Indian Skies in 2014: The Year That Was

2014 proved to be quite an eventful year for the aviation sector, with two new airlines getting licences to fly, another one almost shutting down, a fare war, the sector's safety downgrade and Tatas' re-entry into the Indian skies - it was quite the mixed bag for Indian skies.

The Downgrade
The year started off on a not so great note for the sector, when the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded India's aviation safety ratings from the top to second category in January.

New Airlines
Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia made its debut in Indian skies through its Indian arm in June and become the fourth no-frills airline after IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.  AirAsia India, a three-way venture between Malaysia-based AirAsia Berhad, Tata Group and Delhi-based investment firm Telestra Tradeplace launched its maiden flight on June 12 from Bangalore to Goa.
Vistara - a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines - on December 15 received the Air Operator Permit (AOP) or flying permit from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

SpiceJet Crisis
Billionaire Kalanithi Maran's Sun group controlled SpiceJet came close to shutting down, but managed to buy more time from the government and the regulator after its co-founder Ajay Singh got involved in talks with the authorities. SpiceJet has bank loans of Rs 300 crore.

Fare War
Ever since AirAsia entered the Indian skies, airline companies were locked in fare war for most parts of the year. IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and the AirAsia all tried to pip each other with one promotional offer after the other with fares going to three-figure numbers.

Jet-Etihad Deal
Jet Airways and Etihad on November 20 announced closure of a Rs 2,069-crore deal for the Abu Dhabi- based carrier to pick up 24 per cent equity in the Indian airline, marking the first FDI infusion by an airline in the Indian aviation sector.
31/12/14 Ramarko Sengupta/NDTV

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2014: A mixed year for Indian aviation

India's aviation sector has had a rollercoaster ride in the year gone by with two new airlines (AirAsia and Vistara) being launched and low-cost carrier SpiceJet coming close to a shutdown.
Malaysian no-frills carrier AirAsia announced its partnership with Tata Group early last year but it took its first flight in June this year.
 The carrier is operating two Airbus A320s and will ramp up its fleet significantly in the next few months. Initially, the airline decided to shun Delhi and Mumbai for their high airport charges. However, the airline will be shortly flying from Delhi.
Vistara, a tie-up between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, made its launch announcement in August this year. The airline was supposed to launch in October but its plans got postponed due to delay in getting flying permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Both AirAsia and Vistara will be targeting different set of customers.
AirAsia, with its low fares, is competing with IndiGo, Go Air and SpiceJet. Vistara, on the other hand, will be competing with Jet Airways, which is shifting its focus on business class after Etihad bought a 26 per cent stake in the Indian carrier late last year.
Air India's partnership with Star Alliance came as good news for frequent flyers in the country.
31/12/14 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Airlines set to post healthy operating profit next fiscal: Crisil

Mumbai: Credit rating agency Crisil has said that Indian carriers are set to post a combined operating profit of Rs 8,100 crore in the next fiscal year on a five-year-best operating performance, although most of them will be a long way off net profits.

The estimate, which the agency put out on a note on Tuesday, will likely bring some cheer to investors, amidst the bad news that has weighed upon the country's airline industry in recent times. "We believe Indian airline companies will have one of the best business environments to operate in for a long time. Falling crude oil prices are a big positive.

We expect about 25% lower air turbine fuel prices for fiscal 2016 compared with fiscal 2014," said Prasad Koparkar, senior director, industry and customised research at Crisil.
"More importantly, the fall is accompanied by an improving demand scenario, unlike fiscal 2010 when the players were unable to benefit significantly due to weak demand. We expect average passenger traffic growth to be about 10-12% over the next couple of years," he added. This, the report said will lead to a 14 percentage point improvement in operating profit margins to around 11% in FY16.
31/12/14 Economic Times

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Six new airlines to start operations in the new year: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Six new airlines are expected to fly the Indian skies next year, the government said on Tuesday as it asked states to join hands to promote regional connectivity and help the aviation sector meet its burgeoning losses by reducing taxes on jet fuel.

"Most of the airlines in the country are reported to have incurred losses and some airlines are struggling to stay afloat despite a high (air traffic) growth rate," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said at a meeting of state Civil Aviation Ministers in Delhi.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said six airlines would start operations in the next year. He, however, did not name the air carriers. While AirAsia India has launched operations, Vistara, the Tata-SIA joint venture carrier, would start flights from January nine.
Earlier this year, the Ministry had said that three more companies -– Quickjet Cargo Airlines, Ligare Aviation and LEPL Projects (Air Costa) -— had been given air operator permits after they completed the process for launching new airlines.
30/12/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Taking flight in the New Year

After a turbulent 2014, flyers can look forward to a smoother ride in the New Year. First off the runway will be Vistara, the new domestic airline launched as a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. It starts operations on January 9 and promises to bring back the joy of flying.

The new airline will provide a “new end-to-end customer experience,” Phee Teik Yeoh, the Chief Executive Officer of the airline, told Business Line. Vistara will be the first in the country to offer a premium economy class cabin.

It has decided that the best way to a customer’s heart, and the wallet, is through his stomach. Vistara’s business and premium class passengers can choose between two non-vegetarian dishes and one vegetarian dish. “In the in-flight dining experience, we are going to have an eclectic mix of Indian and global cuisines driven by international culinary trends,” says Yeoh.

While there seems to be no dearth of competition in the Indian aviation sector, Vistara will surely add another layer as players vie for market share; especially with the Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways re-aligning as a full-service carrier.

Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows that between January-November, IndiGo flew 1.91 crore passengers, followed by Air India (1.12 crore), SpiceJet (1.10 crore) and Jet Airways (1.05 crore).

Passengers may reap the benefit with pundits predicting fares in the industry to be “competitive” after the launch of the new airline.

In 2004, Ajay Singh had raised funds and restarted ModiLuft as SpiceJet. More than a decade later, he might be back as the saviour of the troubled airline. SpiceJet needs up to ?2,000 crore to bounce back.

If Singh does put in the money, it would mean a change in the airline’s profile also.
31/12/14 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Aviation woes: Government pins hopes on next year

New Delhi: Worried that airlines are making losses despite increase in air traffic, government on Tuesday pinned hopes of growth on the next year when some new airlines are proposped to be launched.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the aviation industry was "seriously affected" by high operational costs including cost of aviation turbine fuel, service tax and other charges, shortages of maintenance facilities, high foreign exchange rate and competition from foreign airlines. There is a high customs duty on import of private aircrafts and helicopters also, he said.

Noting that aviation was acknowledged as a growth engine which has a force multiplier effect, he said as per global estimates, for every USD 100 worth of input, there is USD 325 worth of output generated. For every 100 jobs created in the aviation industry, there are 610 jobs created in other industries, he said.
30/12/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Domestic airlines expected to post Rs 81 billion operating profit in fiscal 2016

Mumbai: Domestic carriers are expected to post an operating profit of Rs 81 billion in fiscal 2016, a complete "U-turn" from the Rs 15 billion loss posted in fiscal 2014, rating agency Crisil Research said in a report. Net profit remained a distant destination for Air India, Jet and Spice Jet and can be reached only after massive re-capitalisation of Rs 350 billion, the report said.

The last few months have seen tailwinds converging for India's airlines such as improvement in demand and therefore passenger load factors (PLFs), a largely stable rupee-dollar exchange rate, and most importantly, a steep fall in crude oil prices.

"At an aggregate level, domestic carriers are expected to post an operating profit of Rs 81 billion in fiscal 2016, a complete U-turn from Rs 15 billion loss posted in fiscal 2014. That translates into a spectacular 14 percentage point improvement in operating profit margin to around 11% in fiscal 2016," Crisil said.
30/12/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Blue skies beckon Indian airlines in 2015

Ask SpiceJet Ltd chief commercial officer, Kaneswaran Avili, who is a former employee of Malaysian carrier Tiger Air, how it is to work in the Indian aviation sector, he had a one-word answer; "chaotic".

However, he goes on to add; "but things are getting better". Avili says what draws him to India is its untapped potential. "Currently, the sector is contributing less than 2% to the GDP; in developed countries like Singapore it is more than 15% of the GDP. So, you can gauge from this how much potential still lies untapped in the sector," he says.

And 2015 could well be a turnaround year for the sector, which has been experiencing turbulent weather over the last few years with all, except budget carrier IndiGo, in the red. Airline consultancy firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India, has forecast Indian airlines to lose $1.4 billion in FY15.
Some signs of the weather clearing up are already appearing in the skies. To begin with, air passenger traffic has been consistently growing over the past few months. The statistics put out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that the number of flyers who took to the skies in November grew 14.5% compared with October. It was up over 9% compared with the previous year during the same month.
31/12/14 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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India's civil aviation minister advocates scrapping of 5x20 rule

GoAir could be one of the airlines profiting from plans of civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju to scrap a rule currently in place forcing airlines to fly domestically for a period of five years and to have a minimum of 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to operate on international routes.

GoAir currently operates 19 A320-200s domestically in India and unlike larger LCC rivals IndiGo Airlines  and Spicejet has not been allowed to operate to destinations abroad yet.

