Aviation museum, new hangar and more aircrafts to be added

Aviation arena of the city is currently bubbling with positive energy because Nagpur Flying Club has restarted after being in the doldrums for one full year. Known as a glorious institution once, it had fallen prey to neglect and government apathy, but now it is about to see a complete turnaround...
Now that it has risen from the ashes like proverbial phoenix, serious efforts are being made to clear all the hurdles from its path. Divisional Commissioner Anoop Kumar, who is spearheading the mission rejuvenation, shares, "Earlier, there were permission issues because facilities at the club were as per the old GR. But now, we have fulfilled the requirements of staff and infrastructure as per new guidelines and got 90 days' permission from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to train the pilots at the flying club. They have asked us to complete one or two more formalities, including hiring of some additional technical hands. We will fulfil all these requirements in the next 15-30 days and then we will obtain the permission for five years."
Training for commercial pilot licence usually costs a bomb, but here, the cost of the course is much lesser. Joint MD of NFC, Shriram Mundada, clarifies, "Usually, private clubs charge more than `35 lakhs for the complete course, including 200 hours of flying and 200 hours of ground training. But here, we charge around `17 lakh for the same course. In 1980s, this club was considered as one of the premier institutions of training the pilots, but in 90s, it was taken over by state government and went into a state of neglect. But now, it will soon regain its lost glory."
30/12/16 Vinita Chaturvedi/The Times Of India

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Experts blame poor groundwork for fog-related delays

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has served over 20 million passengers this year, but the airport of India’s Silicon Valley has been bogged down by fog-related issues almost every winter since its inception in 2008.

For the second day in a row, dense fog disrupted the travel plans of several thousand passengers.

Experts point out that the initial studies by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) should have taken into account the possibility of fog delaying operations. This could have helped in choosing a suitable ILS before the runway was made operational. “Everyone in north Bengaluru knows that the water bodies in the area cause fog. The airport authorities must have factored this into their initial planning,” said an expert.

“The airport authorities should expedite deployment of the second runway. My advice to passengers is to not book early morning flights,” said Devesh Agarwal, an aviation expert. The second runway will be equipped with the advanced CAT III B Instrument Landing System (ILS).
30/12/16 Avinash Bhat/The Hindu

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On 'win-win' runway, aviation no more rich man's tarmac: Raju

Indian aviation is no more a rich man's prerogative and growth will continue on high trajectory in the new year, Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said as the sector saw the much-needed reforms taking off in 2016 with new policy and ambitious regional connectivity plans.

2016 bloomed as a "very meaningful year" with over 20 per cent domestic air passenger growth while scrapping of the once famous '5/20' overseas flying norms and relaxing of foreign domestic investment rules added to the sector's mojo.

Turning operationally profitable in the last financial year provided the much-needed impetus to Air India amid stiff competition among domestic carriers in 2016 even as they reaped benefits of lower oil prices -- a scenario unlikely to remain the same next year with changing geopolitical vibes.

Against this benign backdrop, passengers have a lot to cheer with airlines -- from budget to full-service ones -- coming up with discounted ticket prices as they look to fill more seats even as many ancillary services come at a price.

Also, biometric access for passengers has been tested at Hyderabad International Airport while tag-free hand baggage system is being tried at various airports.

As Raju remarked about the aviation sector, "It is a win-win situation."
30/12/16 PTI/Business Standard

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Domestic traffic in India could grow by nearly 25% in FY2018: CAPA

CAPA's comprehensive 200-page India Aviation Outlook Report FY2017/18, to be released in Feb-2017 at the CAPA India Aviation Summit stated that the domestic traffic could grow by nearly 25% in FY2018 and approach 130 million passengers in India. The next financial year is expected to be the third consecutive year of domestic growth above 20%. Growth could be as high as 25% but may be tempered by 3-5% because of the impact of demonetisation.

However, the purchase of air travel using some withdrawn denominations was permitted until the first half of December 2016 which may result in a delayed impact in the first half of FY2018. As of now, it is difficult to fully factor in what the impact may be, if any. The introduction of the GST next year may possibly also have a short-term negative impact on economic growth for a couple of years until more positive results emerge.

Based on aircraft deliveries, competitive dynamics and the positive outlook for the economy, domestic growth at 20% or higher could continue for up to a further two years. The pace of aircraft inductions in FY2018 will be one of the key drivers of traffic growth. This is however subject to deliveries of A320neos proceeding as scheduled and operators being able to deploy the equipment as planned, as some operational challenges have been experienced.

With LCCs taking delivery of the clear majority of narrow body aircraft coming into the market (an estimated 50 out of 65 inductions), their share of the domestic market is expected to rise from around 65% today to reach 75-80% within two years.

The last time that LCCs had a similar market position was in early 2011 when their share stood at over 70%. However, on that occasion it was as a result of a blurred demarcation between the full service and low cost operations of Jet Airways and Kingfisher. Airline business models in the market are better defined today and LCCs will have a clearly dominant position.
30/12/16 Travel Biz Monitor

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Abandoned after 1962-war, Tuting Advanced Landing Ground becomes operational

The IAF Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Tuting, a small town located in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh has once again become operational.
The ALG at Tuting was inaugurated by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu in the presence of Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command (EAC) on Wednesday.
The Tuting ALG will facilitate air connectivity with rest of the country. This will not only help the Indian Air Force in ensuring better supplies in the hour of need, but will also boost tourism in Arunachal Pradesh.
29/12/16 India Today

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India needs 200-250 more Rafale fighters, 36 not enough: IAF chief Arup Raha

IAF chief Arup Raha on Wednesday said that while acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets was a good move, it was not enough. He said India needs about 200-250 more such fighters to maintain its combat edge over adversaries. Terming Rafale as an excellent aircraft, Raha, who is set to retire on December 31, said, “It is tremendously capable in all its role. It is a multi-role aircraft and can be used very effectively. It can prove its worth in any situation.”

