No trace of Arunachal CM, ISRO roped in to trace chopper

New Delhi: Government on Saturday night alerted the Department of Space and ISRO for help in locating the whereabouts of the missing helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said that Indian satellites have made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing 20 minutes after takeoff from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh but has not picked up any signals.

He said Pawan Hans helicopter carries a a location transponder that can communicate at 406 MHz frequency in the event of any emergency or it could also be manually operated.

The chopper was last in communication with the base when it was overflying Sela Pass, 20 minutes after taking off from Tawang, and all communication was lost after that.

There was confusion in the afternoon with claims made by Governor Gen (retd) J J Singh first and then by the chief minister's office and defence spokesperson that the chief minister had landed safely in a place called Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district. The CM's office said the helicopter had landed in a place in Bhutan.

The five on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup.

30/04/11 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Bhutan denies chopper landing, ISRO called in for search

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, with official claims that it had been traced to Bhutan denied and no news about the chopper till late evening on Saturday.

Indian government has alerted the Department of Space and ISRO for help in locating the whereabouts of the missing helicopter.

Union Home Secretary G. K. Pillai said that Indian satellites have made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing 20 minutes after takeoff from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh but has not picked up any signals.

He said Pawan Hans helicopter carries a location transponder that can communicate at 406 MHz frequency in the event of any emergency or it could also be manually operated.

Pillai said depending upon the weather tomorrow morning IAF helicopters from Dibrugarh and Jorhat will carry out aerial search.

There was some confusion about reports that the helicopter had been located but actually it still remains untraced till tonight.

"We have also heard through the media about the helicopter landing in Bhutan, but we don't have any reports of an Indian helicopter landing in our territory. But we have deployed troops and local villagers to see if any helicopter has landed here," S. Duba, deputy commissioner of Trashiyangtse district in Bhutan adjoining Tawang, said by phone.

India's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan Verma also said Bhutan has not reported any landing of an Indian helicopter in its territory.

"There is no confirmation of a landing of Indian chopper in Bhutanese territory," he said.

"The official position is there is no confirmation or news about the helicopter. There has been no direct contact with any of the five people on board and we really don't know any details as of now," Arunachal MP Takam Sanjay said.

"The fact of the matter is we don't know yet where the helicopter is," Sanjay said.

30/04/11 Itanagar/Deccan Chronicle

Read More

CM Dorjee Khandu chopper still missing, rescue operations on

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu’s chopper is still untraceable. Reports came from the Chief Minister office that chopper has landed safely in Bhutan couldn’t be verified by officials from both Bhutan and India.

Mr. Khandu, accompanied by his two security personal and sister of Tawang MLA, had taken off from Tawang at 9:56 am and was to land at Itanagar at 11:30 am. But it soon lost its contact and was last sighted at Sela Pass, 20 minutes after taking off from Tawang.

Around 2 pm reports start floating in that locals in eastern Bhutan had seen some helicopter landing but was not confirmed by the Bhutan officials.

Joint search operation conducted by Army, Air Force and state police is on for the missing copter. Two IAF Cheetah helicopters were sent for the rescue and search operations.But poor light and hilly terrain is making search operation difficult. Bhutan has also sent its army to find the missing chopper. ISRO satellites have already done two runs but couldn’t trace anything till now.

Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Inspector General of Police Robin Hibu said joint search operation for the missing helicopter will resume from tomorrow morning by air and through ground.

The five people who are on board are crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup.

30/04/11 i Sikkim

Read More

Arunachal chief minister's chopper was new: Pawan Hans

New Delhi/Itanagar: Pawan Hans Helicopter Limited (PHHL), in whose chopper Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu took off from Tawang on Saturday before it went missing, has refuted allegations of operating an old fleet of helicopters in the northeastern state. "Our Eurocopter Ecureuil AS 350 B3 helicopt

er was not old. In fact, it joined the fleet just four months ago and was in the best possible technical condition as it was used by VIPs in the state," a PHHL official posted at its Itanagar base told IANS.

According to the official, the new chopper which is technically one of the most advanced in the world, had to face bad and unpredictable weather conditions in the area where it was flying.

"Ecureuil is one of the most advanced helicopters in the world, but weather conditions are a huge factor in operation and it is known that the weather over that area was very bad," said the official

Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Khandu's chopper Saturday, with official claims in Arunachal Pradesh that it had been traced to Bhutan denied and no news about the chopper till late evening.

Bhutan till late Saturday denied any Indian helicopter had landed in its territory.

The helicopter took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. and was expected to land in Itanagar, the state capital, at 11.30 a.m.

According to Arunachal MP Takam Sanjay, the chopper lost communication with the ground control staff after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border.

30/04/11 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

Read More

Planes grounded, fares take off

Mumbai: Airfares continued to pinch pockets on Friday as the strike by Air India pilots entered its third day. “I am repenting going on vacation. This is going to be my most expensive holiday,” said Riten Desai, who paid an extra Rs 12,000 for re-booking his three member family on a private carrier after Air India cancelled its flight.

The city-based stockbroker had no choice because he had already paid for a weeklong stay in Kerala. Desai was amongst thousands of travellers who lost money because the national carrier cancelled 76 flights in and out of Mumbai airport on Friday. “We are going crazy re-booking people on alternative flights. Thousands are losing money because the strike has hit air traffic in the middle of peak holiday season,” said Rajesh Rateria, managing director, Cirrus Travels.

Airfares for Saturday flights soared with metro routes going at double the normal rates. For instance, an economy class one-way ticket from Mumbai to Delhi touched Rs 18,000. Fares between metros and Tier 2 cities — Mumbai-Ahmedabad, for instance — more than tripled.

Another reason for the hike in fares for Saturday is the five-hour closure of both runways at Mumbai airport for repairs. The closure for repairs on the stretch where both runways intersect has resulted in at least 120 flight cancellations across all domestic carriers.

30/04/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

Read More

World Cup semi final: I-T department asks DGCA for ownership details of private jets in India

New Delhi: When India's rich and famous descended on Mohali on March 30 to watch the World Cup cricket semi-final between India and Pakistan, they wouldn't have expected the taxman to take notice.

The chaos that day at Chandigarh's small military airport, which saw 65 aircraft-mostly private jets-landing, seems to have made the tax sleuths sit up and take notice. The Income-Tax Department has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for ownership details of private jets in the country.

It has also sought information from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Customs clearances given to aircraft, luxury yachts and flashy sports cars.

"Despite an increase in possession of such items, wealth tax collections have largely remained stagnant over the past several years," an I-T Department official said, explaining the rationale for an investigation.

"We believe there is a need for a deeper investigation on this count," he said.

The fast-growing Indian economy has seen the emergence of a large number of billionaires who can afford such luxury items. There were 335 private planes in India in 2006-170 fixed-wing planes and 165 helicopters. In 2010, the number rose to 552 -270 fixed-wing planes and 282 helicopters.

30/04/11 Deepshikha Sikarwar/Economic Times

Read More

Purulia: Karat for judicial probe

New Delhi: The Communist Party of India(Marxist) on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the Purulia arms-drop case to uncover the network responsible for the incident.

“The Purulia arms-drop in December 1995 was one of the most serious instances of assault on the country's sovereignty. The investigations and the court trial proved that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marg, which was planning to use it to foment violence to destabilise the Left Front government,” the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement in the wake of an interview by Niels Christian Nielsan alias Kim Davy, the absconder in the case.

The party said the judicial inquiry should be held by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

Addressing a press conference here, party general secretary Prakash Karat said the revelations by Davy and Peter Bleach, who was sentenced in the case, raised new questions and necessitated a fresh inquiry.

Mr. Karat said both Nielsen and Bleach made some serious charges of connivance by certain authorities in the air-drop plan and the cover up later.

He said the party believed that the then Central government was “grossly negligent” in dealing with British intelligence information about the arms-drop, “but are now revising our view.”

“We are not interested in scoring political points but when information was available why was the Centre not able to act and the main conspirator has still not been extradited …the government has been tardy in getting him extradited…” the CPI(M) leader said.

30/04/11 The Hindu

Read More

Pawan Hans to deploy two new choppers for Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar: Pawan Hans Helicopter Services Limited (PHHL) Executive Director Sanjeev Bahl on Friday said that the company would deploy two new MI-172 helicopters in Arunachal Pradesh in December.

Four pilots have been selected and would undergo training for the new helicopters.

Expressing deep shock at the April 19 Tawang helicopter crash, which killed 17 people and injured six, Bahl denied that mid-air fire or mayday was announced by the pilot before the crash.

Pointing out that the MI 17 or MI 172 choppers are most trustworthy choppers used in most of the countries even for flying presidents and prime ministers, he said airworthiness is the most important parameter for a chopper, whose life span goes beyond 25 years.

To clarify PHHL's maintenance procedure, Bahl said that besides pre-flight, post-flight and stop-over maintenance, 50-hour, 100-hour (up to 1,000 hour) maintenance are conducted regularly at local base here as per DGCA guidelines while beyond 1,000-hour overhauling is done at Mumbai base and even the choppers are sent to Russia for the purpose.

Bahl further said that besides being the first air service provider to the state and its people, it has been assisting in airlifting heavy machines for BRO (engaged in building border roads), engaged in rescue missions to save precious lives, lifting police personnel to contain civil disturbance, airlifting ration to remote areas delinked by floods besides, men and materials during elections.

