Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had on Monday ruled out any bailout of the airline.
Only two no-frill carriers, IndiGo and SpiceJet, have applied for permission for more flights from the DGCA this season than they did last year, official sources said, adding that other airlines have scaled down the number of flights they wish to operate this year.
SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday the Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) account had turned into a non-performing asset (NPA). "The account became an NPA on December 31, 2011. They are in default," Chaudhuri said.
In conformity with civil aviation regulator DGCA's guidelines on reducing flight delay, private carrier Kingfisher Airlines will close its check-in counters for domestic flights 40 minutes prior to departure.
Prabhat Kumar, who has been appointed as the DGCA chief three months ago, is taking steps to ensure safety of passengers.
With airfares mounting in the last couple of weeks primarily due to cancellation of Kingfisher flights, aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday warned airlines not to raise air ticket prices beyond a given range.
People in the know said the move would impact around 110 engines, virtually putting a spanner on the expansion plans of IndiGo - counted among the fastest growing airlines in the world.
India and the European Union on Monday decided to extend an agreement to continue cooperation in the civil aviation sector, especially in safety, security and air traffic management for two more years.
Earlier, the JV company got a go-ahead from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in October 2013 and was awaiting AOP for launching a full-service carrier.
The entire flight -- from take off to landing -- was fully autonomous, which means it was on auto-pilot, Omnipresent Robot Technologies Founder and CEO Aakash Sinha said.
The load factor of six major domestic airlines--IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India -- stood between 70 per cent and 64.9 per cent in January.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said, 'On May 1, SpiceJet Boeing B737 aircraft operating flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during descent which unfortunately resulted in injuries to a few passengers.'
As over 40 flights were cancelled across the country on Tuesday, the airline informed DGCA that it had 28 functional aircraft, out of 64 planes in November last.
IndiGo and GoAir, which have Pratt & Whitney-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes, have been facing problems with these engines, manufactured by the US firm, since their induction three years ago.
The directive came at a meeting DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan held with senior officials of private airlines, following complaints that exorbitant spot-fares being charged by the carriers in the wake of cancellation of Air India flights because of the ongoing pilots' strike.
In a serious safety breach, Nagpur airport runway was intruded by a drove of pigs when President Pranab Mukherjee's jumbo Boeing 737 was taxiing towards the runway after landing on Monday, prompting the civil aviation ministry to seek a report.
The All India Jet Airways Technicians Association cautioned that in case the allocation is not stopped, it would be forced to resort to legal means for a resolution.
French aviation watchdog BEA said vertical separation between the two aircraft 'was zero feet' while the least horizontal separation between the two planes was reduced to just 0.6 NM.
IT departments, running the website, is working overtime to provide necessary information and making relevant changes.
DGCA said there are 13 aircraft in the airline's fleet in which both the PW engines have been used for more than 3,000 hours.
This announcement comes a day after the DGCA asked IndiGo to take 'appropriate action' after it found alleged violation of safety and social distancing protocols by mediapersons in the airline's Chandigarh-Mumbai flight that had actor Kangana Ranaut as a passenger.
Sobha Puravankara is yet to explain to the safety lapses found by the DGCA.
Days after its recent downgrade by the US aviation regulator, DGCA has set up two dedicated technical teams for surprise inspections on the aircraft of foreign airlines and charter firms and carry out extensive safety checks.
This incident was also not reported to the DGCA, for which the regulator pulled up the full-service carrier, stating its conduct was unprofessional and issued show cause notices to the airline, its director of flight safety and the crew that operated the New York-Delhi flight, asking them to explain within two weeks why action should not be taken against them.
Shares of SpiceJet on Wednesday rose by over 19 per cent even as aviation regulator asked the no-frills carrier to immediately stop its offer of one-rupee fares across its domestic network.
Domestic air traffic in April this year consisted 10.99 million passengers as compared to 11.51 million passengers in the same month last year, signifying a fall of around 4.5 per cent,
Air travellers may have to shell out hefty amounts if the fare bands proposed by airlines -- which will also take into account the distance factor -- are approved by the civil aviation regulator DGCA.
Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy passed away on Tuesday due to a cardiorespiratory arrest after a prolonged illness, a company statement said. He was 75. He was 75. According to the company statement, he passed away at 10.30 pm due to cardio-respiratory arrest following an extended battle with complications arising from metastatic malignancy, hypertension, and diabetes.
The directives will apply to both passenger and cargo planes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Wednesday.
The addition of new flights at airports will now be based on passenger-handling capacity at security checkpoints, according to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The civil aviation security regulator issued directions in this regard on May 22 in a move to reduce congestion and delays inside airport terminals. Following this, airports will have to check passenger-handling capacity at security checkpoints before allotting slots.
The five Mexican nationals killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Nepal near Mount Everest on Tuesday visited India before touring the Himalayan nation for sightseeing.
As part of the exercise, preventive checks at different airport functions have been carried out and the airport has ensured that diesel generator sets are in place to provide uninterrupted power supply, the MIAL said in a release.
SpiceJet will have to refund fare to passengers due to a flight delay.
In a circular, the DGCA stated, "Universal screening of all the passengers coming in flights directly from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore besides the flights from China and Hong Kong shall be ensured immediately once they step out of the specific identified aerobridge."
Both parties will discuss the issues and there will be a meeting again on May 28, he said.
Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two pilots of Tata Group's Taj Air, a non-scheduled airline that flies Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and Chairman Cyrus Mistry among others, for allegedly falsifying medical records.
SpiceJet, Air India Express and GoAir have been involved in three, two and one such incidents, respectively, in the past few days, prompting the DGCA to take action against the 12 pilots.
Taking cue from global best practices, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation has drafted rules to allow a pilot take a short nap on flight deck, with the other pilot taking full control of the aircraft on a long-distance flight, official sources said.
Jet has pulled out flights from Northeast states and also cancelled its Srinagar flight, leading to reduction in capacity.
Vistara on Thursday said it is resuming hot vegetarian meals for its domestic economy class passengers replacing the pre-packaged snacks that were being served since May last year due to the COVID-related guidelines. The airline also announced new sets of in-flight meals for all classes - economy, premium economy, and business - on its domestic network. Aviation regulator DGCA had permitted airlines in August last year to serve or sell pre-packed snacks, beverages, and meals on all domestic flights.