“But we have just ordered 36 aircraft and we require more aircraft in this middle weight category to give entire spectrum of capability,” he said, adding that a void has been created in the past because of obsolescence and many of the squadrons will be past their use-by date. “We have already used them for four decades plus. It is time to retire them and get new aircraft… Over the next 10 years, we must have 200-250 aircraft. It has to be balanced out. In the heavy weight spectrum, we have enough. But in the medium weight category, we need to have more. Yes, about 200 will be very good,” he said.
29/12/16 The Indian Express

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Initial NOC for starting air services to be valid for 3 years

New Delhi: The initial no-objection certificate for starting scheduled passenger and cargo airlines will now be valid for three years with the government tweaking existing norms to improve the ease of doing business in the aviation sector.
Civil Aviation Ministrys decision to extend the validity of such certificates also comes at a time when it is working to implement various provisions of the new civil aviation policy and also boost regional air connectivity.
Now, the initial No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued for various categories of airlines to start operations would now be valid for three years. Currently, the validity is only for one-and-a-half years. Generally, these certificates are issued by the Ministry. In a circular, the Ministry said existing procedure for grant of initial NOC for scheduled, non-scheduled and scheduled commuter air transport services has been reviewed "with a view to streamline the procedure and also ease of doing business in aviation sector".

The new validity timeline would be applicable for NOCs to operate scheduled passenger, regional as well as cargo air transport services. For these categories, the fee would be Rs 2 lakh. With regard to NOC for operating scheduled commuter airlines, the fee would be Rs 2 lakh.
28/12/16 PTI/India Today

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DNA Edit: Aviation safety leaves much to be desired

Two incidents, in a span of two hours on Tuesday, have rekindled public discourse on passenger safety in aviation. In both cases, it was sheer providence that no lives were lost. The Mumbai-bound Jet Airways aircraft that skidded off the runway at Dabolim airport in Goa was carrying 154 passengers and 7 crew members. When a departing SpiceJet aircraft came face-to-face with an in-coming Indigo Airbus at Delhi Airport, it was a close shave for the 363 passengers on board the two planes. While the Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered customary probes, going by past records, they are least likely to bring about a lasting change in the aviation sector. Such incidents rarely create ripples in government circles. A few days after the helicopter crash in Mumbai’s Aarey colony on December 12, with three casualties, the state government is planning to revive the joyride business. Prima facie, the mishaps on Tuesday point to both criminal callousness and systemic inadequacies. They must be seen alongside a Directorate General of Civil Aviation report, which says that from January to October this year, 38 pilots and 113 cabin crew across airlines failed the alcohol test in pre-flight medical examination. Little wonder then, that the US Federal Aviation Administration had downgraded India’s civil aviation sector in 2014 for failing to measure up to international safety standards.
29/12/16 DNA

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India: Air Force Chief Wants 200-250 New Combat Aircraft

The most senior officer of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha, set to retire on December 31, told reporters on December 28 that the service needs to add 200 to 250 new aircraft in the medium-weight fighter jet category to maintain its edge over regional rivals.

“Over the next 10 years, we must have 200­-250 aircraft. It has to be balanced out. In the heavy-weight spectrum, we have enough. But in the medium-weight category, we need to have more. Yes, about 200 will be very good,” Raha said.

The IAF is currently operating 272 Sukhoi-30 MKI heavy-weight fighters. India and Russia are also in talks to upgrade the aircraft to ‘Super Sukhois’ beginning in 2017, which will entail fitting the Su-30s with new weapons systems and more advanced avionics.
29/12/16 Franz-Stefan Gady/The Diplomat

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Give approval to in-flight Wi-Fi services: Assocham to Govt

Pitching for an early approval to the proposal of providing in-flight Wi-Fi services over the Indian airspace, the Assocham today said that the move would not only enable the fliers stay connected even when they are mid-air but also improve flight safety.

The Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also said that various customer surveys findings also suggest that travellers expect to stay connected via their smart devices and laptops even while flying.

The copies of the letter have also been marked to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju and Communication Minister Manoj Sinha.

Globally, many airlines are already offering Wi-Fi for passengers, but they currently have to switch off the facility when they enter the Indian airspace as such services and phone calls are not allowed on flights under the present regulations.

"In Flight Connectivity (IFC) promises to substantially improve safety of airlines as it enables flight tracking in respect of aircraft in near real time reporting latitude, longitude, altitude, true heading and ground speed; streaming of flight data recorder off the aircraft in real time; and facilitating real time intervention for safety and security based on flight data monitoring," the Assocham said in the letter.

A large number of countries and airlines have already operationalised the in-flight connectivity, the Assocham said in the letter adding, even Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have permitted IFC in planes over-flying their territory while India is yet to take any decision.
28/12/16 PTI/Business Standard

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Cheers! Nagpur Flying Club gets DGCA wings to fly high, again

In a cheering news, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has provided new wings to the Nagpur Flying Club (NFC) by giving extension of approval of Flying Training Operation (FTO)to the Club. The NFC received the permission letter from the Deputy Director of Flying Training of DGCA. The letter granted approval to NFC for flying training up to 90 days.

