Indian-Aviation

Ahead of UP assembly polls, PM Narendra Modi thorough Noida rally touched strings of farmers and common men in Western UP but Western UP's major demand including high court bench and airport in Jewar were untouched in PM's addressing. He said sugarcane farmers in Western UP add sweets to many people life but farmers' life is deplorable in Western UP as they are failing to get cost of production. Modi said his government is working to improve infrastructure in Western UP. Quality infrastructure will attract jobs, boost economy and increase tourism. He also remained silent on DND toll free and high court bench for Western UP demand. Modi's address to the public in Noida was focused on Western UP. He raised the issue of sugarcane farmers and middle class people. He said Delhi-Meerut Expressway is a New Year gift from NDA government to lakhs of people travelling between Delhi and UP-NCR and other parts in UP. He said this gift will not help commuters in cutting trave...

Low air traffic has taken its toll on the financial health of airports in Gujarat. Out of total 96 loss-making airports, Gujarat tops the list of states with nine such airports.Their annual losses range from Rs 2 crore to Rs 26 crore. The data available with the Union ministry of civil aviation shows that airports in Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Porbandar, Kandla and Keshod are lossmaking. Among these, airports in Kandla and Keshod do not have even a single scheduled flight operation. Gujarat is followed by Rajasthan and Assam with seven loss-making airports In 2014-15, Vadodara airport registered highest loss with Rs 26.68 crore followed by Surat and Rajkot with incurred losses of Rs 26.05 crore and Rs 13.73 crore respectively. "Besides lack of flight connectivity, the airports are going through losses as there is sufficient road connectivity in the state and availability of other means of transportation," AAI officials added. For Surat, the maj...

Pawan Hans Limited (PHL), the government-run helicopter service company, has launched an ambitious expansion plan, its first since its launch 30 years ago. The company, which has a fleet of 46 helicopters (plus seven on a lease agreement), plans to acquire two seaplanes and 13 aircraft at the cost of Rs 900 crore.  In what is obviously its most ambitious plan, the company is banking on the political parties to fill its coffers. "We are looking at politicians and Central ministries as prospective clients. Currently, only private operators cater to this segment," a senior Pawan Hans official said.  The PHL, in which the government holds 51% stake and the rest are with the public sector unit Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has also said that it is looking at setting up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business under the 'Make in India' project. A senior PHL official told Mumbai Mirror that the company has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Civ...

People in the city will soon be able to enjoy an aerial view of their favourite landmarks as the state government launches "Mumbai Darshan" helicopter flights from January 10. On Wednesday, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Pawan Hans signed an agreement to this effect in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The helicopter servicecs will be operated with Bell 206 L4 aircraft that can seat six passengers besides the pilot. The helicopter flights will take off from Juhu airport and fly north, keeping to the city's west so as not to interfere with air traffic to/from Mumbai airport. "A demo flight will be operated on January 1 to finalise the routes," said Sanjay Kumar, general manager, Pawan Hans, adding that later on, the flights will also try to cover some parts of south Mumbai up to Mahalaxmi. The base formula of approximate Rs 320 per minute excluding taxes has been arrived at between the state government and Paw...

A Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared by RITES Limited – a government of India enterprise for establishing an international air cargo hub at the Chennai airport. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier nominated RITES Limited to prepare the DPR for cargo hubs in Delhi and Chennai and the report is expected to be submitted to the Ministry by January 15 this year, according to a statement. According to the Draft National Civil Aviation Policy, 2015, though air cargo had a high employment potential, especially for semi-skilled workers, currently its volumes in India are extremely low as compared to other leading countries due to high charges and high turnaround time. To ensure growth in the sector, the policy aims to accord ‘infrastructure’ status to air cargo, if co-located with an airport and it would be eligible for Sec 80IA benefits. Section 80-IA of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, provides a 10-year tax holiday for infrastructure projects. The recently-constituted ...

