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.
The decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till May 3 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Airlines have been conducting fuel efficiency analysis, which involves fuel calculations on a daily basis, based on the availability of optimum routes in terms of wind, flight levels and overflying charges, route rationalisation to prune the number of flights and increase utilisation. They also want the Centre to grant ATF a declared goods status, which would result in a uniform levy of 4 per cent sales tax at the state level.
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Details were not immediately available ahead of a planned government briefing.
According to a report in the Environmental News Network, for the analysis, five researchers from the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research broke down the transport sector to four sub-sectors: road transport, aviation, rail, and shipping.
Indian airline industry is expecting to prune its net losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore in this fiscal from an estimated Rs 17,000-17,500 crore in FY2023 on the back of improved yields and stable cost environment, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. At the same time, ICRA also estimated that domestic air passenger traffic will expand by 8-13 per cent each in FY2024 and FY2025. The rating agency has also maintained its stable outlook on the industry in view of healthy passenger traffic growth, improved yields and a stable cost environment.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Monday cleared Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airlines buying 26 per cent stake in Jet Airways for Rs 2,058 crore (Rs 20.58 billion) with some conditions.
There were nearly 4,000 cabin crew with Jet when the airline was grounded; every fifth remains without a job to date. One cabin crew member with 10 years of experience has been forced to take up a teaching job; some have branched out into small businesses. Aviation jobs were scarce even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on Indian shores in early 2020. The situation has been exacerbated since.
Confirming the airline industry's estimates of a slowdown in the aviation sector, domestic passenger traffic for the calendar year 2008 showed a decline of 5 per cent compared to the previous year. Also, the Kingfisher-Kingfisher Red combine ousted Jet-JetLite as the largest Indian carrier combine in the month of December 2008.
Civil Minister Praful Patel on Monday ruled out retrenchment among employees in public sector Air India and blamed rising fuel prices as the reason behind the present crisis in the aviation sector.
Akasa Air, which took to the skies two months ago, will allow domesticated dogs and cats in cabin as well as cargo from November and will also be starting new routes in the coming weeks. The airline, which is "well capitalised", plans to start international services in the second half of 2023 once it has a fleet of 20 planes. Currently, the carrier has 6 aircraft and will have a total of 18 planes by the end of March next year.
Commercial aviation is safe because the crew is paid well and trained extensively for contingencies
Billionaire Gautam Singhania on Monday announced separation from wife Nawaz, saying the two have decided to pursue different paths. Singhania, 58, had married Nawaz Modi, daughter of solicitor Nadar Modi, in 1999. "This Diwali is not going to be the same as many in the past," Singhania, chairman and managing director of textiles-to-real estate conglomerate Raymond Ltd, said in social media posts.
The manufacturing sector's robust performance was largely contributed by machinery and equipment, food products, basic metal and alloy industries and chemicals and chemical products, the RBI said.
Air Turbine Fuel cost in India constitutes nearly 40 per cent of the ticket cost against 25 per cent in other countries.
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.
Starting with SpiceJet deliveries from this week, aircraft maker sees 'very exciting opportunity'.
According to a research report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, there has been a sea change in interest in India post the reforms announced last week that included allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and the civil aviation sector.
The new company would be named Videocon Aviation Limited and the parent firm would make an investment of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in the Special Purpose Vehicle and rest of the funds would be generated from FIIs, public and foreign collaborators. Videocon had made a bid for the Delhi Airport as well, but it was rejected by the government as there was no airport operator in the consortium.
The highest ever average daily construction rate of 130 km has been achieved for rural roads
The aviation sector is upbeat, with Jet Airways and SpiceJet recording profits in the quarter ended June and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) increasing their stakes in all the three listed carriers Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet.
Despite unprecedented levels of uncertainty in Samvat 2077, investors have little to complain about on the returns front. The BSE Sensex delivered returns of 38 per cent in this period, while the Nifty registered a return of over 40 per cent. As is the case in bull markets, companies in the small- and mid-capitalisation basket outperformed the benchmarks, with returns almost twice those of frontliners.
These airports are those at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy.
Public sector oil firms have cut aviation turbine fuel (jet fuel) prices by up to Rs 745 per kilolitre or 1.85 per cent in wake of falling international prices.\n
How the first FDI in aviation was achieved.
Naresh Goyal becomes the country's first airline promoter to receive foreign investment.
Public sector oil firms on Tuesday slashed aviation turbine fuel prices by 7.9 per cent in line with fall in international oil prices.
Observing that India's airport regulator AERA allowed a whopping 346 per cent hike in Delhi airport charges, IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler said 'this is clearly unacceptable'.
A panel headed by Economic Affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram had suggested FDI limit be raised to 49 per cent in almost all sectors through the automatic route.
While the automobile industry outrightly said no to Chidambaram's plea, the aviation sector largely remained non-committal.
Bullish on the growth opportunities in the Indian civil aviation space, Europe's leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus today said it planned to invest about $1 billion in the next 10 years.
Modi made the comments in his address after inaugurating the 14th edition of Aero India at the Yalahanka Air Force station complex on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Kingfisher has said it is in talks with foreign carriers for bringing in FDI, a move that is expected help it overcome financial troubles.
Following the government move to allow FDI policy in the civil aviation sector, Chairman of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya on Wednesday said the carrier was in talks with foreign airlines.
Foreign airlines can now pick up 49 per cent stake in India's domestic carriers, a step that is expected to give a boost to cash-strapped aviation industry.
IndiGo has confirmed the delivery of the next set of 25 ATR-72 jets and will be inducting around 10 planes by the end of this calendar year, making it the largest regional fleet operator in the country.
'Indian aviation cannot resume without at least three major airports being functional. If Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata are shut, there is little chance that airlines will start flying even if the government gives the go-ahead.'