The NFC had completed all the required facilities, technical formalities and had deployed mandatory manpower for Flying Training Operation. The permission was awaited since November 2015 due to which the flying activity had come to standstill. The DGCA team inspected the NFC and gave a green signal to resume flying activity. Further extension is subject to compliance with DGCA norms. At present there are 27 students admitted in the club. Out of those 17 students are taking training while 10 new students are selected.
28/12/16 Nagpur Today

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GST, demonetisation may impact aviation market growth: CAPA

New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax which is expected to be rolled out in 2017 and the on-going demonetisation drive could impact the growth prospects of the domestic aviation industry in the next fiscal, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has warned.

“The Government’s demonetisation move could impact the growth of the domestic civil aviation market by as much as 3-5 per cent in 2017 though the next fiscal is expected to be the third consecutive year of domestic growth above 20 per cent,” CAPA Aviation Outlook for Fiscal 2018 says.

The report states that the effect of the Government’s demonetisation move “were still unclear although there is no visible impact as yet,” but cautions that the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax next year may have a “ short term negative impact” on economic growth for a couple of years until more positive results emerge.

“The introduction of the GST may also reduce growth below projections depending on the tax rates applicable for air travel and inputs,” the report states.
28/12/16 Business Line

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Nagpur Flying Club gets DGCA wings to fly high, again

Nagpur: In a cheering news, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has provided new wings to the Nagpur Flying Club (NFC) by giving extension of approval of Flying Training Operation (FTO)to the Club. The NFC received the permission letter from the Deputy Director of Flying Training of DGCA. The letter granted approval to NFC for flying training up to 90 days.
The NFC had completed all the required facilities, technical formalities and had deployed mandatory manpower for Flying Training Operation. The permission was awaited since November 2015 due to which the flying activity had come to standstill. The DGCA team inspected the NFC and gave a green signal to resume flying activity. Further extension is subject to compliance with DGCA norms. At present there are 27 students admitted in the club. Out of those 17 students are taking training while 10 new students are selected.
The efforts of Divisional Commissioner Anoop Kumar who is also the Chairman of Nagpur Flying Club (NFC) bore fruits as the Club has stopped operations in January for want of clearance. Sharing this happy news, Anoop Kumar who was visibly satisfied with this promising development, stated that now NFC would strive to obtain licence for five years and submit compliance to DGCA.
28/12/16 Nagpur Today

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Aviation safety: Before two close shaves, many compliance violations

Two close calls on Tuesday buttress the need to redouble the focus on safety checks in the country’s aviation sector. For flyers though, the cause of worry is the fact that every third day, on an average, there was a reported irregularity by an airline pilot during the last year and the first ten months of this year. These were largely violations pertaining to breathalyser testing, flight and duty time limitations (FDTL) breaches and violations of cockpit and cabin discipline rules.
According to DGCA data, a total of 208 irregularities by pilots of various airlines was reported over the last year and in the current year 2016, alongside a total of 15 irregularities by airlines during the period. Officials indicated that in all these cases, “relevant enforcement action” has been taken against the pilots and the airlines concerned.
The bulk of the irregularities last year were related to breathalyser testing violations, with Jet Airways, Indigo and Air India reporting the highest number of cases. This year, till October 31, the bulk of reported cases involved FDTL violations, with Spice Jet logging the highest number of irregularities, alongside violations related to breathalyser testing, where Air India and Jet Airways reported the maximum number of cases. Worrying still is the fact that during the first ten months this year, a total of 38 pilots and 113 cabin crew tested alcohol-positive during the pre-flight medical examination for consumption of alcohol.
Data collated over a longer time frame — over the last three years and the first ten months of this year — showed a total of 409 safety violations by the flight crew of Scheduled Operators, Non-scheduled Operators and general aviation that were reported to the DGCA. These include deficiencies in ramp procedures, violations of PPC (Pilot Proficiency Check), non-compliance for FDTL requirements, non-compliance of pre-flight medical requirements, crew over-logging training hours and unauthorised entry into cockpit. The incidents include a recent surveillance carried out by DGCA, where it was found that one of the scheduled airline was not strictly adhering to the regulatory requirements regarding breath analyzer check as laid down in the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).
Officials said that in cases involving crew members testing alcohol-positive, in accordance with the provisions of CAR (Section 5 Series F Part-III, Issue-III), the DGCA had suspended privileges of license of pilots and privileges of authorisation of cabin crew and the airlines have been forced to ground all these pilots and cabin crew.
28/12/16 Anil Sasi/The Indian Express

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Aviation in 2016: Flight airborne; ATF price, congestion cloud outlook

Year 2016 could be termed a win-win time for flyers as low airfares allowed more passengers to travel even as a host of passenger-centric measures were taken to enhance the flying experience such as the cap on ticket cancellation charges levied by airlines.

Domestic air traffic grew at 23 per cent to a record 9 crore from January-November this year, as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) estimates.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), India’s air traffic grew at a significantly higher rate even in October when air traffic growth moderated in other countries such as China (14.1 per cent), Brazil (-5.5 per cent), Russia (2.5 per cent) and Japan (0.8 per cent).


A dip in aviation turbine fuel prices by eight per cent on an average in 2016 allowed airlines to offer fares that were lower by about 14 per cent. Aviation turbine fuel cost contributes about 40 per cent of the total cost of the operations of airlines.
28/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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New places, newer planes

2017 promises to be action-packed for domestic flyers right from the start. This is mainly because of the government’s ambitious Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, or UDAN scheme, which wants to take aviation to those living in Tier II and Tier III cities.

