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.
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Such direct import was formally allowed in February 2012 but the aviation companies lack the infrastructure to do so.
Amid Delhi's worsening air quality, which has plunged into the severe plus category with an AQI consistently above 450, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday called for immediate intervention from the central government.
Civil Aviation Ministry approved grants new rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe.
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.
The fledgling Akasa Air has told the Delhi high court it is in a "state of crisis" following the "sudden and abrupt" resignation of over 40 pilots who left the airline without serving the mandatory notice period. The airline and its CEO Vinay Dube approached the high court with their petition on September 14, seeking a direction to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take coercive action against these pilots for their "irresponsible actions". The high court has fixed the plea for hearing on Friday.
Economic Survey says Indian carriers operate in an exceptionally high-cost environment.
The civil aviation industry, which was hit hard by the global financial meltdown and high fuel cost, saw a strong recovery in 2010 with the domestic passenger traffic rising 19 per cent to 51.53 million, the Economic Survey said 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.
A proposal to hike foreign direct investment cap in helicopter and sea-plane operations, MRO facilities, charters, air-cargo and non-scheduled air operations has been moved by the civil aviation ministry for the Cabinet's consideration.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday agreed with the contention of Akasa Air that the DGCA is not completely barred from taking action against pilots who violate the terms of their employment agreements. However, the court did not grant any immediate relief to Akasa Air which sought direction to the DGCA and Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to take action against its pilots who have resigned without serving the notice period, saying it will first decide the issue of jurisdiction raised by the aviation sector regulator. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said since the Directorate General of Aviation (DGCA) has contended it has no jurisdiction to consider a representation made by the airline against the defaulting pilots under the extant law as it was a contractual dispute, the court will have to first decide the issue of jurisdiction before passing any other direction.
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.
Aviation Minister Praful Patel has requested FM to rationalise taxes on aviation fuel in Budget 2008-09.
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
Akasa Air has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to exempt it from deploying CAT-III trained pilots on flights to and from two major fog-affected airports, Kolkata and Bengaluru, for specific periods, since there is a shortage of such pilots in its roster.
Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
The Centre asked state governments on Friday to review and rationalise their taxation policy on jet fuel and land acquisition practices to encourage the expansion of civil aviation sector so that they could themselves reap the benefits of its unprecedented growth.
Stating that the Centre was planning construct 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airport Policy, Singh said the civil aviation ministry is in process of identifying the most suitable low cost viable model for development of small airports to increase regional connectivity.
The government on Monday asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by Go First. In the case of the unfortunate Odisha tragedy, airlines have been advised to provide free carriage (cargo) services to the families of the deceased, the civil aviation ministry said. During an hour-long meeting of the airlines advisory group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared his concerns about the steep rise in airfares on certain routes.
Earlier in the day, an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landed successfully at 1.32 pm at runway 08/26 of the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport, paving the way for the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) to seek an aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to start commercial flight services.
The SOEC clause says only airlines owned by a country or its citizens can fly from the nation concerned to India and use the quota of seats allotted under a bilateral pact between the countries.
On Friday, the Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air.
'It is indeed a fact that several issues were routinely red-flagged by DGCA, and were addressed by the (Kozhikode) airport operator. These pertain to excessive rubber deposits, water stagnation, cracks and other routine issues,' Puri tweeted a day after the plane crash in Kozhikode that claimed at least 18 lives.
Shubham Upadhyay, a resident of Uttam Nagar in the national capital, was arrested for posting two bomb threat messages to draw attention after seeing similar news reports on TV, the police said.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Friday said the airline industry in India has grown by 400 per cent in a short span of about six-and-a-half years.
More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, according to sources.
The Reserve Bank of India's decision to allow airlines hedge jet fuel in global markets came in for praise from the industry and the civil aviation ministry, but end-users are unlikely to benefit in the form of lower airfares.
On the issue of allowing domestic carriers to fly overseas before their completing 5 years of domestic operations, the document does not mention anything.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has issued a circular to airlines and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on measures to deal with threats from jamming and spoofing of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) amid reports of such interference in the Middle East.
This is the third enforcement action against a Tata Group airline in over a month.
India's aviation safety ratings have been downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the top to the second category, which would affect expansion of flights by Indian carriers to the United States.
The Indian aviation sector is on the cusp of a change as airlines look to induct a record number of aircraft. This, analysts said, will put the sector on a growth runway, though keeping it viable for only long-term investors. According to Vinit Bolinjkar, head of research at Ventura Securities, expectations of strong air traffic, coupled with low penetration, is the prime reason for a solid long-term outlook.
An independent probe from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is unlikely in the Jalgaon train tragedy due to the negligence of passengers, according to railway sources. The tragedy occurred when 12 passengers were killed after stepping down from their train due to a fire rumor and were struck by another train. Experts say the CRS probe is unlikely because the passengers' actions were deemed negligent. While the CRS is typically involved in serious railway accidents, the 1998 rules allow for discretion when deaths or injuries result from passenger negligence. Passengers had ample time to move to safer locations but remained on the side tracks, ultimately leading to the tragic incident.
There is no reason for keeping an entire ministry with a total staff strength of 2,300, just for the oversight of a few aviation sector laws and regulatory bodies, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Indian civil aviation norms don't apply to foreign aviation companies, experts said.
In 2015, India's domestic aviation market clocked 81 million flights.
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