Two new airlines -- Al Hind Air and FlyExpress -- are set to take to the skies, with the carriers receiving their no objection certificates from the civil aviation ministry.
Flyers faced a double blow as air fares on Air India flights out of Delhi and those of SpiceJet soared past Rs 1 lakh one-way on some routes, and even those showed 'sold out' despite the airlines adding capacity.
Air India One is the call sign for the VVIP aircraft used by the president, vice president and prime minister.
News is already out that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation has been pruned for his trip to Pittsburgh. The staff on Air India One, the prime minister's official aircraft, were reportedly given advance instructions to trim the contents on offer in the official menu. The staff did not serve expensive biscuits and eliminated caviar, but in a concession to the media accompanying the delegation, served all those on board the choicest of liquor en route to Frankfurt.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will turn 77 on September 26, will celebrate yet another birthday mid-air, on board the Air India One, like he did in 2004.Dr Singh will celebrate his birthday in his special aircraft or at Geneva, the flight's stop- over, while on his way back from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, United States. Once the G-20 summit gets over, Dr Singh will have a quiet family get-together on the eve of his birthday.
Once installed, the LAIRCAM system increases crew-warning time, decreases false alarm rates and automatically counters advanced intermediate range missile systems.
'You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks'
Trudeau stayed at the Lalit Hotel in the national capital during his stay for the G20 Summit.
Air India One aircraft is exclusively for the President, Vice President and prime minister. The first of the two VVIP aircraft Air India One arrived in India earlier this month.
The plane was scheduled to be delivered by aircraft manufacturer Boeing to Air India in July but its delivery was delayed twice --once in July for a few weeks due to COVID-19 pandemic and then in August for a few weeks due to technical reasons -- the officials noted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday went from Delhi to Dhaka on a new custom-made VVIP aircraft, using it for the first time on a foreign journey.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday visited the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum here and paid homage to the founding father of Bangladesh.
They noted that the exercise had begun in 2011 and an Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting for 10 times.
Two custom-made B777 aircraft, which will be used to fly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top Indian dignitaries, are likely to be delivered by Boeing to Air India by September, senior officials said on Monday. In October last year, government officials had said that the delivery of these two planes, which are earmarked for VVIP travel only, would be done by July.
Notably, Pakistan had previously denied the permission of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi to use Pakistan's airspace thrice to travel to foreign countries in 2019 after India abrogated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement just before leaving for the US, Modi said he will conclude his visit with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change and other important issues.
The two new B777 planes will come to India from US facility of Boeing by July next year. They will have the call sign 'Air India One'. Only IAF pilots will be flying the two new aircraft for PM, president and vice president.
The plane was scheduled to arrive in India during the first half of this week, the officials noted. Senior officials of the national carrier reached the US earlier this month to receive the plane from aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the officials said.
The government is also planning to replace the current ageing Air India One or Boeing 747 with Boeing 777s. Arup Roychoudhury and Archis Mohan report.
"The Opposition is getting prematureless restless," Dr Singh said, "The Opposition would like to make the weak points of the government the focus of attention and hope to force an election. But that is not going to happen! The Opposition will have to wait for two-and-a-half years. We have a mandate from the people of India to rule for five years, and we will stay the course. And we will do things, when you look back, might well surprise the country."
"The Opposition is getting prematureless restless," Dr Singh said, "The Opposition would like to make the weak points of the government the focus of attention and hope to force an election. But that is not going to happen! The Opposition will have to wait for two-and-a-half years. We have a mandate from the people of India to rule for five years, and we will stay the course. And we will do things, when you look back, might well surprise the country."
Qureshi said the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad had been informed of Pakistan's decision to not allow prime minister's Modi's special Air India One aircraft to fly over the country.
The PM flew to Moscow on one aircraft, then to Kabul and Lahore on another.
'What kind of insensitivity does it take to get taxpayers to cough up for an aircraft costing a few billion for your personal use, at a time when the country you head is in so much trouble?' asks Sherna Gandhy.
There were hardly any positive outcomes at the summit -- what we had instead were rants. We had despots, dictators, autocrats and leaders of banana republics rubbing shoulders with each other, talking of providing a new management for a global order, says Smita Prakash from Tehran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left on Wednesday morning for his seven-day tour to Ireland and the United States.
Gilani wants power from Punjab and fought hard to get India MFN status. Nikhil Lakshman listens in on Air India One
Gilani wants power from Punjab and fought hard to get India MFN status. Nikhil Lakshman listens in on Air India One
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while interacting with media personnel on board Air India One on Wednesday evening, made it clear that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been consulted at every step while drawing up the Teesta water sharing agreement with Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not mince words when media persons hurled a volley of questions at him while returning from Maldives. Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore, who was part of the media delegation on board prime minister's special aircraft, reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday reacted strongly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's allegation that the Opposition was trying to detsbilise the government, saying he had "distanced himself from reality".
A confidential note from the Prime Minister's Office has instructed foreign office heads of missions and union ministries to not serve no non-vegetarian food at banquet-dinner or lunches at 7 Race Course Road in the prime minister's presence. The instructions are extended to banquets hosted in the PM's honour on foreign soil as well.
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The Dreamliner's introduction on the daily Singapore route is on popular demand, said Nirbhik Narang, Air India's country manager in Singapore.
Welcome to No 2G, NO Chidambaram-Pranab Day
We see several huge banners of welcome strewn across the city. They are not for Dr Singh. The world's greatest footballer is in town, you see. Rediff.com's Sanchari Bhattacharya, who travelled with the prime minister to Dhaka, provides a lively glimpse of the proceedings
I am headed to Dhaka, Bangladesh, as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's media delegation for his much-anticipated bilateral visit to the neighbouring nation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday sent out a strong message to Pakistan, urging the neighbouring nation to recognise the "monster of terrorism" which it had unleashed at one time.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday circumvented all controversial domestic political issues, including those that surround Telecom Minister A Raja, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's alleged role in the Adarsh Society scam, and the Commonwealth Games fiasco, but assured that he would look into the matter once he returns to India and then make any meaningful comment on it.
Informing the world leaders of measures taken by him, Modi said India will continue to accord a high national priority to nuclear security through strong institutional framework, independent regulatory agency and trained and specialised manpower.
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