Construction activities for modernising and expanding the Kolkata and Chennai airports by the Airports Authority of India will begin by the end of next month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday. Replying a question on the government's recent decision to allow charging of user development fees by the private operator of the new Hyderabad airport, Patel said "We are considering the same for the new airport at Bangalore."
commercial airlines and air navigation service providers have to carry out random drug tests on at least 10 per cent of their flight crew and air traffic controllers every year.
Air, rail and road traffic was severely affected in New Delhi on Monday as dense fog reduced the visibility to almost zero. According to senior officials of the Indian Metrological Department, the disruption is likely to continue for a few more days. There is little hope of the weather improving and it is likely to hit traffic in Delhi and neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, officials said.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, with five members in the Lok Sabha, on Monday formally joined the United Progressive Alliance amid speculations that its chief Ajit Singh would be included in the Cabinet as the civil aviation minister. With the RLD joining the ruling coalition, its strength has gone up from 272 to 277 MPs. In the backdrop of speculations that Ajit Singh will be inducted into the Cabinet, Digvijay Singh was asked who will be the next civil aviation minister.
The disappearance of Flight MH370 last year was on Thursday declared as an accident
With an unprecedented "boom" in aviation, the country is running short of pilots. Most carriers, state-owned as well as private, are in a scramble to lay their hands on trained pilots.
The next step is the charter, which aims to safeguard consumer rights and address criticism about the government not doing enough for passengers.
The state-run airline is reeling under major financial losses and a plan of action has already been put in place to revive its lost status.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Thursday alternative plans were being made to ensure that operations of the state-run carrier were normalised within two-three months so that the revival plan could be put in place.
When word gets around that favouritism is de rigueur, it keeps away serious bidders and also ensures that the winners feel they can get away with shortchanging the country.
In a circular, the DGCA stated, "Universal screening of all the passengers coming in flights directly from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore besides the flights from China and Hong Kong shall be ensured immediately once they step out of the specific identified aerobridge."
In further easing of restrictions, the government on Wednesday permitted Indian airlines to increase the number of domestic passenger flights to 60 per cent of their pre-Covid services, according to an official order.
In December 2005, AI had ordered 111 aircraft worth Rs 46,000 crore.
In popular perception, the villain of the piece is former civil aviation minister Praful Patel.
Amid the demand from the Union civil aviation ministry for induction of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as fresh equity into Air India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government is actively considering helping the national carrier.
Civil aviation ministry has also reached a consensus to give a five-year term to the next CMD of the ailing state-owned airline.
Softening its rigidity, Indian Air Force has now agreed to release its pilots to civil aviation stream in a phased manner in the face of acute shortage being faced by state-owned carriers.
The Indian hockey team recently won the Asia Cup, but the recognition the players received was nothing like what the cricket team is getting after the Twenty20 World Cup triumph.
State-run City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) plans to issue a request for qualification (RFQ) for the Navi Mumbai international airport in the middle of next month.
Across the country, the number of patients in ICU beds is 4,88,861 while 1,70,841 patients were on ventilators and 9,02,291 patients were on oxygen support.
In order to enhance air connectivity within the state, the Kerala government may underwrite a portion of seats of domestic carriers as part of its new civil aviation policy.
The visual control tower at 95 metre would provide all-round view of the airport. The complex will also have meteorological facilities, search and rescue and anti-hijacking measures.
The move would cap the discontent among pilots at not having enough flying hours and even help the state carrier gain grounds in terms of passenger carriage.
The revised guidelines for international arrivals will be effective from November 22, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
Only 14 routes of the 202 on which the airline operates, meet the total cost of operations.
In an internal communication to airlines' employees, he reflected on the urinating incident to say that "the repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said he would be ordering an inquiry into the tragic accident, and added that notwithstanding the inclement weather, it was the pilot's duty to determine a flight could be taken or not.
The Andhra Pradesh Civil Aviation Corporation, which manages the two government-owned helicopters, has ruled out the possibility of the Bell 430 helicopter carrying state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy having crashed.
Patel discusses the airline's problems and defends his record.
The government is keeping its options open.
Meanwhile, accusing Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel of being responsible for the state of affairs in Air India, the CPI(M) has demanded the immediate revocation of the order to derecognise the unions and sacking of employees for going on a flash strike.
UDAN scheme takes off; fares capped at Rs 2,500 for 1-hr flight
These airports are those at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy.
According to the latest data available from the Centre and the states in the night, the total number of Omicron cases in the country was around 1,200.
A total of 406 aircraft are in the fleet of eight scheduled airlines in the country, most of which were suffering losses, Lok Sabha was informed.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha emphasised that the brand name has both sentimental and economical value.
The two pilots of a helicopter, which flew Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, were on Wednesday given a virtual clean chit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, during a preliminary probe into the alleged violation of air safety rules that fuelled a controversy involving the Congress leader.The pilots of the state-run Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, who appeared before the DGCA's Air Safety Wing in New Delhi, were cleared by a probe panel.
The feedback gathered from industry shows that while during the first half of current fiscal (April-Sept 2008) there was moderation in the growth of several segments of the services sector, from October 2008 onwards a marked deterioration in performance was seen in many areas. The survey is based on the interaction with over 250 representatives of various service-related industry associations, organisations, and companies in both the private and public sector.
The guidelines come in the wake of back-to-back two urination incidents on Air India flights last year.
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