Even after getting the civil aviation ministry's nod to levy user development fee on international passengers, the GMR group-promoted Hyderabad airport has decided not to impose the levy for at least a month. GMR has already decided to exempt domestic passengers for the time being. "We have decided to let issues like groundhandling charges stabilise before taking a call," said a Hyderabad airport executive.
Thirteen years and several hurdles later, the plan has finally got a new "estimated time of departure".
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.
On Monday, the five independent directors of the company -- Anand Mahindra of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's secretary general Amit Mitra, Ambuja Realty chairman Harsh Neotia and former air chief Fali H Major -- met Prime Minister's principal secretary T K A Nair and reportedly expressed their anguish over the appointments being made by the company.
The average age should be around 35 years, the sources said, adding those older should be shifted to ground operations.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered a probe into the incident involving the ground security staff of Continental Airlines which subjected Kalam to security check before he was to board a Newark-bound flight on April 24.
Jet Airways' plans to raise $400 million through a share sale to foreign institutions may get delayed as the government on Thursday deferred a decision on the proposal of the private air carrier.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel, who held this portfolio in the first government of the United Progressive Alliance, too, has so far followed a liberal open-sky policy, sharply increasing the number of seats offered to West Asian airlines on flights connecting India. According to internal figures available with airlines, the total number of seats offered to West Asian carriers rose from 2.5 million in 2004 to 7.5 million last year.
Airlines may get to do terminal-side ground handling. Currently, it is an outsourced activity.
The Union home ministry on Thursday announced that with this, the restrictions placed on visa and international travel since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic stand further eased given the present overall pandemic situation.
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Officials in India's civil aviation ministry are now expected to meet SpiceJet stakeholders within a couple of days to discuss the revival plan
Domestic passengers using the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi will be able to use the new Terminal-3 only from October 28, a few weeks after the Commonwealth Games are over. The Games will conclude on October 14.
The Maharashtra government has become the owner of iconic Air India building with the Union government approving transfer of the asset on Thursday. The Maharashtra government bought the Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai for Rs 1,601 crore. "GoI has approved transfer of Air India building, Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company Ltd (AIAHL) to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs.1601 cr. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs. 298.42 cr, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a post on X.
The prevalent practice is that airlines have to pay between Rs 4,000 and Rs 4,500 per filled seat as departure tax.
In a development that could speed up the about Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) Delhi Airport modernisation work, the Attorney General has supported project promoter GMR Group's plan to take advances from commercial developers. The report may help Delhi International Airport Ltd) achieve financial closure for the Rs 8,900 crore (Rs 89 billion) project for which the company has proposed to raise Rs 3,144 crore (Rs 31.44 billion) by way of trade advances and deposits.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
The civil aviation ministry is planning to send air traffic controllers to Australia for training in simultaneous use of converging runways.
DIAL, the GMR-led consortium modernising Delhi airport, had projected it would get only a Rs 800 crore-Rs 1,000 crore deposit for the entire 45 acre land in the hospitality district, leaving a gap in funding for the modernisation plan. The aviation ministry allowed it make up the shortfall by levying an ADF on passengers. With DIAL managing to persuade bidders for the hospitality district to increase security deposits by close to 50 per cent, the ADF may now be reduced.
In his order last week, Civil Aviation Secretary K N Srivastava ruled the meanings of transaction fee, commission or convenience fee were the same -- payment of remuneration to an intermediary.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan issued notice to Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA and others and sought their response by October 30.
This would be a key function of the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, to be set up to regulate tariffs, said a civil aviation ministry official.
Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said his airlines, if given permission, would start off by flying to Southeast Asian countries.
Plan maybe shelved with the Left mounting pressure on the government.
Even though the two state-owned airlines, Indian Airlines and Air India, have announced a merger, the country is on its way to once again have two scheduled airlines controlled by the government.
Private carrier Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday got the crucial operational permit from the civil aviation ministry, recognising it as a scheduled carrier and enabling it to launch flights from Monday next.
It neither mentions timelines for refund or compensation, nor talks about penal provisions for airlines.
Indebted Air India, which last made an annual profit in 2007, has seen its market share shrink in recent years.
Indian airports in future would have "intelligent terminals" fitted with sensors to operate various facilities - from lighting and air-conditioning to an IT-enabled building management system.
New airline Akasa Air on Monday said it is on track to receive its first Boeing 737 Max plane by mid-June and launch commercial operations by July. The airline on Monday released the photographs of its first Max plane from the Boeing production facility in the USA's Portland as it gets ready for delivery. "The airline recently reaffirmed its commitment of being on track to receive its first aircraft in India by mid-June and launch commercial operations in India by July 2022," its statement mentioned.
Air Deccan, which was renamed Simplifly Deccan after the merger with Kingfisher last year, is now called Kingfisher Red. According to the data released by the civil aviation ministry on Thursday, IndiGo's market share is 10.3 per cent, while that of Air Deccan trailed behind at 10.2 per cent.
The airport had asked for a UDF of at least Rs 600 from domestic passengers travelling out of Andhra Pradesh. For passengers travelling within the state, it had demanded a user fee of Rs 350. UDF is the fee levied at the airport on departing passengers to enable the airport developer bridge the gap between expenditure and admissible revenue as stipulated by the ministry guidelines.
Airports levy charges such as FTC, infrastructure charge, and into-plane charges on sale of jet fuel. The levy is passed through to airlines, pushing up costs.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has moved a proposal to infuse Rs 2,000 crore of equity by December as the first phase of financial restructuring to bail out ailing Air India with some riders. Currently, A-I has an equity capital of only Rs 145 crore and debt of over Rs 16,000 crore. The plan is to stagger the infusion of Rs 5,000 crore of fresh equity in the next few years. The riders include a more aggressive plan for cost cutting.
A proposal to set up an international airport at Agra is being examined by the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Kokab Hameed said in Lucknow on Thursday.
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