The UDAN scheme is part of the National Civil Aviation policy that was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in July 2016. One of the main objectives of the policy is to enhance regional air connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development.

The Centre has fixed January 27, 2017 as D-day for opening the technical bids for players interested in operating under UDAN. While the date for selection has not been announced yet, it is expected to be soon as the proposal has the backing of the who’s who in the government.

The Centre and States have come forward to provide subsidies to those operators who are willing to offer an one-hour flight between Tier II and Tier III cities at ₹2,500. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttrakhand are among the 11 States and Union Territories that have signed up for UDAN.

Needless to say the scheme is expected to see the entry of new players. Analysts feel that for the scheme to be successful and viable a small aircraft having the capacity to seat about 20 passengers per flight is ideal. New operators are expected to induct such aircraft in their fleet for starting operations.
27/12/16 Ashwini Phadnis/The Hindu Business Line

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Online traffic has grown in aviation since demonetisation

It is difficult to pick out one specific technology that had a profound impact on the aviation industry in 2016.

But technology is evolving across segments and it had a role to play in the growth of online travel this year. If you see the net numbers, the growth in online travel was much higher than its offline counterpart. India’s online travel segment is expected to grow 17.8 per cent during 2013–2016E, outperforming the overall travel market by six percentage points. Online travel (online gross bookings) now constitutes an estimated 41 per cent of the overall Indian travel market, according to global research and analytics company Aranca. The reason for the growth are the attractive deals that the portals and airlines now offer to customers. And these deals are better than those offered by the travel agents.

Customers are not necessarily loyal to a particular portal or airline, but the lowest prices and offers decide their buying pattern. The rush in online traffic has been aided by the increased usage of desktop and now mobile for bookings. Penetration of mobile internet continues to increase in the country, and the online market’s share is bound to increase.

Since November 8, when the Prime Minister announced demonetisation, additional traffic has been diverted to the online space because of the ease of digital payments.
27/12/16 Ankur Bhatia/The Hindu Business Line

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2016: For aviation sector, new year heralds business in smaller cities

The National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) proposes initiatives for new airports, a separate set of regulations for helicopters, and a boost for skill development.

It wants every Indian to fly at least once a year with a fare cap of Rs 2,500 for a one-hour flight. A keenly awaited announcement was about the controversial 5/20 rule, which said a domestic player must have completed five years and run a fleet of 20 aircraft to be eligible to start foreign services, and as expected, it was scrapped but not to the satisfaction of new players.

The government overruled the objections of old players like Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo, but did not completely go ahead and appease new players like Vistara and AirAsia India, waiting in the wings.

Now, a domestic airline can fly overseas any time if it deploys 20 planes or 20% of their total capacity, whichever is higher, for domestic operations. The change in the rule will not result in immediate starting of foreign flights by any existing Indian carrier, and some still feel the rule is not forward looking.

One of the main challenges before the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) will be the kick-starting of the Regional Connectivity Scheme or UDAN in January. Domestic players have reservations about the idea of a cess on metro routes to fund flights to unserved and underserved destinations.
27/12/16 Shemin Joy/Deccan Herald

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Aviation PSUs to be rated against set goals in new review system

The aviation ministry is to start reviewing the performance of public sector undertakings (PSUs) under its aegis on a balance scorecard methodology, the favoured form in private enterprises, starting next month, doing away with the conventional ways of reviewing PSU performance.

“We are trying to institute a disciplined performance management system using the balance scorecard methodology. Over the last three months we have worked with each of the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to develop a balance scorecard that provides a comprehensive assessment of short-term and longterm performance. This will be reviewed by the ministry on a monthly basis,” minister of state for aviation Jayant Sinha told ET.

Under the balanced scorecard methodology, an organisation’s performance is monitored against strategic goals on the basis of a few listed criteria.

In this case, all PSUs under the aviation ministry will be reviewed under 8-10 criteria. From now on, the ministry, which used to measure Air India’s on-time performance, will also review factors leading to it – like aircraft availability, seasonal factors and other reasons leading to OTP.
26/12/16 Defence Aviation Policy

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After Plans To Charge For Sitting With Family, Now Airlines Might Charge You For Choosing Your Seat!

Shell out a little more, even if you want a middle seat in flights with airlines charging extra for preferred seats as they look to increase their ancillary revenues amid stiff competition.
With regulations permitting unbundling of various services offered by domestic carriers, choosing a particular seat, especially the window ones and those with more leg space, comes at extra cost.
Charging extra for choice of seats in flights, including the middle ones, is a commonly accepted international practice and is not something new. It also helps in adding to the ancillary revenues, aviation industry officials said.
Passengers give more preference for window and aisle seats as well as those having extra leg room, they added.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said allowing guests to pre-reserve seats for a fee is a prevalent and commonly accepted industry practice by almost all major airlines, full service as well as low cost, in the world.
"It is also followed by domestic carriers in India and forms a part of a carrier's ancillary revenues, compliant with the DGCA guidelines," he said in a detailed response to queries about charging for preferred seats, including the middle ones.
According to him, in terms of the middle seats, only the front seven rows in the domestic economy cabin can be pre-reserved for a charge while such seats in the remaining 19 rows can be pre-reserved free of charge.
With increasing competition in the Indian aviation sector, which has been seeing over 20 per cent domestic passenger growth for nearly two years, airfares are relatively at lower levels. Against this backdrop, airlines look at ways to increase their ancillary revenues, including by way of charging extra for preferred seats.
26/12/16 PTI/India Times

