Air India has covered a lot of ground since privatisation and its global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. He also said the interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is underway, and will be completed by mid-2025.
India's scores in the ICAO's air safety oversight audit will improve substantially as the international watchdog's just-concluded validation mission was highly successful as per the initial reports, regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16.
Aviation Minister Praful Patel has requested FM to rationalise taxes on aviation fuel in Budget 2008-09.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
In a written reply, Singh said the 5G C-band spectrum has the likelihood of interfering with the current radio altimeters installed on the aircraft.
'We will continue supporting those affected long after the work in Ahmedabad is done.'
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.
Hundreds of people, including inconsolable family members and friends, gave an emotional farewell to First Officer Clive Kunder, co-pilot of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, and flight attendant Roshni Songhare whose last rites were held on Thursday.
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
The octogenarian was asked to wait due to heavy demand for wheelchair.
A senior government official confirmed that after a meeting with other stakeholders, the decision has been taken and airlines and airport authorities have been informed about it.
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.
Facing headwinds due to pilot exits, Akasa Air on Friday said it had approached the Delhi high court seeking interpretation and clarification with respect to mandatory notice period requirements for pilots and that the move was not against the DGCA or the civil aviation ministry. Akasa Air, which started flying in August last year, has initiated legal action against a "small set of pilots" who left the carrier without serving their notice periods that led to cancellation of many flights. In a statement, the airline said it sought relief from the Delhi high court to stop the unethical and illegal practice by this set of pilots.
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.
Aviation security watchdog BCAS has recommended installation of scanners based on computer tomography technology at airports whereby passengers will not be required to take out electronic devices from their hand baggage before going through the scanner. Currently, the scanners used at airports provide a two-dimensional view of the objects inside a hand baggage. Jaideep Prasad, Joint Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), on Wednesday said the regulator has proposed installing scanners based on computer tomography technology at airports that will provide a three-dimensional view of the objects in hand baggage.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates India's largest airport, dismissed the expert committee report as "inaccurate", claiming it relied on "probabilities, hypothesis, and conjectures" rather than empirical data or complete documentation.
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.
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.
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.
The fundamental responsibility for preventing such crimes and for bringing the criminals to justice rests with the State, and it cannot abdicate that function.
On the issue of allowing domestic carriers to fly overseas before their completing 5 years of domestic operations, the document does not mention anything.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, senior Cabinet ministers, Congress and Opposition leaders paid their respects to former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed into the ages on Thursday night, at his residence in New Delhi on Friday.
The safety and security of citizens is primary for the government, he said.
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 on-time performance (OTP) of Indian carriers took a major dip in January as dense fog foiled their flight schedules. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed by Business Standard, five out of six major Indian carriers - IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, Akasa Air, and Vistara - recorded their lowest OTPs in at least the last 11 months. In response to queries, an Air India spokesperson said that during this winter, northern India experienced unusually prolonged periods of dense fog affecting traffic at the airline's two largest hubs -- Delhi and Mumbai.
'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.
In 2015, India's domestic aviation market clocked 81 million flights.
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.
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
In a move that signifies a major leap for India's aerospace manufacturing capabilities, the collaboration will establish a final assembly line for the Falcon 2000 jets in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Against the backdrop of a significant number of flights getting delayed and cancelled and passengers facing tough times, the regulator has come out with a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
More than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats on Saturday, according to sources.
An Air India flight bound for New York returned to Mumbai on Monday morning after a bomb threat was reported. The aircraft, carrying 303 passengers, was thoroughly checked by security agencies, and nothing suspicious was found. The flight has been rescheduled to operate at 5 am on Tuesday, and passengers have been offered hotel accommodation and other assistance. This incident follows a recent trend of hoax bomb threats on flights, with at least 15 flights receiving such threats this year.
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.
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
