India will approve plans by two state-owned airlines to buy new planes only after it decides whether or not to sell part of its stakes in the carriers, the civil aviation minister said on Tuesday.
Air traffic controllers failed to notice for 17 minutes that the ill-fated Malaysian jet had gone off the radar and did not activate a rescue operation for nearly four hours, according to a preliminary report on the mysterious disappearance of MH370 released on Thursday.
Though a formal purchase agreement with Boeing is yet to be signed, SpiceJet's order size could be of 40-50 planes, a source familiar with the development said. At list price, a 737 Max aircraft is valued at about $100 million (Rs 620 crore).
The bodies of four Indians, who were among 22 people killed in the Tara Air plane crash in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district, were cremated on Thursday at the sacred Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu.
Captain Sharan and Flight Engineer Anil Jaggia both confirm that the hijackers seemed to know a lot about flying an aircraft. Without help from the ISI or the Pakistan army, it was impossible, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
A Beijing-bound plane of Malaysia Airlines carrying 239 people including two infants has crashed into the sea.
Mission completed, external affairs minister S Jaishankar tweeted.
'He told me he was very happy to see the realistic portrayal of the cockpit too.' 'His wife told me that I carried the same kind of personality as her husband in my performance.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jailtey on Tuesday defended the Vajpayee government's releasing the three most wanted terrorists in return for the safety of passengers of the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999, saying the lives of all Indians were "more precious" than the release of the terrorists.
Air India's pilot unions on Monday alleged that working conditions are hostile at the airline and sought Tata group chairman N Chandrasekaran's intervention to resolve the issues. Tata group took control of loss-making Air India in January this year. The two pilot unions -- IPG and ICPA -- claimed that despite its unflinching support extended to Air India in its growth and expansion plan, the management has not reciprocated in the same manner.
The growth in India's domestic aviation capacity in calendar year 2023 (CY23) was the sixth highest among 20 major domestic markets, compared to the pre-pandemic year of CY19. The domestic capacity in the country surpassed the pre-pandemic level seen in CY19 and was up 5 per cent in CY23. It trails Mexico, Columbia, China, Vietnam, and Spain, which have shown higher growth, according to data shared in a seminar organised by global travel data provider OAG on global aviation trends in 2023.
The new airline has begun recruiting pilots and is close to confirming its top executives, including a Singapore Airlines executive as its chief executive officer.
Jet Airways is in discussions with aircraft manufacturers and lessors to lease 6-8 planes, including some of those which were to be delivered to Russian carriers prior to the Ukraine war, as it gets ready for the relaunch, according to sources. Moreover, the airline is also negotiating with airport operators to secure slots with "good" timings, they said. Once a major player in the Indian aviation space, the carrier has not flown since April 17, 2019 and is being revived under the ownership of the Jalan-Kalrock consortium.
Ten Indians were among 19 people killed on Sunday when a small plane carrying them crashed and broke into pieces at Kotdanda hills near the Nepalese capital while returning from a sight-seeing trip around Mount Everest.
The regulator has warned airlines and in an email on May 2 asked all Indian carriers to give compensation and facilities to passengers affected by such denial of boarding, failing which it would will impose financial penalties on them.
About 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 are currently in service with airlines around the world, with thousands more on order. Boeing insists it has no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies.
The deadly plane crash at Mangalore on Saturday, which has left 158 persons dead, is one of the biggest in Indian aviation history. Prior to this, the worst airline crash witnessed in Karnataka was on February 14, 1990, in Bangalore, in which 89 persons were killed. However, there were 50 survivors in that crash.
The presence of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India could have prevented Go First airline from going "belly up", as sending engines abroad for servicing is not an efficient way to operate a carrier, Piyush Srivastava, senior economic advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday. On May 3, Go First suspended its flights and filed for insolvency, squarely blaming engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) for its cash crunch. The airline claimed that about half of its 54 aircraft were grounded on May 3 due to a delay in the supply of engines by the US-based company. PW has denied the charges.
