Ending its uncomfortable journey in India after eight years, Malaysia-based AirAsia Group on Wednesday said it has exited AirAsia India by selling its remaining 16.67 per cent stake to Tata Group-owned Air India for Rs 155.64 crore. Later in the day, Air India said it has begun the process of creating a single low-cost carrier subsidiary by merging AirAsia India and Air India Express. A working group consisting AirAsia India CEO Sunil Bhaskaran and Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh has been formed for the two carriers' integration, which is expected to take approximately 12 months, it added.
Air India will restore salaries that were cut in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic from September 1, according to a communication. The loss-making airline, which was taken over by Tatas in January this year, has also decided to revise crew layover allowances and meal arrangements from September 1. In the communication to the employees, Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson said the airline "will be restoring the salary reduction for all employees with effect from September 1, 2022."
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Saturday that 149 people have been admitted to hospitals, 23 have been discharged, while three are critically injured in the B737 plane crash.
SpiceJet, Air India Express and IndiGo will operate special flights from Hungarian capital Budapest and Romania's Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
Praying for those affected by the aircraft accident in Kozhikode, said Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli
This is the third incident of technical malfunction on a Go First aircraft in two days.
Due to the group's presence across multiple businesses, it is in a unique position in the aviation industry to bring the best of talents.
"A passenger, who had a COVID-positive certificate dated September 2, travelled on Air India Express' Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4. A similar incident had happened with a passenger on one of the airline's other Dubai flights previously," said one of the officials.
"All those who were involved in rescue operations at Kozhikode Airport should go into self-quarantine. State Government will conduct COVID-19 tests of all," said K K Shailaja.
Three Indian carriers -- SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express -- have Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets.
This is the third instance in the last three days when the aviation regulator grounded a plane after an incident.
With airlines reporting multiple technical malfunction incidents, aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that there is an insufficient number of engineering personnel certifying planes of various carriers before their departure. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on the deployment of AME personnel and directed them to comply by July 28.
Political leaders across parties reacted to the Air India Express aircraft crash, which took place on Friday evening at Kozhikode airport.
Three evacuation flights from Romania's capital Bucharest and Hungary's capital Budapest came to India on Tuesday with 616 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive, officials said.
The DGCA conducted the spot checks as there have been many technical malfunction incidents in Indian carriers' planes during the last 45 days.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 83 people were under treatment at various hospitals and the condition of 22 of them was 'serious'.
While Air India Express is expected to get the full insured amount for the hull loss, it will have to pay compensation to the kin of the deceased and injured, according to applicable laws. The compensation will be paid from its liability cover.
Singapore Airlines on Tuesday said Vistara will be merged with Tata group-owned Air India. Tata group owns a 51 per cent stake in Vistara, and the remaining 49 per cent shareholding is with Singapore Airlines (SIA). As part of the transaction, SIA will also invest Rs 2,058.5 crore in Air India.
The report, released a little over a year after the deadly crash of the Air India Express plane, said the "probable cause of the accident was the non adherence to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by the PF (Pilot Flying)".
The Tata group-owned Air India will induct over 90 aircraft in two years as it looks to widen its footprint and grab a larger market share. The plan includes 56 planes from the mega aircraft order that the airline has now finalised with Airbus and Boeing. These will be in addition to previously announced leases of 36 planes that include Airbus A320Neo, A321Neo, and Boeing 777 aircraft.
Competition Commission has approved Tata Group's proposed acquisition of debt-laden Air India as well as its two subsidiaries. The Rs 18,000 crore-deal that includes the winning bidder Talace taking over Rs 15,300 crore-worth debt, is a major step in the government's efforts over the years to revive the ailing airline. Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, emerged as the winning bidder in October.
"All efforts are being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau," the minister said on Twitter.
The 30-member team will be headed by Malappuram Additional Superintendent of Police G Sabu, a government release said.
Two landings were aborted by pilots due to tailwind.
