Meanwhile, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said that there was no question of any bail out to the beleaguered carrier
Following the entry of Tata-SIA and AirAsia into the Indian aviation market, the domestic aviation industry is seeing increased interest from private entities.
The government has reduced the windfall profit tax levied on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 1,900 per tonne from Rs 2,100 per tonne, the order dated January 16, said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuel like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
There were many who had reposed faith in the Narendra Modi government for expeditious action but are today beginning to feel disillusioned, notes Jitender Bhargava.
Rediff.com takes a look at the major aviation disasters of recent times.
Swedish defence major Saab has offered to manufacture its fifth generation Gripen fighter aircraft in New Delhi with technology transfer to India.
External commercial borrowings to the extent of USD 1 billion to be allowed for aviation sector for next year.
The Tata Group-owned Air India has readied a five-year transformation plan, which is expected to take its domestic market share to 30 per cent, up from 8.4 per cent logged in June. IndiGo leads with a market share of 58.8 per cent. The transformation plan--Vihaan.AI-unveiled on Thursday revolves around tripling the domestic market share with investments in new aircraft, technology and improvements in customer service.
Chief Operating Officer, Sanjiv Kapoor will be leaving the company effective October 31, 2015 after two years with the organisation.
'The levy proposed to be charged on air tickets for regional connectivity fund would marginally increase cost.'
India's largest carrier IndiGo will cut 20 per cent of its flights due to lower demand as a rapidly spreading coronavirus upends the recovery of air travel. The airline was operating around 1,200 flights as on Saturday. Other airlines are being forced to cancel flights as states tighten restrictions to combat the spread of the virus, and people are dropping last-minute travel plans. Airlines carried 2,518 passengers on 260,251 flights on Saturday, compared to 2,794 passengers on 358,856 flights the day before.
Jet fuel (ATF) price on Tuesday was hiked by 4.2 per cent but that of commercial LPG used in non-residential establishments such as hotels and restaurants was cut by Rs 115.5 per 19-kg cylinder reflecting global energy trends. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was hiked by Rs 4,842.37 per kilolitre, or 4.19 per cent, to Rs 120,362.64 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This reverses a 4.5 per cent cut in jet fuel prices affected last month.
.jpg)
The decision of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation comes at a time when the UN-body International Civil Aviation Organisation is working on global market-based measures to check aviation emissions.
West Asian carriers are up against Air India and IndiGo in the battle for seats on lucrative international routes.
Airports hold pride of place in the government's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) programme to monetise public assets. Private airport operators, including the Adani group, Fairfax, GMR and Zurich Airport, are expected to evince interest in the next round of public private partnership (PPP) development of state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports. Industry analysts, however, do not expect bids to be as high as the last round, which saw Adani group gain control of six airports.
Budget carrier SpiceJet on Friday triggered off a price war in the aviation industry announcing one-way discounted fares starting Rs 1,999 for travel between September and December this year, prompting IndiGo to follow with a similar offer soon after.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre and the city government over their failure to implement Vishaka guidelines on dealing with cases of sexual harassment against women in the aviation industry in New Delhi.
.jpg)
Amadeus Altea Suite, a complete passenger service system, is currently used by more than 120 airlines across the world. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Limited.
Qatar Airways is keen to buy equity in IndiGo if the Indian carrier offers 49 per cent stake to it, a top official has said as he sought the opening up of the Indian aviation market for established airline companies.
Vistara started allowing passengers to book an extra seat from Tuesday. IndiGo and SpiceJet, too, are in the final stages of designing such a product to be sold as an add-on.
ATF for domestic carriers has become 11.22 per cent cheaper since October and is expected to see more price cuts in the next three months.
Petrol and diesel sales in India jumped in September as economic activity picked up with the nearing festival season and the ending of the monsoon raised the demand, preliminary industry data showed. Petrol sales soared 13.2 per cent to 2.65 million tonnes in September when compared to 2.34 million tonnes of consumption in the same month last year. Sales were 20.7 per cent higher than Covid-marred September 2020 and 23.3 per cent more than pre-pandemic September 2019.
In the season of aviation action, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air has secured the crucial no-objection certificate (NoC) from the civil aviation ministry. It expects to start operations next summer. The airline will now have to apply for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for operations permit. Aviation sector has been in the limelight with the Tata Group winning the Air India bid last week.
For any airline to be eligible for restructuring, the current ratio has to be equal to or higher than 0.4, while 'debt to Ebitda' has to be equal to or less than 5.5.
The appointment followed the resignation of Nikos Kardassis on June 7 after he served two terms as CEO between 1993-1999 and again from October 2009 till May 2013.
While we navigate the challenges posed by the current industry environment, our focus and attention remains on safety and operational reliability, said chief executive Vinay Dube.
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.
The government will start working on selling the ground-handling arm of erstwhile national carrier Air India and the Expression of Interest (EoI) is expected in the next fiscal, an official said. "We already have the Cabinet approval for selling the subsidiaries of Air India. "So we will come out with an EoI inviting bids for one of the ground-handling arms in the next fiscal," an official told PTI.
The procurement proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the ministry said.
India, the second fastest-growing economy in the world, does not figure in the brighter side of the aviation picture, because Indian civil aviation industry has been hugely loss-making (a $1.75 billion loss in 2009-10) and showing no signs of consolidation.
Terming investment in infrastructure "quintessential" to boost growth, the Economic Survey on Friday said post unlocking of the economy, infra sectors are poised for growth and construction of roads is expected to return to the high pace attained before COVID-19. The infrastructure sector will be the key to overall economic growth and macroeconomic stability, the Survey said emphasising that the year after the crisis (2021-22) will require sustained and calibrated measures to facilitate the process of economic recovery and enable the economy to get back on its long-term growth trajectory. "Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth. In the absence of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant from its potential and frontier growth trajectory.
While there were concerns about the security aspect of drones, top government officials were of the view that restricting the drone industry would stifle a sunrise sector which holds significant promise for future, reports Arindam Majumder.
CAG may not be the cure-all for the ills that afflict PPP projects and is perhaps a sub-optimal solution to the problem.
Samridhi Bhardwaj analyses the dynamics of duty-free liquor allowance in India.
The commerce and industry ministry had moved a Cabinet note to allow foreign carriers pick up equity in their Indian counterparts.
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.
To maintain smooth flight operations and avert a staff crisis, India's airlines will require an additional 2,000 pilots. Unfortunately, the number of additional commanders being recruited is slowing down.
'The need for added safety has bolstered demand for charter flights in the last year and is expected to continue.'
'My eyes were too small (to convey) expressions. I was too hairy. I did not have a great physique. (In this profession) you just keep on working on your minus points and try to improve yourself as much as you can.'
On February 19, India's largest private low-fare airline IndiGo announced the resignation of one of the two founders, Rakesh Gangwal, from the airline's board and his intentions of offloading his stake in the airline over the next five years. The announcement came on a Friday, giving the stock markets the weekend to absorb the news but the markets registered a tepid response on Monday's opening. In contrast, in July 2019, when the fight between the two founders and erstwhile friends first became public, the markets reacted savagely. The IndiGo scrip at the time fell 19 per cent, wiping out millions of rupees of shareholder wealth before bouncing back. For readers who may be hazy on the details of the dispute, here is the context.
