Indian-Aviation

Newly-launched airline Vistara today said it will increase number of flights on its network, including on Delhi-Mumbai route, starting February 16.  The Tata-SIA joint venture, which rolled out its services early this month, operates three daily services between Delhi -Mumbai-Delhi, besides one flight each between Delhi-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Ahmedabad.  Vistara will operate two more daily flights on the Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi sector from February 16 till March 28, in addition to three daily flights under operations at present, according to the new schedule released by the airline today.  The airline will launch an additional daily flight on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Ahmedabad routes during the period.  As per the plan, submitted by the airline at the time of applying for the flying licence, Vistara will also operate flights from its Delhi base to Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu and Patna in the first year of operations.  It p...

In a big relief to the budget carrier SpiceJet, aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has allowed the airline to accept advance bookings beyond March 31.  The DGCA had earlier restricted SpiceJetBSE 4.74 % to take advance bookings only up to March 31, following financial crisis in the airline, which led to cancellation of its flights in large number and curtail operations in a significant manner.  "SpiceJet is pleased to announce that bookings for its flights are now open for its summer schedule," SpiceJet said in a statement.  The summer schedule of the airlines in India commences from March 29 and lasts up to October end.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45977962.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

By  Mihir Mishra , ET Bureau | 22 Jan, 2015  The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has expedited the process of upgrading India's aviation sector to category I from II in view of US President Barack Obama's state visit to India as chief guest for this year's Republic Day celebrations.  The FAA, which met the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week, has said that the US regulator would be working faster to ensure that the Indian aviation sector gets upgraded as early as possible.  "An FAA representative, based in New Delhi, have indicated to us that the team from FAA will be visiting India for the final consultations during the middle of February. We should be able to get our Category I status back as soon as consultations get over," said a DGCA official, who did not wish to be identified.  The earlier plan was to upgrade India by March this year. The official said the fact that FAA wants to start the consultative meeting in February ...

Domestic airlines are expected to save USD 400 million in the current fiscal on account of sharp decline in fuel prices, which could also mark a turnaround for the loss-making aviation sector, a report said today.  "Between September last year and January this year, into- wing air turbine fuel (ATF) prices in India declined by 24 per cent. India's airlines could save USD 400 million this year on lower fuel prices," Sydney based aviation think tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said.  With fuel accounting for around half of the operating costs of an airline in the country, the 24 per cent fall represents a 12 per cent reduction in costs, the report said.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45971142.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

By PTI | 21 Jan, 2015  In a fresh trouble for the budget carrier SpiceJet, aircraft lessors have approached the aviation regulator DGCA, seeking its permission to repossess 11 Boeing planes of the airline, even as its revival plan is under review of the Civil Aviation Ministry. Besides, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is also yet to take a call on the airline's plea of allowing it to extend the forward bookings beyond March 31, official sources said today. "The lessors want SpiceJetBSE -8.26 % to return 11 leased Boeing planes to them and have written to DGCA in this regard," they said here. The airline currently has 19 Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet. On the other hand, the airline has requested DGCA to remove curbs on the forward bookings, which it can accept only till March 31, the sources said, adding that "DGCA has, however, not yet taken a decision on this issue."  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ar...

Did you know that India's rate of air accident is among the lowest in the world and is below the global benchmark? We may not be up there in terms of quality of aviation services, but if you go by the data put out by the ministry of  civil aviation  it shows that there has been considerable improvement in aviation  safety  in the current year with the number of total aircraft accidents coming down to four from 11 in 2011. In terms of fatal air accidents, the number is down to one from six during the same period. What is heartening is that there were no helicopters accidents this years compared with 2011's five, of which four were fatal. On this parameter, India's accident data for commercial scheduled operation rated even better than the US and beats global benchmark. In this category, India's accident rate per million departures is down to zero since 2011 compared to US's performance that ranged between 2.2 and 3.1 accidents for the same period while the wo...

A rise in accidents and frequent violations of the speed limit in the airport premises has prompted the Directorate General of  Civil Aviation  (DGCA) to plan surprise checks for the safety of passengers and aircraft. The aviation regulator has also received complaints of agencies working inside the airport removing the speed governor (a device that limits speed) of their vehicles. According to an estimate by DGCA, each aircraft movement warrants the movement of at least 20 vehicles the airport, from passenger transfer buses, cleaning vehicles, engineering vans, catering vehicles, fuel carriers, etc. "There have been many violations in the past by the vehicles inside the airside area. We want to bring a stop to such violations as it could be dangerous for the safety of aircraft," said a senior DGCA official. Vehicles operating in airport premises have to adhere to strict regulations, especially with regards to speed limits. The perimeter road allows a speed lim...

Helicopter operator Pawan  Hans  Ltd has posted its highest turnover of Rs 530 crore in the last year, around 15% increase from Rs 465 crore last year. The company plans to use more of its helicopters for law & order and medical emergency  purposes, a company executive said. In India only 1% helicopters are used for such services against the global average of 30%. Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation, was briefed about the performance of the company on Monday by B S Bhullar, chairman and managing director of Pawan Hans. The review meeting also touched up discussed the future business strategies of the company to promote regional connectivity specifically in North East region and inter island. Pawan Hans was incorporated in 1985 with the objective of providing  helicopter  support services to the oil sector for its off-shore operations, services in the remote and hill areas and chartered tourist services for the promotion of tourism. ...

Even as the government has brought back on the table its plans to privatise Chennai and Kolkata airports, it has nearly halved fresh investments required to be made by private concessionaires for developing the airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Ahmedabad in next three to five years. The move has raised questions from certain quarters within the ministry itself over the need for putting them up for privatisation. A senior official in the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said, “What is the need of privatising Chennai and Kolkata airports when we have already made huge investments in upgrading them?” AAI has already invested Rs 2,700 crore and Rs 2,400 crore for expanding capacity and upgrading Kolkata and the Chennai airports, respectively. AAI is sitting on cash reserves of Rs 2,400 crore and, if required, can raise resources to meet planned development works at Chennai and Kolkata (totalling Rs 867 crore). - See more at:  http://indianexpress.com/article/business/b...

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said that the ministry was considering privatisation of four airports in the country, including the Ahmedabad Airport.  "We are thinking of privatising four airports in India. Ahmedabad airport is among these four. There is immense scope of development in this sector. We are committed to provide world class facilities to passengers," he told reporters here.  He was here to hold a review meeting with Gujarat Civil Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel to discuss the issues and problems related to civil aviation sector in the state.  The other airports being considered for privatisation are Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur.  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45954532.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst