Ahead of the visit of technical experts from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to probe the crash of the helicopter carrying late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others, the site atop Pavurallagutta hillock has been surrounded and secured by a 30-member security team from the Greyhound force.
A joint team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials and the police on Friday located the Flight Voice Recorder of the helicopter that crashed killing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, laying their hands on a piece of evidence that may throw some light on the incident.
The average fare on the Delhi-Mumbai route has come down to Rs 6,000, compared with a whopping Rs 15,000 in mid-November, according to an airline executive.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is monitoring individual airports' adherence to safety standards, is in the process of issuing licenses to three airports based on their security compliance.
In a blow to airlines overcharging travelers during peak season, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has mad eit mandatory to publish details of all-inclusive fares on the first day of every calendar month.
The first signs of the move will be evident when both the airlines announce their summer schedules in March after receiving the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Deccan is likely to bring down and withdraw frequencies between Mumbai-Delhi in the schedule.
Terming as "unfortunate" the loss of lives in the Malaysian Airlines tragedy, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Friday said there was no Indian on board the aircraft.
In a clear violation of safety norms Air India allowed three extras passengers on board a fully loaded flight.
The Ukrainian-made AN-124 aircraft, owned by Russian private airline Volga-Dnepr, claimed that they had taken a clearance from the Director General of Civil Aviation to overfly the Indian air space with a call sign attributed to civilian aircraft.
Small aircraft operators want better infra at regional airports.
Drones or unmanned aircraft are being used for several purposes such as mapping, survey and commercial photography, while e-commerce giant Amazon is looking to use them for deliveries to its consumers in the US.
Staffers of the Air Traffic Control made two shocking revelations on day one of the proceedings in the Mangalore air crash case -- the flight did not land on schedule and the radar at the airport was non-functional at the time of the crash.
The airline is currently working to normalise its operations with the support of its pilots and cabin crew and expects to be on track by the end of this week, it said.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the amendment of the Aircraft Act, 1934, which will lead to considerable enhancement of the regulatory powers of the Director General of Civil Aviation.
The civil aviation ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected there.
Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain signed the papers in New Delhi granting permission to the Tata Group for the helipad atop the Taj Wellington Mews -- a luxury hotel -- for private use.
The DGCA has drafted an amendment to the rules saying 'once a passenger has bought a ticket for travel, it is obligatory on part of the airline that he reaches the aircraft from the departure lounge and at the end of journey from the aircraft to the arrival lounge exit, without incurring any further expenditure.' Once approved, this will be part of the DGCA's detailed Civil Aviation Requirement for carriage by air of the disabled, which has been effective since May 2007.
Of the 14 people aboard the plane, including the pilot, eight sustained minor injuries and were treated in a local health centre.
Facing threat of terror attacks, the home ministry has ordered security audit of nearly 100 civil airports and decided to bring all such facilities under the Central Industrial Security Force cover gradually.
These vacancies are likely to emerge as Indian airlines plan to induct more than 900 aircraft into their fleets in the coming years.
A four member team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, led by R K Tyagi, will visit the site in dense Nallamalla forest on Thursday where the Bell-430 helicopter, carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others, had crashed a week ago.The team landed in Kurnool on Wednesday to start its probe into the crash, which had sent shock waves across the country and raised serious questions about the safety of the helicopters used by VIPs.
The aviation regulator is investigating the incidents and both planes, with Pratt and Whitney engines, will fly only when cleared by it, the officials said.
Hopper, short-haul flights lift performance.
A trainee pilot and his trainer suffered minor injuries in the mishap.
After snapping up Air Sahara in a $500-million deal, Jet Airways is likely to operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary till regulatory and other clearances are granted to the acquisition process.
In their new venture, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, Tata Sons would hold 51 per cent stake and Singapore Airlines 49 per cent.
Domestic airlines flew 1.29 crore passengers in April, a rise of more than 22 per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to official data released on Friday. However, the domestic air traffic number last month at 128.88 lakh was marginally lower than the 128.93 lakh recorded in March. In April 2022, the number of passengers carried by airlines stood at 105.47 lakh.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will examine issues relating to domestic airlines tying up with foreign carriers and setting up companies abroad to start international operations.
The aviation regulator DGCA had on May 21 issued seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits.
The airline has suspended its international operations till Monday.
The first to take off will be Air Pegasus, promoted by Bengaluru-based ground-handling firm Deccor Aviation.
'DGCA cares a damn for human life.'
Eastern India, which has not been too well connected with the rest of the country, is now on the radar of airline operators.
However, the tender criteria demands that an entity must be eligible to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations in order to become eligible. Currently, no drone companies are eligible to do BVLOS operations, reports Arindam Majumder.
