Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam on Thursday said the number of planes with domestic airlines will increase to 1,400 in the next five years as he highlighted the growth potential of the country's aviation space. Currently, the fleet is around 800 aircraft and leading carriers IndiGo and Air India have placed significant plane orders.
An anonymous phone call threatening that a bomb has been placed in a Kolkata-bound Indigo Airlines flight with 130 people, including six crew, on board on Wednesday sent security agencies into a tizzy at the airport in New Delhi.
Some years ago, Rakesh Gangwal reportedly said his relationship with Rahul Bhatia evolved in an amazing friendship, which he termed 'blind trust'. The question is whether that is under scrutiny now.
India is the third-largest domestic airline market in the world, up from number five position a decade ago, according to analysis based on OAG data. The data shows India's domestic airline capacity doubling in a decade from 7.9 million in April 2014 to 15.5 million in April 2024. In reaching the third slot, India has replaced Brazil (pushed to fourth place with 9.7 million) and Indonesia (relegated to fifth in the rankings with 9.2 million).
Indian carriers are grappling with severe operational disruptions after Iran launched missile strikes on the US military base in Qatar late Monday. This led to airspace closures for long hours in parts of West Asia. Iran, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait shut down their skies following the attack, forcing airlines to cancel, divert, or delay flights through these vital corridors.
'In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism.'
IndiGo said in a statement that the passenger on flight 6E 556 was intoxicated and misbehaved with the crew despite multiple warnings.
The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- was 11.5 years old and had flown for more than 41,000 hours, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
'Of course, it's wrong to hit the pilot 100 per cent, I will not agree with that. But why was he blaming passengers in this'
IndiGo was set up in 2006 by businessman Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, a former CEO for US Airways Group.
Aviation security regulator BCAS on Wednesday slapped fines totalling Rs 1.80 crore on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport's apron. The apron is the area around the aircraft where it has finally parked for deboarding.
IndiGo heads towards $400 mln IPO as air travel booms.
Low-cost carrier IndiGo has asked American aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) to quickly provide engines for the airline to press its grounded planes back into service, sources said on Wednesday. The airline wants to increase its domestic frequency to fill the supply-side void created after Go First's exit, they added. Go First stopped operating flights from May 3 after filing an insolvency application with the National Company Law Tribunal.
IndiGo has the flexibility to decide what would be the precise size of its aircraft fleet by 2035, its chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers said on Monday. IndiGo - the country's largest airline - has 312 aircraft in its fleet. Elbers said the airline will double in size by 2030, indicating the airline will have a fleet of about 625 by 2030.
IndiGo's size should be compared with global carriers, and not other domestic airlines, chief executive officer Pieter Elbers said on Tuesday, adding that such benchmarking will help India transform its airports into aviation hubs. Elbers flagged the tendency to scrutinise domestic competition, assess fares on domestic routes, and determine if they are high. "But if we want to build some hubs, we should have a broader look," he said during a panel discussion at a convention organised by All India Management Association (AIMA).
Mumbaikars woke up to very heavy rainfall on Monday, while the India meteorological department (IMD) issued a 'red' alert, forecasting extremely heavy rains at isolated places in the city and adjoining areas, prompting the civic body to declare a holiday for schools and colleges, officials said.
The woman passenger Kushboo Gupta shared on Instagram a short video of the worm in the sandwich onboard the flight.
On Wednesday, Surat airport remained operational for an extra one hour waiting for the landing of an Air India Express flight that took off more than an hour late from the national capital.
Fuelled by robust market demand and higher revenues, InterGlobe Aviation on Thursday flew into the profitability zone, raking in a net profit of Rs 919.2 crore in the March quarter. The parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo, which had faced turbulence last year, had a net loss of Rs 1,681.8 crore in the three months ended March 2022. Reflecting the bullishness in the aviation market, the carrier has forecast a 5-7 per cent rise in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), an indicator of seat capacity, in the June quarter.
Airline stocks have been soaring following a steep decline in crude oil prices and sustained passenger traffic. Analysts have particularly turned bullish on the stocks of InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet. On December 20, shares of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) hit a record high of Rs 3,009 on the BSE, having surged 43.24 per cent year-to-date (YTD).
InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of India's leading airline IndiGo, delivered a better than expected performance across most parameters in Q2FY24. The company posted its fourth consecutive quarter of net profit of Rs 188 crore. It had reported a loss of Rs 1,583 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
An IndiGo aircraft from Amritsar missed the exit taxiway after landing at the Delhi airport on Sunday morning, following which one of the runways was blocked for little over 15 minutes, impacting flight operations, according to sources.
Aviation regulator DGCA plans to implement measures to control excessive air ticket price increases, following concerns raised during a parliamentary panel meeting. The meeting also addressed air safety issues in light of the Ahmedabad plane crash.
A passenger was arrested for allegedly attempting to open the emergency exit door of an IndiGo flight from Nagpur to Bengaluru prior to take-off, police said.
IndiGo has about 400 planes on order.
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner experienced an uncommanded deployment of its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) shortly before landing. The DGCA is investigating the incident, raising safety concerns.
An Indigo flight from Bagdogra came close to a descending Air India plane over Bagdogra in West Bengal on Friday afternoon, raising the spectre of a collision and giving scare to about 250 passengers on board the two aircraft.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu on Saturday accused an Indigo ground staff of misbehaving with her while travelling from Hyderabad to Mumbai, even as the airline rejected the celebrated shuttler's allegations.
Our business is very targeted. It's just domestic India, low fares, be on time, hassle free, no long lines, no fuss.
Pakistan has extended the closure of its airspace for Indian flights until June 24, 2025, citing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules that restrict such closures for a month at a time. The ban, which was first imposed in May after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, applies to all Indian-registered, operated, owned, or leased aircraft, including military aircraft. The decision comes after an IndiGo pilot requested permission to briefly use Pakistani airspace to avoid turbulence during a hailstorm, but the request was rejected.
A significant number of flights were impacted at the Delhi and Mumbai airports in the last few days due to dense fog and low visibility conditions.
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.
IndiGo Airlines, a new domestic airline and a subsidiary of InterGlobe Entreprises, will start operations from August 4 with a daily flight from Delhi to Guwahati and Imphal.
The passengers were stopped by the crew members for consuming alcohol and they apologised in writing for the incident.
'A last-second aborted landing at Mumbai airport left us speechless.'
The ministry also said it remains committed to full transparency relating to the ongoing investigation and will follow all mandated protocols and norms in the larger interest of the highest standards of passenger Safety and convenience.
Air India has cancelled eight flights, including four international services, on Friday due to enhanced maintenance and operational reasons, the airline said.
For the first time, the country's largest airline IndiGo will soon lease up to four wide-body Boeing 777 planes to cover the shortfall in its international operations, according to officials. The airline said the wet-leasing of "certain aircraft" will be done as an interim measure. IndiGo, which has so far only been operating narrow-body Airbus planes, ATRs and freighters, will now be having wide-body aircraft in its fleet.
Air India and Air India Express on Tuesday progressively resumed their services to the Middle East, with flights to Dubai and Muscat, respectively, as countries in the region reopened their airspaces.
A passenger on board an IndiGo flight to Mumbai from Nagpur allegedly attempted to remove the cover of the emergency exit when the aircraft was approaching for landing in Mumbai, the airline said.
