The civil aviation ministry has sought continuation of the exemption on withholding tax on aircraft leased from foreign companies in the next budget for another year, saying it would benefit several airlines in the country.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Ajit Singh was sworn in as the 33rd member of the Union Cabinet, and 77th in the Union council of ministers on Sunday morning. Singh is widely expected to be allotted the civil aviation portfolio. This is the fourth time Singh has been inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Monday took charge of the civil aviation ministry, saying it was a 'sensitive' portfolio.
The civil aviation ministry is holding talks with the finance ministry on rationaliation of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel and airport taxes.
The decision came a day after the resignation of Telugu Desam Party's Ashok Gajapathi Raju was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind
'The cost of flying to Prayagraj has gone up six times due to the Kumbh Mela.'
'Government shouldn't be in the business of running airlines, instead it should develop the ecosystem of civil aviation.'
The ICMR has been permitted to use drones up to a height of 3,000 metre to deliver vaccines, the ministry's statement added.
Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam on Thursday said the number of planes with domestic airlines will increase to 1,400 in the next five years as he highlighted the growth potential of the country's aviation space. Currently, the fleet is around 800 aircraft and leading carriers IndiGo and Air India have placed significant plane orders.
To tap Indian civil aviation market's growth potential, the government on Saturday announced a modified regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to connect 120 new destinations, airport projects in Bihar and upgradation of infrastructure for air cargo in the Union Budget.
Talks between senior officials of civil aviation ministry and the Indian Pilots Guild began in Mumbai on Saturday shortly after noon to resolve the issue of operating in SARS-affected regions by the unions.
The prevalent practice is that airlines have to pay between Rs 4,000 and Rs 4,500 per filled seat as departure tax.
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The ministry of civil aviation has disagreed with a proposal of the Prime Minister's Office to explore raising the cap on the number of weekly flights from Qatar in exchange for discounts on additional supplies of liquefied natural gas from there.
Civil Aviation Ministry approved grants new rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe.
The civil aviation ministry is considering three proposals to set up privately-owned, or merchant, airports in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Durgapur (West Bengal) and Jhhajjar (Haryana).
The move is aimed at checking further labour trouble and garnering support for the process of implementing the post-merger integration of Air India employees, as resentment is expected over salaries and career progression issues.
Ahead of the passage of the Finance Bill in Parliament, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh is understood to have shot off a letter to the Finance Ministry protesting the proposal on the grounds that the move would not only hit passengers but spell more trouble for the airlines which were already reeling under severe financial stress.
A fire broke out on Tuesday in the first floor of the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi, which houses office of the Union civil aviation ministry, but no one was injured and no files or records were damaged.
In 2017, 60 million passengers flew between India and the UAE, the largest overseas air travel market from India.
The Mumbai police have registered a case against an unidentified person after three airlines received bomb threats on their X handle, an official said on Tuesday.
The EC is learnt to have invoked the 'party in power' clause of the poll code in the case as it could be averred that party in power' is using government transporter for election publicity.
The civil aviation ministry is open to the idea of raising the foreign direct investment level from the present 40 per cent to 49 per cent, even as there are indications that a decision on the issue could be taken in the Union Budget.
The civil aviation ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators on the no-fly list, a senior official said on Thursday.
Though NOC was issued by the Ministry last week, this was the first formal statement by the AirAsia CEO on microblogging site Twitter.
So far this week, more than 90 flights have received bomb threats and most of them have turned out to be hoaxes.
More than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats on Saturday, according to sources.
In the past few days, more than 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats which later turned out to be hoaxes.
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Such direct import was formally allowed in February 2012 but the aviation companies lack the infrastructure to do so.
The national carrier to get lion's share of the Rs 1,978 crore budgetary support demanded by the ministry for 2010-11.
Civil Aviation ministry has cancelled approval to the controversial private airport project at Aranmula in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
Protocols for the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC), convened in the event of a bomb threat call to an aircraft or airport, have been tweaked to better tackle the spate of the ongoing 'random' Internet-based threats being made to various Indian airlines, official sources said Tuesday.
Pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle, analysis of the geopolitical situation and presence of VIPs onboard are some of the new criteria that agencies will keep in mind while considering the seriousness of a bomb threat made to Indian airlines.
'Whoever is doing it (threats to airlines), they are actually carrying out a recce.' 'This is the manner in which terrorists strike.'
The civil aviation ministry on Friday asked airlines to ensure that there is no abnormal surge in airfares for flights to and from the national capital amid suspension of operations at Delhi airport's Terminal 1 following the roof collapse incident.
The agencies have also found some common lines and words used in these fake threats like "bombs", "blood will spread everywhere", "explosive devices", "this is not a joke" and "you will all die" and "bomb rakhwa dia hai" (Hindi for bomb has been placed) among others.
Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked Vistara to submit a daily report on flight cancellations and delays as the Tata group airline cancelled more than 50 flights for the second straight day on Tuesday amid non-availability of pilots.
All colleagues, who came in contact with the employee, have been asked to go into self isolation as a precaution, the ministry said.
Ratan was extremely ethical in his dealings, which he brought to bear on the business house which he helmed, remembers Sailesh Kottary.
The MoCA said on Twitter on Wednesday that it 'has designated all the airlines operating under Vande Bharat Mission & air transport bubble arrangements as designated agencies for this purpose'. 'Passengers may book tickets directly with the airlines concerned. They need not apply/register with the Ministry of Civil Aviation,' it added.
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