Indian-Aviation

British Airways has made Delhi the first destination of its brand new Boeing 787-9, the latest version of Dreamliner, and rolled out a limited offer slashing economy class fares by 50 per cent for the flight, which would also have a first class.  The first Boeing 787-9 would be delivered in September and the airline would start its commercial operations from Delhi from October 25, its Regional Commercial Manager for South Asia Moran Birger said here.  With this development, Delhi will become the first route for British Airways (BA) globally to benefit from the brand new Boeing 787-9 and a new first class cabin, he said, adding that Abu Dhabi would be the second global destination where this latest aircraft would fly.  BA, which has been flying to India for over 90 years, currently operates 49 flights a week from London Heathrow to five India cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The plan includes induction of superjumbos Airbus...

An impending audit by the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in November has brought the focus of the civil aviation ministry back on airports owned and managed by defence forces. The ministry wants these 25 airports, also called civil enclaves, to be managed according to ICAO standards and has asked Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to look into the issue. "The defence minister assured the civil aviation ministry that he will look into the matter," said a civil aviation ministry official. Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju held a meeting at his office with the defence minister earlier this month to discuss the matter, the official said. "The civil enclaves are essentially being maintained and built for fighter aircraft, which are lighter than civilian aircraft. It is not that these airports are unsafe but non-compliance of ICAO norms does raise some concern," said another civil aviation ministry official. Off...

Dubbing the country's civil aviation industry as "not mature enough" at this point of time, the DGCA today sternly shot down the suggestion of some airlines that the compliance of regulations should be handed over to the carriers.  Noting that there were problems in the sector and not just for the airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief M Sathiyavathy said the regulator would also play the role of facilitator. "The (domestic aviation) industry is not so mature...It will be premature to hand over all compliance (related matters) to the industry and leaving the DGCA to focus just on oversight," she said.  During an aviation conference here today, some airlines had indicated that sector was over regulated and sought the compliance of regulations to be left with the carriers and the DGCA should adhere to oversight.  Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, during a panel discussion, said cost as well as ease of doing business were the key challe...

Comparison of regulatory hurdles in the domestic aviation sector to hair loss triggered a witty exchange between DGCA and Vistara chiefs.  It all began when Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh indicated that the domestic aviation sector is over regulated at an aviation conference here today.  "Cost of doing business is already weighing down (carriers) even before they start competing," he noted.  In an apparent reference to regulatory hurdles in India, he said, some friends have been asking him whether he lost hair after coming here.  In a witty response, Sathiyavathy said, "I have been seeing him for the past one-and-a-half years... He (might have) lost his hair in Singapore, not here."  Vistara, a full service carrier to enter the Indian aviation space recently, is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tatas.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48074419.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text...

After being in the works for a long time, the government is "completely rewriting" the civil aviation policy to address concerns of the stakeholders.  The issue of easing norms for international operations by new domestic airlines would also be part of the policy, a senior official said. While assuring that the new policy was in advanced stages, Civil Aviation Ministry today said the revised draft would soon be put up to invite comments from public and other stakeholders.  "We are completely rewriting the draft aviation policy... "We are working on a sensible policy," Secretary Civil Aviation, R N Choubey said. The policy, he said, would look at certain major areas like reducing cost of acquisition of aircraft and at airports.  The Ministry is also looking at the possible scrapping of 5/20 norms -- whereby only those domestic carriers that have been operating for five years and have at least 20 aircraft are allowed to fly overseas.  Besides...

Boeing's snag-ridden Dreamliner is now giving a taste of its vagaries to the top VVIPs of India. Last Sunday (July 12), former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew from Amritsar to Delhi on a schedule flight of Air India on a Boeing-787 along with other passengers that had all its wheels jutting out throughout the flight!  Ironically, the trouble with landing gear retraction happened on AI's newest Dreamliner (VT-ANV) that had joined its fleet only last month. Shortly after take off, the pilot of AI 113 realized that the landing gear had a snag and the wheels were not retracting.  According to senior pilots, such an aircraft cannot be taken to higher altitude of beyond 20,000 feet as the landing gear out means the cabin pressurization and effectiveness of ACs is way below desired level — making the flight very uncomfortable for passengers. Also, "wheels out" means that drag on the plane increases significantly that leads to a spike in fuel burn.  Read mo...

लंदन ब्रिटिश एयरवेज के प्लेन के एक इंजन में आग लगने के बाद हीथ्रो एयरपोर्ट पर इमर्जेंसी लैंडिग की घटना में एक हैरान कर देने वाला खुलासा हुआ है। दरअसल लगातार काम से थके हुए इंजिनियर्स ने नींद की खुमारी में इस प्लेन के इंजन कवर्स को खुला छोड़कर किसी दूसरे ही प्लेन की मरम्मत कर डाली थी। यह घटना मई 2013 की है। लंदन से ओस्लो की फ्लाइट A319 इंजिनियर्स की इस भूल का शिकार होने से बाल-बाल बच गई थी। प्लेन के उड़ान भरते ही उसके दोनों इंजन कवर्स उड़ गए थे और उसमें से एक इंजन में आग लग गई थी। इसके बाद प्लेन की इमर्जेंसी लैंडिंग कराई गई थी। इमर्जेंसी लैंडिंग के दौरान प्लेन के इंजन का मलबा रनवे पर बिखर गया था। एयर एक्सिडेंट इन्वेस्टिगेशन ब्यूरो (AAIB) की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक दरअसल ऐसा इंजिनियर्स की बड़ी चूक से हुआ था। हीथ्रो एयरपोर्ट पर मेंटिनेंस ऑपरेशन के दौरान उन्होंने इंजन कवर्स को खुला छोड़ दिया था। नाइट शिफ्ट के दो इंजिनियरों को प्लेन में इंजन ऑइल भरना था और फैन कॉइल लॉक करनी थी, लेकिन नींद की खुमारी में वे दूसरे ही प्लेन की मरम्मत में जुट गए। जांच में पता चला की ब्रिटिश एयरवेज के इन टेक्निश...