Spicejet currently serves Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Colombo Int'l, Dubai Int'l, Kabul, Kathmandu, Malé, Muscat and Sharjah. IndiGo also operates to Bangkok, Dubai, Kathmandu and Muscat but also serves Singapore Changi from Chennai.
31/12/14 ch-aviation

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Civil Aviation Ministry Discusses Draft Civil Aviation Policy with States

New Delhi: Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the Meeting of Chief Ministers and State Civil Aviation Ministers in New Delhi today to discuss the Draft Civil Aviation Policy and other issues related to civil aviation sector.  Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the civil aviation sector in India has been growing steadily registering a growth of 13.8% during the last 10 years. He said, though the rate of growth came down during the last two years due to the overall economic slowdown, it is recovering fast, with the year 2013-14 showing a growth of 6%.  Shri Raju expressed concern that despite high growth rates ,most of the airlines in the country are reported to have incurred losses and some airlines are struggling to stay afloat. He said, though there is a need for helicopter operations in India, helicopter population in the country has not improved in recent years.
The number of small aircraft and seaplanes is stagnant. The Minister said that the aviation industry as such is seriously affected by high operational costs including cost of aviation turbine fuel, service tax and other charges, shortages of maintenance facilities, high foreign exchange rate, competition from foreign airlines etc. There is a high customs duty on import of private aircrafts and helicopters.  Shri Raju stated that aviation is now acknowledged as a growth engine, which has a force multiplier effect. He said that as per global estimates, for every $100 of input, there is $325 worth of output generated while for every 100 jobs created by aviation industry, there are 610 jobs created in other industries.
Highlighting close linkages between tourism and civil aviation sectors, the Minister said more than 90% of the international tourists arrive by air. He said that according to a study conducted in 2009, the aviation sector has contributed 0.5% directly and 1.5% with catalytic effects to the Indian GDP and this, when coupled with the tourism sector’s contribution of 5%, works out to be a significant 6.5% of the GDP. He said acknowledging the role of civil aviation in the overall growth of economy, Government has proposed a Draft Civil Aviation Policy.
30/12/14 Odishadiary.tv

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M Sathiyavathy is new DGCA

Mumbai: The Centre has appointed M Sathiyavathy as the director-general of civil aviation. She replaces Prabhat Kumar, who has been removed from the post within a year of his appointment.

Currently, Sathiyavathy is additional secretary and financial advisor in the civil aviation ministry. A 1982-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Union Territories cadre, she was earlier chief secretary in the Puducherry government.  She is only the second woman officer to hold Director General post after Prem Lal who held the post in early 1980s.

Following a downgrade by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this year, Prabhat Kumar was leading efforts to restore India’s aviation safety ranking. It is expected the FAA will communicate a decision on the matter by March.

Recently, Kumar has been criticised for the manner in which the SpiceJet issue has been handled. After the carrier cut its schedule, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had imposed booking curbs on SpiceJet and cancelled the airline’s 186 slots. The decision was, however, reversed by the civil aviation ministry.

Kumar, a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, had joined the civil aviation ministry as officer on special duty to then aviation minister Ajit Singh. Typically, IAS officers get five-year deputation to the central government. Sources said it had been long since Kumar had completed his five-year term.
31/12/2014 Busisness Standard

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Headless for 2 yrs, rules changed for Civil Aviation security chief

New Delhi: Even as governments across the world have been scrambling to deal with new threats to passenger aircraft which emerged through 2014 — lethal liquid explosives, anti-aircraft missiles, and crew members-turned-terrorists — India’s own civil aviation security agency, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), has been headless for more than two years, government documents accessed by The Indian Express  show.
Last month, the documents also show, the Ministry of Civil Aviation scrapped rules mandating that the BCAS’s head, the Commissioner of Security, Civil Aviation, be chosen from among Directors-General of Police with hands-on security expertise. The BCAS lays down security guidelines, and audits their implementation by government agencies and airlines. Instead, highly placed sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, the Ministry of Civil Aviation now plans to invite applications for the position from additional-secretary rank bureaucrats or police officers with just three years security-related experience. Interestingly, rules require that the BCAS chief’s two deputies have at least 10 years security-related experience.
31/12/14  Praveen Swami and Geeta Gupta/Financial Express

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Prabhat Kumar shunted out as air watchdog

The government has removed the country’s top aviation regulator Prabhat Kumar.?While he has not yet been informed about his redeployment, Kumar is likely to revert to his ho­me cadre of Uttar Pradesh.

As director general of civil aviation (DGCA), Kumar had reviewed the financial health of the low-cost airline SpiceJet earlier this month and initiated a series of steps, including cancellation of the airline’s 186 flying slots in the face of frequent cancellations and grounding of flights.

The delicate relation between DGCA and the nodal aviation ministry became quite apparent on December 16, with the latter asking the regulator to relax restrictions on advance booking imposed by it on SpiceJet.

The decision to remove the DG was conveyed on Tuesday via fax by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) headed by prime minister Narendra Modi himself.

"The decision has been taken," an official source confirmed to Financial Chronicle.

While the reasons of his removal could not be immediately verified, multiple sources told this paper that there were complaints against him from airline operators. Several aviation analysts had earlier disapproved of the DGCA order terming them unfair.
30/12/14 Nirbhay Kumar/mydigitalfc.com

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India’s Safety Rating Likely To Remain at Category II

India’s aviation system is likely to continue to hold an FAA safety rating of Category II after a December 8 inspection uncovered eight deficiencies, according to a report Mahesh Sharma, India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, gave news sources. Two FAA audits in 2013 resulted in the Indian aviation system being downgraded from Category I to Category II because inspections showed the nation’s safety oversight system did not meet ICAO’s minimum standards. A final decision based on the FAA’s written report is expected by mid-February 2015.
30/12/14 AINonline

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Unruly in the air

As Indian travellers increasingly take to the skies and domestic airlines spread their wings across borders, unruly passenger incidents no longer make for amusing anecdotes. They have become a serious issue.
While there is no official data for India, IATA says that 170 of its 252 member-airlines have reported ‘unruly incidents’ since 2007. Air India and Jet Airways are IATA members. The Association had received 8,000 reports of unruly passenger incidents in 2013.
Indian airlines have begun taking steps to control unruly passengers. Crew of the country’s largest airline IndiGo has started carrying nylon handcuffs to contain a trouble-maker.
The Directorate General for Civil Aviation is said to be finalising stricter norms, such as harsher punishment for the offender, to tackle the issue.
At present though, pilots and air hostesses are unclear about how to handle the problem.
“We often do not pursue the case and don’t press charges against the passenger,” says a pilot with an Indian airline who did not want to be named. “The legal procedure is cumbersome. Imagine if the crew is from Mumbai and the case is filed in Delhi. For every hearing the crew will have to travel,” he adds. IATA’s Steele agrees. “One of the main problems is that many unruly passengers rarely face prosecution because of gaps in international aviation law which undermine the deterrent effect,” he adds.
Taking cognisance of the problem, the industry has now come out with the Montreal Protocol 2014, which adds teeth to the previous regulation – Tokyo Convention – that addressed the problem. The Protocol extends the jurisdiction to prosecute offenders and has guidelines to monitor passengers for intoxication before they board a plane.
30/12/14 Prince Mathews Thomas/Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Odisha opposes centre’s draft Civil Aviation Policy

New Delhi: Odisha government strongly opposed theUunion government’s draft Civil Aviation Policy that talks of creating only six international hubs in the country.
Speaking at a conference chaired by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju in Vigyan Bhavan of New Delhi yesterday, Odisha Culture and Tourism Minister Ashok Panda opposed the Civil Aviation Ministry’s proposal to limit international hubs to only six metros and said such a policy would work against the interests of the state.

Panda argued that the Union government is damaging the prospects of Odisha by limiting the hubs to only 6 metros as Bhubaneswar needs international arrivals to attract tourists to the state and requested the Union minister to add Bhubaneswar to the list of hubs.

“Odisha needs international air connectivity to promote tourism in tribal areas and showcase its rich Buddhist heritage and biodiversity. Hence, it is important to make Bhubaneswar an international hub,” said minister Panda.
31/12/14 Odisha Sun Times

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Aviation Ministry asks states to reduce ATF taxes

The Ministry for Civil Aviation on Tuesday asked states across the country to reduce the taxes levied on air turbine fuel (ATF) to reduce operational costs for airlines. "ATF is a high-taxed commodity and is a major factor in determining the air fare. Some states have already reduced it and if others follow, it will make domestic travel affordable," Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapati Raju told media persons here.

However, Raju declined to comment about private carrier Spicejet, which is currently undergoing financial turmoil. However, he stated that the Centre is willing to help out airlines.

According to reports, the Centre is ready with a new aviation policy to develop aviation infrastructure and to attract investments.
30/12/14 New Kerala.com

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Airlines cancel flights over untrained pilots and crew tantrums.. and blame it on Delhi fog

Foggy weather in Delhi is not the only reason airlines are keeping passengers stranded at the city airports during the year-end.
In reality, incapable pilots, non-compliant aircraft, and tantrums by crew members have hampered nearly 70 per cent of the total flight operations in the Capital over the past six days.
On December 24, Jet Airways diverted Delhi-bound flight S2 4315 as the pilots were not trained to operate it under poor weather conditions. Similarly, Air India diverted a flight on Christmas Day as the plane was not CATIIIB compliant.
Airlines are also giving bizarre reasons for cancellation of flights. On December 26 and 28, Lufthansa cancelled international flights LH 761 and LH 736 due to Christmas celebrations.
“Due to last-minute cancellations, almost 500 passengers headed for Frankfurt and Munich suffered losses. The airline gave a strange reason for these cancellations - Christmas celebrations,” a senior airport official told Mail Today.
Apart from incapable pilots and ill-equipped aircraft, passengers are also reportedly facing problems due to moods of the crew.
On December 26, Air India delayed flight AI 213 following late reporting by the crew.
According to the officials, passengers were stuck at terminal-3 for hours due to non-availability of crew members.
“Bad weather in Delhi is not the actual reason for almost 70 per cent of the delayed flights. Most of the time, flights are delayed, cancelled or diverted due to airlines’ own reasons. But, airlines escape easily by blaming bad weather in Delhi,” a senior airport official said.
30/12/14 Ankur Sharma/Daily Mail

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Incapable pilots, non-compliant aircraft add to fog flight woes

New Delhi: Foggy weather in Delhi is not the only reason behind airlines keeping passengers stranded at the city airports during the yearend. In reality, incapable pilots, non-compliant aircraft, tantrums of crew members, etc, have hampered nearly 70 per cent of the total flight operations in the Capital over the past six days.

