Seeking to assuage pilot shortage concerns, Akasa Air's chief executive Vinay Dube on Friday said the carrier has sufficient pilots and flyers should not expect any flight cancellations. "We have plenty of pilots. We have given numbers like 700 in the past. "I don't think this is something from an Akasa perspective people need to worry about because we have got this plan in place where we have pilots not just for our current set of aircraft but we have got pilots for the foreseeable future in terms of growth," Dube told PTI at the sidelines of a CII event.
Indian airlines are likely to face additional weekly expenses of Rs 77 crore for international flights operated from north Indian cities as the airspace curbs result in increased fuel consumption and longer flight duration. An analysis of the number of overseas flights and back-of-the-envelope calculations based on increased flight time as well as approximate expenses by PTI showed that the additional monthly operational costs could be over Rs 306 crore.
A nine-day Kashmir trip ended on a sour note for the Shah family of Ahmedabad with an unscheduled diversion and an expensive road ride back home. The Shahs were among hundreds of passengers whose travel plans went awry with Go First suspending all flights till Friday. "We were supposed to travel from Srinagar to Ahmedabad via Mumbai on Tuesday.
'IndiGo will receive a sharp rap on the knuckles -- a punishment, a huge penalty. 'I look towards them creating a compensation fund.' 'I would like to think they would do that for all the passengers who are affected on every single day since cancellations began.'
Videos circulating online showed Gaurav, 44, and Saurav, 40, being escorted by Thai police at Bangkok airport ahead of their departure for India.
Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa Airlines has cancelled 800 flights globally due to a one-day pilots' strike, resulting in around 700 passengers being stranded in T3 terminal at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
India's duopoly in the domestic skies -- where IndiGo and Air India collectively control over 90 per cent of the market -- is highly skewed, leaving very little room for new players
Passengers may think they are just booking a ticket, but airlines' clever design tricks are quietly picking their pockets.
Air India cancelled 14 flights on India-US routes from Wednesday onwards due to deployment of 5G internet in North America which could interfere with aircraft's navigation systems. Meanwhile, DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI that the Indian aviation regulator was working "in close coordination with our carriers to overcome the situation" that has arisen due to 5G internet's deployment in the US. US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had on January 14 said that "5G interference with the aircraft's radio altimeter could prevent engine and braking systems from transitioning to landing mode, which could prevent an aircraft from stopping on the runway".
The Afghanistan airspace on Monday was declared "uncontrolled" by the Kabul airport and transit flights have been asked to avoid it.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
The aircraft was taken to a separate bay (Bay No 95) for parking and passengers later safely disembarked. Currently, arrangements are being made to replace the windshield, they said.
Crisis-hit airline Go First has suspended sale of tickets till May 15 and is working to refund or reschedule existing bookings for future dates, aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a show cause notice to the airline after it suddenly decided to cancel flights for three days starting May 3. "Go First has intimated that they have suspended sale of their flights till 15 May 2023 and are working to refund or reschedule for future dates, the passengers already booked to fly with them," the regulator said in a statement.
On Thursday, Virgin Atlantic, for instance, cancelled its morning flight between London and Delhi. And Air India rescheduled its London-Ahmedabad flight by several hours. With the Heathrow restrictions to remain in place till September 11, air traffic between India and London is likely to see slower growth over the next two months.
Thousands of Indian H-1B workers are stranded in India after sudden visa appointment cancellations at US consulates.
The 270-km Jammu-Srinagar highway reopened on Sunday after a day-long closure due to heavy snowfall, allowing stranded vehicles to proceed to their destinations. However, several other important inter-district routes, including the Mughal Road, Sinthan Pass, Sonamarg-Kargil inter-UT road, and Bhaderwah-Chamba inter-state road, remained closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy snowfall.
The cost of any flight from Delhi and Mumbai could rise by up to Rs 3,000 soon unless the airport regulator is able to reverse a court order.
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs "strongly advised" Indians to avoid travel to Iran until further notice, amid rising tensions and protests in the Islamic Republic.
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday decided to place crisis-hit SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance that will entail increased spot checks and night surveillance to ensure safety of the airline's operations. Based on reports of cancellation of flights and financial stress being experienced by SpiceJet, DGCA said it conducted a special audit of the airline's engineering facilities on August 7 and 8 and certain deficiencies were found during the audit.
Air India on Friday announced suspending flights to Tel Aviv till August 8, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
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.
Air India, which operates 72 weekly flights from various cities to Dubai, and IndiGo cancelled their services on Wednesday.
A Delhi court on Wednesday refused to give any interim protection from arrest to Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of the ill-fated Goa nightclub who fled to Thailand, as their partner was held in connection with the fire incident that killed 25 people last weekend.
IndiGo, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet have cancelled their flights, while GoAir and AirAsia India announced waiving date change/ cancellation fee.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
A passenger at Delhi airport said that most of the flights are delayed.
Of the 48 flights, which are not being operated as part of the curtailed schedule, 42 are of IndiGo and six of GoAir.
Air India will be commencing its scheduled operations -- two daily flights from the national capital -- to Dhaka on Wednesday.
Arsenal took a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League after a scoreless draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the Goa nightclub wanted in connection with the fire tragedy that claimed 25 lives at the facility, have fled to Thailand, prompting police to seek the help of Interpol to trace them, officials said in Panaji on Monday.
Amid mounting safety concerns and the cancellation of at least 66 flights that were to be operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, DGCA officials held a detailed review meeting with top Air India and Air India Express executives.
Indian carriers are grappling with severe operational disruptions after Iran launched missile strikes on the US military base in Qatar late Monday. This led to airspace closures for long hours in parts of West Asia. Iran, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait shut down their skies following the attack, forcing airlines to cancel, divert, or delay flights through these vital corridors.
"Montha over westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 17 kmph during the past six hours and lay centred at 2.30 am on October 28 over the same region about 230 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (and) 310 km south-southeast of Kakinada," said the Met Department in a release.
Destinations like Coorg, Munnar, the Western Ghats, and parts of the North East, are at their scenic best in the monsoon.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had on Monday ruled out any bailout of the airline.
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
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday said measures are being taken to ensure smooth flight movements in India after a Microsoft software outage worldwide caused disruptions in flight services.
According to aviation industry sources, around 630 domestic flights of Monday were cancelled due to the Centre's Sunday night announcement that there would be no flights in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and limited operations at major airports such as Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
An Arunachal Pradesh woman was allegedly detained at Shanghai airport for nearly 18 hours after Chinese immigration officials refused to recognise her Indian passport, claiming Arunachal Pradesh is part of China.
