Indian-Aviation

In a fresh round of fare cut, budget carrier GoAir rolled out a limited-period low fares scheme, offering one-way ticket prices as low as Rs 999 with a more than four months validity period for travel across its network.  The bookings for the three-day offer starts from Saturday. The fares, offered under the scheme are non-refundable and available only for a limited number of seats, the airline said in a statement today. In case of a cancellation, only airport taxes will be refunded, the airline said adding the travel period booked during the offer period will remain valid from June 23 to October 31, 2015. Aviation regulator DGCA had recently said it was keeping an eye on air fares to check any "exorbitant" and "predatory" pricing by the domestic carriers. The DGCA had asked the airlines to provide the quantum (percentage) of the tickets sold by them at different pricing levels (highest and lowest fares buckets) for each sector over the next few months,

AirAsia India, the joint venture airline between the Malaysian budget carrier and Tata Sons, unveiled its fourth aircraft with a  livery  dedicated to JRD, the Tata group patriarch and also the founder of India's first airline. It was unveiled by GMR's aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul unit at the Hyderabad airport. Named 'The Pioneer', the aircraft is painted with an image of the JRD Tata standing beside the Puss Moth, the aircraft on which he operated India's first commercial flight on October 15, 1932. This led to the birth of Tata Airlines later nationalised by the Indian government and renamed Air India. Since then, the Tatas had made several unsuccessful attempts to enter Indian aviation until last year when it forged the joint venture with AirAsia. Subsequently, it launched a second venture called Vistara with Singapore Airlines. "AirAsia India's special livery 'The Pioneer' pays tribute to the man who pioneered

A minute's alleged delay in reaching the cockpit may cost an Air India pilot dear. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to a senior AI commander for reaching cockpit of the aircraft he was to fly 44 minutes before the schedule departure time instead of the required 45 minutes.  The commander was to operate AI 213, Delhi-Kathmandu flight, on February 26, 2015. This alleged one-minute delay was found when the DGCA carried out spot checks of AI flights on that day at Delhi airport.  "During spot check it was observed that (the captain) had reported 44 minutes prior to the departure of his scheduled flight AI 213. Whereas in accordance with the operations manual, (the captain) was required to report 45 minutes before the schedule departure in order to carry out cockpit safety checks effectively," the show cause issued last Friday by DGCA's joint DG Lalit Gupta says.  It adds: "Now the captain is hereby cal

AirAsia India—the joint venture airline between Tata Sons and AirAsia Berhad— is unhappy with the new guidelines the government has mooted to replace a rule that now requires domestic carriers to fly locally for five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft. The new guidelines bring into place a credit based system wherein an airline accumulates point basis the distance it flies and is allowed to fly international once it has piled up a critical mass. There are bonus points for flying to remote areas. An accumulation of 300 of these so called Domestic Flying Credits (DFCs) will make an airline eligible to fly long haul international routes such as to the US and Europe. Curiously, for starting flights to shorter distances in Asia or the Gulf, an airline has to accumulate double the points ie 600. AirAsia being a low fare airline would look short haul international routes and that is where the new rule would be cumbersome for it. AirAsia's chief executive Mittu Chandilya said

Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) achieved a milestone today by clocking 10 million passengers in a year.  The development coincides with the airport's seventh anniversary, which falls on March 23, an official statement said.  Bhanu Khannan who arrived on a flight from Chennai emerged as the ten millionth passenger at RGIA today evening.  Incidentally, another passenger Chandra Shekaran who arrived in the same flight had also traveled in the inaugural flight which had taken off from RGIA, the statement added. During 2014-15, RGIA witnessed traffic growth of 20 per cent over the previous year, led by 22 per cent growth in domestic passenger traffic as well as 15 per cent growth in international traffic, the statements said. Traffic growth numbers are higher than the average growth witnessed by other major Indian airports, it said.  Read more at:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com 

Delhi High Court today directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister six aircraft given on lease to low-cost airline SpiceJet by two Irish firms.  Justice Rajiv Shakdher, while issuing the direction to DGCA, also said that the aviation regulator will decide in two weeks the Irish firms' plea to export the planes, majority of which are Boeing 737 aircraft. Currently, SpiceJet operates 32 aircraft. The judgement came on the pleas of AWAS Ireland Ltd and Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd which had moved the court seeking directions to DGCA to de-register the aircraft they had given on lease to SpiceJet and for which the airline had allegedly not paid dues. Reacting to the High Court ruling, SpiceJet said it would take further course of action but only after evaluating the order. The airline also said that it was negotiating with the lessors for a mutual settlement to the case.  Read more at:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com 