On December 24, Jet Airways diverted Delhi-bound flight S2 4315 that was supposed to land in Delhi as the pilots were untrained to operate the same under poor weather conditions. Similarly, Air India diverted a flight on Christmas Day as the plane was not CAT III B compliant (see box 'Different Shades of Visibility').

Airlines are also giving bizarre reasons for cancellation of flights. On December 26 and 28, Lufthansa cancelled international flights LH 761 and LH 736 due to Christmas celebrations.
"Due to last-minute cancellations, almost 500 passengers headed for Frankfurt and Munich suffered losses. The airline gave a strange reason for these cancellations-Christmas celebrations," a senior airport official told MAIL TODAY.

Apart from incapable pilots and ill-equipped aircraft, passengers are also reportedly facing problems due to moods of the crew. On December 26, Air India delayed flight AI 213 following late reporting by the crew. According to the officials, passengers were stuck at terminal-3 for hours due to nonavailability of crew members.
30/12/14 Ankur Sharma/Mail Today

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Cops feel the pinch, look for ‘cheapest’ air tickets to deport arrested foreigners

Mumbai: Almost every time a decision is taken, there is one standard operating procedure the Mumbai Police follow in deporting arrested foreigners: They look for the “cheapest airline ticket available.”
For most of these journeys, with the diplomatic urgency involved, the police personnel end up paying from their own pockets.
This year, 13 foreign nationals were deported on air tickets that were paid for from the salary of police inspectors. Although the amount is reimbursed in most cases, the process of getting the ticket dues cleared can take at least six months.
“Our instructions are clear —to look for the cheapest tickets available,” said Suhas Gokhale, senior police inspector of the Azad Maidan unit of the anti narcotics cell.
Gokhale had funded the deportation of three foreigners back to Nigeria in March this year. Having already identified Nigerian and Ethopian Airlines as those with the ‘most affordable’ flight, police officers have said they refer to sites such as Yatra.com and Makemytrip.com to compare fares.
30/12/14 Rohit Alok/Indian Express

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Fog hits travel plans of 9,000 passengers

Ahmedabad: Dense fog and bad weather in northern parts of country affected travel plans of over 9,000 passengers from city on Monday. As many as 18 flights were delayed by 50 mins to 4 hours while seven trains were running late by 1.5 to 7 hours.

Around 11 flights on Ahmedabad-Delhi route - four flightsa each of Jet Airways and Air India, two of Indigo and one of SpiceJet - were delayed due to fog and low visibility in capital.

The delays at Delhi airport led to congestion in air traffic, causing delays on other routes as well. Four flights on Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, including three of Air India, were delayed by 50 mins to 1.5 hours. SpiceJet's and Air India's flight on Hyderabad-Ahmedabad route were delayed by 50 mins each. tnn

The trains running late included Gorakhpur-Ahmedabad (3 hours), Haridwar-Ahmedabad (1.5 hours), Jammu Tawi-Ahmedabad (6 hours), Varanasi-Ahmedabad (5 hours), Varanasi-Okha (7 hours) and Bandra-Ahmedabad-Chandigarh (2 hours) among others.
30/12/14 Times of India

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SpiceJet issue, safety downgrade marred civil aviation sector

New Delhi: SpiceJet's near-shutdown and the downgrade of country's safety ranking marred the civil aviation sector in 2014 which also saw a new airline taking to the sky and another one readying itself to do so early next year.
National carrier Air India became part of the 27-member global airlines grouping Star Alliance, as budget airline AirAsia India launched operations and Tata-SIA joint venture carrier Vistara received the flying permit and announced its intentions to start operations from January 9.
Jet Airways also completed 24 per cent stake sale to Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad for Rs 2,058 crore.
A change of government saw incumbents Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Mahesh Sharma in the cockpit of the Civil Aviation Ministry, which came out with a long-awaited draft policy for the entire sector emphasising on air connectivity to remote places. It is currently under discussion among stakeholders.
After suffering a full closure for almost a day, SpiceJet averted a shutdown as it attracted new investment from one of its founders, Ajay Singh, who along with US-based JP Morgan Chase are expected to pump in $200 million to pick up stake from current promoter Kalanithi Maran and his Sun Group.
29/12/14 Shah Imran Ahmed/Business Today

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Fog affects trains, flights in Delhi, no relief Tuesday

New Delhi: Dense fog and chilly conditions continued to make life miserable for people and affect the movement of flights and trains in the national capital Monday. The Met Office has said no respite is to be expected Tuesday.

According to an official of the Northern Railway, 66 trains coming to the capital were running late due to heavy fog while the departure timings of 40 were rescheduled. Ten trains were cancelled.

The situation was similar at the Indira Gandhi International airport where over 50 flights were affected.

A statement by the airport authorities said 30 flights were delayed due to fog in Delhi while the arrival of 12 flights and departure of five other flights were cancelled. Five flights coming to the city were diverted.

The visibility dropped to less than 100 metres Monday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, adding that no respite was likely Tuesday.

"There will be dense fog tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and in the evening. The day would be sunny," the IMD official said.
29/12/14 Web India123

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Helipads in Chhattsigarh to have night landing facility

New Delhi: Learning lessons from the latest maoist attack on CRPF in Chhattisgarh, government has decided to provide night-landing facilities at all the helipads in the naxal-affected districts of the state, removing a handicap in the security operations.

There are 12 districts in Chhattisgarh which are worst hit by naxalism and provision of night-landing facility will help in swift induction of troops and evacuation of the injured personnel which is currently not possible.

The decision has been taken following recommendation of a high-level committee, headed by former CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar, which went into the naxal attack in the state on December one in which 14 CRPF personnel were killed.

The Home Ministry has conveyed to the Chhattisgarh government to initiate the process of developing the helipads to facilitate night-landing facility through respective district magistrates and the expenses will be reimbursement under Centre's security related expenditure scheme, official sources said here today.
29/12/14 PTI/Business Standard

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AirAsia's long term plans will not suffer due to missing plane, say aviation experts

Mumbai: AirAsia is facing challenges in the South East Asia region, and the disappearance of its Airbus A320 aircraft on Sunday will add to its woes and impact its earnings. However, the incident will not significantly impact its long-term growth, say aviation analysts.

Their optimism is based on two factors — AirAsia’s safety record (it has not suffered a crash till now) and the strong demand for budget travel in the region.  AirAsia runs airlines in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and now in India. AirAsia’s consolidated results includes income from the parent airline in Malaysia and the share of profit or loss from its airlines (treated as associate companies) in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The last few months and the year have not been encouraging for the airline. Its consolidated profit ($110 million) in 2013 was the lowest since 2009. Profitability was impacted due to intense competition in Malaysia, a slump in demand because of political crisis in Thailand and the impact of currency depreciation.
29/12/14 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Ensure Safer Air Travel in Asian Subcontinent

The search for the missing AirAsia jetliner that disappeared Sunday morning over the Java Sea has been suspended for the day, with no significant breakthroughs. Though Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said the search for the plane with 162 passengers and crew aboard would continue with the help of foreign vessels with sonar capabilities, it suspects the plane was likely to be “at the  bottom of the ocean” with little chance of survivors. The story of AirAsia flight QZ850 that went missing during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore sounds remarkable similar to that of Malaysia Airlines MH370 that remains missing nearly 10 months after it disappeared from radar screens on a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

Should no survivors be found among the 162 passengers and crew members, 2014 will turn out to be an unimaginably horrible year for Asian aviation in general and Malaysian aviation in particular. There have been four incidents in which over 600 people have died before Sunday’s tragedy and carriers from Malaysia or their subsidiaries have been involved in the three deadliest aviation disasters this year. The Airbus that disappeared on Sunday is operated by an Indonesian subsidiary of AirAsia, a company based in Malaysia. The parent company, run by a Malaysian, Tony Fernandes, owns 49 per cent stake.
29/12/14 New Indian Express

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Govt holds discussions with stakeholders in aviation industry

New Delhi: Detailed discussions are being held by the government with all stakeholders in the aviation industry including the air carriers and airport operators to come out with measures to spur growth in the aviation sector.

This was stated by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju at the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, attached to his minstry, today to discuss the draft Civil Aviation Policy.

On rationalization of jet fuel prices, Raju said the Centre will take up the issue with all State Governments at a meeting called tomorrow and request the states again to reduce VAT on ATF.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has also been requested to review the pricing mechanism for aviation fuel, as in India the air turbine fuel prices are about 30 per cent higher than other countries in the region, he said.

The Government is examining stakeholders' comments invited on the draft Civil Aviation Policy and holding detailed discussions with each segment of aviation industry to arrive at solid measures required to quickly put the aviation industry back on its growth trajectory, Raju said.

Raju said the country is witnessing a rapid growth in air traffic with the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines increasing by 4.5 per cent to 602.3 lakh during 2013-2014 as against 576.5 lakh a year-ago period.
29/12/14 PTI/Business Standard

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India stepping up to become big player in civil aviation

India can become the second biggest player in the civil aviation sector by 2020 and the biggest by 2030, provided the right strategies and policies are pursued.

These views come from respected industry leader, Ankur Bhatia, who heads the Bird Group, which has pioneered many aspects of growth and is a major player.

In a year-end review and looking ahead to 2015, the articulate, bright and innovative Bhatia says that to achieve the desired growth, there must be synergy and like-minded thinking among all the stakeholders, ministries, policy makers, and the industry as a whole.

He noted that the recent government steps on visas and airports would no doubt help the growth of the vital civil aviation sector.

