Indian-Aviation

The attitude of PM Modi is more entrepreneurial and the new government shows more confidence in having foreigners participating in the education sector, says Alex Chernov, Governor of Victoria, who was on a recent trip to India to inaugurate the Australia India Institute (AII) Delhi centre. Excerpts from an interview: Which sectors hold scope for Indian students? Some of the main sectors to look at are engineering, IT and aviation. Victoria has 40% of the biomedical sector in Australia. Students interested in studying biomedical can come and complete their education here. La Trobe University also has an agro-bio center with 400 researchers working on agricultural matters to help provide information and innovation to other countries.  Melbourne also has large scale cultural programmes. What kind of scholarships are on offer? Among many, we have the Victoria India Doctoral Scholarships worth AU$90,000 each for the duration of the PhD candidature and a full fee waiver. The

Public-private partnership in the development of airports has been flagged as “one of the significant achievements” in the civil aviation sector, in the Economic Survey 2014-15. The Survey, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, points out that the PPP model has led to a significant improvement in infrastructure and in collection of revenue. The Survey points out that there has been a “healthy increase” in international passengers and cargo handled at Indian airports during 2014-2015. “During April-December 2014-15, 10.13 crore domestic passengers and 3.67 crore international passengers were handled at Indian airports,” the Survey states. It adds that domestic passenger traffic throughput increased by 7.1 per cent while international passengers increased by 10.3 per cent during April-December 2014-15 as compared to the same period in the previous year, the Survey points out. Source:  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Civil Aviation Minister of Gujarat, Saurabh Patel today said that Gujarat will emerge as hub for maintenance and repairing of planes and helicopters. In a reply in assembly, he said that Gujarat started Maintenance Repairing Overall(MRO) facility in 2009 by starting GUJSAIL MRO complex at Sardar Patel airport, In last one year, six planes and one helicopter have been repaired here. Minister further said that to start MRO, Director General Civil Aviation prepares a list of approved organizations, and they only are allotted space. Minister Patel said the government plans to start airstrip in various districts, and in some district such service has been already started. The present MRO facility will serve the needs of maintenance for such airstrips. Through repair of planes and helicopters of various organizations, the government has earned income of Rs. 13.36 lakh. In reply to another question MoS, Civil Aviation Jashabhai Barad said that the government has planned to start Kes

Training devices used to recreate emergency scenarios developed glitches over a month ago. Three of Air India's (AI) four flight simulators in Mumbai are dysfunctional, which has resulted in least 30 pilots being withdrawn from active duty. According to sources in the national carrier, with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms mandating that pilots log eight flight hours in a simulator every six months before being cleared to fly, the malfunctioning simulators will cause more airmen to be grounded.  The three training devices, which recreate multiple real-time emergency scenarios to maintain the airline crew's level of preparedness, developed glitches over a month ago. Air India operates a simulator each for its fleet of 737Gs, 747s, 777s and one 787 Dreamliner, all manufactured by Boeing. Of these, the device that replicates the cockpit of a 777 is wholly inoperable, while those that duplicate the flying environments of the 787 and the 737 are defective. &

Airman hasn't furnished certificate to prove he was qualified to land plane, says DGCA. A Directorate General of Civil Aviation investigation to determine the cause of a tail-strike involving an Air India flight from Mangalore has revealed that the co-pilot of the aircraft was responsible for the incident. The airman has not furnished satisfactory evidence that he was cleared to carry out landing manoeuvres, sources in the DGCA said. The aircraft, which sustained a tail-strike on February 15, carried 194 passengers, including seven crew members.  Co-pilots are permitted to land an aircraft if certified to do so by the DGCA - they are required to obtain what is known in aviation parlance as an Assisted Takeoff and Landing Clearance document. The AI crew member who was in the cockpit of the flight from Mangalore is yet to produce this certificate, DGCA officials said.  The belly of the long-tail section of the Airbus A-321 was scraped against the runway as the aircraft lande

RTI activist Vishwas Bhamburkar, who recently filed a case against the Airports Authority of India-MIAL combine, for the alleged Rs 5,887 crore infrastructure scam, as well as two cases against the police for failing to follow the law, has now complained of receiving death threats. In a written complaint to the police in Ahmedabad, where he resides, Bhamburkar has said that three men speaking a mix of English and Hindi threatened him after accosting him near his home on Saturday evening, a day after he visited the Sahar police station and recorded statements in a fourth case he is in the process of filing. "I was walking home after running an errand when three men approached me. They asked if I was the Vishwas who had filed cases in the Mumbai airport matter. When I replied positively, they told me to back off. They asked me why I was doing this, and claimed they had managed to change the dates of hearing from February 23 to March 27. They warned me that if I did not pull b

