In little over a year, Air India and IndiGo have announced plans to purchase up to 170 wide-body planes as they bet on ambitious expansion and efforts also continue to make India a global aviation hub. Also, the two carriers' orders usher in European aircraft maker Airbus into the country's wide-body space, which has traditionally been dominated by US major Boeing. If narrow-body aircraft orders of Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air are added to the list, the order book is well over 1,200 planes and that too in less than 14 months or since February 2023.
'A ferry flight is scheduled to operate to GDX (Magadan) from Mumbai, at 1300 hours IST on June 7, subject to necessary regulatory clearances, which would take passengers and crew of AI173 onward to San Francisco,' the airline said in the statement on Wednesday.
For the first time, the country's largest airline IndiGo will soon lease up to four wide-body Boeing 777 planes to cover the shortfall in its international operations, according to officials. The airline said the wet-leasing of "certain aircraft" will be done as an interim measure. IndiGo, which has so far only been operating narrow-body Airbus planes, ATRs and freighters, will now be having wide-body aircraft in its fleet.
Singapore Airlines on Wednesday said it is fully cooperating with relevant authorities in the investigation into the London to Singapore flight which encountered severe turbulence, leading to the death of one passenger and injuring 30 others.
Three giant pandas departed Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, on their journey to China on a FedEx Express Boeing 777.
Passengers of a San Francisco-bound Air India flight faced a harrowing time due to an inordinate delay and some of them fainted as the aircraft's air-conditioning system was non-functional.
The 'Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham' has become the 68th civil airport terminal in the country to come under the umbrella of the specialised aviation security group of the central force.
Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for $34 billion, with an option to buy 70 more aircraft that could take the total transaction value to $45.9 billion, a deal that US President Joe Biden described as a "historic agreement". While announcing the Boeing-Air India deal on Tuesday, Biden also asserted that together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was looking forward to deepen the ties between India and the US. As per an announcement from the White House, Boeing and Air India have reached an agreement under which the airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm order valued at $34 billion at list price.
Air India on Tuesday signed agreements with Airbus and Boeing for acquiring 470 planes for an estimated $70 billion at list prices. The Tata Group-owned airline had announced that it will buy 470 aircraft, including wide-body planes, in February this year. The "firm orders include 34 A350-1000, 6 A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, as well as 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo and 190 Boeing 737MAX narrow-body aircraft," the airline said in a release.
Crew shortage is impacting the operations of Air India, with some flights to the US and Canada either getting cancelled or facing inordinate delays, according to a source. Tata group-owned Air India, which is the only air operator flying on ultra-long haul routes, had faced problems last year also due to the shortage of crew members. An ultra-long haul flight's duration is more than 16 hours.
According to flight radar, the Indian plane with a ground speed of 454 knots entered north of Lahore at about 7:30 pm on Saturday and returned to India at 8:01 pm, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Air India on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft by way of a finance lease transaction with HSBC through the GIFT City. This is also the first wide body aircraft to be leased through the GIFT City, the country's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). In a release, the airline said the transaction was facilitated by its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS) and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year.
Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement last evening.
An all-women pilot team of Air India will fly over North Pole on the world's longest air route and the flight from San Fransico (SFO) will reach Bengaluru on January 9 covering a distance of about 16,000 kilometres.
An airline official said there were 292 passengers, including 8 infants onboard the plane.
Air India One aircraft is exclusively for the President, Vice President and prime minister. The first of the two VVIP aircraft Air India One arrived in India earlier this month.
To reconfigure some of these to all-economy class and ply to Gulf and North America.
According to the police, the CISF received an e-mail warning of a bomb on the flight.
'The funds were arranged from multiple banks at a very competitive rate and converted into dollars at the best rates.'
Airbus on Tuesday said it will deliver the first A350 aircraft to Air India by the end of this year and that the deal with the airline also marks the European aviation major's "emphatic return" to the wide-body segment in India, which is the fastest growing aviation market. As it looks to expand the fleet as well as operations, Tata Group-owned Air India on Tuesday announced that it will buy 250 planes from Airbus -- 210 from the A320 neo family and 40 A350. Remi Maillard, president and managing director of Airbus India and South Asia, said the company was very proud that the Tata Group has chosen A350 and A320 planes for Air India, adding that the magnitude of the order shows the appetite for growth in the Indian aviation industry, which is the fastest growing aviation market.
