasa Air has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to exempt it from deploying CAT-III trained pilots on flights to and from two major fog-affected airports, Kolkata and Bengaluru, for specific periods, since there is a shortage of such pilots in its roster.
The move is aimed at checking further labour trouble and garnering support for the process of implementing the post-merger integration of Air India employees, as resentment is expected over salaries and career progression issues.
Aviation Minister Praful Patel has requested FM to rationalise taxes on aviation fuel in Budget 2008-09.
Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
Earlier in the day, an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landed successfully at 1.32 pm at runway 08/26 of the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport, paving the way for the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) to seek an aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to start commercial flight services.
The Centre asked state governments on Friday to review and rationalise their taxation policy on jet fuel and land acquisition practices to encourage the expansion of civil aviation sector so that they could themselves reap the benefits of its unprecedented growth.
The government on Monday asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by Go First. In the case of the unfortunate Odisha tragedy, airlines have been advised to provide free carriage (cargo) services to the families of the deceased, the civil aviation ministry said. During an hour-long meeting of the airlines advisory group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared his concerns about the steep rise in airfares on certain routes.
Stating that the Centre was planning construct 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airport Policy, Singh said the civil aviation ministry is in process of identifying the most suitable low cost viable model for development of small airports to increase regional connectivity.
Shubham Upadhyay, a resident of Uttam Nagar in the national capital, was arrested for posting two bomb threat messages to draw attention after seeing similar news reports on TV, the police said.
On Friday, the Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air.
More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, according to sources.
The SOEC clause says only airlines owned by a country or its citizens can fly from the nation concerned to India and use the quota of seats allotted under a bilateral pact between the countries.
'It is indeed a fact that several issues were routinely red-flagged by DGCA, and were addressed by the (Kozhikode) airport operator. These pertain to excessive rubber deposits, water stagnation, cracks and other routine issues,' Puri tweeted a day after the plane crash in Kozhikode that claimed at least 18 lives.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Friday said the airline industry in India has grown by 400 per cent in a short span of about six-and-a-half years.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has issued a circular to airlines and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on measures to deal with threats from jamming and spoofing of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) amid reports of such interference in the Middle East.
The Reserve Bank of India's decision to allow airlines hedge jet fuel in global markets came in for praise from the industry and the civil aviation ministry, but end-users are unlikely to benefit in the form of lower airfares.
This is the third enforcement action against a Tata Group airline in over a month.
On the issue of allowing domestic carriers to fly overseas before their completing 5 years of domestic operations, the document does not mention anything.
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.
India's aviation safety ratings have been downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the top to the second category, which would affect expansion of flights by Indian carriers to the United States.
The Indian aviation sector is on the cusp of a change as airlines look to induct a record number of aircraft. This, analysts said, will put the sector on a growth runway, though keeping it viable for only long-term investors. According to Vinit Bolinjkar, head of research at Ventura Securities, expectations of strong air traffic, coupled with low penetration, is the prime reason for a solid long-term outlook.
Indian civil aviation norms don't apply to foreign aviation companies, experts said.
There is no reason for keeping an entire ministry with a total staff strength of 2,300, just for the oversight of a few aviation sector laws and regulatory bodies, notes A K Bhattacharya.
State news agency IRNA said that Iran has successfully shot down 'adversial targets' in the airspace around Tehran province. Iranian state television noted hearing six loud sounds resembling explosions in parts of the capital, with the source of the noises currently unverified.
In 2015, India's domestic aviation market clocked 81 million flights.
A threat about the presence of bombs on an Akasa Air flight at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar was received on social media, but it later turned out to be a hoax, an official of the airport said on Thursday.
Maintaining that civil aviation flew thousands of tonnes of equipment and passengers across the country on a daily basis, he said grant of infrastructure status would help the industry in its dealings with the RBI as well as the commercial banks, both in the private and public sectors. On Kingfisher's global plan, Mallya said the airline would launch services to Hong Kong and Singapore as soon as its aircraft were ready.
On July 25 and 26, the regulator's team carried out the surveillance of Air India in the areas of internal audit, accident prevention work and availability of required technical manpower.
A continuation of the highest standard by the FAA will be a relief for Indian airlines especially the Tata group which intends to increase Air India flights on India-US routes. US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has completed the audit of India's aviation regulator DGCA. Sources said that the FAA team was satisfied with the work and changes in regulations by India and is likely to maintain a Category 1 status rating under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.
A total of Rs 30,000 crore was allocated for five years to Air India by the United Progressive Alliance government in its second term.
Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Tuesday sparked a controversy by admitting that he carried matchboxes in airplanes, without them being confiscated, after he became the Union civil aviation minister.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has deregistered all the 54 planes leased by Go First, days after a court allowed lessors to take back their aircraft from the bankrupt airline. Bogged down by financial turbulence and engine woes, budget carrier Go First stopped flying in May last year and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process. Foreign lessors that have leased planes to the airline had moved the court to take back the aircraft.
In an advisory, DGCA said there are provisions under the civil aviation requirement for action to be taken by the airline to deal with unruly passengers.
Religare Enterprises, a financial services firm, has disclosed that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned down its application to appoint Rakesh Asthana as its whole-time director in May this year without citing any reasons. Asthana is a former top official of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In a notice to the stock exchanges, Religare said that while the company and Asthana were weighing the options of dealing with the letter of refusal by the RBI, it was also busy in preparing for the "herculean task" of making ready multiple applications to regulators.
In a statement, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the airport and emergency teams responded swiftly and effectively after a full emergency was declared at 18.05 hours.
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