An Indian American has been appointed to a key position in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Ravi Chaudhary has been made in charge of oversight and execution of aviation operations in nine different regions. A former Air Force officer, Chaudhary in his capacity as Executive Director for Regions and Center Operations at FAA is also responsible for executing a USD 288 million operating budget and leads over 2,100 Federal Employees in nine nationwide regions. As second in command to the Deputy Assistant Administrator for ARC, he is also responsible for providing Department of Transportation and FAA-wide services in the areas of operations, safety, policy, corporate and congressional outreach, emergency readiness, facilities management, besides centralised support for the National Aerospace System, a media release said. Earlier, Chaudhary completed 21 years of service at the Air Force District of Washington, Andrews Air Force Base. He is a C-17 Pilot and has completed a var

On recovery of operational parameter We'll surprise everyone on the speed of returning to net profit. Our load factor is in mid-80s. Confidence is returning. It has stabilised faster than I had thought. On exemption from making an open offer There is a provision under the Sebi Act, which exempts an open offer in a case of a dead company.  SpiceJet  was dying, and there is a revival plan which is approved by a competent authority (civil aviation ministry). The airline had shut down on December 16 and its equity had gone to almost zero. By rescuing it we preserved the value, and therefore we said we were fully entitled to utilise that provision. On approval from competition commission of India (CCI) Initially, we didn't realise approval would be required by it (CCI) as no monopoly was created by the acquisition. We were, however, told that for any acquisition which has turnover in excess of Rs 4,500 crore we have to seek CCI clearance. On absence of Chapt

Ignoring protests against rampant privatization of airports, the civil  aviation  ministry on Wednesday decided to go ahead with a plan formulated by the previous UPA  government  and called for financial transaction consultants to scout for private parties to invest in Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports. In September 2012, the  UPA government  had decided to allow private parties to pick up stakes in the operation and management of six airports through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Certain sections of airport staff, trade unions and even a few airlines have been dead against privatization through PPP ever since. Airports Authority of India (AAI) staffers in Mumbai and other parts of the country form a chunk of this group. Last month, the AAI top rung had invited Request For Qualification (RFQ) from domestic and overseas private firms to hand over the management, operation and  development  of the four airports. The government's decision is being

SpiceJet's new promoter Ajay Singh now holds over 60 per cent stake in the carrier after buying former promoter Marans' entire stake.  Singh, who co-founded the airline some years back, snapped up 58.46 per cent stake from Marans as part of a revival plan that would also see Rs 1,500 crore capital infusion into the airline.  According to a regulatory filing made by SpiceJet, Singh holds more than 36.15 crore shares or 60.31 per cent stake in the carrier. At today's closing price of Rs 24.95 apiece on the BSE, Singh stake is worth more than Rs 900 crore. Prior to acquiring Marans' entire stake, his shareholding stood at 1.85 per cent.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46371520.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

In a narrow escape for over 170 people on board an Air India flight from Delhi, a rear tyre of the aircraft burst as it landed at the Nedumbassery airport here today.  All the 161 passengers and 12 crew members of flight AI467 have safely disembarked, airport sources said.  As the plance landed at 9.10 AM, smoke was noticed and further examination revealed that the rear inner tyre had burst, the sources told PTI.  Technicians from Bengaluru have arrived at the airport and the flight was being examined. The onward journey of the flight to Sharjah with 138 passengers scheduled at 10.20 AM was delayed due to the incident, the sources said. Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46381099.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Budget carrier SpiceJetBSE -2.61 % has received Rs 500 crore from its new owner Ajay Singh in a much- needed shot of funding even as he today hinted at bringing in new people into the airline's management, but ruled out any immediate changes.  Singh, whose injection of the funds yesterday is part of a Rs 1,500 crore investment plan to revive the airline, also said that he was open to reviewing SpiceJet's discount fare sales strategy for stimulating demand to decide whether to go on with it or not.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46377984.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