Sale of wide-body aircraft will not affect internatinal flights, says Jet
It offers a real opportunity for the flag carrier to compete on the world stage, backed by a leading conglomerate with deep pockets like the Tatas, observes Indrajit Gupta.
Planemakers have started pitching their latest aircraft to a privatised Air India which has been acquired by salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Sons. European aerospace major Airbus on Monday said that it is in talks with the airline to sell its long haul aircraft Airbus A350-900. The wide-body aircraft is capable of flying non-stop between India and United States- one of the most popular and revenue generating routes.
Two pilot unions at Air India have claimed that there is a shortage of pilots to operate the airline's long-haul and ultra-long haul flights. The concerns raised by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) also come against the backdrop of the Tatas-owned airline recently cancelling and rescheduling certain flights to and from the North American region due to crew shortage. In a joint letter written to Air India's chief human resources officer Suresh Dutt Tripathi on December 13, the unions said, "...we cannot maintain the printed planned roster due to a shortage of pilots, as CMS (crew management system) does not have standby pilots."
Turkish Airlines is the national airline of Turkey and has already taken four Boeing 777 aircraft on lease from Jet Airways.
Aviation regulator DGCA has allowed IndiGo to wet lease wide-body Boeing planes from Turkish Airlines for up to six months and has rejected the domestic carrier's request for leasing the aircraft for up to two years, according to sources. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) turned down the request of the country's largest airline to wet lease the aircraft for a longer period, citing that the move could become diversion of traffic rights in collusion with a strong foreign carrier that will mainly feed the latter's hub abroad with more passengers from India, the sources said. IndiGo, which currently has only narrow-body planes in its fleet, decided to lease wide-body aircraft to operate more flights on international routes to meet rising demand.
The aircraft was brought back to the bay after a mobile phone was found on one of the seats and all the passengers were deplaned for a thorough frisking.
Weeks before shutting down operations on April 17, a logistics vendor had taken possession of a Jet aircraft--a Boeing 777--at the Amsterdam airport for non-payment of dues.
Malaysian investigators had found the two pieces were consistent with panels from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft.
To sell five Boeing 777s, replacing these with cheaper aircraft
When the Tatas re-boarded Air India on January 27 last year, the price of aviation turbine fuel was at over Rs 80,000 per kilolitre. Rupee was trading at around Rs 74 to a US dollar. The Omicron variant of Covid-19 was in prevalence - barely a week earlier, India had reported over 340,000 cases on a single day. Seven-day home quarantine of international travellers was the norm.
The Tata group-owned Air India will induct over 90 aircraft in two years as it looks to widen its footprint and grab a larger market share. The plan includes 56 planes from the mega aircraft order that the airline has now finalised with Airbus and Boeing. These will be in addition to previously announced leases of 36 planes that include Airbus A320Neo, A321Neo, and Boeing 777 aircraft.
Air India will require more than 6,500 pilots to operate 470 aircraft that are to be supplied by Airbus and Boeing in the coming years, according to industry sources. Seeking to expand fleet as well as operations, the airline has placed orders for acquiring a total of 840 aircraft that includes an option to buy 370 planes. This is one of the largest aircraft order by any airline. Currently, Air India has around 1,600 pilots to operate its 113 aircraft fleet and in recent times, there have been instances of ultra-long haul flights getting cancelled or delayed due to shortage of crew.
The Boeing 747 aircraft was scheduled to fly the President from Zurich to Slovenia.
Though NCLT has extended window to find a buyer, bankers don't see much hope of a deal.
Prime Minister Modi's plane Boeing 777, 300ER, K7066 entered the Pakistani airspace from Bahawalpur, passed through Turbat and Panjgur and via Iran and Turkey reached Italy, The Express Tribune reported.
The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement Tuesday evening.
At present, it operates A380 on the Delhi and Mumbai routes.
Jet Airways on Wednesday inked a deal with Canadian simulation and training solutions provider CAE for supply of Boeing and airbus simulators.
Air India is leaving behind some 50 bags at the Delhi airport as it flies to the US, reducing what it carries after the closure of Afghanistan's airspace increased flight time by at least 30 minutes. Air India flies the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.
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