29/04/11 ANI/News Track India

Read More

Booking last minute? Get ready to pay a bomb

New Delhi: If you are planning to fly at short notice by any domestic airline, get ready to pay through your nose. The massive cancellation of Air India flights has resulted in the airline booking seats in bulk for its passengers on other carriers. With their own advance bookings and AI's passengers, airlines have very few seats available off the counter. The ones up for grabs fall in the premium category and burn a hole in the pocket.
This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.
"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.
Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.
29/04/11 Neha Lalchandani & Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

First intra-state flight from Surat cancelled after AI strike

Ahmedabad: The intra-state connectivity which was to be flagged off from Surat on Friday has been postponed pending aircraft clearance, thanks to the Air India airlines strike.
On Friday, chief minister Narendra Modi and Deccan Charter's chairman GR Gopinath were scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad to Surat along with other dignitaries, including minister of state for industries and civil aviation Saurabh Patel.
The inaugural flight between Surat and Bhavnagar was to be flagged off by Modi.
Capt Gopinath of the Deccan Charters Limited told TOI, "The commercial air services from Surat and Ahmedabad will begin from May 7 as decided earlier. The inaugural flight which was to take off from Surat has been put off. This is because officials of Director General Civil Aviation and Union Civil Aviation Ministry have been busy tackling the Air India pilots' strike."
The Charters plan to connect Ahmedabad with various destinations in Saurashtra-Kutch and Surat and from Surat to various destinations in Saurashtra-Kutch.
29/04/11 Times of India

Read More

Plane and simple: US, Russia out of India’s $12-billion fighter aircraft deal

New Delhi, Bangalore : The Indian defence ministry has short-listed the Eurofighter Typhoon and French Dassault Aviation Rafale for the $12 billion 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, effectively showing the door to the Americans, Russians and Swedes from the fierce competition.
Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Aviation Rafale have been asked to extend the validity of their commercial bids till December 31. The bids of all six contenders expired on Thursday.
The ministry of defence (MoD) sent out letters on April 26 to all six competing vendors – US’ Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet IN and Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper, Gripen’s Next Generation (NG) from Sweden’s Saab, European consortium EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon, French Rafale from Dassault Aviation and the Russian MiG-35 – while asking only the two short-listed companies for further negotiations.
An MoD source said the rejection of the four contenders was on technical grounds and that the commercial bids of both the short-listed companies would now be opened. Whoever is finally selected will be retained for further price negotiations, as per the seventh and eighth steps of India’s Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) under the defence ministry. Benchmarking of prices is being done now, after which the final decision will be taken.
The offset negotiations are still on. The offset policy mandates foreign company from who defence ware is being procured to invest 30% of the deal cost in any Indian defence company to encourage foreign collaboration and boost the business among private Indian defence firms. The latest developments over India’s MMRCA hunt have understandably miffed the US.
29/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Purulia arms drop had govt sanction: Davy

New Delhi: The operation to drop arms in Purulia in 1995 was approved by the Indian government and was for arming people against 'oppression' by the CPM government in West Bengal, the kingpin of the mysterious operation Kim Davy has claimed.
Speaking to Times Now, Davy said, "Central government saw and approved the plans to arm the defence of these innocent people." He claimed that the consignment was meant to arm the people of Purulia against violent oppression by CPM cadres in West Bengal.
Niels Christian Nielsen, aka Kim Peter Davy, a citizen of Denmark, is presently fighting his extradition to India in the case. In 1995, he and his accomplices chartered a Latvian aircraft and flew from Pakistan to Purulia, dropping a huge cache of weapons.
Reacting to Davy's claims, CPM demanded that the central government explain the mysterious arms drop. The party's politburo said in a statement that the "latest revelations on the arms drop in Purulia in West Bengal in December 1995 are further confirmation of the fact that there was a well-planned conspiracy to use violence to destabilize the Left Front at that time".
CPM said, "Whatever has been said by Kim Davy, a prime accused in the case, and Peter Bleach, who was sentenced in the case, show that the arms drop for the Ananda Margis was planned through an international network and the target was the Left Front government. It was known at that time that the British intelligence had alerted the Indian government about the arms drop. Yet, the central government failed to inform the West Bengal government about the matter in time."
In the interview to the TV channel, Davy claimed, "RAW was informed by external forces and approved of the arms drop months in advance." He also asserted that the external intelligence agency had ensured that the Air Force's radar in the area was switched off so that the aircraft was not picked up when it flew in to drop the arms.
29/04/11 Times of India

Read More

Review Pawan Hans MoU, Aapsu to govt

Itanagar: All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (Aapsu) has asked the state government to review the MoU it had signed with Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) to provide chopper services in Arunachal Pradesh. Citing the recent Tawang crash, Aapsu president Takam Tatung asked the government to go in for a global tender to select the best company to operate in the state.
"As per our information, the state government had written to the chief managing director (CMD) of PHHL twice for proper maintenance and inspection of the MI-172 helicopter last year. Despite repeated requests, the company did not take up proper safety measures and the negligence claimed 17 precious lives at Tawang. The blame for this accident squarely lies on PHHL," Tatung said.
Aapsu also alleged that the department of civil aviation in Arunachal Pradesh is being run without any technical experts.
"Also, many people who were not even qualified to be in this department have been wrongfully appointed by the state government. They lack enough knowledge and conviction to advise the civil aviation department and this is leading to gross mistakes, thereby causing accidents," he added.
The union also took a dig at Hare Krishna Paliwal, principal secretary, power and coordination, New Delhi for "misguiding" the state government on the Pawan Hans issue.
Claiming it was Paliwal who had advised the state government to sign the MoU with PHHL, Aapsu said the government should stop aking advice from such officers.
29/04/11 Pratap John/Gulf Times

Read More

Other airlines hike domestic fares

Mumbai: Domestic airfares began to rise on Wednesday soon after a section of Air India pilots went on an indefinite strike, resulting in many domestic flight cancellations. Airfares on busy metro routes such as Mumbai-Delhi went up by 15 %, said travel agents. This is because by evening, 43 flights to and from Mumbai alone were cancelled, causing a reduction of about 4,000 seats.

“Fares on regular routes are marginally higher but fares of flights connecting tier-two cities with metros are nearly double the normal rates,” said Jay Bhatia, western region chairman, Travel Agents Association of India.

For instance, an economy class one-way ticket between Mumbai and Udaipur that usually costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 was selling at Rs 15,000. “I booked some clients to Mumbai via Ahmedabad because all direct flights were sold out by Wednesday evening,” Bhatia added.

Travel portals said because of the strike, many prospective travellers had shifted bookings to other airlines. “Fares appear to have gone up because the stock of lower fares got sold out. Now, only the higher fares’ inventory is available,” said Sunny Sodhi, vice-president (Air Product), Yatra.com.

The aviation regulator, however, said that airfares were slightly higher because of the seasonal rush in traffic.

28/04/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

Read More

Empire Aviation Group to begin operations in India

Dubai: Empire Aviation Group (EAG), a Dubai-based private aviation specialist and operator of one of the West Asian’s largest managed fleets of business jets, has announced plans to start operations in India, with the opening of a new branch office in Mumbai by mid-2011.

The new branch — the company’s first operational base outside Dubai — will eventually offer the full range of Empire Aviation Group services in the subcontinent and will have an initial focus on aircraft sales and management.

The announcement was timed to coincide with the inaugural Kerala Aircraft Static Display Show 2011 held in Kozhikode where the company will have an exhibit highlighting its range of aviation services and featuring a Hawker 800XP business jet that EAG is marketing on behalf of its owner.

Mr Steve Hartley, Executive Director at Empire Aviation Group, said this is the right time to enter the Indian aviation market, as private jet registrations have continued to rise strongly over the last three years.

“Market reports suggest that there are around 130-140 private jets currently based in the market, covering all the major manufacturers. The market opportunity is especially attractive for our aircraft management services, in which we take owners’ aircraft onto our mixed fleet and manage, operate and charter them on behalf of the owner.

“We believe there is also good potential for new and pre-owned aircraft sales, in a market which is clearly recognising the benefits of private aviation and as the aviation infrastructure develops rapidly to accommodate and support this trend,” he said.

28/04/11 PTI/Business Line

Read More

Striking pilots, harried fliers

New Delhi: Life came to a grinding halt for all passengers who were to fly in the the numerous Air India (AI) flights scheduled to take off from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Wednesday. Strike by almost 700 AI pilots, demanding a hike in salaries, put paid all their plans. At the IGI Airport, routine activity was thrown out of gear as passengers rushed to get a refund of their tickets and book themselves into alternate flights.

“Private airlines’ business has been booming, thanks to the strike. But now even the airlines operating on the same sectors as AI are full,” the official said.

Private airlines cashed in on the situation, hiking up fares by almost 50% of regular fares. Take for instance, the Delhi-Mumbai sector in which airlines like Kingfisher and Indigo are now charging anywhere between Rs 5,672 and Rs 6,696, as against the usual Rs 3500 to Rs 4000.

Civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi, however, said he had not received any reports on private airlines hiking air fares. But he maintained that the DGCA would keep a tab on the situation and will see to it that the airlines maintained their fares at reasonable levels.

