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.
DGCA Deputy Director P K Chattopadhyay will head the probe. He has been appointed the Inspector of the Inquiry, official sources said.
The inaugural flight took off in the presence of Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma, along with a number of other people.
IndiGo confirmed the incident but said the aircraft did not face any technical issue in the past.
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.
The routes, for which ticket pricing information has been sought, include those connecting Jammu and Kashmir, Leh and Port Blair.
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.
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.
The commercial launch of the new Bangalore international airport is likely to be deferred by two to three weeks from the scheduled date of March 28 in view of the delay in completing the air traffic control (ATC) facility, the nerve centre of the airport.DGCA had expressed concern over several safety provisions, including the incomplete ATC facility at the airport. Flights will continue to operate from the existing HAL airport.
Hyderabad-based Turbo Megha Airways became the fourth company to receive flying licence from aviation regulator DGCA in the past two years to launch a regional airline.
The bankruptcy tribunal had on July 5, prevented the Directorate General of Civil Aviation from deregistering the Boeing 777 plane, which has been under the possession of a Dutch cargo provider since April.
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.
SpiceJet has decreased its domestic services by 31 per cent to 2,995 weekly flights in the upcoming winter schedule as compared to 4,316 weekly flights that it got approved for the winter schedule of 2019, the aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday. Meanwhile, Vistara, another private carrier, has increased its domestic services by 22 per cent to 1,675 weekly flights as compared to 1,376 weekly flights for 2019 winter schedule, the regulator added. The winter schedule begins on October 31 of a year and ends on March 26 next year.
Playback singer Sonu Nigam on Friday lashed out the Jet Airways for suspending the crew members, who allowed him to perform impromptu on the aircraft's address system.
Singapore Airlines on Thursday announced that it will start thrice a week direct flight between Amritsar and Singapore from October 1, the Airlines' general manager, India operations, B K Ong said.
To become a type-rated pilot, a person has to take additional training.
Pilots may soon get to fly beyond the age of 61 years.
Pusapati was given detailed presentations on various aspects of the sector by senior officials of the Ministry.
So far, carcasses of 32 flamingos have been recovered from Ghatkopar area, the police 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 move would come as a relief to air passengers.
SpiceJet on Monday said the seat belt sign was on and multiple announcements were made by crew members asking passengers to remain seated on its Mumbai-Durgapur flight on Sunday.
According to the revised policy, guests should not be permitted to drink alcohol unless served by the cabin crew and that the cabin crew be attentive to identifying guests that might be consuming their own alcohol.
New airline Akasa Air on Friday said it will launch commercial flight operations on August 7 by operating its first service on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route using Boeing 737 Max aircraft. In a statement, the carrier said it has opened ticket sales on 28 weekly flights it will be operating on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route from August 7, as well as on 28 weekly flights it will operating on Bengaluru-Kochi route from August 13. The carrier will launch commercial operations with two 737 Max aircraft. Boeing has delivered one Max plane and the second one's delivery is scheduled to take place later this month.
A notification in this regard is likely to be issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Monday.
The aviation regulator slapped fines amounting to Rs 2.75 crore on Indian airlines in 2023, marking a 39 per cent rise in financial penalties from Rs 1.97 crore in 2022. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023. The regulator also carried out a record number of 5,745 surveillance activities in the year to ensure compliance by airlines, aerodrome operators, and aviation personnel among others.
The passengers were stopped by the crew members for consuming alcohol and they apologised in writing for the incident.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (which represents all EU countries) has also raised the red flag on the issue.
Mid-air Holi celebrations aboard eight flights have cost no-frill carrier SpiceJet heavily.
This is the third incident of technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft in two days.
The remarks by the DGCA head is of great significance.
He was grounded by the airline on Sunday after he tested positive for alcohol in two breath analyser (BA) tests before he was to operate Air India's New Delhi-London flight.
A new rule has been drafted by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation formally empowering the pilot-in-command of all flights to take suitable action to prevent such commotion which could endanger safety of the flight or passengers or crew members.
The helicopter came to pieces as it crashed and went up in flames.
A K Chopra, a retired DGCA official, had flagged concerns regarding engineering, flight safety, operations, and training standards in the airline and subsidiaries, thus warning the management of grave safety risk. He also called for the replacement of the chief of flight safety Harpreet A De Singh, who, he said, did not meet the regulatory requirements for holding the post.
Aviation minister said if the scheduled domestic flights reach pre-COVID levels by the end of the year, he will have no hesitation in removing the fare limits at that time.
The government has decided to restart scheduled international flight services from March 27 after a two years hiatus due to COVID-19, according to civil aviation ministry officials.