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India keeping away from CORSIA a major concern: IATA

Expressing disappointment over India not being part of the global pact to reduce emission in the aviation sector, global airlines grouping IATA has said it will be a "major concern" for Indian operators, but hoped that the country would join the framework in coming years. The Carbon Offsetting and Reporting Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) was agreed upon earlier this year under the aegis of ICAO. "The point on which we are disappointed... is that India didnt draw into CORSIA agreement," IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said even as he expressed hope that India would join the scheme. In a recent interview to PTI, Juniac said CORSIA would not be a major disruption in terms of competition for airlines operating to and from India since it is not a route-based system. "But it is a major concern for Indian operators not to be able to contribute to the carbon neutral growth or reduction in CO2 emission in the next 30 years," he noted.
CORSIA, which seeks to reduce emission in the aviation sector by way of carbon offsetting mechanism, is to be implemented in five phases. The scheme is to run from 2021 to 2035.
25/12/16 PTI/India Today

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Pay to choose seats in domestic airlines, even for middle seat

Shell out a little more even if you want a middle seat in flights with airlines charging extra for preferred seats as they look to increase their ancillary revenues amid stiff competition. With regulations permitting unbundling of various services offered by domestic carriers, choosing a particular seat, especially the window ones and those with more leg space, comes at extra cost.
Charging extra for choice of seats in flights, including the middle ones, is a commonly accepted international practice and is not something new. It also helps in adding to the ancillary revenues, aviation industry officials said. Passengers give more preference for window and aisle seats as well as those having extra leg room, they added.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said allowing guests to pre-reserve seats for a fee is a prevalent and commonly accepted industry practice by almost all major airlines, full service as well as low cost, in the world.
“It is also followed by domestic carriers in India and forms a part of a carrier’s ancillary revenues, compliant with the DGCA guidelines,” he said in a detailed response to queries about charging for preferred seats, including the middle ones.
According to him, in terms of the middle seats, only the front seven rows in the domestic economy cabin can be pre-reserved for a charge while such seats in the remaining 19 rows can be pre-reserved free of charge.
25/12/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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Government to airlines: use Gagan GPS or face consequences

The government has warned domestic airlines of `consequences' if they did not adopt the Rs 774 crore GPS-Aided Geo Aug mented Navigation system. The warning came during a meeting called by the DGCA earlier this week with all stakeholders, including the airlines, who have not availed of the system even 18 months after its launch.Jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), at an investment of Rs 774 crore, the GAGAN system was officially launched by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in July last year. It is said to make airline operations more efficient and cut down costs as it reduces separation between aircraft, increases air safety and fuel efficiency. The National Civil Aviation Policy, announced by the government in June, makes it mandatory for all aircraft registered in India from January 1, 2019 to be GAGAN-enabled.

A notice issued by the DGCA dated December 19 stated that most aircraft registered in India are still not equipped with this technology. "This assumes significance as many airlines and operators have placed orders for many more aircraft which may not be equipped with necessary airborne equipment and thus not be GAGANcompliant," DGCA director general B S Bhullar said.

However, in order for the domestic airlines to availing of the GAGAN system, they would have to make their aircraft GAGAN-compliant, which would entail a huge investment on their part.
26/12/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Now, pay extra charges to choose seats in domestic airlines, even for middle seat

Shell out a little more even if you want a middle seat in flights with airlines charging extra for preferred seats as they look to increase their ancillary revenues amid stiff competition.

With regulations permitting unbundling of various services offered by domestic carriers, choosing a particular seat, especially the window ones and those with more leg space, comes at extra cost.

Charging extra for choice of seats in flights, including the middle ones, is a commonly accepted international practice and is not something new. It also helps in adding to the ancillary revenues, aviation industry officials said.

Passengers give more preference for window and aisle seats as well as those having extra leg room, they added.

A Jet Airways spokesperson said allowing guests to pre-reserve seats for a fee is a prevalent and commonly accepted industry practice by almost all major airlines, full service as well as low cost, in the world.

"It is also followed by domestic carriers in India and forms a part of a carrier's ancillary revenues, compliant with the DGCA guidelines," he said in a detailed response to queries about charging for preferred seats, including the middle ones.
25/12/16 PTI/Z Business

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Free local flights for patients, people with special needs for 1 month

The Uttarakhand aviation department on Sunday announced that patients, women and children with special needs will be given free rides on the low-cost aircrafts from Dehradun to three other destinations for one month. The much-awaited low-cost flight services, between the state capital and three other parts of the state, will start soon.
Announcing the new scheme, aviation secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram said: "Under special circumstances, with the prior clearance from the district administration, people including patients, women and children, will be offered free air travel facility in the state's regional connectivity. This facility will be offered for one month."
26/12/16 The Times Of India

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Defence ministry approves purchase of one more C-17 aircraft, clears modernisation projects worth Rs 9,300 crore

India will buy one more C-17 Globesmaster-III strategic airlift aircraft from the US for around Rs 2,100 crore, the proposal for which was among the Rs 9,300 crore worth of military projects approved by the defence ministry on Friday.
Apart from the solitary C-17, which will add to the 10 such aircraft already inducted by the IAF under a $4.1 billion deal inked with the US in 2011, the Manohar Parrikar-led defence acquisitions council also accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) to the Rs 5,500 crore procurement of six multi-mission maritime surveillance aircraft for Coast Guard.
The other modernisation projects to get AoNs were the Rs 1,265 crore procurement of 1,500 indigenously designed and developed modern NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection systems to be fitted on the Army's infantry combat vehicles (the Russian-origin BMP-IIs) and Rs 419 crore order for 55 indigenous three-dimensional low-level lightweight radars for Army and IAF.
23/12/16 Rajat Pandit/The Times Of India