Passengers, on the other hand, waited endlessly outside the Air India counter for an update on their flights.

27/04/11 Hindustan Times

Read More

Strike impact: Mumbai-Delhi flight costs go up

Mumbai: Private airlines led by low-cost carriers have jacked up their fares by up to 50 per cent on the Mumbai-Delhi sector in the wake of the strike by a section of Air India pilots who are demanding pay parity and better working conditions.
The Spice Jet Mumbai-Delhi ticket was selling at Rs 6,255 today, while the Bangalore flight fare was up at Rs 5,275, much above the normal range of Rs 3,000-4,000.
While low-cost carrier Indigo is said to be charging Rs 6,234 for its Mumbai-Delhi afternoon flight, Jetlite fares for the same route stood at Rs 5,784.
Full-service carriers like Kingfisher and Jet Airways also followed suit and are cashing in on the market opportunity following the AI pilot’s strike. The Mumbai-Delhi Kingfisher flight is costing Rs 8,798 while Jet Airways hiked the ticket price to Rs 6,785.
27/04/11 Business Line

Read More

Daughter of DGCA No. 2 got licence from school with no plane

Mumbai: They did not have even a single aircraft at their airport base, neither did they have a classroom or a hangar there, but in 2007, for some reason, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was benevolent enough to grant Raipur-based Touchwood Aviation the approval to start flying training for Commercial Pilot License (CPL) students.
A month after it started, Rashmi Sharan, the daughter of A K Sharan, joint director general of DGCA and its number two man, joined the school. Back then, Sharan was the deputy director general (training and licensing), the department which grants approval to flying training organisations. A year after Rashmi got her license and moved out, the school shut down.
The case of Touchwood Aviation is an intriguing one as it is perhaps the only flying school in India to ever get a Flight Training Organisation approval even before it could position an aircraft at its base. It was also allowed to function, though it did not have the mandatory classroom or hangar at its airport base.
Director General Bharat Bhushan said that he was looking into the case. Manjit Singh, owner of Touchwood Aviation, said that nine students, including Rashmi Sharan, completed their CPL from his school. It shut down in August 2009. Rashmi did her training between September 24, 2007 and October 7, 2008.
"Airports Authority of India, the owner of Raipur airport, asked Touchwood to pay 13% of the gross turnover since the time of starting school. This made us economically unviable," Singh said about the closure of the school. He confirmed that no hangar space was allotted by AAI at Raipur airport.
Touchwood said that if it gets airport space at rates which are economically viable, it would start operations.
27/04/11 Times of India

Read More

India Aims For 100 Seaplanes In Next 10 Years

New Delhi: India wants to introduce 100 seaplanes into service in the next 10 years to support tourism and essential services to its coastal and island territories.
The federal government has allowed 100% foreign direct investment in the seaplane sector and has urged foreign operators to take advantage of the offer. India looks at more foreign direct investment in this sector so seaplanes can be introduced on a large scale not only for tourism, but also to provide essential services and medical aid during floods and other emergencies.
“The international market for seaplanes over the next decade is 1,000 units. I think 10% of that must come to India. That is our target,” says S N A Zaidi, India’s civil aviation secretary.
India has a long coastline and there is a need for strong efforts to promote seaplane operations, he says, as such services are significant to improving the economy of the Anadaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep.
26/04/11 Jay Menon/Aviation Week

Read More

DGCA steps in to stem family ‘bonding’

New Delhi: DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan has issued directions barring officials whose children work for aviation companies from handling work relating to those companies. DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is the aviation industry regulator. Bhushan had, last week, issued show-cause notices to at least nine officials whose children are employed with airlines on why prior permission wasn’t taken from the department before their children took up the lucrative jobs.
Meanwhile, a specialised investigating agency, most probably the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), could be asked to investigate such DGCA officials to find out if they used their influence to get relatives jobs with aviation companies or help them get pilot licences.
A decision to this effect could be taken once civil aviation secretary returns from a foreign visit next week.
26/04/11 Hindustan Times

Read More

India developing first civilian aircraft

New Delhi: India is developing its first civilian aircraft, which would be a 70 to 90-seater plane catering to the regional aviation market, and a feasibility study is currently on, a top scientist said today.
"We are looking at creating a Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) which would be 70 or a 90-seater. The feasibility study is being carried out now," M R Nayak, advisor and chief scientist at the state-owned National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) said here.
A high-powered committee headed by former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G Madhavan Nair has already been set up to guide the project.
He said the aircraft would be developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Besides NAL which is the nodal agency for the project, the public sector firms participating in the project are HAL, DRDO, ISRP, BEL and ADA, while those in the private sector included HCL, QUEST, Infosys, Mahindras, L&T and Tata Group.
Nayak was speaking at a meeting of Indo-US aviation manufacturers, where Boeing India, president, Dinesh Keskar said the growing aviation market in the country had greatly enhanced the opportunities for businesses of both countries to collaborate in such projects.
Keskar said India would require 1,150 civilian planes, worth $130 billion, over the next two decades, and another $30 billion worth of military aircraft, missiles and other aerospace equipment.
26/04/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Prices soar, flight tickets 5 times as costly

Mumbai: On Monday afternoon, flight prices from Mumbai to Bangalore rose sharply. A Kingfisher flight for Monday evening was available for Rs 14,851, while a GoAir flight on the same route cost R11,764.
"The rise in prices is a result of the demand, which went up as devotees came in big numbers to book a flight to Bangalore," said a senior official with a private airline.
High demand was also prevalent in New Delhi as the flight tickets to Bangalore went up by more than three times.
The fare for a Kingfisher Airlines flight from New Delhi to Bangalore on Monday was R25,178, while an Indigo airline ticket for the same came for Rs 11,933.
26/04/11 Surbhi Borar/Hindustan Times

Read More

Airfares likely to shoot up by 20% as fuel prices, demand soar

Mumbai: Soaring fuel prices and rising passenger demand will make summer travel to international destinations costlier by 15%-20% from a year earlier, said aviation and travel trade experts.
Brent crude prices have been hovering near two-and-a-half-year high of $122 a barrel due to the West Asia crisis, pushing jet fuel prices by over 30% worldwide. This has forced international airlines to increase fuel surcharge, an extra amount added to an air fare to cover increased fuel costs - in April. Around 72 international airlines operate out of India.
The surcharge has risen by up to 25% in the past couple of months, according to travel industry experts.
Singapore Airlines has increased fuel surcharge by 16% from February. While Singapore Airlines charged 8,558 as fuel surcharge on a Mumbai-Singapore-Mumbai ticket in February, it charges 9,924 in April. The airline has added an additional $32 (about 1,400) on tickets sold after April 21.
Other international airlines such as British Airways and Emirates have also joined the bandwagon. British Airways has hiked its fuel surcharge by £10 (about 730) in April.
"Due to the current volatility of oil prices, Emirates is introducing a fuel surcharge to reflect the substantial recent increases in our fuel costs," Emirates had informed its trade partners in a statement last week.
Emirates accounts for a lion's share of outbound traffic from India, beating rival carriers such as British Airways, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. As jet fuel constitutes about 40% of an airline's operating cost, higher fuel surcharge helps cover increased cost.
25/04/11 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times

Read More

Jayaswal to fly high with new plane soon

Nagpur: City-based industrialist Manoj Jayaswal will soon get into the league of some leading bizmen of the country who own private jets. Abhijeet Group chief Jayaswal is planning to acquire a Bombardier aircraft, which will cost him a cool Rs 100 crore plus, and park it at Nagpur airport. This would make his business group the first in the region to have its own aircraft.
Sources in the company, which is soon planning a Rs 1500K crore IPO too, say that Jayaswal has set his eyes on a Bombardier Challenger 605 aircraft and it will be delivered in May. A Bombardier aircraft is normally priced around $25 million, which translates to almost Rs 110 crores. One of the preferred business jets, it has the capacity to carry 9 to 12 persons across intercontinental distances.
The Challenger 605 was introduced in early 2006 as an upgrade to the 604 model. It has a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.82 and a 4,010 nautical-mile (7,427km) range.
A top civil aviation ministry official said that the Abhijeet Group has applied for 5,000 square meters land to build a hangar at Nagpur airport. The monthly rent for it would be Rs 3 lakh. The company has applied for the huge piece of land as it plans to buy another aircraft and a helicopter soon.
The application for land at the airport, run by of the Mihan India Private Limited, has been made in the name of Abhijeet Projects which is engaged in setting up infrastructure for the group's ventures, including power plants in Jharkhand and Bihar.
25/04/11 Shishir Arya/Times of India