India and the European Union today issued a Joint Action Plan covering various areas of cooperation and signed the Framework Agreement on cooperation in Europe's Galileo navigation project
'For the moment, we have barred these pilots from flying the Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying the aircraft,' DGCA chief Arun Kumar said in a statement.
An Indian man travelling from New York to Delhi in an American Airlines flight has been apprehended at the Delhi airport for allegedly urinating on his co-passenger, official sources said Monday.
Two militants of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit were killed on Sunday in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Kashmir, police said.
The nine-member team is enquiring with the airlines' staff and concerned authorities in Pokhara to understand details of the ATR-72 aircraft crash.
Many argue that the airline could achieve its full potential if Nusli Wadia were to run it the way he does Britannia.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday flew on SpiceJet's special flight between Delhi and Gwalior using Boeing's 737 Max plane that has been allowed to return to service after two and half years. All Max planes were grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead. Along with Scindia, SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh and Boeing India president Salil Gupte were also present on the special flight on Tuesday.
Let's take a look at some of the most punctual carriers in the world.
One-time watch for all those wear their patriotism up their sleeve, don't bother about checking the facts, and want to enjoy a dramatic mix of fact and fiction, notes Prasanna D Zore.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack begins by asking why the hijack lasted seven days and ends in wondering if the good guys fought the bad ones hard enough, observes Sukanya Verma.
According to French authorities, the plane had 276 passengers on board when it took off for Mumbai, as 25 persons, including two minors, had expressed the wish to apply for asylum and were still on French soil. Two others were held, produced before a judge and placed on assisted witness status, a French news channel said.
The expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday and emphasised that the country's aviation sector has been galvanised in the past 10 years.
Airfares on major domestic routes such as Kolkata-Bagdogra, Delhi-Bengaluru, and Delhi-Mumbai have witnessed an increase of up to 12.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in May this year, according to data by Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel. The recent increase in aviation turbine fuel prices, rupee depreciation, reduction of flights by key players, and grounding of planes due to engine supply issues have contributed to the rise in airfares, said aviation industry experts. However, the data also shows that summer airfares on key routes such as Delhi-Leh and Delhi-Kolkata have significantly decreased due to the introduction of new flights.
Rivals say the concessions would benefit AirAsia alone.
The Indian Air Force on Sunday scrambled fighter planes from its air base in Jodhpur after two commercial passenger aircraft sought to enter the Indian territory from Pakistan side using similar identification codes, sparking a security alert.
The hijackers of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999 -- Abdul Rauf Asghar, Ibrahim Athar and Yusuf Azhar -- have also been named in the list, prepared under provisions of the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Air India significantly altered the composition of the aircraft order it placed earlier this year with Airbus, the European plane manufacturer has said. In February, Air India had placed the world's second-largest single-tranche aircraft order for 470 planes: 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing. In July, Airbus disclosed an order comprising 70 A321neo, 140 A320neo, 34 A350-1000, and six A350-900 aircraft for Air India.
An airline's birth is a result of passion and enterprise, often not without its challenges and ordeals. And, Tata-run airlines are no exception
'My one recommendation would be to first quell the violence and then encourage dialogue and build the trust among the different communities.' 'This is not easy but necessary, for violence cannot be the way forward.'
The bone of contention between the two sides relates to changes in the purchase terms.
Akasa Air on Tuesday said it has added the 20th aircraft to its fleet that also makes the airline eligible to start international operations. The carrier, which will complete one year of operations on August 7, has also become the first airline in Asia to have the Boeing 737-8-200 variant. According to a release, the Boeing 737-8-200 aircraft aligns with Akasa Air's continued efforts to control operating costs.
As Prabhakaran was leaving his house, Rajiv Gandhi called his son Rahul and asked him to fetch his (Gandhi's) bulletproof jacket. He put the jacket on Prabhakaran's back and remarked with his usual charming smile: "Take care of yourself."