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Centre draws HC fire for grounding air charter firm

"Is demonetisation affecting all government policies," the Delhi high court wondered on Friday, staying the Centre's decision to ground a private air charter service for ferrying Rs 3.5 crore of demonetised notes.
Justice Sanjiv Sachdeva stayed till February 6 the decision of the Centre to reject the security clearance of the private firm. "Where does it give you the power to cancel the licence? The money did not belong to them. They were not carrying arms, only carrying cash. Cash does not become a bomb," Justice Sachdeva observed, demanding an explanation from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after it claimed that the action against the charter airline was taken for carrying banned notes in such a "huge volume".
The HC put on hold the government's December 8, 2016 decision to reject the security clearance of Air Car Airlines Pvt Ltd, the petitioner, as well as any consequential action under a show cause notice of December 13 till the next date of hearing. The HC pointed out that the cash was released and no action was taken against the passenger in whose luggage the money was found, but the airline's security clearance has been revoked.
24/12/16 The Times Of India

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Sky is the limit in Mysuru

Bengaluru has four airports to Mysuru’s one, but it is the latter that got the tourism department’s nod as the destination for skydiving as a part of its adventure tourism. The heritage city was found to be more conducive in terms of airspace and weather conditions. More importantly, it was the one identified as a safe drop zone for skydivers.

Three airports situated within a radius of 20 km – Kempegowda International Airport near Devanahalli, Air Force Station at Yelahanka and the Jakkur aerodrome – in north Bengaluru lost the race because of “having a very busy airspace” in the area. The HAL airport does not entertain any adventure sporting activity.

A Delhi-based firm, Skyriders, has been organising the spectacular sport at the Mysuru airport since November 2012, especially during Dasara. Last year, Skyriders purchased a four-seater aeroplane for operations here, after obtaining all the required clearances. According to the company director Dr Aanchal Khurana, the initial response has been good and it hopes to organise 100 jumps a month from February.
24/12/16 Kushala Satyanarayana/Bangalore Mirror

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Five crazy rules by Indian airlines that annoy flyers

New Delhi: The Narnendra Modi government has been taking a slew of measures to make air travel more affordable to flyers across the country. But airlines operating in India seem to have come up with smart as well as ingenious ways to squeeze money out of travellers.
1. Pay extra for your family: Earlier this year, Indigo had announced that families will not be allotted seats in premium extra legroom rows that are not exit row seats for a premium. The provision that allows airlines to charge such a fee has been around for a few years now but its implementation was rare. Also, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has till now not released a revised set of rules that govern how much airlines can charge for such ancillary services. Now if you are travelling with your family and you want to seat together, splash a hefty amount to avail that service. This heavy charge is levied mainly on international travel, but it is expected to be implemented throughout the domestic market as well. Seat selection fee is even imposed on middle seats. Apart from that, extra legroom seats draw more charges that increase the seat selection fee. Furthermore, if you opt out of seat selection, it depends on the airline officials whether they will book tickets for you that put your family together or far apart on the plane.
2. Seat selection fee: “Now the preferred seat select scheme is available on every single route operated by Air India. These seats which can be availed by a passenger in exchange of payment provide comfort of extra leg space and that of deplaning much faster upon arrival, Air India had said in a statement. This another ways of charging extra.
3. Checked-in baggage Charges: All domestic airlines allow free checked-in baggage up to 15 kg. Beyond that limit, the charge was Rs 300 per extra kg till the government finalised a rate of Rs 100 per additional kilogram up to a certain level. Against the backdrop of concerns in certain quarters about carriers charging high for extra baggage, DGCA has decided to reduce steeply the additional charge levied from passengers in this regard. Now, airlines would charge Rs 100 per extra kg till 20 kg from the current rate of Rs 300.
4. Cancellation fee: Though the central government has come with the revised norms that caps ticket cancellation charges and bars airlines from levying additional amount for refund process, still passengers shell out a decent amount.
5. Convenience Fee: Anyone who is purchasing tickets through Credit/ Debit Cards and Net Banking, has to pay extra. Yes, bank levied extra charges but a few airlines have also implemented their own norms too.
23/12/16 Financial Express

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Air fares from Chennai touch Rs 10,000 mark for Christmas weekend

Chennai: Flying for Christmas and New Year to southern cities is going to be expensive for last minute travellers as air fares from Chennai have shot up due to high demand.
One-way tickets to Coimbatore, Madurai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram for Friday touched the Rs 10,000 mark. Friday marks the beginning of the holiday weekend travel this season. Fares were hovering around Rs 2,500 for those who booked a week ago, the lucky ones may still get a few tickets on these routes for Rs4,000 to Rs7,000.
The fares are expected to shoot up further as demand continues to be high from last minute travellers for the weekend, said an official of an online ticket portal. "Ticket prices have increased by 50% to 80% on most routes," he said.
On the Chennai-Kochi route, there was only one seat available on a low-cost carrier for Friday. After the seat is sold, the price band moves up to Rs10,000. Similar is the situation on other routes. The one-way fare is edging closer to Rs10,000 for travel on Saturday as well. As trains are full, demand for seats on flights remains high.
City colleges have closed for a week for New Year holiday. This has triggered an increase in demand for seats for travel on Friday and Saturday. Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) national president D Sudhakara Reddy said, "This is because there is no fare regulator in the country. DGCA does not have the expertise. Passengers are left to the mercy of airlines which determines fares based on demand and supply."
23/12/16 Times of India