Read More

No rent or lease, DGCA gives 30 acres free to PHHS

Pune Even as the Tawang crash has shown Pawan Hans in bad light, its plans to start a helicopter training academy along with a Maintenance Repair Operations (MRO) unit and heliport at Hadapsar Gliding Centre in Pune is getting mired in controversy.
A Memorandum of Understanding between PHHL and DGCA signed on May 17, 2010 agrees DGCA will hand over land to PHHL on a no rent/lease basis. The MoU says the project cost, Rs 14.6 crore, for setting up the facilities would be from budgetary support provided to DGCA by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal.
Clause 3 (b) of the MoU, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, states; ‘DGCA will allocate a portion of the land and existing infrastructure facilities at Hadapsar Gliding Centre, Pune to PHHL as required for development of helicopter activities as mentioned in (a) above on no rental/ lease basis.’ Clause (a) throws light on various operations PHHS would conduct from the location and has no mention of the development of the gliding centre, which was once on the priority list of the DGCA.
Bharat Bhushan, Director General Civil Aviation, said, “It was a considerate decision we took in the court to put an end to minute things that were causing delay. It was a conscious decision and the further terms would be decided in due course. PHHL is a 100 per cent government-owned company.”
He refused to comment on ‘further terms’ or the time when they would be decided.
Bharat Bhushan had visited the Gliding Cente on March 16, 2011, coinciding with a cockpit resource management and safety seminar by the PHHL. It was the visit of a DG after a gap of over six years. Before that, R P Sahi, Joint Director General, DGCA, had paid a visit in 2008 along with Pawan Hans Chairman and Managing Director RK Tyagi, who had joined PHHL as consultant after his retirement in October, 2010.
24/04/11 Pranav Kulkarni/Express India

Read More

SC to grill govt on keeping pvt airlines off ground handling

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Monday examine the government's defence to justify its policy of keeping out private airlines from ground handling duty, which is to be handed over to a consortium led by Air India or to the airport managing companies. The apex court on April 4 had sought a response from th
e government whether such a move would not hurt the efficiency of private airlines.
The ministry of civil aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation and other government bodies are opposing the petition filed by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), an umbrella body of private carriers, challenging the policy.
The apex court had refused to stay the judgement of the Delhi High Court, which on March 4 asked private carriers to follow the directions of civil aviation regulator DGCA to enter into agreement with the firms approved by it for ground handling duties.
A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik admitted the petition filed by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) and issued notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA.
The government, on account of security reasons, had permitted only national carrier Air India and the airport operator (such as Airports Authority of India, GMR and GVK) to render ground handling services.
The change in policy assumes significance as the size of the ground handling business is estimated to be around Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore.
As per the policy, airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are to implement the ground handling policy. The FIA, which represents all Indian carriers, has stated that nearly 3,000-3,500 employees presently deployed by private airlines across the country would be displaced.
24/04/11 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

Read More

Biz aviation mkt takes off as pvt jet sales soar

Bangalore: Owning a private jet is no longer the prerogative of only the swish set. Home-bred entrepreneurs from tier-II cities are now hopping aboard to save travel time and focus more on businesses. Take the instance of Shamanur Shivashankarappa, chairman of Davanagere-based Shamanur Group. He trusts his personal set of wings-a Beechcraft King Air C90-to hop in and out of his sugar factories in Karnataka. The 80-year-old patriarch swears by his aircraft to travel to his sugar factory in Mudhol, near Bagalkot. "I prefer to fly from Davanagere to Belgaum and drive down to Mudhol. Hence, I save a lot of time," he says.
The business aviation market is already flush with buyers from the real estate sector, offshore gas exploration and mining companies. India's growing roster of high net worth individuals (HNIs) and demand from corporates are accelerating sales of business jets in the country. Sensing demand for flexible transportation, players like Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, Gulfstream, Falcon and Bombardier are fighting for a share of the pie of India's burgeoning business aviation market.
According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation , the general aviation market- comprising business jets, helicopters, turboprops and piston engines-is expected to touch $12 billion in aircraft sales by 2020 with a fleet size of 2,000 aircraft from the current 680.
22/04/11 Shilpa Phadnis/Times of India

Read More

DGCA to conduct audit of safety measures at heliports

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA will conduct audit of safety measures at heliports, particularly those situated in remote areas, in the wake of the chopper crash in Tawang that claimed 17 lives.
"We are thinking of conducting an audit of readiness of safety measures at heliports, basically those situated in remote areas...In Tawang, the first fire-tender reached the spot after quite a long time," director general of civil aviation E K Bharat Bhushan told reporters here on Friday on the sidelines of a function of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited.
A helicopter, carrying 23 people, crashed in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang area on Tuesday after it caught fire just before it was to land at the helipad located at an altitude of 11,000 feet, bordering China's Tibet region.
The first fire-tender reached the spot after 45 minutes, which, officials feel led to heightened casualties.
Bhusan said the Voice Data Recorder of the ill-fated chopper has been recovered and sent to Mumbai for decoding.
Rejecting Arunachal Pradesh government's claims that PHHL was responsible for the crash as their helicopters were not airworthy and not maintained as per the DGCA guidelines, he said, "The 14-year-old helicopter that crashed in Tawang had the 'Certificate of Airworthiness' valid till this year-end. There was nothing wrong with the helicopter."
22/04/11 Times of India

Read More

A buisness jet no more a luxury

Bangalore: Many businessmen from tier-II cities are hopping aboard the plane-in-my backyard bandwagon to better manage their far-flung operations. The business aviation market is already flush with buyers from the real estate sector, offshore gas exploration and mining companies.

India's growing roster of high net worth individuals (HNIs) and demand from corporates are accelerating sales of business jets in the country. Sensing demand for flexible transportation, players like Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, Gulfstream, Falcon and Bombardier are fighting for a pie of the country's burgeoning business aviation market.

According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the general aviation market comprising business jets, helicopters, turboprops and piston engines is expected to touch $12 billion in sales by 2020 with a fleet size of 2,000 aircraft from the current 680.

With rising bottomlines, corporates and HNIs are finding it easier than before to afford a business jet, said Amber Dubey, director (aerospace and defence), at consulting firm KPMG.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says general aviation market expected to touch $12 billion in sales by year 2020 With rising bottomlines, corporates and HNIs are finding it easier than before to afford a business jet Business aircraft no more a luxury, but a tool for increased productivity Turboprops start from $5 million and go up to $100 million for a full-fledged business jet.

Desi entrepreneurs have booked themselves on a jet-setting flight. They have acquired private craft to cut travel time and focus more on their business.

21/04/11 Shipa Phadnis/Times of India

Read More

No soft landings here

After more than a decade without any worthwhile investment for developing airports’ infrastructure, India’s aviation sector is on the move again. More than five years ago, a bold policy decision was taken by the government to encourage private investment in the sector along the public-private partnership model (PPP).

This opened the gates for attracting private entrepreneurs to invest in airports and airline infrastructure.

The ministry of civil aviation has estimated that domestic traffic in India by 2020 could be of the order of 160 million passengers with international traffic likely to exceed 50 million. India’s aircraft requirement by 2020 is estimated to be 1,000-odd aircraft in a mix, depending on the traffic circuits and economic development of various regions.

The investment projected in airports in the period is of the order $30 billion (Rs 1.35 lakh crore) and investment in aircraft procurement about $90 billion (about Rs 4 lakh crore). Considering such heavy investments, the government decided to induct private equity in the development of the aviation sector, which, till then, had been financed only through the government’s budgetary support.

As a result of the government’s policy to bring private capital for the development of airport infrastructure, Delhi and Mumbai airports have completed their first phase of development with private investment of about Rs 20,000 crore and need investment of a similar order for the next phase of development.

As of now, Mumbai International Airport is already saturated with no possibility of expansion due to land constraints. A greenfield airport (a new airport that’s built from scratch in a new location) in Navi Mumbai has been approved. This will need an additional investment of Rs 11,250 crore.

The two greenfield airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad, developed recently by private groups with an investment of about Rs 15,000 crore, have started operating. In addition, a bigger new international airport for Chennai is being developed at about Rs 10,000 crore to meet the air transport needs of Tamil Nadu for the next 20 years.

21/04/11 HS Bhatia/Hindustan Times

Read More

Aviation policy proposes sops for intra-state flights

Ahmedabad: Air traffic in Gujarat is set for a change. At least that is what the Gujarat aviation policy, which is going to be announced soon, promises. To give a boost to the sector, the state government has decided to extend tax sops on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to companies operating intra-state flights.

The government has already floated Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited (Gujsail) that will facilitate the infrastructure needs of companies and airline operators coming to Gujarat.

The policy draft suggests setting up of an ATF trading company which will be a joint venture between Gujsail and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited. The move gained impetus after the ATF market was opened for public and private players. Reliance Industries Ltd was the first private player to get licence to market the special fuel in India.

The VAT on ATF for flights operating within the state would be waived off for five years from the policy announcement date. Helicopters with non-scheduled operations in the state will also be exempted from paying the tax.

"The policy was drafted in 2010 and is still under review. To finalise on tax and other exemptions it has been sent to revenue and finance departments for clearances. Once we get the green light, government will apply for licence to trade ATF or get into an MoU with private players like Reliance," said a senior government official.

20/04/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

Nepotism rife at DGCA

New Delhi: Heads have started rolling at Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Air Safety director RS Passi is the first top official to be removed from his post after the fake pilot racket came to light.

He had allegedly prevailed on SpiceJet to employ his daughter Garima as a pilot though she failed her cadet programme.

But Garima could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Joint Director General AK Sharan's daughter Rashmi Sharan is a pilot in Indigo airlines - the airline told CNN-IBN they were under no pressure to hire her.

Deputy Director-general Charan Dass's daughter is an engineer with SpiceJet. Former Joint director-general RP Sahi's son works as a first officer for Jet Airways.

All three have been asked to explain the circumstances of their children's employment. DGCA sources say that a inquiry could be conducted.

