A police team has been set up by the Kerala government to ascertain the truth behind the hijack alarm in the Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India flight on Friday. A team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials is set to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram to probe the case.
Domestic air traffic grew by over 14 per cent in September, with 11 Indian carriers together flying a total of 66.66 lakh passengers during the month.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (which represents all EU countries) has also raised the red flag on the issue.
Federation of Indian Airlines has appealed to DGCA to extend notice period of flyers from 6 months to a year
Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo and AirAsia India ready to fill in the gap.
The DGCA cracked the whip after an IndiGo flight bound for Lucknow returned to Ahmedabad within 40 minutes of its getting airborne due to a mid-air engine failure.
Jet Airways on Friday suspended their crew for allowing playback singer Sonu Nigam to sing from the aircraft's address system during a flight.
Five years on, US company that won the auction for the aircraft is running pillar-to-post, unable to take possession as DGCA hasn't deregistered the jet
The pilot-in-command has been sacked for violating aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation's safety norms after following due process, SpiceJet said in a statement.
"When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians under Vande Bharat Mission, had reached Uzbekistan's airspace, our team on ground realised that one of the pilots had tested COVID-positive," senior Air India officials said.
The move would come as a relief to air passengers.
In a serious safety breach, Nagpur airport runway was intruded by a drove of pigs when President Pranab Mukherjee's jumbo Boeing 737 was taxiing towards the runway after landing on Monday, prompting the civil aviation ministry to seek a report.
Whether this happens because DGCA actually cares about the future of the national carrier or for other motives is not clear.
A family of five, returning to their hometown at Koducalli in Kozhikode from Dubai, were aboard the fateful Air India Express flight that crash-landed at the Kozhikode airport claiming at least 18 lives on Friday.
Air India and IndiGo have already suspended Kamra from flying until further notice and six months, respectively.
Seeking to further democratise air travel with dependable and affordable services, airline Akasa Air is aiming to start flights in late May or early June after getting its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in April. Bullish on the long term growth potential of the country's civil aviation sector, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed carrier is looking to have 18 planes in its fleet by the end of March 2023. Despite COVID clouds continuing to cast a shadow on the airlines, Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube is more than optimistic as he asserted that "if you look at the long term future of commercial aviation in India, it is as exciting as anywhere in the world".
Some 30-odd co-pilots were being "forced to work overtime" without any remuneration.
The plane suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply with violent shuddering of the aircraft body, the complainant said.
The Irish firms had sought to deregister SpiceJet.
SpiceJet has been most affected by the grounding of 737 Max 8 aircraft as it has 12 of them in its fleet.
DGCA rules require pilots to service a six-month notice.
The move comes after the civil aviation ministry decided to allow Indian carriers to charge passengers for add-on services like their foreign counterparts.
The US is set for a geographically limited 5G rollout this Christmas, after a bumper $81 billion spectrum auction earlier this year. Just as the rollout date nears, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has sounded alarm bells over potentially fatal consequences of 5G interference on aircraft. Similar consequences could apply in India, where 5G spectrum auction is scheduled in January 2022, with the rollout beginning later next year (though reports suggest impending delays).
The remarks by the DGCA head is of great significance.
A GoAir plane carrying 168 passengers from Mumbai hit an aerobridge after landing at Chennai airport damaging a portion close to its front door, but there was no report any injuries.
India's aviation safety ranking was on Wednesday upgraded to Category-I.
All the five passengers were safe.
A ferry flight will soon reach the national capital from Tehran with around 300 swab samples of Indians suspected of having coronavirus infection.
FAA, in audits in September and December, downgraded India to Category-II in safety rankings, clubbing it with Zimbabwe and Indonesia.
No-frills carrier IndiGo's market share stood at 36.8 per cent in February while that of Jet Airways was 18.4 per cent.
Arun Mishra takes over as Director General of Civil Aviation at a time when questions are being raised on its leniency with airlines. Being also grossly understaffed, it faces an International Civil Aviation Organisation safety audit this December. The new DG talks about these and other issues.
Jet is the largest player in the Mumbai airport, with over 110 domestic slots and 30 international slots from the city.
The airline is expected to submit a fresh flight schedule to the DGCA.
In a fresh trouble for the budget carrier SpiceJet, aircraft lessors have approached the aviation regulator DGCA, seeking its permission to repossess 11 Boeing planes of the airline, even as its revival plan is under review of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Recruitment and import of aircraft still to get going
At present, six A320 Neo of IndiGo & GoAir are grounded waiting for engine replacement
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said that there was no question of any bail out to the beleaguered carrier
The company will meet DGCA next week and is putting in place a strategy to contain the damage
India took the first step towards legalising drones by officially publishing draft rules for drone operations in the Official Gazette on Friday. The rules, termed The Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, are open for public consultation for 30 days.
Heeding to the demands of business jet operators, DGCA has amended its proposal to bar them from commercial flying if they did not have a three-aircraft fleet and come up with a new rule reducing the minimum requirement of planes to one.
