Propelled by strong demand and lower costs, the country's largest airline, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), reported solid operational performance in the 2024-25 (FY25) October-December quarter (Q3). While demand was driven by the festival season, year-end increase, and higher consumer spending, lower fuel and rental costs helped deliver a beat at the operating profit level.
A proposal to permit foreign airlines to pick up stake in domestic carriers is among the several measures being considered by the government to help the Indian aviation industry overcome the financial crunch.
In a December 2012 interview, Ratan Tata, then preparing to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, expressed doubts about the Tata group re-entering the aviation sector, calling it a space plagued by "destructive competition". But beneath that frustration lay nearly two decades of failed attempts to conquer the Indian skies. In 1994, Tata, along with Singapore Airlines, had plans to launch a joint venture (JV) airline in India.
The planning commission has suggested review of a policy that debars foreign carriers from investing in domestic ones, saying airline operations required expertise as much as capital.
"We have found that a couple of international airlines are not adhering to the rules. Failure to adhere to rules shall entail strict action," said Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar.
In the past, Qatar Airways has repeatedly expressed a desire to invest in IndiGo, the country's largest domestic airline.
Vistara will operate the last flight under its brand on November 11 and the full-service carrier's operations will be unified with Air India from November 12. The government has given its nod for the foreign direct investment by Singapore Airlines as part of the Air India-Vistara merger. Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that forcibly seizing someone's faith and trampling over their beliefs is "unacceptable," especially "when we know the truth about Sambhal" which predates Islam, with the Vishnu temple there being destroyed in 1526. He said that Sambhal has been mentioned in scriptures that are 5,000 years old, which contain references to Lord Vishnu's future incarnation. He also mentioned that a temple of Lord Vishnu in Sambhal was demolished in 1526, and two years later, in 1528, the Ram temple in Ayodhya was destroyed, both acts carried out by the same person.
"We are in talks were several airlines like Turkish Airlines, Ethihad and Japan Airlines for starting their services from the Kolkata airport," AAI director of the city airport B P Sharma said.
After allowing FDI by foreign carriers in their Indian counterparts, the government has put in place provisions to prevent Indian airlines from being controlled and managed by the foreign investor.
An Air India passenger has complained of finding a cockroach in an omelette served onboard the flight from the national capital to New York, with the airline saying the matter has been taken up with the catering service provider for further investigation.
Several changes have been carried out in the existing rules or Civil Aviation Requirements, including one which clearly states that a passenger airline 'shall not enter into an agreement with a foreign investing institution or a foreign airline, which may give such foreign investing institution or foreign airlines or others on behalf of them, the right to control the management of the domestic operator.'
It may just be a well-crafted strategy by Vijay Mallya to sail through the current crisis
Despite partial restoration of salaries, pilots across airlines remain dissatisfied, throwing challenges for managers.
Turning down a request for Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) working loan by Kingfisher, the SBI-led lenders consortium on Thursday asked SBI Capitals to chalk out a fresh revival plan for the cash-strapped airline in the next 2-3 weeks.
About 1.2 trillion tax evasion cases have been detected and as many as 59,000 entities identified for verification in order to ascertain whether they are fake.
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.
New Delhi said if the reports of Azhar's location are correct, then Pakistan's "duplicity" has been exposed as it has been maintaining that the JeM chief is not in that country.
A senior IDBI Bank official allegedly conspired with businessman Vijay Mallya for sanction and disbursement of loan to the latter's Kingfisher Airlines, the Central Bureau of Investigation said in its supplementary chargesheet filed in a Mumbai court. Mallya is an accused in the alleged Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines loan fraud case, which is being probed by the CBI. The Central agency had recently filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special CBI court.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
A day after notifying a policy measure to allow foreign airlines pick up 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers, the government today said the aviation industry was in an upbeat mood as it was expecting a positive response to the move.
Travelling to foreign countries might become costlier with India's international carrier Air India and 40 other foreign airlines planning to levy a surcharge to offset increase in international prices of aviation fuel.
The airline has been trying to gain additional flying rights in India.
Indian Hotels reported strong consolidated revenue growth of 29 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the third quarter of the current financial year (Q3FY25), led by revenue per available room, or RevPAR, growth of 15 per cent. The average room rate, or ARR, was up 13 per cent and occupancy improved 120 basis points (bps) Y-o-Y on a standalone business. Like-for-like revenue growth was 15 per cent Y-o-Y, while TajSats (airline catering) grew by 18 per cent Y-o-Y.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a series of executive orders fulfilling campaign promises, including declaring an emergency at the southern border, addressing a national energy crisis, and defining sex-related policies. The orders aim to address immigration, national security, and energy independence, with a focus on reversing policies implemented by the previous administration.
The Yeti Airlines aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10.33 am on Sunday and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport in Pokhara, minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
From CEOs to RBI governors, cricket's rich imagery and strategy resonate deeply with leadership, uncertainty, and decision-making across industries and global diplomacy, points out Suveen Sinha.
With carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines all set to battle it out on international routes, leading expatriates with years of experience in global airlines are now being wooed for top management posts.
The Indian government allowed foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent stakes in Indian carriers in September 2012.
IndiGo will introduce business class seats in select flights on 12 domestic routes starting from November 14 and also launch a customer loyalty programme, as the 18-year-old airline seeks to expand business and strengthen global presence. The announcements, made at an event in the national capital on Monday to mark 18 years of operations, also highlights a pivotal trajectory for the airline.
Austrian Airlines on Wednesday announced that it will operate daily flights between Delhi and Vienna during the limited open sky period till March 2005 and it would add Mumbai to its destination from May 2005.
In a major initiative to strengthen the cash-strapped aviation sector, a group of ministers on Tuesday decided to allow airlines to directly import jet fuel to enable them save on high incidence of tax and permit Air India to raise Rs 7,400 crore (Rs 74 billion) by issuing bonds or other means.
The letter was sent as an early warning of what was then widely being perceived as a plunder of national resources.
Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025.
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