20/04/11 Karma Paljor/CNN-IBN

Read More

Eurocopter delivers 1,000th Dauphin helicopter to Pawan Hans Helicopters

Eurocopter’s 1,000th helicopter from its Dauphin family was delivered today to India’s Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, the world’s largest civilian operator of this successful twin-engine, medium weight rotary-wing aircraft.

Pawan Hans’ milestone helicopter is an AS365 N3 version, configured for offshore oil and gas drilling missions, and it brings the Indian operator’s fleet to a total of 35 Dauphins.

The Dauphin is known by its distinctive shape, with the helicopter’s nose recalling the form of a dolphin – the mammal after which its French name is derived. Since the 1970s, Dauphins have been in service with some 300 customers in 69 countries, accumulating a combined total of more than 5.1 million flight hours. These helicopters are used in a full range of operations on land and at sea, earning a reputation for mission capability, cost-effectiveness, ease of operation and flight safety. Since 1981, the Dauphin also has been available in the AS565 Panther military version.

Marking the 25-year association of Eurocopter with its key Indian customer at today’s delivery were Eurocopter President & CEO Lutz Bertling; and Sanjiv Bahl the Executive director of Pawan Hans; who were joined by Joseph Saporito, Eurocopter’s Executive Vice President for Commercial Programs; and Cécile Arnaud the Sales & Marketing director of Eurocopter India Pvt Ltd.

19/04/11 Business Standard

Read More

Pilots see red over extra fuel order

Chennai: The Indian Commercial Pilots Association has now objected to the office order issued last week wherein all flights to Mumbai have to carry 1.5 tonnes extra fuel.

“The circular states that 1.5 tonnes of extra fuel should be carried as a constant figure for all Airbus 319/320/321/330 which have different fuel consumptions. What cost study has been done to arrive at this figure of 1.5 tonnes ? The company on one hand is trying to promote cost cutting by fuel saving which is one of the major expenditures. To achieve this, the company has spent hundreds of crores of rupees for zero fuel weight flight plan which on implementation will result in optimum fuel consumption and cost cutting. Instead of training the crew for this ZFW flight plans, an arbitrary figure of 1.5 tonnes of extra fuel has been decided to be carried,” Capt AS Bhinder stated in the letter.

An additional carriage of fuel results in extra fuel consumption from 15% to 30% (amounting to an increase of approximately Rs 30,000 per sector per flight into Mumbai) and hence will result in increase in the cost of operation of each flight into Mumbai.

This extra fuel, pilots say, will result in an increase in gross weight, decrease in optimum altitude leading to more fuel burnt and consumption.

20/04/11 ExpressBuzz

Read More

Fake pilot scam: Files go missing from DGCA

New Delhi: Police are probing the disappearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's office of files on two pilots under the scanner for obtaining licences using forged documents, an official said here on Tuesday.

"We have initiated an investigation into the incident," said deputy commissioner of police Ashok Chand.

A case for destruction of evidence has been filed against unidentified people, a senior police official said.

"A case has been registered after DGCA informed that files relating to two pilots under scanner have gone missing," the official said.

The official said they had earlier received three fresh names of pilots who submitted forged marksheets to get licences.

"When we asked for the papers related to two of them, the DGCA informed that they could not trace them," the officer said. Police are studying how the DGCA route their files.

Delhi Police have so far arrested 12 people in the fake pilot licence scam. Two pilots have been arrested by Rajasthan Police.

19/04/11 IANS/Times of India

Read More

'Fake pilot' probe: Top DGCA official relieved of duty pending inquiry

Delhi: The probe into the 'fake pilots' probe has now reached the top echelons of aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

RS Passi, the joint director of DGCA has been relieved of his duties pending probe into his role into his daughter procuring a fake pilot license.

Mr Passi is the father of Garima Passi who quit SpiceJet airlines last month following allegations of attaining a pilot license under "extraordinary circumstances".

Alongwith Mr Passi, 8-9 DGCA officials are also under the scanner and have been asked to explain how their relatives procured pilot licenses.

The functioning of the DGCA has been under a cloud ever since it was discovered that parents of two accused pilots, including Garima Passi, worked with the regulatory body.

19/04/11 NDTV.com

Read More

Fake pilot scam: FAA to de-recognise Dr Bhalla

New Delhi: A Delhi-based doctor and the only one in north India authorised by the DGCA to give pilots the mandatory medical clearance to fly is likely to be de-recognised by a top US Aviation regulator.

The Federal aviation authority acted after CNN-IBN reported that Dr Bhalla was extorting money from pilots in exchange for the fitness certificate.

Everybody wants a bite of the booming aviation pie, even if that means extortion, threats or blackmails. CNN-IBN exposed the rots, where even medical doctors are allegedly willing to issue fitness certificates to pilots for money.

Fake pilots, fake flying schools, conniving officials and now even medical doctors - the rot in the aviation sector has only been getting stinkier.

Several experts and pilots with the US flying licenses CNN-IBN spoke to have alleged Dr Akshay Bhalla of extortion to issue medical fitness certificates needed to fly.

Dr Bhalla is an ex-Air Force doctor and is also an approved medical examiner for the DGCA. He is the only doctor in North India approved to issue medical certificates.

There are 500 expert pilots and US flying license holders in India. They are required to get medical fitness certificate every six months.

And if one refuses to pay up, they are declared unfit without even being checked.

19/04/11 Mike Sangma, Karma Paljor/CNN-IBN

Read More

Navigation to be separated from AAI for better ATM services

New Delhi: To demarcate the functional responsibility of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as an ''aerodrome operator'' and air navigation service (ANS) provider, the government has separated the air navigation wing from the airport operator.

The government''s decision follows recommendations of the Ajay Prasad Committee for formulation of next generation futuristic Air Navigation Services Master Plan.

The Committee had expressed an immediate need to bring necessary organisational changes in AAI, as the present structure does not clearly demarcate its functional responsibility of an ''aerodrome operator'' and of ANS provider, a senior AAI official said.

The Directorate of Integrated Planning Cell, which was performing integrated CNS/ATM planning functions, was not functioning effectively and it was reporting through Member (Planning).

At times, some of the projects of air traffic management (ATM) or communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) used to get delayed due official bottle necks, which proved as hindrance to the modernisation and development of future network centric CNS/ATM systems.

17/04/11 PTI/msn.com

Read More

1 held in fake pilot licence scam

New Delhi: One more pilot was arrested here for getting a licence on the basis of forged documents, Delhi Police said on Friday. Saif Misbah was arrested from Mayapuri area in south Delhi on Thursday after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) forwarded three new names to police in the scam. Dur

ing the interrogation, Misbah admitted that he used forged marksheets to obtain a commercial pilot licence.

Delhi Police have so far arrested 12 people in the fake pilot licence scam. Two pilots have been arrested by Rajasthan Police.

15/04/11 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

Read More

Ramco Systems Launches Series 5 ERP For Aviation Manufacturing At Miami MRO

Ramco Systems, the Global Aviation Maintenance & Engineering and Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul software provider, announced today the launch of its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offering for the Aviation, Aerospace and Defense industry.

Ramco Systems, the Global Aviation Maintenance & Engineering and Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul software provider, announced today the launch of its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offering for the Aviation, Aerospace and Defense industry.

With over 1100 global ERP Customers, Ramco Systems is one of the largest providers of enterprise applications for the aviation industry. Series 5 Manufacturing has all the necessary functionality for complex, mixed-mode, process and discrete, JIT, lean and KANBAN manufacturing processes. The manufacturing suite provides a single solution that unifies Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Sales, Service Management, Plant Maintenance, Human Resources and Financials.

15/04/11 Aerospace Online

Read More

Airlines seek transparency in jet fuel pricing

Airlines are lobbying with the government for a more transparent system to fix the cost of jet fuel, based on the Mean of Platts Arab Gulf (MOPAG) model, which may help bring down prices in the long run.

MOPAG is an international benchmark for pricing crude and products designed by Platts, a price assessment agency.

Jet fuel, also known as aviation turbine fuel (ATF), accounts for about 40% of the operating cost of domestic carriers. Any change in its price will have an impact on the airlines.

“Many big European carriers are benefiting from the MOPAG system, while Indian carriers are hit by price revision by oil marketing companies in every 15 days,” said a senior executive at private airline. He did not want to be identified.

An executive at state-run Air India Ltd said his airline is also lobbying for a MOPAG-based pricing system.

Airline lobby group Federation of Indian Airlines secretary general Anil Baijal said the group is not leading the demand, “but airlines may be separately asking for it”.

State-run oil marketeers did not comment for this story.

There are two pricing models for jet fuel supply in India—the MOPAG model and the model followed by state-run oil marketing firms, in which prices are changed every fortnight.

The MOPAG model factors in the price of crude, a supplier mark-up and a third-party fee for using common fuel supply infrastructure in airports.

14/04/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

Read More

Can you fly? Prove it on camera

New Delhi: With more and more 'fake' pilot cases being unearthed every day air travel is fast ceasing to be a joyride. Now, after facing flak on the issue from all quarters, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to put its examination wing under CCTV surveillance.

DGCA has a special examination wing called Central Examination Organisation (CEO) which conducts all the tests of the aviation regulator from pilots, to cabin crew, navigation officers and medical examinations. The department is headed by an officer of deputy director general level.