The Narendra Modi government has enhanced the compensation that airlines must pay passengers in case of lost baggage or suffering an injury while travelling with them. If a person dies or suffers bodily injury in an air crash or some other aviation-related accident, the compensation payabale to the family is now Rs 90 lakh, up from Rs 75 lakh earlier. In case of inordinate flight delays, the compensation could now be as high as Rs 3.5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh earlier. The maximum compensation for lost baggage has now been upped to about Rs 84,000 from Rs 74,000 earlier. The enhanced compensation comes with the Cabinet on Tuesday amending the Air Carriage Act that deals with issues like damages to be paid for flight delays, loss of baggage and accidental death. Indian carriers will now pay as their international counterparts, in line with the 1999 Montreal Convention that governs airline liability and compensation. These compensations are based on something called special draw

In a move that might appear to be harsh and surprising, the aviation safety regulator has pulled up a pilot for turning up 10 minutes late for his flight. While the show cause notice issued to senior Jet Airways pilot Captain MS Aluwalia does not state that his late coming delayed the flight, it implied he might have skipped the mandatory pre-flight safety check owing to the delay. The incident came to light on February 27 during a surprise check by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at the Delhi airport. According to the Jet Airways manual, pilots operating domestic flights are supposed to report on duty an hour before the scheduled take-off time and 90 minutes before international flights. “The pilot was required to report at the dispatch (department) one hour before the scheduled departure in order to be on board the aircraft 35 minutes prior to take-off for carrying out safety checks effectively,” read the show cause notice issued by Lalit Gupta, joint directo

Ahead of another safety audit by the United Nations-appointed aviation regulator, India’s air safety regulator is trying to add some tooth to its air mishap investigation outfit. But, industry experts have reservations whether the ‘stopgap’ arrangements such as contracted jobs for safety experts will help Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) pass the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit, which is scheduled to be conducted this year. Last month the DGCA invited applications for the posts of air safety directors on a short-term basis. According to the DGCA’s circular, the job entails investigating air mishaps, precautionary landings, forced landings, air misses and other potential hazardous situation arising from air operations.  “The credibility of India on the safety front is poor worldwide, only a positive proactive action can help convince the world,” said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, former member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council. Lalit

On March 10, minutes before midnight, Solar Impulse-2 (Si2) hovered gently over Ahmedabad’s skyline, the LED lights on its giant wingspan flickering brightly. The city’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport was clogged with flight traffic and the world’s only solar-powered aircraft would spend nearly 30 minutes in the air before landing to set a world record. “It looked like an eagle, steadily circling in the sky,” said Vikram Jani, a student who was part of the throng that had gathered at the airport to witness aviation history in the making. Elsewhere in the city, as Si2 prepared for landing after a 14-hour “fantastic” flight from Oman, residents took to the streets and terraces to catch a glimpse of the no-fuel-only-solar bird. The last time Ahmedabad was this excited to see an airplane was perhaps in 1932, when the first commercial flight flying between Karachi and Mumbai made a stopover here. Pilot Bertrand Piccard, looking fresh and relaxed, emerged from the craft t

It may take a domestic start-up airline a minimum of two-and-half years from start of operations in  India  to become eligible for applying to the civil aviation ministry  commencing  international  services. This is as per the revised route dispersal guidelines being firmed up by the ministry, which will shortly be sent to the Cabinet for approval. The proposed norms have been formulated to replace existing rules which stipulate that an  Indian  carrier has to fly in the domestic skies for five years and is required to have a fleet of 20 aircraft before being allowed to fly abroad (known as the 5/20 norms). The Union Cabinet’s nod is needed for changing the rules as the decision to bring in what is referred to as the 5/20 rule was approved by the Cabinet in December 2004. A senior official in the ministry of civil aviation said, “The proposed route dispersal guidelines have certain inbuilt checks to ensure that domestic air connectivity is not affected as  more  and  more   I

Aviation regulator DGCA has decided to keep an eye on air fares to check any "exorbitant" and "predatory" pricing by the domestic carriers.  The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the airlines to provide the quantum (percentage) of the tickets sold by them at different pricing levels (highest and lowest fares buckets) for each sector over the next few months, sources close to the developments said.  The data collected would be anlaysed for any "noticeable" trend and consequent action, they said.  "Airlines have been told by the DGCA to furnish the data (on the highest and lowest fare buckets) in each sector. We will see (monitor) the data for 2-3 months and then we what best can be done," a source said.  However, various flash sales offers which were announced by airlines from time to time, have been kept out of this monitoring process, they said.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com 