With AAI employees deciding to go on strike on March 11 to protest privatisation, the government is mulling amending the manpower absorption clause for potential private operators, and may ask them to retain all existing employees post-privatisation.  Official sources today said that the proposed tweaking of norms was to allay apprehensions of the employees' union that the private players might retrench workers in big numbers once the management and operations of the four airports, which are being privatised, come under their control.  "Under the OMDA (operations, management and development agreement) for Delhi and Mumbai Airports, the private operators were to absorb 60 per cent of the then existing workforce, which may be amended with a provision for 100 per cent absorption for the current round of privatisation," the sources said here.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46372701.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=te

Private airline Jet Airways today said it has re-designated its vice president for finance Ravichandran Narayan as the acting Chief Financial Officer of the company.  Narayan's new position in the airline is effective from yesterday, Jet Airways said in a regulatory filing. Jet Airways, in which Gulf carrier Etihad holds 24 per cent stake, does not have a full-time CFO since May last year when the then CFO Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, who was alsoholding additional charge of the chief executive, parted ways with the carrier for some unknown reasons.  Though Gopalakrishnan had put in his papers in late March, he had to remain with the airline till May 2 due to the mandatory notice period.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46372571.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

SpiceJet Ltd. has cleared its major outstanding dues related to Income Tax (TDS) payments. As per a statement from the airline, it had earlier this month also cleared all Service Tax dues and employee salaries. The airline believes that the clearance of these dues is a key step in the airline’s revival and resurgence plan. “Paying our statutory dues that we had fallen behind on as a result of a very difficult couple of years, was an extremely high priority for us,” said Kiran Koteshwar, Acting CFO, SpiceJet. “This is the first major step in our settling our payables to various creditors, which we will do as per mutual discussions and payment plans that are being put together. We have also paid all salaries to our staff, and have started making meaningful payments to our other business partners,” Koteshwar stated. Clearance of major tax outstandings comes a day after the airline shares officially changed hands, resulting in Co-founder Ajay Singh formally assuming the role of majo

Newly-launched Vistara airline today claimed that it surpassed all domestic carriers including budget airline IndiGo in the on-time performance (OTP) in January, with 89.35 per cent of its flight arriving and departing on their scheduled time.  The performance was achieved in a period which was of peak fog and low visibility, it said.  "Vistara's on-time performance in the very first month of its operations stood as high as 89.35 per cent," the airline said today. "We are glad that starting from our first month of operation and even during the peak fog season we were able to deliver a record OTP," the airline said.  According to the DGCA statistics for January, released last week, while IndiGo had an on-time performance of 73.3 per cent in January, another budget carrier GoAir clocked an over all 65.8 per cent OTP in the reporting month.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46371177.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm

Jet Airways today lowered the base fares by up to 35 per cent on its international routes for a limited period, which will also be applicable on the network of its partner airline Gulf-based Etihad.  Jet Airways offer comes a day after another domestic airline,  SpiceJet announced fares as low as Rs 3,799 for international travel.  The booking of tickets under the seven-days special fare offers commences today for travel from February 25 to December 12, the airline said in a release.  The offer is applicable for both premier and economy class travel, it said, adding the discount in base fare ranges from five to 35 per cent.  Read more at:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/jet-airways-lowers-its-fare-on-international-routes/articleshow/46370281.cms

SpiceJet may need to take some tough decisions on its senior management soon, say industry observers as a highly-paid top brass offsets benefits accruing from last year's attrition, thereby leaving employee expenses virtually unchanged.  The low-fare carrier's employee expenses came to Rs 143.4 crore for the October to December quarter, down just 1.5% from last year and 3% from last quarter. This, despite the fact that its total headcount had fallen 26% to about 4,200 since January 2014. Pilots, who are usually the highest paid section of an airline barring top and some members of middle management, accounted for the largest chunk of the attrition. SpiceJet's total expenses fell 22% on year and 11% on quarter to Rs 1550.2  crore in October-December period.   Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46366417.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Completing its ownership transfer, SpiceJet today said Ajay Singh has become the promoter after acquiring the entire 58.46 per cent stake from the Marans. Singh, the original promoter of SpiceJet, is now back at the helm as part of a revival plan that would also be seeing a capital infusion of Rs 1,500 crore into the low-cost carrier. Shares of the airline rose over one per cent to Rs 24.35 on the BSE in early morning trade. As part of a share sale and purchase agreement, Marans have transferred their 58.46 per cent to Singh on February 23, SpiceJet said in a regulatory filing. "Ajay Singh has become the promoter of the company and Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways Private Limited have ceased to be promoters of the company," the filing said. Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways have transferred over 35 crore shares or 58.46 per cent stake to Singh.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46352449.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_mediu

