With low-visibility conditions significantly disrupting flight operations at the Delhi airport, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related impact as well as passenger inconvenience, and asserted that unruly passenger behaviour is unacceptable.
Indian airlines on Wednesday filled aviation turbine fuel (ATF) into the tanks of their aircraft at Rs 68,000 a kilolitre. Around the same time, ATF sold at $1,037.8 (Rs 41,500) a kilolitre at the Singapore airport -- full 39 per cent below Indian prices.
Latur and Nanded in Marathwada region of Maharashtra would soon be on the aviation map with the launch of flights from this metropolis to these towns, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said.
Issues raised by the industry, like rationalisation of the eight per cent central excise on jet fuel, still remain to be addressed. As a result of the government abolishing five per cent customs duty on aviation turbine fuel from Tuesday, state-run oil firms have cut jet fuel prices by Rs 2,100 per kilo litre, on top of the 17 per cent price reduction announced late last week.
In a bid to bring down the cost of air operations, Aviation and Petroleum ministries will meet FM to get ATF notified as 'declared good'.
Maintaining that the air cargo and some other areas in the Indian aviation sector were very weak, the government on Thursday said it was mulling the opening of these areas to private and foreign investment.
Goa's second airport began operations last week and if all goes according to plans, the state will be the base for a new regional airline, Fly91. Promoted by the ex-executive vice-president of now grounded Kingfisher Airlines, Manoj Chacko, and Fairfax India's former head, Harsha Raghavan, the airline will offer no-frills buy on board product and serve unconnected routes with two ATR 72 aircraft. An application for the initial no-objection clearance was filed with the civil aviation ministry last week.
Though NOC was issued by the Ministry last week, this was the first formal statement by the AirAsia CEO on microblogging site Twitter.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the civil aviation regulator to deregister planes leased to Go First within five working days, giving respite to the lessors. This means that the airline will have to give back all 54 aircraft to the lessors if its resolution professional (RP) does not challenge the order or ask for a stay. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also refused the request of the RP, represented by advocate Diwakar Maheshwari, to keep the operation of the order in abeyance for a week to enable them to file an appeal before the division Bench of the court.
Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
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.
With airfares spiralling, members of a Parliamentary panel grilled top officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry and demanded quick action to curb overpricing of air tickets.
Even in the domestic aviation scene, consolidation talks are on among some private airlines.
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.
A Bengaluru-bound A320 ceo aircraft, carrying 184 people, aborted takeoff at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi due to fire in one of its engines Friday night.
A child who is less than 12 years of age must be allotted a seat beside at least one parent or a guardian with whom he is travelling, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told airlines on Tuesday. The DGCA has said that the air transport circular on unbundling of services and fees by scheduled airlines is being modified. It allows airlines to charge for excess baggage, preferential seats, meals, snacks, drinks, and carriage of musical instruments.
State news agency IRNA said that Iran has successfully shot down 'adversial targets' in the airspace around Tehran province. Iranian state television noted hearing six loud sounds resembling explosions in parts of the capital, with the source of the noises currently unverified.
Rajesh Patel, 57, said he collected nearly 70 tolas of gold ornaments, which would be priceless for the victims' kin, Rs 50,000 and a few US dollars from the scene of the deadly aviation tragedy and handed them over to the police.
Speaking at an interactive session on the sidelines of Wings India 2022, Dube on Friday said the airline hopes to have a fleet of 72 aircraft in the next five years. "We hope to launch our first commercial flight in the month of June.
A threat about the presence of bombs on an Akasa Air flight at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar was received on social media, but it later turned out to be a hoax, an official of the airport said on Thursday.
Mumbai airport, which has limited capacity for expansion, is being expanded to handle 40 million passengers annually by 2010.
The number of domestic air travelers in India grew 2.42 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in April, reaching 13.2 million, according to data by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday.
Limits and high taxes on FDIs have led to lesser investments in the Indian aviation sector.
The report quoted the civil defence as saying that there were no survivors in the incident.
The five Mexican nationals killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Nepal near Mount Everest on Tuesday visited India before touring the Himalayan nation for sightseeing.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has prepared a pool of more than 100 personnel to man additional security counters expected to be handed over to it for easing the ongoing congestion at large airports of Delhi and Mumbai, official sources said Wednesday.
Says banks strong enough to tackle the problem on their own
An additional 1,400 CISF personnel have been sanctioned to secure the expanding terminal areas of the Delhi airport and also to meet the challenge of its growing passenger traffic, officials said on Thursday.
Meeting on Tuesday to decide on letting foreign airlines buy into domestic ones.
India's aviation industry could return to profitability in 2023-24 for the first time since the pandemic. The industry may pare aggregated net loss by 75-80 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to between Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 4,500 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 17,500 crore of net losses in 2021-22 (FY22). A combination of recovery in passenger volumes and easing cost pressures due to stable fuel and foreign exchange (forex) costs could spark a turnaround. CRISIL says domestic and international passenger traffic recovered to 90 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively, of pre-pandemic traffic (2019-20, or FY20), in April-December 2022, compared with April-December 2019.
The pilot of Air India AI-915 Delhi-Dubai flight on February 27 allowed a woman friend to enter the cockpit, according to a complaint filed by a cabin crew member on the same flight.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked crisis-hit Go First to submit a comprehensive plan for the revival of its operations, a source said on Thursday. The budget carrier, which is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process, stopped flying on May 3.
In a statement, an Air India spokesperson said a passenger travelling in business class was off boarded on the advice of the captain following some argument with members of the crew before the scheduled pushback.
In a statement, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the airport and emergency teams responded swiftly and effectively after a full emergency was declared at 18.05 hours.
The airport, being developed by the Adani Group, is expected to start commercial operations early next year.
Indian airports have been at a disadvantage because of high taxes, cumbersome visa and foreign exchange norms, losing out to peers in the Gulf.
'Amaravati will be a game changer for Andhra Pradesh.'
Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel on Wednesday said the modernisation and restructuring of major airports has started with Delhi and Mumbai airports.
The Ahmedabad air tragedy, which claimed the lives of all but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board, and several others on the ground, has left deep scars on BJMC's residential quarters and the psyche of the survivors.