Seeking to improve air connectivity, the Gujarat government has decided to develop six new airstrips in smaller towns in the state.   State Civil Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel told this to the State Legislative Assembly while replying to a query by BJP Surat MLA Harsh Sanghvi.  "The government has selected six different towns across the state to build airstrips. These are Ankleshwar and Dahej in central Gujarat, Palitana and Ambaji in northern Gujarat and Morbi and Dwarka in Saurashtra region," he said.  While Ankleshwar, Dahej and Morbi have large industrial clusters, the remaining three are famous pilgrimage centres.  Providing details about the development of airstrips at these places, Patel said that land levelling as well as construction of boundary wall has been completed for the Ankleshwar-based airstrip.  Read more at:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Any new domestic airline must operate for at least two and a half years before beseeking permission to start international services, once the civil aviation ministry replaces the 5 years and 20 aircraft eligibility norms to fly international. The proposal that calls for the replacing the minimum criteria of flying international with a domestic flying credit provision will need approval from the Cabinet.  "To be eligible for an international flight an airline will have to have completed an annual safety audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In addition an airline must have had an incident and serious accident free year and earned a certain number of points by meeting the guidelines for flying in India before it becomes eligible for international flights. We expect that it will take a minimum of 2.5 years for a startup to achieve all these criteria," said a senior civil aviation ministry official.  The official added that these norms will be applic

Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara today said it will launch a daily flight on the Delhi- Pune route from next month, which will take the new carrier's total destinations to eight.  From April 9, Vistara will operate a daily air service on the Delhi-Pune-Delhi route, for which the bookings have commenced from today, the airline said in a release.  With the latest addition of Pune in the route network, customers can now book Vistara flights from Delhi to seven destinations -- Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad and Guhawati and Bagdogra, it said.  The airline will deploy a 148-seater A320 aircraft, with 16 business, 36 premium economy and 96 economy class seats, to service the new route.  The city-headquartered carrier at present has five aircraft in its fleet, which it plans to take to nine by the end of the year.  With the addition one more airport in its network, Vistara would offer a total of 197 flights per week, the release said.  Read mo

Vistara, the joint venture carrier between Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd, has stepped up marketing campaigns and offers on its loyalty programme, intensifying the competition with Jet AirwaysBSE 3.75 % to woo and retain passengers.  India's newest airline, which started services on January 9, is also looking at fly-and-stay tie-ups with Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, controlled by Tata, and partnerships with international carriers.  "We have begun a new marketing campaign since the last three weeks. It is mostly in the online, radio, print and outdoor space. There are no plans yet to launch a television campaign," chief commercial officer Giam Ming Toh told ET.  "We have tried to focus on the business traveller and on the high-end leisure traveller. Right now, the campaigns in the print space are limited to the route offerings, while digital and targeted outdoor speak of our differentiated offerings, to build preference," said Kapil Ar

Delays in Air India flights due to lack of crew and trained staff today evoked concern in the Rajya Sabha, with a member claiming that the airline was operating planes for which its crew was not trained.  Raising the issue of Air India's "apathy", Vivek Gupta of Trinamool Congress said the crew in the national carrier was being "forced" to operate aircraft in which they are not trained.  Taking note of it, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said the government should listen to this, though he felt this "may not be true and should not be true".  The TMC member said in his Zero Hour mention that he wanted to draw the government's attention to a recent instance when untrained people were sent to check spare-parts condition in an aircraft.  Terming it as "very serious", he claimed that "spare parts training is required to operate a particular aircraft. People were not trained and yet they had gone to the aircraft and then were

After missing several deadlines, Kazi Nazrul Islam airport in Andal (West Bengal) is likely to be ready for commercial operations from first quarter of the next fiscal.  Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL), which is jointly developing the airport with Singapore's Changi Airports International, is negotiating with various scheduled and non-scheduled carriers to launch their services from the country's first regional airport.  Installation of the crucial equipment for weather, distance measuring, radio network and lighting has been completed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and it will soon undertake the calibration process to make the airport flight worthy.  "AAI is scheduled to undertake the calibration process from March 14 to 16. This would be followed by proving flights, which should happen in the next few weeks. If all these process go through as per the timeline, the airport should be ready for o ..  "AAI is scheduled to undertake the ca

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team would soon visit India for a final review of the steps taken by the DGCA to address the deficiencies in the country's aviation safety, which remains downgraded since January last year.  "We are expecting a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) team here by the end of the month for a final review of the various measures taken by the DGCA on the aviation safety," official sources said here.  The decision to upgrade the country's aviation safety will be decided after the US regulator's team files its report, which is expected to take place by mid-April, sources said.  Almost all the major areas of concern identified by the FAA on aviation safety issues, like shortage of manpower and a proper filing system at the DGCA have been addressed by the the Indian aviation regulator, the sources said.  "The vacancy of as many as 55 flight operation inspectors have been filled and all the files and the records in t