Ankur Bhatia is active in the industry forum, such as CII (the Chartered Insurance Institute), and is often invited to speak on aviation subjects.
29/12/14 eTurboNews

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Ready with new civil Aviation policy to develop infrastructure, attract investments: Govt

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju has asked the states to reduce the taxes levied by them on air turbine fuel, ATF to bring down the operational cost of airlines.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi, Mr Raju said that ATF is high taxed commodity and is a major factor in determining the air fare. He also said some states have already reduced it and if others follow, it will make domestic travel affordable.

On the issue of financial crisis in Spicejet airlines, the Minister said it is their problem and it is for them to sort it out. He, however, said, the government is willing to help the airlines.

Earlier Airport Authority of India had given two week extension to the airliner to keep its house in order. The extension period is expiring tomorrow.The Minister also said that the government is seeking suggestions and ideas from the states to finalise draft aviation policy.
29/12/14 News On Air

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Minister says Air Passenger Traffic Shows Solid Growth

Minister of Civil Aviation Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said that the Government is examining stakeholders' comments invited on the draft Civil Aviation Policy and holding detailed discussions with each segment of aviation industry such as airlines, helicopter and general aviation operators, cargo sector, airports sector etc. to arrive at solid measures required to quickly put the aviation industry back on its growth trajectory. The Minister was addressing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Civil Aviation held in New Delhi today to discuss the draft Civil Aviation Policy. Shri Raju said India is witnessing a rapid growth in air traffic. Passengers carried by domestic airlines during 2013-2014 were 602.3 Lakh as against 576.5 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 4.5%. He added that India's domestic passenger traffic has risen 7.4% in August, reflecting solid growth over the past two or three months. Latest IATA data shows that the growth is the second highest globally after Russia's 10%.

Civil Aviation Minister informed the members of the Committee that there are nearly 400 aircraft operated by scheduled airlines, which may increase substantially in the next ten years. He said new airlines have come up with foreign investments which indicate global interest and confidence in Indian aviation market.

On rationalization of price of ATF, Shri Raju said the Centre will take up the issue with all State Governments in a meeting called on 30th December and request them again to reduce VAT on ATF. He said the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has also been requested to review the pricing mechanism for ATF, as in India the price of ATF is about 30% higher than other countries in the region.

The Minister informed that in order to achieve better air connectivity to under-served areas and the need for air transport services to different regions and remote areas in the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is reviewing the existing route dispersal guidelines.

Shri Raju said as the number of aircraft in India grows, there will be an increasing requirement for aircraft maintenance and repair facilities within the country. He said as most of MRO work is outsourced by airlines to foreign MROs, it will be the intention to do much of the work, including engine maintenance, within the country. This will give employment to skilled persons and save outflow of foreign exchange. He said the required taxation and infrastructure issues are being addressed by the Ministry in consultation with Ministry of Finance to facilitate development of Indian MROs.
29/12/14 Business Standard

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170 pilots caught reporting for duty under liquor effect

Kochi: The Civil Aviation Ministry has revealed that in the last five years, 170 pilots were detected alcohol-positive during pre-flight medical checks in the country.

Experts point out that the number is high compared to international standards. The Ministry terminated the service of just eight pilots in connection with drinking.

As per the data provided by Maneesh kumar, Director Air Safety and CPIO for Directorate General of Civil Aviation, since 2009, a total of 170 pilots were tested alcohol positive.

The information was provided to RTI activist D B Binu. In 2009, 35 pilots tested positive. In the following years 25, 20, 41, 31 pilots respectively tested positive.

During 2014, 18 pilots were found drunk. According to the department, pilots were not allowed to operate the scheduled flight and they were removed from flying duties.
27/12/14 Deccan Chronicle

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18 drunk pilots denied nod to fly

Kochi: Eighteen pilots, including a woman, tested positive in pre-flight alcohol tests till November this year.In what could be a matter of concern, almost all of them were in the rank of captain and first officer. They were denied permission to operate their flights.

The number, however, is below the 2013 score of 31 pilots and the 2012 figure of 41.The number of cases reported in 2009, 2010 and 2011 is 35, 25 and 20, respectively.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its reply to an RTI query said 170 pilots were pulled up in last five years. But the services of only eight of them were terminated under section 5 of the Civil Aviation Requirements.

The DGCA said first time offenders were slapped with a three-month suspension with total loss of pay and other allowances. Repeat offenders faced a five year suspension.
27/12/14 Times of India

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Seven-Hour Flight Turns into 60-Hour Ordeal for AI Passengers

A seven-hour flight from Milan, Italy to New Delhi took almost 60 hours to reach its final destination. After an initial delay at Milan due to adverse weather conditions, Air India flight 0122 was originally expected to land in New Delhi on December 24.

However, the flight was diverted to Mumbai twice, due to dense fog in the Capital, too. The 259 agitated passengers had to wait at Mumbai airport for almost a day before they were finally flown to Delhi on Christmas afternoon.

Kshitij Srivastava, a passenger from the flight, told mid-day, "The flight was originally expected to leave Milan on December 23, 2.50 am (IST). However, the weather conditions did not permit the flight to take off till December 24, 12.30 am (IST)."

The flight, which was expected to reach New Delhi within seven hours, was circling over Indira Gandhi International Airport around 9 am, when passengers were informed that they could not land due to thick fog and poor visibility. The aircraft had to be diverted to Mumbai airport.
26/12/14 NDTV.com

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An ill-thought idea

The civil aviation ministry’s proposal to cap economy class one-way airfares at Rs 20,000 appears more as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints by some members of Parliament to the exorbitant rates charged by some airlines recently for tickets booked on or just before the day of travel, rather than considered thought going into it. People obviously want the best of both worlds: they enjoy rock-bottom rates but complain when they get too high.

The high fares do look like profiteering and exploitation of passengers in need because of the tight position of flights after many were cancelled by besieged SpiceJet. But that is a temporary phenomena. For instance, on Thursday a travel portal announced the Delhi-Mumbai fare at Rs 35,000, but on Friday this was pegged at Rs 2,600 for travel in February.

Therefore, the ministry’s plan to cap fares at Rs 20,000 makes very little sense. In fact, it might justify an airline charging the same amount for a Delhi-Jaipur flight as it does for a Delhi-Kochi flight, that covers a much larger distance.
27/12/14 Deccan Chronicle

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HAL rated 'Excellent' among DPSUs for 13th consecutive year

Bengaluru: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been rated as 'Excellent' with a score of 1.08 which is the best among all Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).

This is for the 13th consecutive year HAL has been rated as 'Excellent', according to a HAL release here today.

HAL has taken up measures to build capacity and capabilities. The Board has approved capital of Rs 3600 crores towards modernisation of the company. The Company is building capabilities by way of aggressively investing into its R&D. As a result of increased focus on R&D, HAL has filed 761 patents towards safeguarding its IPR base, the release claimed.

HAL has established chairs at Indian Institutes of Technology at Kanpur, Roorkee, Kharagpur & Bombay. Ten R&D Centres have been brought under the ambit of Committee of Institutional Network(COIN).
26/12/14 Web India123

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Planes discovered in Vedic age, it could fly between planets, says speaker at Indian Science Congress

Certain Indians have already claimed to have discovered plastic surgery, IVF and motor cars. Now, adding to that, a prominent professor in Mumbai has said that Hindu epics are all we need to understand the ancient world. He says we shouldn't rely on modern evidence or research.
Ever since PM Narendra Modi's accession there has been a surge in nationalist sentiments of a strange kind - as if a section of India has been on a trip to rewrite history.
And now, the Indian Science Congress organisers has decided to slip Vedic mythology about aviation into their programme schedule that will be held in 4 January in Mumbai. According to Mumbai Mirror, in a five-day symposium that will have Nobel laureates as speakers, there will  be a segment examining the role of "ancient sciences through Sanskrit".
One of the speakers, Captain Anand J Bodas  told  Mumbai Mirror aeroplane was a vehicle discovered in the Vedic age which could not just move from one country to another, but also from one planet to another.  "In those days aeroplanes were huge in size, and could move left, right, as well as backwards, unlike modern planes which only fly forward," he said.
Citing an ancient Indian treatise on aviation, the Vaimanika Prakaranam as his source text and in an even more bizarre twist for the unbelieving- he said most of its principles have been forgotten because of the passage of time, foreign rulers and things being stolen from the country.
26/12/14 First Post

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Aviation ministry may cap economy class air fares at Rs 20,000

New Delhi: The aviation ministry is planning to regulate fares by fixing Rs 20,000 as the highest economy class fare to be charged on domestic routes. This follows instances of some airlines charging exorbitant rates during the ongoing Spicejet crisis.

Even spot fares (tickets purchased at the last minute which always go for the highest price) are not supposed to go beyond the limit the ministry plans to set.

"The SpiceJet crisis happened, among other things, due to the extremely low fares it charged this year. We have to stop predatory pricing to prevent other airlines from meeting the fate of a Kingfisher or SpiceJet. We are going to set minimum and maximum fare for airlineS," said a senior official.
On December 18, TOI had first reported about the move to put in place a floor and a cap on air fares.
Till now, fares have not been regulated by the ministry. Airlines give a range of minimum and maximum fares to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) every month for each route.
24/12/14 PTI/Times of India

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Domestic airlines to oppose price cap move, want cost relief first

Mumbai: Domestic airline companies are gearing up to oppose the civil aviation ministry’s move to impose a cap of Rs 20,000 on economy class fares. According to them, the government should first lower taxes and ease airlines’ cost pressures.

A ministry's internal note proposes caps on minimum and maximum fares airlines can charge, keeping in mind their cost structure, profit margin and ensuring the last minute fares are not out of bounds of passengers. The proposal has not been formally discussed with the carriers.

However, the Air Passengers Association of India has welcomed the idea of a price cap on the ground it will prevent unreasonable pricing.