Five private carriers, including the grounded Kingfisher, had to pay dues worth over Rs 664 crore to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the end of December 2014, the government said today.  The four others are Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir.  In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said the five airlines were to pay dues worth Rs 664.33 crore to AAI at the end of December.  Out of the five, Kingfisher had the maximum dues to the tune of Rs 310 crore. It includes penal interest of over Rs 137 crore. The carrier, which stopped operations from October 2012, had no security deposit left with the AAI.  SpiceJet had dues worth Rs 236.53 crore while in the case of Indigo it was Rs 45.73 crore.  According to the Minister, GoAir's dues were Rs 44.04 crore and Jet Group had to pay Rs 28.07 crore as on December 31, 2014. Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46357128.cms?utm_source

The government today said it has initiated the process of developing four airports through public private partnership mode but there was no move to privatise them as of now.  "There is no such proposal of privatisation of airports at present," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.  He was responding to a query on whether the government is considering a proposal to privatise Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports.  However, he said the government has initiated the process for developing these four airports through PPPs.  For the same, Request for Qualification (RfQ) documents were issued on December 30, 2014.   Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46357009.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The government plans to set up an expert panel to find ways to improve Air India's performance but presently no proposal is being considered for its privatisation, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said today.  "Setting up of an expert committee to suggest ways to further improve the performance of Air India is under consideration," he said.  In April 2012, the government had approved a turnaround as well as financial restructuring plans for the carrier.  Under these plans, there would be an equity infusion of Rs 30,231 crore up to 2012 provided the airline meets certain milestones.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46355728.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Budget carrier SpiceJetBSE 0.63 % today put one lakh seats up for grabs on both its domestic and international routes as it rolled out another discount sale offer with tickets priced as low as Rs 1,699 for travel within the country.  The latest offer -- of all-inclusive fares as low as Rs 1,699 for flights across its domestic network and Rs 3,799 for international routes with a three-day booking window -- comes a day after SpiceJet's ownership went back to its original promoter, Ajay Singh.  Bookings under this latest offer, 'Colour the Skies', are now open for a travel period between March 1 to April 20 and will close at midnight on February 26, the airline said in a release.  This is the fifth low fare scheme this year from SpiceJet with the first of these having been unveiled on January 28.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46354614.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Low fare carrier SpiceJet's chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor Monday wrote to his staff giving them a morale-boost, days ahead of its formal change of ownership to former promoter Ajay Singh. "With the change of ownership and the return of Ajay as promoter, we need to take it (service and operational levels) up a few levels...the bounce is coming back to our feet, but we need it to come back even stronger," he wrote in an email. The pep talk comes a couple of days ahead of the first fund tranche into the beleaguered airline from its new majority shareholder.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46349590.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Budget carrier SpiceJetBSE 0.63 % is expected to receive the second tranche of Rs 400 crore of the Rs 1,500 crore fund infusion from the new promoter Ajay Singh by Wednesday.  "One tranche (of Rs 100 crore) has been invested. The second tranche, 400 crore, should happen tomorrow or day after," Singh told PTI.  In late January, SpiceJet board had approved transfer of Maran family's entire 58.46 per cent stake to Singh, while the company would raise Rs 1,500 crore through issuance of fresh securities.  Under the revival plan, SpiceJet would see a capital infusion of Rs 1,500 crore from Singh in a staggered manner by April.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46341268.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Delhi International Airport Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, has announced its exit from the cargo service operations at Delhi Airport by selling its entire stake to India Infrastructure Fund for Rs 29 crore.  "Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL), an arm of GMR Infrastructure, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its entire 26 per cent stake of the equity capital of Delhi Cargo Service Centre Private Limited which operates cargo operations at Delhi Airport," GMR Infrastructure said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46340729.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Global aircraft financing companies have begun to insist on leasing contracts of longer tenures — 10-12 years — a move that will likely increase the maintenance cost for Indian airlines and prevent them from having a young fleet. The lessors' stand has led to a change in strategy among airlines. Sources say the nation's biggest carrier, IndiGo, will likely for the first time since its inception sign leasing contracts for periods longer than its usual six years. While the Wadia Group-controlled GoAir has for now stalled all plans for leasing additional planes, a senior executive at Air India said the national carrier is mulling outright purchase of remaining of the Boeing Dreamliner planes it has ordered, instead of going for a saleand-leaseback transaction. Sale and leaseback — wherein an airline sells its plane to a lessor at a premium and leases it back — is a common strategy adopted by airlines to acquire aircraft.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.