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Even middle-row plane seats have an add-on fee

Mumbai: Charging an add-on fee for the airline window seat for its view or the aisle seat for its convenience, or a seat in the front row or the emergency exit with its extra leg room, is one thing, but charging a fee for that much-hated middle seat is quite another. Jet Airways, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet are the four carriers that levy a seat selection fee even for the middle seat onboard their domestic flights.
Air India and Vistara levy a seat selection fee only for middle seats that are located in the front or exit rows where a passenger gets extra leg room. Jet Airways, then, is the only full-service carrier (others include low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, Spice Jet and Go Air) that charges a fee even for those middle seats (Rs 400 for rows 11 to 17) that don't come with extra leg room, but are located in the front portion of the aircraft.
Paying a fee and blocking a preferred seat is optional. Passengers can also select a seat, free of cost, during web check-in or are assigned a seat during airport check-in. But when the seats are not paid for and blocked, on high-demand flights like early morning and late evening ones, passengers travelling in a group might find themselves seated in different rows.
23/12/16 Manu Vayalar/Economic Times

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Base training for crew of private airline begins in Surat

Surat: Soon, the Diamond City will be connected to Mumbai, Goa and Pune. Gurgaon-based private airline company, Zoom Air, has started base training for its crew members, including pilots, at Surat airport.
Official sources said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given its approval for carrying out base training for the flights of Zoom Air at Surat airport that began from December 20. The airline will make 12 landings and take-offs for its pilot along with the proposed type-rated instructor.
Zoom Air submitted a proposal in October to launch non-scheduled flight operations connecting Surat airport with other cities from January 2017. The airline intends to connect Surat with Mumbai, Goa, Pune and Bhavnagar. The company will be using CRJ 200LR aircraft on all routes.
Official sources said the base training of crew members, most importantly pilots, is very crucial before launching commercial flight operations from a particular airport. The pilots test the runway through multiple take-offs and landings for a few days.
A couple of months ago, members of 'We Want Working Airport at Surat' (WWWAS) had urged airline owners to consider Surat as a potential destination to launch their flight services. The company owners had visited the city sometime in August and were convinced with the infrastructural facilities at Surat airport and the potential of air traffic.
23/12/16 Melvyn Thomas/Times of India

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Airline transporting void currencies not at fault, says Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the Centre’s decision to reject security clearance to air charter service Air Car Airlines Pvt Ltd for transporting Rs 3.5 crore in demonetised notes in a passenger’s baggage.

“Is demonetisation affecting all government policies? Where does it give you the power to cancel the licence? The money did not belong to them,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said on being informed by the DGCA that the action against the charter airline was taken for carrying demonetised notes in such a huge volume.

Air Car Airlines had moved the high court saying its aircraft was hired for a Delhi-Hissar-Dimapur-Delhi flight and the passengers travelling from Hissar to Dimapur were carrying Rs 3.5 crore in demonetised currencies. It said the currency was checked by the pilot in command regarding its “source and use” and the notes were seized at Dimapur airport, but subsequently released.

Contending that it has been made a scapegoat, the company claimed that the government’s decision against it has caused it a monetary loss of Rs. 90 lakh.

The government defended its action saying as it was an “apparent case of money laundering”, to which the court asked, “How does money laundering allow you to cancel licence or security clearance of the airline?”

The court put on hold the government’s December 8 decision to reject the security clearance of Air Car Airlines as well as any consequential action under a show cause notice of December 13 till the next date of hearing as it noted that the cash had been released and no action was taken against the passenger in whose luggage the money was found.
23/12/16 The Hindu

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Expect Wi-Fi on Indian planes by 2019: Study

Mumbai: It's called the "connected aircraft" and essentially it means an aircraft that allows internet access so passengers can check their mails, update their profile or do whatever it is that they do on ground, while in the air. By 2019, quite a number of Indian carriers would have taken delivery of connected aircraft, said a study by a travel IT solutions provider .
One of the long-term goals for the airline industry is ensuring that passengers can have a truly connected journey from departure to arrival. "The so called 'connected aircraft' are starting to enter the global fleet and this will really pick up over the next 10-20 years as older aircraft are replaced with new generation ones," said the survey.
23/12/16 Times of India

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Nepal, India agree third-coutnry codeshare deal

Nepal and India have agreed on a third-country codeshare deal which allows carriers of the two countries to share marketing services with airlines from third countries.

The two neighbours signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the cooperative marketing arrangement last Wednesday in New Delhi.

Nepal currently has third-country codeshare agreements with China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bhutan, the UAE and Cambodia. Codesharing provides seamless connectivity between far-off destinations not served by direct flights.

“The MoU will be implemented through an exchange of notes after both countries fulfil their internal legal requirements,” said Suresh Acharya, joint secretary at the Tourism Ministry.

The codeshare agenda was placed by the Indian government. Nepal and India signed a revised bilateral air service agreement in 2010, but it does not permit codesharing.
23/12/16 Kathmandu Post

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Blue ice, a rare occurrence: Airlines

New Delhi: Airlines have said it is not possible to empty toilet tanks in mid-air as claimed in a petition before the National Green Tribunal.
An AirAsia India spokesperson said: “AirAsia India lavatory waste draining and disposal is outsourced to Globe Ground India (GGI). They collect the waste from the aircraft and dump it in an airport-designated waste dumping location.”