"We have decided to put the entire examination wing under CCTV surveillance. From printing to paper-checking rooms and examination hall, we will have cameras everywhere. Initially eight cameras are being installed. The number may be increased later on," said a top CEO official, who wished to remain anonymous.

"It should be appreciated. It's a welcome step to improve transparency," Former Director General, DGCA, Kanu Gohain told MiD DAY. Sources said, even the visitors area will be put under surveillance so that who is meeting whom can also be monitored. Though junior level examinations are conducted all across India, the senior level tests like type ratings of aircraft, Airline Transport Pilot Licence test and senior navigation officers' examination are conducted at the centre in RK Puram.

JB Kadiyan, a cabin crew union leader said: "Anything which brings transparency in the system is welcome. It is a step in the right direction and should have been done long ago."

"It is a good step. Why should everybody in the industry get a bad name because of the wrongdoings of a handful of people? Government should explore all the loopholes in the system and develop a mechanism to stop this malpractice," said an Indian Commercial Pilot Association member.

14/04/11 Mid-Day.com/NDTV

Read More

Fake pilots: Govt says no need to panic

New Delhi: Allaying apprehensions that a "huge number" of fake pilots were flying planes in the country, civil aviation ministry today said such reports were "far from the truth" and there was was no need to panic as only 13 such cases have been detected so far after a thorough scrutiny.

"In respect of airline transport pilot licenses (ATPL), almost all licences have already been examined and found to be genuine, except in respect of the six (cases of forgery) detected," an official statement said, maintaining that 13 FIRs have so far been lodged after scrutiny of licenses.

"The DGCA has commenced examination of all Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) records issued during the past and till date, seven cases of submission of forged result cards have been detected. FIRs have been lodged with Crime Branch of Delhi Police in respect of all 13 cases (6 ATPLs and 7 CPLs)".

While there are about 4,000 ATPLs, about 10,000 CPLs have been issued till date.

"These facts are made known to the public in order to ensure that there is no panic as a result of media reports hinting at huge numbers of fake pilots flying civilian aircraft in the country. This is far from the truth," the statement said.

On complaints regarding certain flying schools, it said three special audit teams, comprising officers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and outside experts, would "conduct detailed audit of these schools to detect malpractices, if any".

13/04/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Soon, jet engines to have volcano-proof coatings

Washington, DC: A new research led by an Indian-origin scientist has discovered that a new class of ceramic coatings could offer jet engines special protection against volcanic ash damage in the future.

For their study, the researchers at the Ohio State University tested two coatings that were originally developed to keep airborne sand from damaging jet engines, and found that the coatings also resist damage caused by ash deposits.

Like sand, ash is made mostly of silica. When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted in April 2010, it billowed clouds of silicate ash.

"Ash poses a threat very similar to sand, but ash composition varies widely depending on the type of volcano," said Nitin Padture, College of Engineering Distinguished Professor at the University, who led the study.

"After what happened in Iceland, we wanted to see how ash interacted with our new thermal barrier coating, and whether the underlying damage mechanisms were any different," he said.

Doctoral students Julie Drexler and Andrew Gledhill took samples of the ceramic coatings on pieces of metal, and coated them with ash from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption. Then they heated the samples in a furnace to simulate the high temperatures created in a jet engine.

They experimented with a typical jet engine coating and two sand-resistant coatings.One was Padture's formula, containing zirconia and alumina, and the other was a commercially available new formula based on gadolinium zirconate.

14/04/11 ANI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Flying from your neighbourhood with Easy Bill

New Delhi: India is the 9th largest aviation market in the world and is one of the fastest growing aviation industries in the world. To cater the demand of domestic growth, Easy Bill, a Hero Group Company and the pioneer in the field of Bill payment, has ventured into airline ticketing to provide more convenience and reach to consumers through its outlets.

The growth of airlines traffic in Aviation Industry in India is almost four times above international average. Easy Bill has tied-up with various airlines to provide tickets at nearest neighbourhood outlets.

"India ranks fourth after US, China and Japan in terms of domestic passengers volume. Rapidly rising real incomes amongst the middle class is driving demand and there is still a huge potential to be tapped in Indian markets." quotes Rahul, son of the founder of Hero Honda Motors - Raman Kant Munjal.

Established in 2003, Easy Bill is India's first chain of one stop payment collection centres. It is promoted by the 'Hero Group of Companies', one of the leading business houses in India.

Easy Bill is operational in more than 100 cities, covering all major cities (more than 10000 outlets across India), and is at in its expansion stage.

Be it mobile, telephone, general insurance or credit cards; Easybill provides convenience to pay bills at leisure with minimal or no extra charge, even on Sundays. Its gamout of services includes Railway booking, Bus booking, Mobile recharge, Bill payments of Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, Reliance, SBI cards, GE money, LIC Premium Payments & Electricity bill payment under one roof.

13/04/11 India PRwire

Read More

‘Indian carriers' debt may touch $20 b this fiscal'

Chennai: The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India feels that the total debt of Indian carriers is expected to reach around $20 billion by the end of the financial year, unless serious efforts are made to de-leverage their balance sheets.

About half of this debt is aircraft-acquisition related; the rest is working capital loans and trade creditors (such as airport operators and fuel companies).

The large three airline groups in particular need to reduce their net debt and boost liquidity as their cash positions remain low, it said.

The independent aviation market intelligence, analysis and data service provider in its aviation outlook (to be released next week) projects that India's private carriers will post a combined profit of $350-$400 million for the year ending March 31, 2012.

However, Air India is expected to remain in the red with losses in the range of $1 billion-1.25 billion, assuming an average oil price of $85-95 a barrel.

The positive direction of the industry in terms of traffic, yields and profitability, supported by strong long term fundamentals will lead to a resumption of fleet orders. In addition to IndiGo's recently announced plans to acquire 180 A320 aircraft, CAPA expects that India's carriers will place orders for up to 200 new aircraft this year with a list price of $11 billion-12 billion.

13/04/11 T.E.Raja Simhan/Business Line

Read More

Air Works receives the prestigious Aviation Week

New Delhi: Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd announced that it has received the prestigious Aviation Week award for the 'Leading independent MRO of 2011'. The award was presented to Air Works during Aviation Week MRO America Conference and Exhibition in Miami, USA on April 12, 2011.

Air Works has been selected to receive this award for its significant progress in building quality and brand awareness over the last one year. The Aviation Week MRO of the Year Awards honours the best MRO and aftermarket entities around the world for value-adding achievements and innovations. Aviation Week's awards are recognized as the most coveted awards in the aviation industry. These awards were conceived more than 50 years ago to recognize the extraordinary achievements of individuals and teams in aerospace, aviation and defense.

Air Works is the only third party MRO in India with an EASA Part 145 certification. Air Works has constantly been focusing on enhancing capabilities through accreditations and services to make the company a one- stop shop for all aircraft maintenance work.

Commenting on this milestone achievement, Vivek Gour, Managing Director, Air Works said; "Air Works receiving the leading independent MRO of the year award is phenomenal.

14/04/11 afaqs!

Read More

DGCA to probe late arrivals

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to probe arrival delays at Mumbai airport during evening peak hours. According to DGCA sources, this is because most airlines block arrival slots and then reach the airport before time.

“We got to know that many airlines block their slots, say for 8.30pm, but manipulate their schedule in such a way that they arrive before time,” said an official from the Air Traffic Control.

As the arrival is before the scheduled time, the flights have no option but to wait in queue and hover over Mumbai, leading to congestion. “Many airlines are manipulating their schedule by showing different timings for the same route. For instance, a Delhi-Mumbai flight takes 1.45 hours. For certain flights, the airlines will show a flight duration of 2.15 hours. In case the flight arrives before 2.15 hours, the passengers think his flight is before time,” he said.

13/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

'Fake' pilot files vanish from DGCA

The fake pilot scam seems to be going the Commonwealth Games scandal way at least when it comes to the safety of the records related to the investigation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reported to the Delhi police that files related to some of the pilots have gone missing after it had ordered a scrutiny of licences of all the pilots in the country. "The DGCA has reported that files of two pilots are missing from its office," said DCP, (Crime Branch), Ashok Chand, who is heading the investigation.

Sources said in one case, marksheet of one of the pilots has also gone missing from the DGCA office. "A marksheet of one of the pilots, Gaurav Jain, is also missing and Crime Branch has refused to take any action against him until they are not given this document," said a source in DGCA. Jain, a native of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, has been on the run after a complaint against him was given to Crime Branch by DGCA on April 1.

The DGCA officials could not be reached for comments on the missing files. "We cannot take action against Gaurav only on basis of a complaint. The marksheet, which is believed to be fake, is required to book him in criminal case," said a Crime Branch official on condition of anonymity.

13/04/11 Atul Krishan and Surender Sharma/MiD DAY

Read More

Pilots’ body raises concerns about Indian flight duty timings

Mumbai: Less than 10 days after an international pilot body criticised the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for going soft on airlines violating safety rules, the body has raised serious concerns about the aviation regulator’s new draft on crew flight duty timings. The issue came to light during

the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) conference at Chiang Mai in Thailand that concluded on Monday.

The body representing more than a lakh pilots across the world said that the draft is not scientifically based. The International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) annexure 6 states that rules on flight duty should be formed on the basis of scientific research. ICAO is the global policy maker for air travel and India being a member state should follow its recommendations.

“Aviation regulators in country such as US and the UK which have good air safety record have created the flight duty rules on the basis of research findings assessing fatigue levels of flying crew,” said an IFALPA member requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to talk to the media. The IFALPA is in the course of writing to the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry about the issue.

The Society for Welfare Indian Pilots (SWIP), a body formed by Jet Airways pilots have also questioned the regulator on the same lines.

13/04/11 Hindustan Times

Read More

DGCA teams to check 40 flying schools

New Delhi: The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up three teams to examine 40 flying schools across the country from April 18.

The move comes amid reports of pilot training schools fudging their logbook entries to help candidates get licences.

The teams would submit reports within three months. The authenticity of records submitted by those who underwent training in foreign institutions would also be scrutinised, official sources here said.

Thirteen persons, including five pilots and three DGCA personnel, have so far been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on the charge of using forged mark sheets and fudging flying hours to get licences. A chief training officer of a Rajasthan flying club was earlier arrested for fudging the logbooks of some pilots.

The audit teams will verify the flying hours entered in the logbooks of air traffic controllers. They will check the quantum of aviation fuel used by the flying schools and their fuel bills to find out whether they match the flying hours logged by the students.

DGCA chief E.K. Bharat Bhushan, who briefed the teams, has favoured a complete revamp of the licensing process. Last week, he met officials of all flying schools to put together a plan to tackle document-fudging.

13/04/11 The Hindu

Read More

Dip in number of international flyers

Ahmedabad: The all new and swanky, Rs 350-crore international terminal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport can compete with all major airports in the country when it comes to looks. But the number of international travellers at the city airport has been dipping. The new international terminal was made operational in September, 2010.

According to the recently released air traffic figures in January 2011, the number of international flyers has seen a dip of more than 18 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. The figures for November and December, 2010 suggest that there is considerable dip in the number of international flyers coming to city. More than 50 per cent of international traffic to Gujarat is seen during these three months every year.

But the number of domestic flyers in January recorded the second highest increase as compared to last year. Airline officials said that this increase can be attributed to the increasing business travelers and tourists to Gujarat.

13/04/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

Relatives of aviation security officers put fliers at risk

New Delhi: The rot in India’s aviation sector runs deep. Relatives of over a dozen officials of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS)—the security regulator for the country's aviation sector — are holding lucrative jobs with aviation-related companies, raising issues of conflict of interest.

Hindustan Times has obtained a list of 15 such BCAS officials. In a majority of these cases, the officials did not obtain prior permission or inform BCAS that their brothers, sisters, husbands, sons or daughters are employed with airlines, airports and ground handling companies.

The rulebook clearly states that they have to seek prior written permission from the organisation in such cases.

12/04/11 Tushar Srivastava/Hindustan Times

Read More

13 FIRs lodged by DGCA so far in fake pilot licence scam

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA has so far lodged a total of 13 FIRs against as many pilots for obtaining licences on the basis of fudged documents.

"We have so far lodged 13 FIRs against 13 pilots," DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan told PTI here today.

Till date, 13 persons, including five pilots and three DGCA staffers, have been arrested on charges of using forged marksheets, fudged flying hours and related documents to procure flying licences from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

With the drive to verify the documents and licences of pilots and commanders nearing completion, the regulator is rushing through the process of scrutinising all papers relating to those licence holders whose cases are suspect.

Over 1,700 licences have so far been scrutinised and seven of them have turned out to be fake.

The DGCA had ordered a thorough scrutiny of the documents of all the 4,500 Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) holders following a probe of documents of an IndiGo pilot, Capt Parminder Kaur Gulati, who landed an Airbus 320 aircraft at Goa airport on the nosewheel, thus damaging it. She was arrested on forgery charges and later released on bail.

The regulator is now verifying the papers of over 6,300 co-pilots registered with it and hopes to complete the process at the earliest, official sources said.

12/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

DGCA detects 13 ‘pilots’

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has identified 13 pilots obtaining their pilot licences on the basis of forged marksheets.

The DGCA has filed complaints in all these cases with the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, authorities said on Tuesday.

DGCA authorities claimed that except for six all Airline Transport Pilot Licences (ATPL) have been found to be genuine. However, an ongoing verification has detected seven Commercial Pilot Licences obtained by using forged result cards, they said.

The Delhi Police has already arrested three DGCA officials along with other accused involved in the crime and the investigations to find other accused is in full swing. The DGCA detected the first case of obtaining pilot licence by a dubious means after it received a complaint against IndiGo pilot Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati. The investigation led to her arrest on March 8.

Four days later, J K Verma of Air India was arrested for using forged mark sheets to obtain CPL. Then a series of arrests were made. Two SpiceJet pilots — Anoop Choudhary and Amit Moondra – were also arrested again.

12/04/11 Deccan Herald

Read More

DGCA forwards three more names to police in fake pilot scam

Capt. Parminder Kaur Gulati of IndiGo Airlines was the first pilot to be held with a fake licence.

The fake pilots scam has got bigger with airline regulator DGCA forwarding the names of three more persons who procured commercial flying licences allegedly on the basis of forged documents to Delhi Police which launched its probe into the matter on Tuesday.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) forwarded the names of three more pilots who procured the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) after the airline regulator found that they have produced forged marksheets to get it.

Police had on April five arrested two DGCA staffers for allegedly helping people to obtain pilot licences using forged documents, taking the total number of arrests in such cases to 13.

Five pilots and three DGCA staffers have so far been arrested by Delhi Police while two others have been apprehended by Rajasthan Police in Jaipur in connection with the racket. Three touts had also been arrested by Delhi Police.

Mahan Jyoti Bhattacharya (37) and Mohammed K Ansari (42) were apprehended on April five following the questioning of two pilots Abhishek Kaushik and Hiren Nagar who claimed that these DGCA staffers have taken lakhs of rupees from them for providing licences using forged marksheets.

12/04/11 India Today

Read More

Fake pilot scam: Staff crunch hits DGCA crackdown

New Delhi: The worst fears about India's aviation safety regulator — Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) — being grossly understaffed to ensure the safety of booming air traffic have come true. As aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi and DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan crack the whip on the fake pilot scam and flying schools, they are getting handicapped by the fact that there are very few people left for these jobs.
The DGCA has just 140-odd full-time employees across the country, some of whom may end up behind bars once their role in the scam becomes known. It is taking the help of consultants and people from outside to fill the gap of executing regulatory tasks essential to ensure flyer safely.
Zaidi and Bhushan — who took over these positions about three to four months back — are learnt to have decided to take people from Airports Authority, Pawan Hans, the helicopter provider, and airlines to help its skeletal staff check all 40 flying schools as well as papers of all pilots.
The reshuffled people from the exam and licensing branches to get relatively cleaner officials — or at least those whose children are not serving as pilots in airlines — to man these departments. But a manpower crunch also means there is very little choice for reshuffling.
Before the scam broke out, the shortage of staff meant files moving very slowly unless some external pressure — either bakshish or calls from the ministry — was exerted. "Even people genuinely aspiring to get their co-pilot or commander licence found it hard to get work done on time. Demands for greasing palms were common for things like submitting papers to take an exam or getting roll numbers."
1/04/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

'Govt should develop aviation infrastructure in hinterlands'

New Delhi: As efforts are on to develop non-metro airports, a top global aviation expert has said the government should take the lead in developing aviation infrastructure in Tier-II and Tier-III cities with the private sector pitching in to provide commercial support.
"One way to mitigate the risk (of private investment in non-metro airports) is that the government provides basic infrastructure like airfields and terminal buildings. It is only then that private sector can come in to provide for commercial activities," Angela Gittens , Director General of the Airports Council International (ACI), told PTI here.
"You should not expect private parties to come up and invest in such areas. There should be a balanced approach," said the head of the global airports' body with 586 operators as its members.
She said the government should play a role in growing these hinterland markets by providing land, runways, taxiways and other basic infrastructure.
Citing example of an airport in the UK, Gittens said the airport operator and airlines joined hands to attract air traffic and grew their market.
"They shared the risk to bring in more services. But sometime, it works and sometimes it doesn't. There is also a political risk for the government to develop infrastructure in the hinterland and this risk has to be compensated for.
10/04/11 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

DGCA asks airlines to submit monthly data on fuel consumption

With a view to check air pollution emanating from aircraft, aviation regulator DGCA has asked all airlines and other operators to submit monthly data on fuel consumption by their fleet from this month.
Directions have been issued to all Indian and foreign carriers using Indian airspace, as well as all the non- scheduled operators in the country, officials said.
Considering the enormous growth in the Indian aviation sector, they said the environmental risks associated with aviation have also increased, not only in terms of local air quality and noise impact, but also with respect to carbon-dioxide emissions.
The environmental impact of aviation, like the generation of contrails and cirrus clouds, have the potential to cause global warming and climate change, they said.
Contrails are condensation of water droplets or ice crystals from the atmosphere due to an aircraft, rocket or a missile.
Although the contribution of global aviation emissions to total emission is relatively low at about three per cent, it is expected to become more serious in the future with the projected growth in the sector.
Hence, the officials said there is an urgent need to control the environmental risk of aviation, especially in the context of predicted future growth in traffic.
10/04/11 PTI/The Hindu

Read More

Airnetz to provide heliport services for real estate and infra projects

Mumbai: Private Jet and helicopter services and infrastructure services provider Airnetz Aviation, has started heliport construction, development and advisory services to Indian as well as international real estate and infrastructure projects.
"Many premium real estate projects feature villa's, golf courses and premium amenities to attract High net worth buyers globally, but till now they had not thought about providing a heliport and giving complimentary pick up and drop services on a helicopter to a nearby metro city. Having a helipad at your real estate or infrastructure project maximizes the value of project and helps generating sales for the projects because buyers see obvious benefits. " said Omkar Mestry, COO of Airnetz Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
"Airnetz will provide 360 degree services for real estate and infrastructure projects such as approvals from Governement bodies, construction, development, maintenance and listing the heliport in various international registry." added Mr. Mestry.
"Airnetz has already executed a successful heliport for 3 real estate projects and the projects have turned into a quick success. "
10/04/11 PR-USA.NET

Read More

Jaipur to host 3-day travel mart

Jaipur: The 4th edition of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2011 is set to begin from April 17.
This year, Gujarat is the theme state at the three-day mart, while Maharashtra, Orrisa, Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh are the partner states.
According to sources, ministry of tourism and FICCI are co-organizing the event at the Sisodia Rani ka Bagh, which will be inaugurated by Union minister for tourism Subodh Kant Sahay.
Associations like Hotel & Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association are supporting the event.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot and tourism minister Bina Kak are also expected to give a special address on the occasion. The aim behind the event is to reinforce India as a world class tourism destination.
The mart will also provide an opportunity to interact with foreign buyers, policy makers, investors and focus on inbound tourism.
Around 200 foreign tour operators from 50 countries are likely to showcase their products at various stalls.
10/04/11 Times of India

Read More

Regulator mulls fewer flying hours for pilots

Mumbai: Several hundred foreign pilots and a large number of unemployed Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holders could soon find jobs in Indian airlines if the country's civil aviation regulator has its way to reduce the daily flying hours of commercial pilots to allow them more rest.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recently issued a circular in the form of a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) seeking feedback from airlines to cut the maximum daily flying and duty hours of pilots from 10 to eight hours in the domestic sector and also lower the number of flying hours in the international sector.
The regulator believes that such a move would address the problem of pilot fatigue and is in the best interest of aviation safety. But experts disagree. According to them such a move, along with the ongoing probe on fake pilot certificate issue, would create a severe shortage of pilots in India forcing airlines to hire foreign pilots, more specifically captains.
"I expect 20 per cent shortage of pilots in India on both these grounds and over 600 foreign pilots would be hired by India's airlines as captains are in short supply. We don't have surplus captains in India and the flight duty time limit (FDTL) issue would affect the captains rather than first officers (co-pilots)," said Captain Yash Tongia, chief flight instructor, Yash Air, a flying school.
08/04/11 Lalatendu Mishra/India Today

Read More

Panel to check pilot scam

Mumbai: The fake pilot licence scam has exposed gaping loopholes in the system, prompting the civil aviation ministry to take initiatives to overhaul the entire licensing process. To this effect, it has appointed an expert committee to suggest ways and measures to implement a more fool-proof mechanism. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has also suggested an online national registry of pilots that will allow everyone to verify a pilot’s credentials, third party audit of the flying schools, etc.
Soon, airlines will be able to verify if the pilot they have hired has an authentic commercial pilot license (CPL) or an airline transport pilot license (ATPL).
07/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

IAF officer faces court-martial for taking 'bribe'

New Delhi: IAF is likely to court-martial Wing Commander A K Thakur, a transport aircraft pilot who was allegedly caught while demanding a Rs 20,000 bribe from officials of a French aviation company at the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February.
Sources say this comes after the court of inquiry (CoI) against Wing Commander Thakur found him prima facie guilty of demanding the bribe from French company Dassault Aviation for allotting ''a more advantageous position'' for its aircraft in the ''static'' aircraft display section at the airshow.
In the military legal system, disciplinary action in the form of a court-martial is taken after a summary of evidence is recorded, somewhat akin to the framing of charges in the civil system, following a CoI. The court-martial is the actual trial to prove if a person is guilty or not of the charges against him.
There is, however, talk that the entire episode is ''much more murky'' than just a Rs 20,000 bribe being demanded by one of the IAF officers deputed to oversee the arrangements for Aero-India.
Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter, after all, is one of the six contenders in the hotly-contested race to bag India's gigantic $10.4-billion project for the acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for IAF.
08/04/11 Times of India

Read More

IAF officer faces court-martial for taking 'bribe'

New Delhi: IAF is likely to court-martial Wing Commander A K Thakur, a transport aircraft pilot who was allegedly caught while demanding a Rs 20,000 bribe from officials of a French aviation company at the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February.
Sources say this comes after the court of inquiry (CoI) against Wing Commander Thakur found him prima facie guilty of demanding the bribe from French company Dassault Aviation for allotting ''a more advantageous position'' for its aircraft in the ''static'' aircraft display section at the airshow.
In the military legal system, disciplinary action in the form of a court-martial is taken after a summary of evidence is recorded, somewhat akin to the framing of charges in the civil system, following a CoI. The court-martial is the actual trial to prove if a person is guilty or not of the charges against him.
There is, however, talk that the entire episode is ''much more murky'' than just a Rs 20,000 bribe being demanded by one of the IAF officers deputed to oversee the arrangements for Aero-India.
Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter, after all, is one of the six contenders in the hotly-contested race to bag India's gigantic $10.4-billion project for the acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for IAF.
08/04/11 Times of India

Read More

Civil Aviation Ministry Reiterates Air Safety

The Civil Aviation Ministry’s resolve is to have a zero tolerance approach towards safety of the aviation sector. In order to have a sustained and continuous process of monitoring and implementing safety related issues a Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) has been set up under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. It is a representative body of all stakeholders and safety experts of international repute. It has six working subgroups which are working continuously to formulate policies / regulations pertaining to civil aviation safety requirements.
It is further clarified that at present 9 government FOIs are on the rolls of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, these are insufficient number to carry out mandatory safety oversight functions. Therefore, there is a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) for taking pilots from other Airlines on secondment basis to supplement the surveillance activity undertaken by the Flight Operation Inspectors (FOI). This is an effective tool to put in place an effective safety oversight over the increasingly growing aviation industry. Accordingly, 18 FOIs on secondment basis are working in the DGCA. The regulatory authority has an effective system in place to avoid any conflict of interest while discharging their statutory duties. The oversight functions are done by a team of FOIs and not on individual basis. They have to undertake mandatory surveillance of various airlines in accordance with the annual plan as per the standard check list.
DGCA has a stringent safety audit procedure in place which is undertaken by the Air Safety Directorate. This Directorate is headed by an officer of the level of Deputy Director General and adequately manned in Headquarters and all the Regions. It is brought to the notice that ICAO and FAA has conducted an elaborate safety audit of the DGCA and has put it on record that India conforms to the highest level of safety regulations. India remained category-I nation on safety parameters.
06/04/11 Press Information Bureau

Read More

Hyderabad to become aerospace maintenance hub

Hyderabad, the capital of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, will soon become an integrated hub for aerospace industry with the setting up of advanced engine MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facilities at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, sources said today.
Business conglomerate GMR, which manages Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, is in talks with major aircraft engine manufacturers to set up engine MRO facilities, they said.
"The Group is in talks with various aircraft engine manufacturers like Pratt & Whitney, CFM International, GE and Rolls-Royce to set up an engine MRO that can also supply spare engines
to aircrafts when they are grounded for repair," sources close to the development told PTI.
06/04/11 BusinessGhana

Read More

India airlines flying into stronger profits: study

New Delhi: India's private airlines are set to post stronger profits this year and order up to 200 new aircraft as the economy rebounds from the global financial crisis, a study said on Wednesday.
The airline sector has been one of the most vibrant symbols of economic progress by the country of 1.2 billion people, but it was buffeted by the global slump of 2007-2009 which slowed the domestic economy.
The Singapore-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation forecast in a study on the Indian sector that carriers would report total profits of $350-$400 million for this financial year to March 2012.
The centre had estimated a profit of $250-$300 million for private carriers in the financial year just ended.
However, struggling state-run Air India is expected to announce losses of $1 billion to $1.25 billion, the centre said, up from an estimated loss of $650 to $700 million for the last year.
Indian private carriers are also expected to place orders this year for up to 200 new aircraft with a list price of $11-$12 billion, the centre forecast.
07/04/11 AFP

Read More

Airlines 'confused' at SC directive on signing MoU

Airlines have expressed displeasure at the supreme court directives on signing memorandum of understanding (MoU) for ground handling policy, reports CNBC-TV18's Mehak Kasbekar. Calling it confusing, airlines say that the MoUs will take six weeks to be prepared and implemented and another 6-12 months for transition to the new policy.
Earlier the government had said that it will be contempt of court if airlines do not sign the MoU. The airlines have been given four week’s time to sign the MoU.
However, airlines are reluctant to shift to new policy without proper checks. The airline companies are concerned that insurance premiums will go up on third party handling.
06/04/11 CNBC-TV18/Moneycontrol.com

Read More