Airline sources also point out for most part of the year, even the highest-priced tickets are below Rs 20,000. Another executive said most of the time, the highest fares were between Rs 11,000 and 13,000. It was only during festive seasons when fares moved upwards of Rs 20,000.
25/12/14 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Raju exhorts domestic airlines to utilise 'unused bilaterals'

New Delhi: Advocating scrapping of the '5x20 Rule' which bars certain Indian carriers from flying abroad, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today exhorted domestic airlines to fly on routes where the bilaterals signed between India and other countries have been lying unused.

The minister said "to my understanding, no country in the world has a rule like this", which mandates a carrier to be five-year-old and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to serve on international routes.

"Nobody has given me reasons why five years, why 20 aircraft...," Raju told reporters here.

The minister said the government wanted to encourage the domestic carriers to utilise the "unused bilaterals".

"Our problem is regional connectivity. Our problem is there are lots of unused bilaterals which we have with several countries. We would like to encourage Indian players (to utilise them)," Raju said.

There have been attempts to do away with the '5X20 Rule' for quite some time, but without success so far.
25/12/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Poor safety, financial health ail Indian aviation industry

While private industries in all sectors of the economy rise and fall based on the principle of survival of the fittest, should we attach the same laissez faire policy towards the airline industry? A lot of economists would go along with this proposition.

However, there is a need of caution in the case of airlines. While soap or cigarette companies may fall and go, airline industry has two issues to consider. The first is the safety and security of passengers and the second, oligopolistic character of the industry.

Safety and security should be prime determinants of a good airline followed by passenger handling and food. Passengers, however, look to the second determinant more and are not fully aware of the security and safety aspects.

India had changed over to a centralised government-run system of airport security after the hijack of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999 from Kathmandu, which has been satisfactory as no major security breach has happened since then. When 9/11 took place in New York in 2001, all the eight flights hijacked were domestic. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had cautioned the US government about poor security at its domestic airports – which was then being managed by the airlines themselves – where they employed the cheapest security personnel. Since then, they too have switched over to government security.
25/12/14 Sanat Kaul/Deccan Herald

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Deploy CAT-3 complaint plane, crew during fog: DGCA to airlines

New Delhi:  The civil aviation regulator has ordered all the airlines to deploy CAT-III complaint plane and crew trained to fly under low visibility conditions while operating in and out of IGI airport here in the morning to ensure smooth flow of air traffic during fog which led to cancellation of five flights and delay of 70 others today.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA), which held a meeting today to review the measures taken at the airport here to deal with the fog, also ordered the airlines to reschedule flights with non-CAT-III compliant aircraft in case the visibility conditions are not favourable, officials said.

The airlines have also been told to inform the passengers much in advance about any change in operations to avoid any inconvenience to them, they said.

The fog forecast issued by Indian Met Department in the evening every day is analysed, they said, adding this year there were nine diversions during the low visibility procedure (LVP) enforcement period at the IGI Airport as against 16 in the same period last year.

All the diversions during December 1 to December 23 occurred when the visibility conditions at IGI airport were below (CAT-IIIB parametres) 75 metres, they said.
24/12/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Civil Aviation Minister Inaugurates e-office of the Ministry

Delhi: Minister of Civil Aviation Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju today inaugurated the e-office governance in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of Indias Single Window Clearance to Communication Masts through SACFA NOCAS Integration.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister highlighted the importance of e-governance and elaborated upon the arrangements made in the Ministry of Civil Aviation under this programme. He particularly highlighted the importance of transparency and accountability through which both efficiency and effectiveness are derived. The salient features of the e-office are as under:

Single instance has been created for MoCA, BCAS, DGCA, CRS and IGRUA with URL as follows : ca.eoffice.gov.in

All new files will be generated electronically, for which Training and Hand Holding on e- office has been provided to all users of the Ministry of Civil Aviation including Data Entry Operators/Consultants.

90 Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs) have been installed and bound with e- office Application out of 137.
25/12/14 Business Standard

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70 flights and 50 trains hit due to fog in Delhi

New Delhi: Flight operations were severely affected due to dense fog at IGI Airport on Wednesday. Hundreds of passengers were inconvenienced because of cancellations, diversions and delays in flight movements.

According to the spokesperson of DIAL, the airport operator, fog at Delhi caused delays to 70 flights. "A total of 70 flights were delayed, five flights were cancelled, which includes four departing and one incoming flight. No flight to Delhi was diverted," said the spokesperson. However, sources claim that over 300 flights, including domestic and international flights scheduled to take off or land at IGI, were running behind schedule. Over 20 flights were cancelled and five flights reportedly diverted to other cities.

Railway traffic was also affected by fog. A total of 100 trains to the capital were running slow, over 50 trains had been rescheduled and nine were reported to have been cancelled.
Sources further said zero visibility forced the authorities to almost shut the runways for two hours— between 7.30am and 9.30am. Zero visibility was reported from runway 29/11 and part of runway 28/10. Only flights with CAT IIIB facilities were allowed to land on the runways during this time.
25/12/14 Times of India

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Single portal for civil aviation ministry's wings, functions

The civil aviation ministry Thursday announced an e-initiative, as part of the Good Governance Day, integrating in a single portal all affairs of its departments and affiliates, including regulation, safety, certification and training.
Inaugurating the initiative, Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said e-governance was an important component for transparency and accountability and it is through this that both efficiency and effective implementation of policy is derived.
Officials said the services have been integrated under the portal ca.eoffice.gov.in and besides that all new files pertaining to various departments will be generated electronically. Special training has also been organised for this.
25/12/14 IANS/India Gazette 

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Flying to Chennai costlier now, fares touch Rupees 30 thousand

Chennai:  Flying into Chennai has become expensive for last-minute travellers. One-way fares from Delhi, Mumbai and a few other cities have crossed the 20,000 cap being considered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

This has particularly hit travellers to Coimbatore and Madurai as they have to travel via Chennai.

Flights to the city are costlier than those out of it on domestic routes. A one-way ticket from Delhi to Chennai on Friday is in the 20,000 - 31,000 range while a ticket to Delhi costs just 4,500. One-way spot fares on Mumbai-Chennai route are in the 8,000 - 16,000 range. Fares are higher if there is a stopover.

One-way fare from Mumbai to Madurai via Bangalore is 27,000 and 11,000 - 14,000 to Coimbatore, while Delhi-Coimbatore fare is 12,000 to 15,000.

Travel agents say tickets to Chennai are in high demand as most travellers are those coming to spend holidays with relatives and friends while travel out of the city is mostly for business.
26/12/14 Times of India

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Air traffic controllers get simulator to hone skills

Chennai: Air traffic controllers in Chennai will now be able to use a simulator to sharpen their skills to handle flights. Until now, they had been learning on the job after training at an Airports Authority of India (AAI) institute in Allahabad.

An integrated simulator, with preloaded navigation procedures, flight routes and approach paths of airports in southern region, was installed a few months ago.

"The machine has been installed and calibrated. It is being used to train and assess air traffic controllers in the region. Similar simulators have been installed at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata too. Training has begun but it will take six more months for it to become full fledged," said a senior AAI official.
It has a radar screen where flights appear as blips and crisscross at different altitudes. Controllers can create and recreate every-day situations on the machine to hone their skills.
25/12/14 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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PM urged to probe ‘misuse of naval helicopter’

Panaji: Goa-based social activist and lawyer Aires Rodrigues on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an inquiry into an alleged misuse in Goa of a naval helicopter by the family of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

In a complaint faxed to the Prime Minister, the activist has pointed out that Arun Jaitley’s wife Sangeeta and daughter Sonali who arrived in Goa from Delhi on December 23 by the Indigo flight 6E-335 on a private visit to attend a wedding were flown by a naval helicopter from Dabolim airport to the five-star Lalit Golf & Spa Resort at Canacona in South Goa.

Alleging that this misuse of the naval copter was at the instance of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and was clearly a gross abuse of power and an unnecessary burden on the Exchequer, Mr. Rodrigues has

stated that it was also contrary to the government’s mantra of good governance and high probity in public life.
25/12/14 Prakash Kamat/The Hindu

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Though banned, drones still fly in Mumbai

Though the Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria has imposed a blanket ban on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones in the city, drones were flown in two separate incidents recently. While one drone was used during the inauguration of a super-speciality hospital in central Mumbai, the other was used in an event organized by college students at Oberoi mall in Goregaon.

The use of such drones is significant, in the wake of intelligence inputs that such pilot-less aircraft can be used by terror outfits to carry out attacks.

The management of Oberoi mall confirmed the use of a drone at an event recently. "The event was carried out by college students and alumni of a reputed technical institute, who had built their own drone and had displayed it in the mall on December 18. The students had taken the necessary permissions from the mall authorities; the drone was a huge hit among the visitors," said a mall employee on condition of anonymity.

Deputy commissioner of police (operations) Sanjay Barkund said, "For use of drones, it is necessary to take permission from the directorate of civil aviation (DGCA) and the police. If permission was not taken, then we can definitely take action against (the people concerned)." He added, "In special cases, though, permissions can be granted by the police and the DGCA officials through due process."
24/12/14 Divyesh Nair/Daily News & Analysis

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Airlines focus on new products, better service as competition heats up

As competition in the Indian aviation space hots up, with Vistara taking to the skies next month, domestic airlines are revamping products and increasing  their capacity.

While GoAir has said it will launch new products and services from March, Jet Airways, which shelved its no-frills carrier Konnect, earlier this month, has launched a ‘Guest First’ programme to improve customer service. Jet Airways is refurbishing aircraft cabins and improving in-flight menus.

Giorgio De Roni, GoAir’s chief executive, said, “We have strengthened our corporate business. We have good products, convenient schedules and improved on-time performance. We will be launching a new service from March.” He refused to provide details about the new products and services.

“Our forward bookings for January-March 2015 have grown 40 per cent compared to this year. We have sold 100,000 additional seats for travel in January-March,”

De Roni added. Earlier this year, he had said GoAir aimed to increase its revenue 36 per cent and carry 6.7 million passengers in 2014-15. In 2013-14, the airline had carried 5.5 million passengers.
24/12/14 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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DGCA working with Met department to avert delays due to fog

New Delhi: Fliers can expect minimum inconvenience during this fog season as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the situation with its officials on the ground. The regulator has also ordered all airlines to fly only CAT-IIIequipped aircraft in morning hours with crew trained in handling the instrument landing system. DGCA officials are monitoring the treatment being given to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled, an airline executive said. "There have not been any instance of the DGCA officials intervening anywhere yet, but they are monitoring the situation closely." The regulator is also monitoring the coordination among airlines, airport operators and air traffic control, the executive said. "The meteorological department's prediction is being updated every hour and they have been exact till today. Since the operations in the mornings are run by CAT-III-equipped planes and trained pilots, the chances of delay or diversion can only come if there is zero visibility at the airport," he said.

The DGCA, after a huge list of diversions and delays last year, had asked the met department to update predictions every hour so that airlines and aviation authorities get time to prepare. The DGCA had formed a technical committee last year to suggest ways to improve operations during fog, after the Delhi airport saw about 60 diversions in a day taking the total number of diversions for the fog season in 2013 to 143, compared with 89 in 2012 and 57 in 2011.
24/12/14 Economic Times

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MEHAIR aircraft arrives at Sardar Patel airport in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: It is learnt that an aircraft to start regional air service in Gujarat has arrived at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad. The plane belongs to Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd.(MEHAIR), a company which has been permitted by Gujarat government to start its intra-state air connectivity service across Gujarat through tender process administered by Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited. MEHAIR may offer air connectivity in Ahmedabad-Bhuj-Jamnagar sector in first phase through its 9-seater and 19-seater planes.

In November, Civil Aviation minister of Gujarat Shri Saurabh patel had said that MEHAIR will start intra-state operation in next two months period with minimum two 9-10 seater planes initially to connect Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Kandla, Keshod, Porbandar and Rajkot where air strips are existing. MEHAIR company has selected Surat and Ahmedabad airports for parking at present.
24/12/14 DeshGujarat

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A Display of IAF Prowess and Style

Thiruvananthapuram:  An ‘air ballet’ by the Sarang helicopters, flypasts by Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs and Jaguars and a breathtaking jump by the Akash Ganga skydiving team were among the big attractions at a two-day air show which began on Tuesday at Shangumugham to mark the 30th anniversary of the Air Force’s Southern Air Command (SAC).

The event began with a performance by the Air Warriors Drill Team. Marching in different formations, 18 hand-picked men twirled and spun the 5.5 kg .303 rifles with consummate ease, drawing cheers from the crowd.

It was followed by the much-awaited entry of four Sarang helicopters, sporting peacock designs on their flanks. They  came in from the north in a ‘wineglass’ formation, three spewing smoke. Changing formations, they performed a series of dangerous-looking manoeuvres designed to thrill. Soon, three of them rose as if on the crest of a wave and then ‘fell’ in synchronised precision.

The commentator reminded the audience that the Sarang Display Team, famed as they were for their aerobatics, had also been a part of Operation Raahat, the tough rescue operation undertaken by the Indian Air Force in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand. They helped save nearly a 1000 lives. The Dhruv helicopters wound up their show with the ‘Sarang Split.’
24/12/14 New Indian Express

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Aviation sector's turbulence rocks ecommerce shipment companies like Ecom Express, Delhivery

New Delhi: Several companies that deliver shipments for online retailers are bearing the brunt of the upheaval in India's aviation sector, as cancellation of dozens of flights by beleaguered airline SpiceJet and a decline in air cargo space for commercial shipments throws delivery schedules into disarray.

These logistics companies — many of which focus solely on India's booming ecommerce sector— are afraid the situation will only worsen in the coming year, as airlines battling rough weather offer first preference to passengers over cargo in the crowded holiday season.

"The trouble with an aviation player (SpiceJet) has aggravated the situation," said Sanjiv Kathuria, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bengaluru-based DotZot, the e-commerce shipment arm of logistics firm DTDC Ltd. "It has hit shipments especially to parts of Northeast where shipments are being delayed."
24/12/14 Harsimran Julka & Rasul Bailay/Economic Times

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Bad experience fuels Condor’s flight from state

Margao: High travel costs, airport fees for handling and a few other factors have forced Condor Airlines to discontinue its operations to the state, three decades after it brought the first charter flight of foreign tourists to Goan shores.

The charter tourists and the German airline find travel costs and other overheads high and the Dabolim airport more expensive than some of their own airports.
Speaking exclusively to TOI, a Condor official Uwe Balser said, "Like all firms, we, too, seek to make profits but we cannot do so in Goa as the travel costs, airport fees for handling, etc are too expensive for the charter tourist flying to Goa."
Balser said that Dabolim airport is the most expensive as compared to Frankfurt and other destinations.
24/12/14 Times of India

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Reducing tax on jet fuel will help airlines cut costs by 10-15%

New Delhi: Rationalising taxes on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) could bring down operating costs of airlines by an average of 10-15 per cent, industry experts say.

Domestic airlines such as SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Indigo blame steep jet fuel prices (due to high tax components) for their high operating costs. The industry has been demanding rationalising of ATF State taxes, which are as high as 30 per cent in some places.

According to analysts, if the State taxes are brought to around 4 per cent (which most States have found favourable), it could help airlines save as much as ?5,000 crore in their fuel bills. Fuel bills account for almost 50 per cent of the operating costs of an airline.

Estimates show that domestic airlines spent around ?27,000 crore on ATF in 2013-14. According to the estimates of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the industry had a combined loss of $1.77 billion (around ?11,200 crore) in 2013-14.

For example, Air India, which buys about 70 per cent of its fuel from domestic suppliers, bought about 12.7 lakh kilolitres of ATF locally in 2013-14, incurring an expense of around ?9,000 crore.

On an average, every kilolitre of fuel bought locally cost the national carrier around ?70,500, inclusive of taxes. Assuming it paid an average tax rate of 25 per cent (as Air India’s refuelling was mainly from the larger centres) in 2013-14, a uniform 4 per cent tax would have helped the airline save as much as ?11,900 per kilolitre or about ?1,500 crore in 2013-14.
23/12/14 Debabrata Das/Business Line

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Fares to fly low as new airlines take off

New Delhi: Now that budget carrier SpiceJet is on its way to recovery, and Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) is ready for a take-off in the first week of January, 2015 could start with fierce competition kicking in into the sector with every carrier trying to woo flyers in the expanding market.
And with many more airlines waiting in the wings to launch their services in the current year, the expansion in the sector will only benefit flyers as it will drive down fares with higher supply of seat inventory. As seen in the past, will this splash red on the books of the airline operators?
Captain G R Gopinathan, pioneer of low fare aviation in India, does not think so. Citing examples, he said UK's Ryan Air, which entered a mature market more than a decade back, has been profitable ever since it was launched.
"It (profitability of Ryan) is not a flash in a pan. If you look closely, most airlines with lowest fare generally have a higher profit while those with highest fare have a hard time keeping the red off their balance sheet," he said.
23/12/14 Kashmir Image

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Air travel trends for 2015

OAG, one of the market leaders in aviation intelligence, has announced the key findings of its ‘What is shaping air travel in 2015?’ trends report. This detailed analysis of the global aviation sector reveals that low jet fuel prices, the continued rise in demand for outbound travel from China, aviation reforms in India and the opportunities and challenges for air transport in Africa will be among the major industry issues in 2015.
Lower jet fuel prices
MarkClarkson, business development director ASPAC, OAG said, “While it is being reported that lower fuel prices are good news for airlines and their passengers, there is the possibility that these low prices reflect weaker demand in the global economy, in which case we could be at the top of the commercial aviation business cycle.” OAG’s 2015 Trends Report shows that the jet fuel price dropped by 20 per cent compared to a year earlier, resulting in a saving of US$ seven billion on the fuel bill for the global airline industry in 2014.
The prized Chinese tourist
Chinese outbound travel will remain a hot topic in 2015 as demand for air transport continues to rise. Since November 2013, 19 new Chinese airlines have commenced service or are in the planning stages. Even at six per cent passenger growth each year, the Chinese travel market would double every 12 years. Many of the largest markets for travel to and from China are within North East Asia, and the number one market is South Korea. The number of passengers flying between China and South Korea grew by 39 per cent ?in the year to September 2014. The combination of Malaysia Airlines’ two hull losses and civil unrest in Thailand prompted the much courted Chinese tourist to stay away from the Malaysia-Thailand-Singapore area, with visitor numbers down by 30 per cent. Zero growth in these markets comes at a time when total international passengers from China grew by 19 per cent in September 2014, according to OAG Traffic Analyser.
23/12/14 Financial Express

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India considers temporary cap on air fares: Govt official

India is considering imposing a temporary cap on airfares to limit sharp movements in prices in the wake of troubles at SpiceJet, the country's second-largest budget carrier, a government official said on Monday.

The official, who could not be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the government had received requests to set an upper limit for ticket prices. He did not elaborate.

Local media have reported that the aviation ministry has been considering both upper and lower limits for prices after receiving complaints from customers. Consumers reported sharp increases, particularly for last-minute sales.
A spokesman for the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
23/12/14 Reuters/Times of India

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Private carriers want AI stripped of privileges

New Delhi: Close on the heels of Air India pulling out its membership from Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) spearheaded by top private carriers IndiGo, Jet Airways, GoAir and SpiceJet, the industry outfit has asked the government to strip the privileges enjoyed by the national carrier.

Submitting its comments on the draft civil aviation policy, the FIA has said that level-playing field amongst airlines was being vitiated because of long rope offered by public sector oil companies and Airports Authority of India (AAI) to the state-run carrier as a result of its government ownership.

“It is for the government to decide on ownership and the manner it wishes to run Air India. However, because of government ownership, level playing field amongst airlines should not get vitiated as is presently the case.” the FIA is learnt to have told the ministry of civil aviation.

The FIA has also demanded a review of government's decision that makes it mandatory for Air India employees to fly in the carrier. Air India had in October quit the lobby group, which it founded in 2006 to further the airline industry's interest. Interestingly, the airline contended its decision to leave FIA saying it was a government-owned company and therefore did not need any industry body's help to pursue its interest.
23/12/14 mydigitalfc.com

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Cops push Madhya Pradesh CM's plane to make way for Kamal Nath's aircraft

Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh: Around eight policemen and some officials had to push the parked plane of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for about 15-20 feet at an airstrip here today to give way to an incoming aircraft of Congress leader Kamal Nath.
Nath's plane was supposed to land at Imlikheda airstrip, large enough to accommodate a plane, but it got delayed and the chief minister's aircraft made the landing at around 12.30 pm.
Policemen were made to push MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's plane to clear the airstrip for landing of former Union minister Kamal Nath's aircraft, in Chhindwara on Monday. PTI Policemen were made to push MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's plane to clear the airstrip for landing of former Union minister Kamal Nath's aircraft, in Chhindwara on Monday. PTI
"As per the schedule, Nath's plane was supposed to land earlier but he got late and in the meantime, Chauhan's flight landed at the airstrip around 12.30 pm.
"After half-an-hour, Nath's plane also arrived and to make way for it to land, policemen and other staff pushed it for about 15-20 feet towards the helipad which is being used as a temporary parking bay in case two planes arrive at the airstrip," Inspector General (IG) Jabalpur Range, D Sriniwas Rao told PTI. Rao was present at the airstrip, situated about three km away from Chhindwara.
He denied reports that there was any emergency situation or Chouhan's plane was on the runway when Nath's plane was scheduled to land at the airstrip.
22/12/14 First Post

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Pune flies high on new indigenous LCA-Navy

Pune: Agroup of Research and Development (R&D) scientists in Dighi has played a vital role in developing the naval version of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which successfully conducted a test flight at INS Hansa in Goa. The fourth-plus generation aircraft, designed to operate from the decks of aircraft carriers, took off from the skijump facility of the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at the centre.

"A special flight control mode allows handsfree take-off, as the aircraft leaps from the ramp before taking an ascending trajectory. The successful maiden launch of the LCA is testimony to the tremendous efforts made by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists and engineers in designing the aircraft as well as the flight test team that timed the event to near perfection," said a senior official of Directorate of Public Interface, DRDO headquarters, New Delhi.

"It is a collaborative work of DRDO laboratories. But since the R&D has acquired expertise in ground system engineering for all major weapons programmes, they have provided SBTF facility, which is very crucial," said a senior DRDO scientist.

LCA-Navy is the second ski take off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) carrier-borne aircraft in the world, after a Russian deck-based aircraft. And, it will be the only carrier-borne fighter aircraft in the LCA category. The test flight comes more than two years after the aircraft completed its maiden flight on April 27, 2012. US Navy, too, audited the aircraft in its initial stages.
23/12/14 Pune Mirror

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Air Show to be Held From Tomorrow

Thiruvananthapuram: ity residents had brief glimpses of the Air Force’s peacock-hued Sarang helicopter display team on Monday as they arrived in the city for the two-day Air Show marking the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Southern Air Command (SAC).

The Dhruv helicopters flew over the city before landing at the Air Force’s technical area at Shangumugham ahead of the show on Wednesday and Thursday. On both days, the show will be held from 10.30 a.m to 12 noon over Shangumugham.

‘’Wednesday’s show, in fact, will be full-dress rehearsal. Thursday will be the official show,’’ a defence spokesperson said.

 In addition to the Sarang choppers, frontline fighters of the Air Force, Sukhoi-30s and Jaguars will be the big attraction at the show. These fighter aircraft will fly in for the show from various air stations of the SAC in neighbouring states. The show will also feature the Air Force’s skydiving team, the ‘Akash Ganga’, the Air Warriors Drill team, paragliding and a performance by the Air Force Band.
23/12/14 New Indian Express

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UAV in forest to keep an eye on poaching

Bangalore: Battling encroachers and poachers in protected and reserved forest areas, the state forest department has roped in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or drones) for surveillance, tracking the movement of animal herds, verification of boundaries, detection of encroachment and mapping of forest boundaries, particularly in urban locations.
Setting a new trend in protecting forest areas in south India, the department successfully tested three UAVs inside the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Monday.
Even though the decision to use drones has been in the works for a few months now, the department was awaiting a final nod from the state government and Director General of Civil Aviation for their use.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, G V Sugur, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of the Forest Force) said, "We have been considering using drones for varied purposes in our forest areas. Even before we could actually commission them, the department wanted to take up a feasibility study. The test was part of the study and the results are impressive. Not only do they save time, but they also help with accurate and reliable data in real time."
23/12/14 Niranjan Kaggere/Bangalore Mirror

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Court Stays Aviation Regulator's Show Cause Notice to JSPL

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) show cause notice to Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel and Power's (JSPL) aircraft charter firm asking it why its permit to operate be not cancelled in view of withdrawal of its security clearance.

Justice V K Shali, while issuing the interim order, also asked the Centre not to take any precipitative action against JSPL's charter firm whose licence to operate was to expire on Monday.

It also sought a response from the Centre on the company's plea and listed the matter for further hearing on January 12.

The judge, while issuing the oral orders, said he will dictate a detailed order later after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain said JSPL be directed to reply to DGCA's show cause notice if the company does not want the government to take any decision on its application for renewal of permit to operate.

The court, while granting the interim relief to JSPL, observed the company's non-schedule operator permit (NSOP) was being renewed every two years since 2008 and "heavens will not fall" if it is allowed to continue for a few more days.

Mr Jain said the show cause notice was issued on December 16 in view of the Union Home Ministry's December 4 decision to withdraw the security clearance given to the company.
22/12/14 PTI/NDTV

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Naval aircraft yard rolls out Peagsus engine

Kochi: The Naval Aircraft Yard here, one of the premier industrial establishments of the Indian Navy, today rolled out the 50th Pegasus Engine post overhaul.

The Rolls Royce Pegasus engine powers the mighty Sea Harriers, the most successful fighter of the Naval Air Arm acquired along with the Aircraft Carrier, INS Viraat.

The Pegasus engines, whose original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is Rolls Royce company, is being overhauled and serviced by Naval Aircraft Yard here since 2001, before which these engines were being sent to the UK for the purpose.

 In 2001, under project 'Ashok' wide ranging facilities including Aero engine Repair and overhaul Shop (AEROS), Pegasus Engine Test Bed (PETB) and the Centre for Avionics Repair and Software Development (CARES) were set up at a cost of about Rs 310 crore.

These facilities are supporting Naval Aviation to overcome obsolescence issues in a significant way and have resulted in foreign exchange savings of over Rs 1800 crore to the national exchequer.
22/12/14 PTI/Business Standard

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For Tripura residents, its via Bangladesh to the rest of India

Agartala: Hurdles in travelling to other parts of the country by road, rail and air are increasingly prompting the people of Tripura to go to other parts of India via Bangladesh.

Before the partition of the country in 1947, the routes of the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh) had been used to ferry men and materials to and from northeast India.

“For the people of Tripura, the Bangladeshi route is the only and secured option to go to Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of India as road, rail and air journeys from this hilly state now become impossible,” Tarun Chakraborty, an executive of a Kolkata-based private company posted here, told IANS.

“If you are keen to visit Tripura, then the Bangladeshi route is the solitary and secure alternative. I, along with my family, were stranded in Kolkata for three days. My leave has exhausted but I was unable to rejoin my office in Agartala as no air tickets were available . I returned to Tripura from Kolkata via Bangladesh,” he added.
22/12/14 IANS/Vancouverdesi.com

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Kochi naval aircraft yard reaches a milestone

Kochi: The Naval Aircraft Yard (Kochi), an industrial establishment of the Indian Navy at the Naval Base here, has reached a major milestone by releasing the 50th Pegasus engine for service, post overhaul.

Vice-Admiral S.P.S. Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, formally released the engine at a function held at the yard on Monday. The Pegasus engines, which power the Sea Harriers aircraft, has been overhauled and serviced at the yard since 2001.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Admiral Cheema said the case for upgrade of the yard with the most modern equipment was being processed, which would be implemented over the next 5-7 years. “Plans are afoot to take the NAY(K) to greater heights by utilising its present and retired staff and the release of the 50th engine acts as a force multiplier”, he said.

The function was also attended by former Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, who served in the yard in the 1970s, representatives from Rolls Royce, HAL and serving and retired officials of the Indian Navy.
23/12/14 The Hindu

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Training Aircraft for IAF Pilots

Delhi: A comprehensive roadmap for ab-initio training in IAF to increase training capacity is already in place. Acquisition of all equipment and aircraft including trainer aircraft is a continuous process and is based on the Services Capital Acquisition Plan (SCAP).

The training is currently conducted on Pilatus PC-7 Mk-II, Kiran Mk-I/A and Hawk Mk-132 aircraft.
23/12/14 Business Standard

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Fares to fly low as new airlines take off; flyers to benefit from higher supply of seat inventory

New Delhi: Now that budget carrier SpiceJet is on its way to recovery, and Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) is ready for a take-off in the first week of January, 2015 could start with fierce competition kicking in into the sector with every carrier trying to woo flyers in the expanding market.

And with many more airlines waiting in the wings to launch their services in the current year, the expansion in the sector will only benefit flyers as it will drive down fares with higher supply of seat inventory. As seen in the past, will this splash red on the books of the airline operators?

Captain G R Gopinathan, pioneer of low fare aviation in India, does not think so. Citing examples, he said UK's Ryan Air, which entered a mature market more than a decade back, has been profitable ever since it was launched.
"It (profitability of Ryan) is not a flash in a pan. If you look closely, most airlines with lowest fare generally have a higher profit while those with highest fare have a hard time keeping the red off their balance sheet," he said.

According to him, today, Ryan flies 80 million passengers, out of which 20 million passengers pay a fare of just euro 1 plus taxes. Its revenue per passenger at euro 39 is among the lowest but it has one of the highest profits among the airlines in the world. In contrast, British Airways's revenue per passenger is Euro 250 but it has to struggles to remain in profit.
22/12/14 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Don’t fleece flyers grounded by SpiceJet's woes: DGCA

New Delhi:  The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) has directed all Indian carriers to accept passengers of SpiceJet's cancelled flights without charging exorbitant spot fares. The regulator's order is "subject to availability" of seats in other carriers and refers to passengers of SpiceJet flights cancelled at the last minute.

"Spot fares are very high, especially in this peak travel season. We have asked airlines to charge a reasonable fare from passengers of SpiceJet's flights that have been cancelled at the last minute," said a senior official.
"After the Kingfisher experience, other airlines do not want to accept vouchers from SpiceJet as they are unsure of getting money from them. Hence passengers will have to pay other airlines to take their flight and get a refund from SpiceJet for the cancelled flight later," said the official.

Former SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh — who is eying re-entry into the airline by pumping in Rs 1,200-1,500 crore along with a bunch of global PE funds — is understood to have arranged funds for the low-cost carrier to keep flying without any more hiccups. "Ajay Singh is doing a due diligence of SpiceJet and that process will take about a month. But Singh has arranged for funds for the airline to keep operating till he and his PE funds invest in the airline," said a source.
22/12/14 Times of India

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Boeing: Nagpur MRO unit to be operational by April-June 2015

Mumbai: The maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Nagpur built by Boeing Co, which is set to be operated by Air India, will be operational by the next calendar year, a senior official of the US-based aircraft manufacturing company told FE.
“The Nagpur MRO is almost complete. The taxiway to the MRO from the main runway, which is currently under construction, is slated to be completed in the next few months,” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, sales, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing.
“The MRO should be operational by April-June next year,” Keskar added.
The sprawling 50-acre Nagpur facility, which can accommodate up to three wide-bodied aircraft at a time, is expected to enhance revenues of Air India’s MRO unit, Air India Engineering Services (AIESL), which has been hived into a separate company in 2013.
22/12/14 Financial Express

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Fog in northern India disrupts flights, leads to chaos at city airport

While the past week saw Spicejet passengers creating a ruckus over mass cancellations, the weekend at the airport was no less noisy with flight schedules on sectors such as Mumbai to Chandigarh, Indore and Jaipur changed, if not cancelled altogether, due to a thick blanket of fog over parts of north India.

Between Friday and Saturday seven schedules were affected, leading to chaos at Mumbai, which itself was not affected by the fog. According to Indian Meteorological (Met) Department officials, there may be temporary respite after the weekend, but dense fog will return before Christmas. "Now that the fog system has been put in place, there have been no diversions, though delays will occur as aircraft movement slows down during low visibility. The real test on how well airlines are prepared will be after Christmas," an Air India official said.

On Sunday, Jet Airways announced cancellation of flights from Mumbai to Chandigarh and vice versa upto Tuesday. For Sunday, the airline rescheduled flights from Mumbai to Indore and back, Bhavnagar, Bhopal and Delhi-Mumbai-Bhuj. Flights were rescheduled by 10 minutes to over 2 hours.
22/12/14 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Iata seeks policy support to boost Indian carriers

New Delhi: Voicing reservation over privatisation of airports, global airlines body Iata has said governments should resist the temptation of earning revenue through such exercises and evolve policies supportive to all players to spur growth in the aviation sector.

“An investor needs to make a fair return on his investment. But if you (government) are taking away all that money from the top, the operator will have to charge more to make some money, which eventually comes from the passengers and it keeps the fares up. So the government shouldn’t be greedy about that,” Iata’s director general and chief executive Tony Tyler said during a recent interaction.

Observing that privatisation is not a “panacea” and does not solve all the problems, he said there is a “particular temptation” when governments privatise airports.

He sounded critical of the model adopted by the government in privatising Delhi and Mumbai airports in which government reduced its holdings to 26 per cent but still gets a revenue share of 45.99 per cent and 38.7 per cent, respectively.
22/12/14 Oman Tribune

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Father of ‘Tejas’ World’s smartest Fighter plane of its class wows Nagpur Engineers

Nagpur: Just as the shine and the gleam around ‘India made’ LAC Tejas is beginning to wear off as even Parliamentarians, including the PM, questioning DRDO about delays and cost escalations , the scientist who headed the Tejas project Dr. Kota Harinarayana was in Nagpur recently to attend the 18th National Seminar on Aerospace Structures held at VNIT recently.

Nagpur Today team had an exclusive interaction with this accomplished man who has achieved so much for India and found him as genial and good humored as he is talented.

Explaining the complexity of the LAC project, Dr. Harinarayana explained that it was a quantum leap for DRDO to design and manufacture this fighter plane which is leagues ahead of MIGs or other older generation fighter planes.
22/12/14 Nagpur Today

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Private airplane owners fly higher than DGCA limits

Every week, Ammeet Agarwal soars above Mumbai, its ribbons of traffic, its rat race, its myriad laws, enjoying the niche pleasure of flying his own plane. Agarwal, president of Supreme aviation company, owns three planes and is accompanied by his brother, his cousins and other aircraft owners on his tours.
The youngest flyer is 24 and the eldest is 60. They are engineers, surgeons, real estate businessmen, among others. Prasad Bhat always wanted to fly as a child but didn't want to be a commercial pilot. By dint of owning a successful engineering company, he could realise his dreams in 2011. He joined hands with like-minded people who wanted to fly for pleasure, and they bought a plane together.
Bhat, 52, said: "We struggled a lot with regulations and permissions but it came through. Today, we own two planes, a Cessna 172 and a (Diamond) DA40. We have gone up to Lakshadweep, Shimla and to southern airports. We mostly travel on Saturdays and Sundays. There is little awareness in India about the concept of private pilots who fly for fun."
Pune-based Vishwas Bhise, who deals in real estate, piloted a glider in the '80s and has flown a plane since 2009. Bhise feels that there is a growing interest in hobby flying despite the tough regulations. "The DGCA (directorate general of civil aviation) has the same rules for commercial and private airplanes. They need be flexible as we're not doing it commercially. Some of their rules are not practical and they still don't understand the concept of hobby flying. There are so many unused aircrafts and we can innovate if given an opportunity," said Bhise who co-owns a plane with Bhat.
22/12/14 Preksha Malu/Daily News & Analysis

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Naval Air: India Gets Some Much Needed Relief

he Indian Navy has finally selected a new naval helicopter; the American S-70. This comes after more of a decade of efforts to get the Indian Navy a new helicopter. India’s slow, corrupt and generally inept military procurement bureaucracy was responsible for most of the delays. A major part of the problem was that the procurement officials had been ordered to buy Indian in possible. All this was quite urgent because Indian badly needed new naval anti-submarine helicopters. The navy currently has about 40 anti-submarine helicopters all of them more than two decades old and in need of replacement. But the Indian procurement bureaucrats first went after an Indian designed and manufactured helicopter. That has not worked out. Back in 2010 the navy bought six of the Indian made Dhruvs for evaluation and did not like what they saw. The main complaints were lack of engine power and poor reliability. These were considered fatal flaws for helicopters operating off ships and used for SAR (search and rescue) and ASW (anti-submarine warfare) work.
21/12/14 Strategy Page

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India successfully flight-tests naval version of LCA

India on Saturday successfully flight-tested a Naval version of the light combat aircraft (LCA), the first indigenously designed and developed 4th plus generation combat aircraft designed to operate from the decks of air-craft carriers.With the latest test flight, the LCA Naval version has proved its worthiness and is ready for induction into the Indian Navy.

''LCA (Navy) Prototype 1 (NP1), took-off from ski-jump facility of shore-based test facility at INS Hansa in Goa yesterday. Piloted by Commodore Jaideep Maolankar, the chief test pilot of National Flight Test Centre, the aircraft had a perfect flight with results matching the predicted ones to the letter,'' an official release stated.

''The indigenous Indian Naval Carrier Borne Aviation programme has been launched, literally from the Ski-Jump,'' the release stated.
22/12/14 Domain-b

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Airfare rise: HC asks govt to submit copies of licences granted to private airlines

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has asked the Indian government to submit copies of licence granted to private airlines as well as an order that removed upper and lower ceiling on airfare increase.

Social activist Dr Nutan Thakur has filed a writ petition against arbitrary raising of airfares by private and government airlines. The public interest litigation (PIL) says, "Private Air transport service providers are raising the air fares exorbitantly and irrationally on such critical occasions as important festivals, imminent and unexpected law and order situations and other crucial situations. This is nothing but a malicious and greedy way to extort money from poor and helpless ordinary passengers who are forced to pay such huge money."

The bench of Justice VK Shukla and Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava-II have also asked the government and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to present copies of licences granted to private airlines to verify whether the specified requirements were followed or not while granting such licences. The Bench also asked the government to submit a copy of 27 December 2013 order, which allegedly has removed the upper and lower ceiling on airfare increase.
20/12/14 Moneylife

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