Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapthy Raju remained unfazed on Wednesday saying his exemption from frisking at airports should not be taken as a threat to security.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
'We will continue supporting those affected long after the work in Ahmedabad is done.'
A day after high drama over the 'kidnapping' of ex-Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant's son, traced on a Bangkok-bound chartered flight which was diverted to Pune, the Sawant junior claimed he kept his 'business trip' secret to avoid his family's wrath.
'The cost of flying to Prayagraj has gone up six times due to the Kumbh Mela.'
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.
Scindia claimed Tharoor is "lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus", and for him "data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as "research".
Hundreds of people, including inconsolable family members and friends, gave an emotional farewell to First Officer Clive Kunder, co-pilot of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, and flight attendant Roshni Songhare whose last rites were held on Thursday.
Seeking full utilisation of the Indian airspace, civil aviation authorities are in the process of training pilots and ATC personnel and introducing advanced technology to gradually reduce air distnce between two aircraft from 50 nautical miles to 15.
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.
The country's civil aviation fleet will have 4,800 to 5,000 planes to transport passengers and cargo in the next five years, up from the current 2,600 planes, he told the official China Daily.
With terror threats looming large over the civil aviation sector, an advisory council of experts will be set up soon to deliberate on and recommend measures to step up aviation security.
Railway employees including station masters, engine drivers, ticket checkers, etc too have been selected for vaccination and their list is being compiled for the exercise.
The Indian aviation industry would create 40 lakh (4 million) jobs in the next 10 years, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in Mumbai on Saturday.
The budgetary provision for all aviation infrastructure has generally been reduced, apparently with the view that most of the airport modernisation programmes, barring those in Kolkata and Chennai, were being carried out through public-private partnership.
Air India services remained crippled for the ninth day today even as the striking pilots and Civil Aviation Ministry were set to resume talks to end the deadlock.
Aviation security regulator BCAS on Wednesday slapped fines totalling Rs 1.80 crore on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport's apron. The apron is the area around the aircraft where it has finally parked for deboarding.
Along with the order, the ministry had sent a list of 24 names of former secretaries, who would be entitled to these facilities.
'Whoever is doing it (threats to airlines), they are actually carrying out a recce.' 'This is the manner in which terrorists strike.'
A senior government official confirmed that after a meeting with other stakeholders, the decision has been taken and airlines and airport authorities have been informed about it.
A Nepalese private plane crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday, killing 18 people aboard, including a child, and seriously injuring the pilot -- the only survivor.
Air India has covered a lot of ground since privatisation and its global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. He also said the interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is underway, and will be completed by mid-2025.
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 aviation regulator has taken some good steps lately.
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.
The DGCA had conducted an enquiry into alleged lapses in conversion training of some pilots. After the conversion training, a narrow body pilot can operate wide body aircraft.
Aviation Working Group (AWG), a global aviation leasing body comprising major planemakers and lessors, on Monday further downgraded India as lessors have not been able to repossess their planes from Go First more than four months after the airline filed for insolvency. The leasing cost stands as a prominent expense for Indian airlines. With AWG's downgrade, it is likely that lessors will increase the aircraft leasing rates for Indian carriers.
There are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports in the country.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates India's largest airport, dismissed the expert committee report as "inaccurate", claiming it relied on "probabilities, hypothesis, and conjectures" rather than empirical data or complete documentation.
Noting that Indian civil aviation sector is experiencing high levels of growth, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said the industry must tackle the shortcomings of inadequate infrastructure and shortage of skilled manpower to sustain growth.
India, which plans to start flights to Kabul whenever Pakistani airspace opens, on Wednesday agreed to take a slew of steps, including waiving off expenses, to assist Afghanistan in building up its aviation infrastructure.
In what can be seen as a major setback for the civil aviation sector, the new aviation policy, to be announced soon, is likely to continue with the existing practice of not allowing equity participation by foreign airlines in domestic operations.
In a written reply, Singh said the 5G C-band spectrum has the likelihood of interfering with the current radio altimeters installed on the aircraft.
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Such direct import was formally allowed in February 2012 but the aviation companies lack the infrastructure to do so.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said that up to Rs 2 lakh crore investment is expected in the country's civil aviation sector in the next five years, higher than any other sector.
Civil Aviation Ministry approved grants new rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe.
The octogenarian was asked to wait due to heavy demand for wheelchair.
India's scores in the ICAO's air safety oversight audit will improve substantially as the international watchdog's just-concluded validation mission was highly successful as per the initial reports, regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, senior Cabinet ministers, Congress and Opposition leaders paid their respects to former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed into the ages on Thursday night, at his residence in New Delhi on Friday.
Government said on Wednesday the merger and acquisition policy for the civil aviation sector was not tailor-made to suit any airline but based on the best international practices.