The finance department of Air India has asked its commercial department to carry out "necessary" changes in the national carrier's network after it became clear that the airline will fail to meet its revenue target for February.  "There is a drop in the revenues that we had estimated for February and we are unlikely to achieve the target for the month," the executive said, requesting anonymity. "The equity infusion for the year has also dried up and we are likely to get only Rs 50 crore during March. The finance department has asked the commercial department to do necessary changes in the network."  The executive, however, added that the commercial department does not plan any immediate changes in the network.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46336915.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Asia’s premier air show, “Aero India” came to a close today with the event turning into a carnival on the last two days as nearly three lakh people thronged the Air Force Station at Yelahanka here to witness the splendid aerial feast by the metal birds. The 10th edition of the biennial five-day event that began on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a strong pitch to end India’s dependence on defence imports, saw over 300 foreign firms vying with each other to align with the government’s “Make in India” campaign as they eye the burgeoning multi-billion dollar Indian defence market. Aero India 2015 turned out to be big sheer in numbers with no mega defence deal on the ground. According to the organisers, nearly three lakh people turned up on Saturday and Sunday when the show was thrown open to the general visitors with the road leading to the air base on city outskirts being choked. Braving hot weather, thousands of people crawling through heavy traffic on the h

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive here Monday to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar in what is seen as a fresh attempt to firm up the faltering multi-billion dollar Rafale deal. Defence sources said that Drian will be in India as part of an official visit to a few other countries including UAE. He will hold a fresh round of talks with Parrikar Monday just two months after they met and decided to “fast-track” the contract negotiations for the nearly USD 10-billion deal for Rafale fighter jets. Sources said the French Minister will focus on firming up the deal ahead of an expected visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France a couple of months from now. Parrikar had recently said that he would not comment on the Rafale deal as the Contract Negotiations Committee was discussing it. Read more at:  http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/french-defence-minister-to-visit-india-push-rafale-deal/

Vistara, the full-service joint venture between  Tata Sons  and Singapore Airlines  that launched its service on January 9, flew with more than half its seats vacant in the first month, show Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data. Also, after years, the market share of domestic airline SpiceJet in January slipped into a single digit, 9.4 per cent, thanks to recent financial crises. Vistara  reported a  passenger load factor  (PLF, or an indicator of occupancy) of 45.4 per cent, substantially lower than other airlines, more so when compared with other full-service peers. Jet Airways'  PLF  stood at 87 per cent, while Air India had 82.4. The highest in the month, of 87.4 per cent, was reported by JetLite, subsidiary of the Naresh Goyal-controlled Jet Airways. Compared with Vistara, the performance of AirAsia, another new player in Indian skies that launched operations in June last year, was much better. AirAsia India in January reported a PLF of 76.3 per cent, sligh

India has the potential to become the third-largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030, says a FICCI-KPMG report. According to the report, the Indian civil aviation industry is on a high growth trajectory, albeit with minor hiccups.   “The industry has ushered in a new wave of expansion driven by low cost carriers (LCC), modern airports, foreign direct investments (FDI) in domestic airlines, cutting-edge information technology (IT) interventions and a growing emphasis on no-frills airports (NFA) and regional connectivity,” the report said adding that the industry is amongst top 10 in the world with a size of around USD 16 billion.   However, the aviation industry is facing its own set of challenges.    Present Challenges/scenario:  Notwithstanding the extraordinary traffic growth over the past decade, with addition of new airlines like Vistara and Air Asia in the Indian skies last year, the situation is still grim for the sector. Most of them are staring at huge

Passengers of Air India and no-frill carrier IndiGo, which has best on-time performance record among the domestic airliners, were most affected due to delays of flights by over two hours in January, according to the DGCA data.  The number of Air India passengers affected due to flight delays beyond two hours stood at 96,232 in January while of IndiGo was 75,034, the monthly domestic air traffic report released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.  Also, as many as 11,666 passengers of private carriers Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite were also affected after their flights were reported late by more than two hours.  The DGCA norms make it mandatory for the airlines to submit data on number of cases of denied boarding, cancellations and delays along with the status on a monthly basis.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46330732.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst