Airfares in the country are set to rise, with IndiGo on Thursday introducing a fuel charge of up to Rs 1,000 based on a flight's distance, in response to the significant rise in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices in the last three months. The Indian aviation sector experiences its peak travel season between October and December. The inclusion of a fuel charge component in airfares is anticipated to have a sizable impact on IndiGo's passengers, according to experts.
It projects that airlines will make a net profit of $10.6 billion.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
'It will be like this: If you use the window seat in the first row, next will be the aisle in the second row, to maintain social distancing.' 'So, two-thirds of the aircraft is not going to be used.'
Aviation Working Group (AWG), a global aviation leasing body comprising major planemakers and lessors, on Monday further downgraded India as lessors have not been able to repossess their planes from Go First more than four months after the airline filed for insolvency. The leasing cost stands as a prominent expense for Indian airlines. With AWG's downgrade, it is likely that lessors will increase the aircraft leasing rates for Indian carriers.
Airlines in Asia-Pacific expected to post losses worth $1.1 billion out of a total industry loss of $8.3 billion next year.
The Nicaragua bound charter Legend Airlines Airbus A340 flight, that was grounded at Vatry airport in France for four days on suspicion of human trafficking, arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday, December 26, 2023.
"The decision came after the cabin crew reported disruptive conduct on board, specifically a dispute between a husband and wife," sources told ANI.
Rising fuel costs have grounded the high-flying ambitions of India's carriers and have sent their stocks into a tailspin.
According to the package, the dues will be cleared in six monthly instalments by March 2009. Current ATF purchases will get 90 days' credit, supported by bank guarantees. Also, jet fuel price revisions will henceforth happen every fortnight. Praful Patel on Thursday admitted in the Lok Sabha that it may take another two months to make the recently-opened third runway at the Delhi airport fully operational.
The process of getting a new promoter on board is likely to take another two to three months and once that happens, the banks would offload their stakes.
The issue had come up during a presentation by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is studying whether a particular airline has a dominant market share on various routes or city pairs which might lead to anti-competitive practices.
Some years ago, Rakesh Gangwal reportedly said his relationship with Rahul Bhatia evolved in an amazing friendship, which he termed 'blind trust'. The question is whether that is under scrutiny now.
IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta announced on Thursday that the airline was instituting pay cuts for senior employees and he would himself take the highest cut of 25 per cent amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has hit the aviation industry hard.
The first to take off will be Air Pegasus, promoted by Bengaluru-based ground-handling firm Deccor Aviation.
Domestic air passenger traffic touched 1.25 crore in January this year, an increase of 96 per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to rating agency Icra. However, it said the traffic remained around 2 per cent lower compared to the pre-Covid levels -- January 2020. The traffic stood at 64 lakh in January last year. Icra is maintaining a negative outlook on the Indian aviation industry, reflecting the view that the financial performance of Indian airlines is likely to remain under pressure in the near term, even though the recovery in domestic passenger traffic has been healthy.
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.
Consumption-related stocks, such as hotels, and quick service restaurants (QSRs), have been hitting the ball out of the park ahead. On the other hand, the Miss World Pageant scheduled for later this year in New Delhi, too, could provide some tailwind to these stocks, especially hotels and aviation. However, analysts suggest investors put their best foot forward and buy these counters only on a decline given the recent rally and economic headwinds.
Shortage of commanders may be forcing Kingfisher Airlines asking its pilots to fly more but the airline says despite some cockpit crew leaving the organisation, it still has the "adequate number".
Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional, which owns nearly 70 per cent of the airline, said it had submitted a proposal to the Malaysia Airlines to delist the company. Under the plan, minority shareholders will be bought out.
As a model of transport, the A380 strikes a parallel -- a shared fragility -- with giant container ships, observes Shyam G Menon.
Some airlines, says Anjuli Bhargava, are convinced there's a conspiracy to malign them.
While global majors like JetBlue, RyanAir, Southwest sell almost 90 per cent of their tickets through their own websites or apps, airlines in India have a minuscule share of around 25 per cent through direct channel booking.
Mallya's barrister, Clare Montgomery, reiterated the central defence that there had been no misrepresentation or fraud on the part of her client and that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other airlines.
Airline managements are divided on the likely impact of the settlement of the Jet Airways imbroglio.
The United Kingdom government on Tuesday said that though the air traffic control 'technical issue' that led to the severe disruption of hundreds of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded has been resolved, routes will continue to be affected for some days as airlines scramble to recover from the domino effect on their schedules.
The ministry has also asked that the cap of such borrowings is to be set at $500 million (Rs 3,450 crore) for a single company and $1 billion (Rs 6,900 crore) for the entire sector.
The Indian aviation industry, which accounts for 2 per cent of the global aviation industry, suffered losses of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in 2008-09. The industry is, however, now looking up, feels SpiceJet chief executive officer Sanjay Agarwal.
Besides urging the Centre for extension of loan moratorium, the hotel and travel industries have also demanded deferment of GST and advance tax payments and waiver of fees for all forthcoming licences and permits.
The growing mismatch between Go First's losses and other group companies' profits was making it tough for the group to fund the losses of the airline venture.
The government on Wednesday permitted NRIs to invest up to 100 per cent stake in disinvestment-bound Air India. The decision comes at a time when the government has sought preliminary bids for 100 per cent stake sale in the national carrier. "Today's decision on Air India is one milestone decision where NRIs... will get permission to invest 100 per cent in the airline," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters at a briefing about the Union Cabinet's decision.
The 'Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham' has become the 68th civil airport terminal in the country to come under the umbrella of the specialised aviation security group of the central force.
Mauritius on Monday said it would soon adopt the open sky policy and allow private airlines from India to use its air space.
IndiGo, Jet, SpiceJet and GoAir demand level playing field in aviation policy, say government can't favour only two new airlines.
Most of them had to wind up operations due to high operating cost, expensive fuel and longer than expected gestation period.
An online company would show a particular price to the customer and then quickly increase the cost after analysing consumer behaviour or detecting any kind of desperation.
Global equity companies have no plans to put their money in the Indian aviation industry even though the carriers are seeking $2.5 billion in cash for expansion. Most players are looking at investing in into large established airlines, but right now are in the wait and watch mode. It will therefore be difficult for low-cost carriers to get funding. The losses of the Indian aviation sector and high valuation expectations are the reasons why investors are not interested.
Increasing cases of aviators in India complaining of fatigue and in some cases leading to death have spurred the DGCA to bring in draft rules to reduce stress.