The government on Wednesday asked ministries and departments to clear dues of debt-laden Air India immediately and henceforth purchase tickets only in cash. The government earlier this month decided to sell Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd, a unit of the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group, for Rs 18,000 crore. The Department of Expenditure, under the Finance Ministry, in a 2009 order, had said that in cases of air travel (both domestic and international), including LTC where the Government of India bears the cost of air passage, the officials may travel only by Air India.
These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from Air Force.
On May 22 2010, a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operating Air India Express Flight 812 from Dubai to Mangalore, crashed on landing. Nearly 160 people lost their lives in the 2010 crash.
Of these four flights (except Qatar Airways) returned to Kozhikode airport as the weather condition in Kozhikode gained normalcy.
The government on Monday issued a letter of intent (LoI) confirming the sale of its 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India to Tata Group for Rs 18,000 crore, a senior official said. Last week, the government had accepted an offer by Talace Pvt Ltd, a unit of the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate, to pay Rs 2,700 crore in cash and takeover Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt. Subsequent to that, an LoI has now been issued to Tata confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline.
'Tata Group is excited to work together to make Air India the airline of choice in terms of passenger comfort and service'. This is an audio message from Ratan Tata played onboard some Air India flights. Tata Group completed the takeover of the loss-making Air India on January 27.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is engaged in confidential talks with Tata Sons for merging Vistara with Air India, the flagship carrier of the Republic of Singapore informed the stock exchange in the Southeast Asian nation on Thursday in a first acknowledgement of a possible integration of the two airlines. "In line with its multi-hub strategy, SIA is currently in confidential discussions with the Tatas to explore a potential transaction in relation to the securities of Vistara and Air India. "The discussions seek to deepen the existing partnership between SIA and Tatas and may include a potential integration of Vistara and Air India," SIA said in a notification to the Singapore stock exchange. SIA owns 49 per cent stake in Vistara and is among the four airlines run by Tata Group.
Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have operated 31 inbound flights during the first five days of Vande Bharat mission, bringing 6,037 stranded Indians home amid the coronavirus triggered lockdown, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the fifth Air India flight landed in Delhi from Bucharest with 249 Indian nationals while the sixth flight arrived from Budapest here with 240 Indian nationals, the officials said.
The mortal remains of co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar were cremated on Sunday "with attendance from all family members as well as with the officials of Air India and Air India Express present to mark respect to the departed soul at Mathura, his hometown".
Air India, under its new Tata management, has taken a Rs 60,800 crore ($8 billion) cover by paying Rs 266 crore premium to a clutch of insurance companies, including Tata AIG General Insurance. The airline managed to get a better deal as it valued its fleet lower by almost $2 billion. The new management held extensive negotiations - both in India and London, to get a good deal considering the rising premiums due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
A consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to provide loans to Tata Group for the smooth operations of loss-making Air India. Tata Group, which won the bid to acquire the national carrier along with Air India Express and 50 per cent stake in AISATS in October last year, is expected to formally takeover the airline on Thursday. Sources said the SBI-led consortium has agreed to grant both term loans and working capital loans depending on the airline's requirements. All large lenders, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank of India, are part of the consortium, they added.
It offers a real opportunity for the flag carrier to compete on the world stage, backed by a leading conglomerate with deep pockets like the Tatas, observes Indrajit Gupta.
Tata Group's takeover of loss-making national carrier Air India is most likely delayed by a month till January as the completion of procedures taking longer than expected, an official said on Monday. In October, the government accepted the highest bid made by a Tata Sons company for 100 per cent equity shares of Air India and Air India Express along with its 50 per cent stake in ground-handling company AISATS -- the first privatisation in 20 years. At that time, the government had stated that it wanted to complete the transactions, which included Tatas paying Rs 2,700 crore in cash, by December end.
Air India owns 32 aircraft, and has 37 aircraft on finance lease; Air India Express owns 17 aircraft on finance lease. The aircraft-related debt of Air India is Rs 16,000 crore; it's Rs 1,100 crore for Air India Express.
In the second phase, the single-use plastic will be banned in all Air India flights.
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