Indian-Aviation

Air India will launch a new Ahmedabad-Newark via London tri-weekly flight from August 15, an official said here on Thursday.  The service AI-171 will be operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 5.30 a.m. all Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and reach London at 10.15 a.m.  It will take off from London at 12.30 p.m. and land in Newark, New Jersey, US, 1500 hours.  On the return trip, the flight AI-172 will depart from Newark at 2230 that evening, and arrive in London at 10.15 a.m., take off at 12.30 p.m. and land in Ahmedabad at 2 a.m.  The flight is expected to prove a boon to over 600,000 Indians in Ahmedabad who have been seeking seamless connections for business and leisure to Newark and London, besides catering to the huge NRI population from Gujarat in both these cities and surroundings.  Source:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

A total of 122 pilots tested positive for alcohol during pre-flight medical check-ups between 2013 and June 30 this year, the government said told Lok Sabha today.  In 2013, 30 pilots were found alcohol positive during pre- flight medical check-ups though the number came down to 26 in 2014, Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply.  However in 2015, the figure again shot up as 43 pilots failed the blood-alcohol test.  Till June 30 this year, 23 pilots tested alcohol positive. All the 122 erring pilots have been put under suspension.  Of those caught with alcohol in their system, 34 were from Mumbai and 31 from Delhi.  Sinha said of the 23 pilots found positive for alcohol till June, 22 were suspended after first violation, while one pilot was suspended for second violation.  Source:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

A new terminal will be constructed at Leh airport with an investment of around Rs 200 crore which will increase the passenger handling capacity, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said today.  With the new terminal, the peak hour passenger capacity is expected to go up to 800 from current level of 250.  State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) is operating the Leh airport, which has been seeing increased flight movements in recent times.  "Leh Airport - New terminal to be constructed @ Rs 200 cr to increase peak hour passenger capacity from 250 to 800," Raju said in a tweet.  Leh airport handled little over four lakh passengers in the last financial year ended March 2106. During the same period, there were 3,434 aircraft movements.  Source:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

US aircraft maker Boeing will deliver two Dreamliners to Air India this year and four more next year to complete the airline's order of 27 of these aircraft, even as the national carrier grapples with glitches in its fleet of 787-800 planes.  Once described as a "game-changer," Air India was one of the launch customers of the Boeing 787-800s and had started inducting them in its fleet about four years ago.  Since then, the airline has been facing a series of technical glitches and other malfunction issues with regard to the Dreamliner fleet.  Boeing's Senior Vice President Sales (Asia Pacific and India) Dinesh Keskar said two Dreamliners would be delivered this year.   Source:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com