The recent Cabinet approval to private and greenfield airport policies has enhanced the powers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is now one of the key licensing authorities for almost all future airport projects in the country.
The airport and user development fees will be kept out of it.
The disappointment of the year is government's failure in finalising the re-drafted aviation policy.
Sources said the process has taken time because of a delay in leasing of aircraft. As per the original plan the aircraft were to be leased through GIFT City, Gujarat, but this is proving costlier than doing it offshore.
The top court also sought the assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present in the case, in formulating the standard operating procedure (SOP) and fixed the plea for hearing after the summer vacation in July.
India will keep its scheduled international passenger flights suspended till January 31 next year, aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday.
Taking note of the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel ordered a probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and appealed to VIPs not to pressurise pilots to operate flights.
There was no injury to any passenger or crew. The aircraft landed safely at Delhi airport, the official confirmed.
The issue had come up during a presentation by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
An inquiry by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been ordered into the Mangalore air crash and an Air India team will assist it in the probe, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday suspended Air India's Boeing simulator facility in Mumbai after finding certain alleged lapses during a spot check, a DGCA official said. The pilots, who were scheduled to undergo refresher courses at the Mumbai facility, will now not be able to do so.
The move comes after the government rejected its plan to operate 20 flights a week.
IndiGo had on May 9 said the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was visibly in panic.
Air India has ordered 470 aircraft to serve the Indian economy and is set to receive a new aircraft every six days over the next 18 months, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Friday. He was speaking at the 67th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines here. "We have new aircraft, we are recruiting many, many new crew and staff, improving the training regime and there is more work to do and we are making good progress," he said.
The Mumbai airport has decided not to allow additional flights this summer, thanks to infrastructure bottlenecks. This is likely to spoil the expansion plans of all carriers, including private players like Kingfisher, Simplifly Deccan and Jet Airways. However, airlines have been allowed to re-apply for additional flights as & when they get delivery of new aircraft during the summer. Kingfisher had to shelve 11 additional flights out of Mumbai while Deccan has rescheduled too.
A SpiceJet plane was damaged on Monday when its wing hit a lightning pole at the Delhi airport when the aircraft was pushed back from the parking position to be ready for takeoff to Jammu, DGCA officials said.
A total of 1,490 foreign pilots have been cleared by the government to work for Indian civil aviation sector to make up for the acute shortage faced by the booming industry. This was stated by Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain, who maintained that it was a just short term measure.
The civil aviation ministry has asked airlines not to charge excessive fares from passengers in the wake of agitation by pilots of Jet Airways.Media reports said that following strike by Jet pilots, other airlines were charging an average of Rs 9,000-10,000 for Mumbai-Delhi route, while some are even charging up to Rs 15,000 per seat.
The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till July 31, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
So far, carcasses of 32 flamingos have been recovered from Ghatkopar area, the police said.
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.
India is likely to introduce the performance-based navigation system in its air space by June-July this year, a top civil Aviation Ministry official said. The performance-based navigation will make the longitudinal distance shorter by about three nautical miles from the existing 5-7 nautical miles. The civil aviation regulatory body of the country, DGCA, was also working on reducing the lateral displacement in order to meet the challenge of the growing air traffic in India.
Wide-body aircraft like B747 and A350 have a bigger fuel tank and can therefore travel longer distances in comparison to narrow-body aircraft like B737 and A320. A wide-body aircraft also needs a longer runway length to take off or land. The table top runway 10 of the Kozhikode airport is approximately 2,700 metres long. Wide-body aircraft operations were permitted at this airport from 2019.
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.
The incident was not logged in any logbook and it was not reported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) either, DGCA said.
The directorate general of civil aviation has shot off a letter to all airlines seeking details of the sudden and steep fare hikes announced on Wednesday. The move came close on the heels of civil aviation minister Praful Patel's remark that the ministry was against cartelisation, widely believed to be behind the latest fare hikes.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has become the first private airline in the country to get Category III certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The guidelines would also enable the proposed merger of national carriers Air-India and Indian.\n
As SpiceJet faces heat from the aviation regulator DGCA for multiple flight incidents in the last few weeks, malfunction cases involving planes of IndiGo and Vistara came to light on Wednesday.
Air India will no longer enjoy a priority in allocation of international traffic rights. This follows its takeover by Tata Sons in January. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has dropped a clause which gave Air India an advantage over other private airlines in the amended rules issued on April 19.
Jet-Sahara deal: HC asks govt for documents
The rapid growth of airlines and air passengers would necessitate an additional 2000-3000 commercial pilots in the country during the next 5-10 years, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. \n
SpiceJet has been facing operational and financial headwinds in recent times, and it is already under enhanced surveillance of the DGCA.
The incident was reported on January 30, and it came to light after the United States-based traveller, identified as Meenakshi Sengupta, lodged a complaint against the flight attendant.
IndiGo confirmed the incident but said the aircraft did not face any technical issue in the past.
Leading private airline Jet Airways has put on its board a director whose security clearance is still awaited, contrary to stipulated norms of Director General of Civil Aviation.
DGCA Deputy Director P K Chattopadhyay will head the probe. He has been appointed the Inspector of the Inquiry, official sources said.
Aviation regulator DGCA will conduct an audit of Go First's preparedness before approving resumption of flights by the crisis-hit carrier, according to a communication. Cash-strapped Go First stopped flying from May 3 and is undergoing voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. On Tuesday, a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the airline has submitted its response to the regulator's show cause notice indicating that it is working on the details of a plan to resume flights at the earliest.
The civil aviation ministry has issued guidelines for scheduled carriers to launch global operations, making it mandatory for them to have at least 20 aircraft, five years of domestic operations and security clearance from the Union home ministry.