Here's a lovely little Lakshadweep scam. And it involves not just that beautiful coral island chain that's India's tiniest Union Territory but also helicopters, a unique kind of cheque fraud and a politically connected woman officer whose ingenious shady deals had GoI foxed for over fives years.  The good guys in this tale of financial villainy amidst sunkissed, pristine beaches are the vigilance department of Pawan Hans, the government-owned helicopter operator. So impressed was Pawan Hans's chief vigilance officer, Prabhat Kumar, by the fraud's ingenuity that, having busted it, he wrote an account of it in the organisation's in-house journal, Hansdhwani.  ET spoke to Pawan Hans officials familiar with the case and they spoke on the condition they not be identified. The lady in question has not been named in the CVO's account and officials said it would not be proper to name her since it was an on-going case and criminal charges may be filed. Her

To mark International Women's Day, national carrier Air India today operated four 'all-women crew' flights to international and domestic destinations, with one flown by two pilots who were also part of the maiden such feat in the world way back in 1985.  Air India was the first carrier in the world to operate an all-women crew in 1985.  Budget carrier SpiceJetBSE 0.46 % and regional airline Air Costa also operated such flights to mark the Day.  AirIndia operated all women crew flights to international and domestic destinations to celebrate the occasion of International Women's Day today, the airline said in a release.  On the international network, the two such flights were operated on Delhi-Melbourne and Mumbai-Muscat-Mumbai routes.  While, AI806 Mumbai-Delhi and AI475 Delhi-Jodhpur-Mumbai were the flights operated by the all-women crew on the domestic routes.  History repeated itself as the Delhi-Melbourne flight AI302 (B-787) was operated b

Representatives from seven companies bidding for Operation, Management and Development of Chennai airport in public-private partnership mode visited the airport, according to an official press release. The representatives were from Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, GVK Airport Holdings, GMR Airport Holdings, Egis Avia, Celebi Aviation, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd, Pithavadian and Partners and Flemingo Intl Ltd, the release said. Deepak Shastri, Airport Director, gave a presentation about the airport and its growth. A few queries raised by some of the prospective applicants were replied to by Airports Authority of India officials, the release said. Airport employee union has been opposing the privatisation move on the grounds that there was no point in doing so when the AAI had spent over  Rs.  2,000 crore to upgrade the airport. Source:  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Sudipto Mondal,  Hindustan Times , Bengaluru  |  Updated: Mar 09, 2015  Saarah Hameed Ahmed, India's only Muslim woman pilot “People initially think I’m Christian and then gawk when I tell them my full name,” laughs Saarah Hameed Ahmed (25) the Bengaluru girl who is the only known Muslim among the 600-odd women pilots employed in the Indian aviation sector. “I just love the look on people’s faces when they discover I am Muslim.” People’s reaction to her choice of profession is a constant source of entertainment for Saarah. Many want to know how a girl can handle a machine that’s many times her size, she says as she cracks up again. “Poor things; they don’t know that my fingers are all I need to fly,” she says twiddling her thumbs. Of course, the reactions are not always amusing or sensitive. Saarah says she too has had to face the brunt of Islamophobia that gripped the world post 9/11. But each time she has managed to win people over with a combin

A SpiceJet plane from Bangalore, with 78 people onboard, on Sunday skidded off the runway due to heavy rains at Hubli airport after landing. All 74 passengers and four crew member onboard are safe, the airlines said, adding that the incident was reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for further probe. “SpiceJet flight SG 1085 (Bangalore to Hubli) skidded off the runway in heavy rain at Hubli Airport,” SpiceJet said in the statement. “No injuries have been reported. The incident has been reported to the DGCA,” the airline said, adding that SpiceJet was conducting a full enquiry into the incident. The airline was operating the flight with Bombardier Q-400 plane. Source:  http://indianexpress.com

National carrier Air India's first-ever flight simulator will soon be opened for public viewing at the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai where people can explore its sophisticated cockpit.  Acquired by Air India in 1980, the first flight simulator Boeing 747-200 was in service for about 21 years and used to train hundreds of pilots before it finally landed at the Nehru Science Centre a few years ago.  The artefact is likely to be thrown open for public view by this year end, official sources said.  The authorities at the Centre, functioning under the aegis of the National Council of Science Museums, are in the process of building an exclusive pavilion for the simulator.  Read more at:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com