Small aircraft operators want better infra at regional airports.
We are also looking to see if we can put guidelines for NSOPs: Ajit singh
Govt plans to relax air service norms, let international airlines fly any aircraft to India.
The warning had come after SpiceJet's dues to AAI (including interest at 12 per cent) exceeded Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) this month -- from Rs 230 crore (Rs 2.3 billion) early December last year.
In fact, almost the entire increase in the allocation for the civil aviation ministry was cornered by the National Aviation Company of India Limited; it was earmarked Rs 8,165.64 crore as against the revised estimate of Rs 4,136.89 crore for 2008-09. The ministry received a total allocation of Rs 12,164.76 crore, compared with the revised 2008-09 estimate of Rs 7,490.06 crore, a hike of almost Rs 4,675 crore.
Crisis-hit SpiceJet hopedul of a turnaround.
Highlighting that the nation is close to administering a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Centre has urged states and Union Territories to focus on increasing the coverage of the second dose in light of adequate availability of shots.
Confirming the airline industry's estimates of a slowdown in the aviation sector, domestic passenger traffic for the calendar year 2008 showed a decline of 5 per cent compared to the previous year. Also, the Kingfisher-Kingfisher Red combine ousted Jet-JetLite as the largest Indian carrier combine in the month of December 2008.
The civil aviation ministry and the directorate general of civil aviation plan to award the low-cost carriers some key morning and evening peak-time slots (a fixed time for departure or arrival of a particular flight) lying unused with the full-service carriers at metro airports like Delhi and Mumbai. DGCA officials and airline officials confirm that airlines like Jet and Kingfisher are not using around 10 per cent of their slots during the peak periods.
Etihad plans 75 per cent travel beyond Abu Dhabi; airports cry foul.
Urging the government to initiate talks with Abu Dhabi on the bilateral air services agreement, Jet has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry seeking its nod for expanding its services through Abu Dhabi and expansion of bilateral aviation ties with that country.
The Centre has agreed in principle to grant 'mini-ratna' status to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to enable it to take up projects worth up to Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) without taking government approval. Such a decision would also enable AAI to form joint ventures with private companies to modernise airports and aviation infrastructure across the country, sources in the civil aviation ministry said.
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said appropriate action would be taken in case anything is 'found wanting'.
This is part of the initiatives that the ministry is undertaking to use technology in order to make airport check-in seamless and formation of a no-fly list.
After Nasim Zaidi retired as Chief Election Commissioner in July, there was a vacancy in the poll panel.
Indians being evacuated from Ukraine have been exempted from pre-boarding RT-PCR test, providing Covid vaccination certificates and uploading those on the Air Suvidha portal, the health ministry said.
The Rs 4,675-crore Navi Mumbai airport project, which is being developed by CIDCO, may be delayed by a few months in the wake of serious objections being raised by the environment ministry. The project that has Cabinet clearance and approval from the International Civil Aviation Organisation will now be taken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for final clearance since the environment ministry has raised issues relating to the site.
Last week, after a direction from ministry, airlines provided the maximum fares they would charge based on distance travelled.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission made a presentation in which he pointed out the detailed process through which these targets were finalised and the high level of ambition they represent.
Kingfisher Chief Executive Sanjay Aggarwal met officials at the ministry of civil aviation to discuss the revival plan, which was earlier rejected by the regulator.
NACIL will meet all of its proposed investment from the internal and extra budgetary resources, the Budget documents presented in the Parliament today showed. The company had invested Rs 4,136.89 crore in 2008-09. Of the total Plan outlay of Rs 12,164.76 crore for the ministry of civil aviation, the government announced budgetary support of Rs 190 crore for the sector.
It is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.
GMR evinces interest in the project.
A 61-year-old cardiac patient Virender Rai, who was being flown to Delhi, has been rushed to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon immediately after the incident.
Even though Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will move this proposal only on Thursday in the Cabinet meeting, the government is already going ahead with the proposal regardless of the response from other concerned ministries like finance, environment and forests, and tourism and the planning commission.
Govt moots new regional connectivity policy; plans to offer subsidy on non-viable destinations.
The government indicated on Saturday that an early decision was likely on the proposals of fleet acquisition by Air-India and Indian Airlines as well as of privatisating the four metro airports.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security was allocated Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) for procurement of security and IT items along with radiological detection equipment.
In an email, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: "A few foreign airlines/investors have evinced interest in SpiceJet. It will be very premature to comment on the possibilities of any fresh equity issuance to such interested parties."
Rubbishing the allegation that his ministry went out of its way to facilitate the Jet-Etihad deal, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said he was open to "any inquiry" into the decision to increase air traffic rights to Abu Dhabi.
Raghu Menon, special secretary and financial advisor in the civil aviation ministry, has been appointed the chairman and managing director of Air India, ending weeks of speculation over the issue.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the name of Menon, a 1974 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Nagaland cadre, after a keen race for the top job in the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), which runs the merged national carrier.
Bilateral traffic rights define the number of weekly flights or seats a country's designated airlines are allowed to operate in another country's specified points.
This proposal is a part of the comprehensive aviation policy that the ministry has submitted to the Cabinet and which has now been referred to a Group of Ministers.
The Delhi International Airport Limited's (DIAL) ongoing tussle with the Airports Authority of India/Ministry of Civil Aviation (AAI/MoCA) isn't likely to get resolved in a hurry, though things appeared settled when, a few weeks ago, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said at a press conference that the government would go by the Attorney General's (AG) opinion on the dispute.
Air India's appointment and removal of three senior officers was a circus all the way.
Two days back, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had asked IndiGo to take "appropriate action" after it found alleged violation of safety and social-distancing protocols by mediapersons in the airline's Chandigarh-Mumbai flight that had actor Kangana Ranaut as a passenger.
GMR, GVK have taken up the issue with civil aviation ministry.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, the consortium operating the new Hyderabad airport, has offered to halve ground-handling charges even as the civil aviation ministry allowed the domestic carriers to undertake their ground-handling till January 1, 2009. This will give the two sides enough time to resolve the contentious issue, which almost jeopardised the opening of the new airport and forced a postponement once.
