Lease and maintenance rentals of aircraft, salaries to expatriate pilots, parking and landing rates at international airports and jet fuel prices are all dollar-denominated costs.
If all 102 grounded planes could fly, there will theoretically be 400 more Delhi-Mumbai flights every day.
Indian airline Go First is considering legal action against Pratt and Whitney (PW) for failing to provide compensation after March 2020 for planes grounded due to engine supply delays, sources said on Thursday. About 90 per cent of the airline's fleet of aircraft uses PW engines. About 24 of the airline's 55 planes are grounded due to delays in engine supply by PW.
It is the seventh reduction in jet fuel rates since August
The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
'Airlines will be asked to submit a detailed plan on the viability of the location.'
This innovation has made mainframes the fastest-growing segment within IBM's Infrastructure business, demonstrating that even legacy technologies can continue to deliver value.
Aviation turbine fuel accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total operating cost of an Indian airline.
A Dubai-based NRI businessman is planning to start a new airline in India. Aniyan Kutty, managing director of Dubai-based Clarion Shipping Services, said initially the airline will connect smaller cities, followed by operations all over India.
IndiGo will introduce business class seats in select flights on 12 domestic routes starting from November 14 and also launch a customer loyalty programme, as the 18-year-old airline seeks to expand business and strengthen global presence. The announcements, made at an event in the national capital on Monday to mark 18 years of operations, also highlights a pivotal trajectory for the airline.
Airports levy charges such as FTC, infrastructure charge, and into-plane charges on sale of jet fuel. The levy is passed through to airlines, pushing up costs.
Airlines will report losses in FY16 but 35% less Y-o-Y
Goa's second airport began operations last week and if all goes according to plans, the state will be the base for a new regional airline, Fly91. Promoted by the ex-executive vice-president of now grounded Kingfisher Airlines, Manoj Chacko, and Fairfax India's former head, Harsha Raghavan, the airline will offer no-frills buy on board product and serve unconnected routes with two ATR 72 aircraft. An application for the initial no-objection clearance was filed with the civil aviation ministry last week.
Despite partial restoration of salaries, pilots across airlines remain dissatisfied, throwing challenges for managers.
The GST Council, in its meeting on Saturday, is likely to decide on reducing tax rates on life and health insurance premiums, while hiking it on high-end wrist watches, shoes and apparels, besides considering a separate 35 per cent tax slab for sin goods. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, is likely to discuss rate rejig in about 148 items, besides, it will also deliberate on bringing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), a major component for airline industry's operation cost, in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fold.
The government was also working on a package to promote connectivity and airports in the North Eastern states
The airline is not convinced that it will have a sizeable passenger traffic to make wide body operations profitable
In an unprecedented action, Indian aviation regulator DGCA has directed low-cost airline Spicejet to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks. This follows an unusually high number of incidents involving the airline, raising safety concerns. The curtailment of capacity is unlikely to have any commercial impact on the airline owned by entrepreneur Ajay Singh. SpiceJet already operates less than 50 per cent of the flights it had filed for the summer schedule.
At Rs 919 crore, InterGlobe Aviation, the parent firm of low-cost airline IndiGo, posted its best-ever fourth quarterly net profit in the January-to-March quarter (Q4) of financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The bottom-line, however, was lower than the Street's expectations where estimates ranged from Rs 1,160 crore to Rs 2,180 crore. On the bourses, shares of IndiGo have added just 30 paise (0.01 per cent) since the announcement of the Q4-FY23 results on May 18.
An airfare regulatory authority likely soon.
The commercial flight operations of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air will be launched in July instead of June. "As we get closer to the airline launch date, we can now confirm refined estimates on our timelines. "We expect our first aircraft delivery by early June 2022, with the intention to start commercial operations in July 2022," Vinay Dube, CEO, Akasa Air, told PTI.
Air fares to go up as ATF price is hiked by 8.2%.
Confronted with spiralling aviation turbine fuel prices, which account for half an airline's operating costs in India, several low-cost and full-service carriers will go for a steep increase in fares that could vary from 5 to 20 per cent, from June 20. Today's announcement comes three weeks after fares were raised 8 to 10 per cent following a rise in ATF prices (which increased 18 per cent last month).
Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025.
Konnect to be phased out as airline struggles to contain losses.
Currency depreciation also hits earnings of all domestic carriers
Move comes in view of big debt overhang in two sectors; companies unwilling.
Move comes in view of big debt overhang in two sectors; companies unwilling.
'If the airlines are not given a clear deadline to change the altimeters by the DGCA, why should they do it voluntarily?' 'It means that the aircraft will be grounded for a while and lose money.'
Indian carrier Vistara on Monday announced voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and voluntary separation scheme (VSS) for its permanent ground staff ahead of its merger with Air India, which had announced similar plans for its non-flying permanent staff two weeks ago.
'The past few quarters have seen prohibitive fares for advance bookings, only to dip closer to departure.'
We live in hope that India and its airlines might finally grow up, notes Anuli Bhargava.
Here are the world's most courteous, friendly, helpful and efficient airline crews from each continent.
'I hope they all survive, but it is a tough world.' 'The carriers who are already established are already struggling.'
From croissants to Galouti kebabs and Medu vada, Indian carriers, both low-cost and full-service, are revising their in-flight menus to offer passengers a differentiated fare as competition is heating up amid the boom in air travel with the waning of Covid-19. On Monday, Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group on January 27, unveiled its new domestic in-flight menu comprising gourmet meals, new appetizers, desserts, and local dishes. Air India's economy class passengers would now be served dishes such as Mushroom cheese omelette, Dry jeera aloo wedges, and Garlic tossed spinach and corn for breakfast, and Vegetable biryani, Malabar chicken curry, and mixed vegetable poriyal for lunch.
'Airlines will need a war chest to deal with post-COVID economics.'
IndiGo share price today: IndiGo share price fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a low of Rs 4,275 per share on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade as investors booked profit in the stock post a its April-June quarter (Q1) results for financial year 2024-25 (FY25). The stock ended 1.36 per cent lower at Rs 4,430 as against a 23-points gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The selling also got exacerbated as the management commentary, post Q1FY25 results, highlighted that inflationary pressure could likely dent July-September (Q2FY25) performance.
Aviation industry experts expect the ATF prices to fall by 16 per cent in November, compared with the current month. This, they say, translates into bridging of nearly half the gap between the airlines' operational costs and total revenues.
'You don't need massive industry or huge energy resources.' 'You could start with just 3 or 4 people in a coffee shop and invent the world.'