Aone-of-a-kind aviation park where aviation enthusiasts can fly freely and learn the dynamics of being airborne is coming up in Bagodara, around 70 km from Ahmedabad. Work on the park is expected to start this year. The first phase of the park starts with aviation sporting activities, where ardent fliers can practice different flying activities and spread knowledge to those interested in making a career out of it. With India growing as a huge market for aviation, these activities are likely to provide manpower by 2020 according to plans for the park. Secretary of Civil Aviation and Tourism S J Haider confirmed, "The park is a budgeted item and we are processing it. Such things take a long time. In near future Gujarat may see a park that conforms to global standards because aviation is serious business." 60 HECTARE PARK According to sources, department of civil aviation has sent a request for acquiring about 60 hectare land in Bagodara where the park is being planne...

India was the world’s fastest growing aviation market in 2015, expanding more than 20pc as economic growth on the subcontinent picked up. The country's air travel industry outpaced the 10pc growth registered in China and 5pc increase in the United States, according to International Air Transport Association. Strong domestic demand and high manufacturing activity helped  India's economy to grow 7.4pc between July and September , overtaking China as the world's fastest growing major country. It is  widely expected that the South Asian nation will clock 7.3pc to 7.9pc growth in 2016. That's good news for the local airline industry, which is also enjoying higher profits thanks to a sharp fall in oil prices. India’s carriers have lost $10bn in the past seven years as they offered base fares as low as 1 rupee (1p) in a nation where provincial taxes make jet fuel prices the most expensive in Asia. However, the nation’s oil retailers cut fuel prices, whic...

he developer and operator of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport will be charged an 'annual concession fee' even before the airport starts operations, the first instance of such a levy in airport projects in the country. The civil aviation ministry has cleared the proposal for building the airport and the request for proposal is likely to be issued by January 15. As per the new deadline, the airport is likely to start operations from October 2019. This decision was taken in a meeting chaired by aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Wednesday, officials said. The fee will range from Rs 5 crore in the first year to Rs 1,250 crore a year from the 40th year of operations .  "With these charges, the government agencies will earn 17,000 crore during the 60-year period. If you look at it in terms of the net present value, the amount will be about 2,045 crore," said a senior civil aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified. He said tha...

Air India has hiked the penalty for pilots leaving the airline within five years of joining from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. The move is aimed at checking the mass exodus of pilots and ensuring the cash-strapped Maharaja recovers the cost it incurs on training them.  A batch of 25 fresh commercial pilot licence holders (CPL) joining the airline in the coming days will be made to sign a bond and give a bank guarantee that will collectively amount to Rs 50 lakh.  "We will soon make the combined bank guarantee-cum-bond amount Rs 50 lakh for type-rated pilots who join us and up to Rs 1 crore for non-type rated pilots," AI chairman Ashwani Lohani told TOI. "This will be clearly mentioned in our future job ads."  Non-type rated pilots are CPL holders who require additional training to be certified to fly an aircraft such as the Airbus A-320 or Boeing 737 in case of narrow bodies or B-777 or 787 and A-330 in case of wide bodies. Once trained and certified to fly a ce...

The apex consumer court has asked  SpiceJet  airline to pay compensation and  penalty  of Rs 60,000 to a  Tripura   resident for losing his  luggage  in one of its flights.  Justice J M Malik asked the air carrier to pay the compensation amount to Agartala resident Dr Atanu Ghosh whose one out of five registered 'check-in' baggages was lost during his flight and could not be found.  Both the lower fora had granted compensation of Rs 50,000 in favour of Ghosh. Thereafter, the airline approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against the orders of the fora and claimed that the amount awarded to Ghosh was on the higher side.  However, NCDRC said that "the compensation already granted by the fora below is on the lower side" and dismissed the airline' petition with additional costs of Rs 10,000, to be given to Ghosh.  "The consumer court is bound to take the 'down to earth' view. It must be bo...