India is closely monitoring Sri Lanka's decision to offer foreign investors control of an airport near the China-controlled Hambantota port, as it could present a rare opening for Indian firms seeking strategic footholds in the Indian Ocean.
'If there is a big enough order, then we would bring the assembly line for the M88 engine and other critical equipment to India.'
Noida International Airport is set for its grand opening as roads are fixed and infrastructure preparations near completion. Here's what's ready and what to expect from the launch.
Lockheed Martin plans to establish a C-130J Super Hercules co-production facility in India, the first outside the US, as the IAF seeks to procure new transport aircraft.
The presence of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India could have prevented Go First airline from going "belly up", as sending engines abroad for servicing is not an efficient way to operate a carrier, Piyush Srivastava, senior economic advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday. On May 3, Go First suspended its flights and filed for insolvency, squarely blaming engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) for its cash crunch. The airline claimed that about half of its 54 aircraft were grounded on May 3 due to a delay in the supply of engines by the US-based company. PW has denied the charges.
The government on Tuesday announced certain incentives as part of efforts to boost maintenance, repair and overhaul activities in the country's aviation and shipping sectors. India is one of the fastest growing domestic aviation markets in the world.
If Lockheed Martin gets the opportunity, then it will set up a mega hub in India to produce the "iconic" aircraft and it will be the first such global facility outside of the US, top officials of the company told PTI.
The main reason for setting up the facility is to avoid sending airframe maintenance work abroad and perform this labour intensive work at a comparatively lower cost in India.
The government on Monday announced the implementation of a 5 per cent uniform IGST rate on all aircraft and aircraft engine parts to boost the industry. The decision, which comes into force with immediate effect, marks a significant milestone for the domestic Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) industry, aimed at making India a global aviation hub, an official release said. Earlier, IGST rates on all aircraft and engine parts were ranging from 5 per cent to 28 per cent.
A British F-35B fighter jet, which made an emergency landing in Thiruvananthapuram over a month ago, has flown back to Darwin, Australia after completing maintenance.
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.
Embraer sees a lot of opportunities in India in the commercial and business jets as well as military aircraft and eVTOL segments, its CEO Francisco Gomes Neto has said as the Brazilian seeks to strengthen its foot print in the fast growing Indian market. Besides, the company is in talks with IndiGo and Air India to explore the possibility of selling its E-2 aircraft, which can have up to 146 seats.
The last couple of years of frenzied activity in the MRO space made many believe that time is not far when umpteen number of MROs will start servicing narrow and wide-bodied aircraft on the Indian soil like motor garages. While many of the projects announced over the last couple of years have not seen the light of the day, Aviation firm AirWorks which launched India's first MRO in airline segment at Hosur (Tamil Nadu) is yet to land their first anchor customer.
The high tax regime makes aircraft service above 50 per cent more expensive than international rates and might spell trouble for over a dozen MRO projects -- several of them involving foreign direct investment that have been announced so far.
Air India, in a statement, said it has cancelled a "small" number of flights between November and December on account of delayed return of some aircraft from heavy maintenance and supply chain constraints, without naming the destinations.
Ace Aviation, which has been fighting Jet Airways for the acquisition of three Boeing B777 aircraft, said that it has acquired another aircraft for the conversion slot in early February 2025.
The Adani group plans to bid for setting up duty-free shops at the Macau international airport, as India's largest airport operator spreads its wings overseas. In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises, the flagship firm of the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani, said it has completed the incorporation of a wholly-owned subsidiary, MTRPL Macau Ltd, in Macau on November 20. The subsidiary has been incorporated for the purpose of getting into the duty-free industry.
The GST rate on mobile phones will be hiked to 18 per cent while that on maintenance repair overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft will be lowered to 5 per cent with effect from April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. The GST rate on handmade and machine-made matchsticks has been rationalised to 12 per cent from 5 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
These airports are those at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy.
Indian carriers are expected to double their fleet size by 2020 to 1,000 aircraft by 2020, promising a huge opportunity for the maintenance, repair and overhaul business.
The maintenance, repairs and overhault firm, which has six investors, received its first external funding from GTI Group and Punj Lloyd in 2007. All existing investors will exit the company following the transaction.
Aircraft maker Airbus on Thursday announced awarding a contract to Indian company Dynamatic Technologies for manufacturing all the doors for its next-generation narrow body A220 planes, giving a boost to the 'Make in India' initiative. While financial details were not disclosed, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said it is one of the single-largest export contracts for an Indian aerospace manufacturing company and emphasised that the country is becoming a destination for aircraft component manufacturing activities.
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French aerospace major Thales Group is eyeing major expansion in India. The group has started planning to set up a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organisation in India to support Indian airlines - many of which are its customers for avionics support. "We are looking to set up an MRO, so that they don't have to travel to West Asia or Singapore. "Final decision is yet to be taken, but this is a clear intent showing the growth potential in India that we are looking to set up a sub-centre here," said Yannick Assouad, executive vice-president, avionics at Thales, who was on her maiden visit to the group's India office at Bengaluru since taking charge.
Its association with India is over 70 years old and spans both civil and military aviation. The Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft used by the air force beginning the 1940s and the iconic Boeing 747 aircraft flown by Air India, both had Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines. The Indian Air Force's present-day, heavy-lift C-17 Globemaster III and the yet-to-be-inducted C-295 planes, too, have P&W power plants.
Speaking at a joint press event with Macron, Modi, who is in Paris on a two-day official visit, said a roadmap to strengthen India-France strategic ties over the next 25 years was being prepared with bold and ambitious goals on the anvil.
Mumbai-based private operator Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd (Mehair), in association with MTDC, on Monday launched maiden seaplane service to Lonavala from here, marking its first operation from the mainland.
The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
Public carrier Indian and CFM International have joined hands to set up a facility for maintenance, repair and overhaul of CFM56 engines in the country.
Wadia group, the promoter of budget airline GoAir will invest $30 million with SIA Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, for maintenance, repair and overhaul services in the country.
India on Thursday approved proposals for purchasing 26 Naval variant of Rafale jets from France and procuring three French-designed Scorpene class submarines, a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
'The future is about autonomy and tanking.'
The letter shared with the media on Saturday comes amid Maharashtra losing several big-ticket projects to neighbouring Gujarat.
European aviation major Airbus has chosen Goa to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for the EC 725 helicopter, provided it wins the over Rs 2,000 crore Coast Guard contract for which it has pitched.
Details were not immediately available ahead of a planned government briefing.
It is learnt that the Chinese JF-17 was cheaper but could not match the technical parameters of the Tejas Mk-IA variant and the offer of maintenance of the Su-30 fleet as proposed by India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh. It will be one of the largest aerodromes in Asia.
The Southeast Asian nation has been focusing on modernising its military in the face of myriad security challenges as well as decades-long territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
'Government shouldn't be in the business of running airlines, instead it should develop the ecosystem of civil aviation.'
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