A Vistara spokesperson said the airline follows the procedures as per the Aircraft Maintenance Manual according to which waste is to be emptied into specialised waste carts.

“All necessary health, environment and safety procedure are taken while carrying out these activities,” the spokesperson said, adding that emptying toilet tanks is not possible mid-air in modern pressurised aircraft.

Jet Airways said ‘blue ice’, a term used for frozen sewage material leaked mid-air, as a “rare occurrence” which signifies “a leaking toilet system, leading to the formation of accumulation of ice in high altitude.”

In its order, the NGT had asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue a circular to all airlines using the Delhi airport to ensure that they do not release any waste while landing or taking off at the airport or near it.

It also asked the aviation regulator to impose an environmental compensation of Rs. 50,000 per violation of the circular and submit a quarterly report to the tribunal.
23/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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‘Nagpur is future of civil aviation’

Chairman Aeronautical Society of India (city chapter) air marshal RKS Shera has said that Nagpur is the future of civil aviation.
"The kind of cargo hub being planned at Mihan, if that becomes a reality then this town will start producing components for one of the military aircraft in coming time. When that happens, Nagpur should ideally be the place to prepare engineers with aeronautics background. At present, the course runs only at Priyadarshini College of Engineering and the department concerned needs to be expanded," said Shera, who was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day Orange City Science Fair which started on Thursday at Raman Science Centre.
The centre's project co-ordinator N Ramdas Iyer and vice-chancellor of Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University Sharad Nimbalkar were also present on the occasion. As many as 130 students of 54 schools participated in the event. Altogether 20 teachers, with their teaching aids, also took part.
Encouraging the kids, Shera said, "The field of aviation is extremely fascinating. It feels good to manufacture planes, to fly them and maintain them. I encourage you all to look ahead at it as a carrier option."
23/12/16 The Times Of India

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Can’t dump toilet tanks in air: Airlines

Domestic airlines have denied dumping human excreta mid-air. Days after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a fine of Rs. 50,000 on airlines emptying toilet tanks in the air, they said modern aircraft are not designed to do so.

They said the lavatory waste is stored in a tank inside the aircraft. It is cleaned by the ground crew only after the plane lands.

Dumping of waste during the flight may happen rarely due to leakage. Some aviation experts said it was not possible for a pilot to dump a tank while in flight, as there were no controls inside the aircraft for doing this.

“After every flight, when the aircraft is parked at the parking bay, the lavatory waste is drained and the waste tank is pressure cleaned via documented process using equipment specific for this purpose,” Kamal Hingorani, senior vice-president and head, In-Flight Services and Customer Experience at SpiceJet, told The Hindu in an e-mailed response.

He said it took about eight minutes for the entire procedure, adding the water tank is pressure sealed in flight and “there is no possibility of any leak or inadvertent release of water in flight.”
23/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Families flying together will have to pay a premium to sit together

As the Centre pushes to make air travel more appealing and affordable for passengers, airlines including national carrier Air India are now using ingenious ways to squeeze money out of travellers. One such almost unnecessary travel expense is seat selection fee. The brunt of this is faced most by families. Naturally, a family would want to sit together during a flight. But that ‘luxury’ comes at a premium.
Imagine if you go for a movie and your family has to sit on seats far apart from each other if you don’t pay them a seat selection fee. That would spoil the fun, wouldn’t it?
This heavy charge is levied mainly on international travel, but it is expected to be implemented throughout the domestic market as well. Seat selection fee is even imposed on middle seats. Apart from that, extra legroom seats draw more charges that increase the seat selection fee.
Furthermore, if you opt out of seat selection, it depends on the airline officials whether they will book tickets for you that put your family together or far apart on the plane. Even if seats are available together, you wouldn’t know for sure. It depends on them whether they choose to force the option of extra levy on you.
The provision that allows airlines to charge such a fee has been around for a few years now but its implementation was rare. Also, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has till now not released a revised set of rules that govern how much airlines can charge for such ancillary services.
22/12/16 Kanishka Singh/The Indian Express

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DGCA norms violated in selecting Dehradun-Pithoragarh flight

Uttarakhand BJP chief Ajay Bhatt today alleged that the state government had roped in an aviation company to operate daily flight between Dehradun and Pithoragarh by relaxing norms of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
"The tender for operating the daily flight between Dehradun and Pithoragarh was given to a non-scheduled company in violation of DGCA norms," he alleged without naming the company.
22/12/16 PTI/India Today

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Domestic flights disrupted due to poor crew response than fog!

At a time when Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to increase flight connectivity to smaller cities, this report could be a wake up call amidst the tall claims of world class services. According to Domestic Air Traffic Report of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the percentage of passengers suffered due to domestic flight cancellations in the country has increased three times in November  this years than the last year.

The flight cancellation menace can’t be attributed to the fog alone which caused flight disruptions in north India in the last week of November; as the percentage of passengers suffered due to cancellation of domestic flights increased by around four times in September and three times in August.

In November, 24,201 passengers suffered due to flight cancellations which were only 8,524 in the same month of 2015. The passengers of Spice Jet suffered the most due to flight cancellations followed by Jet Airways and Jet Lite. “The flight cancellation rate was highest with Air Carnival which recorded 8.49 percent cancellations in November followed by Trujet, Go Air and Indigo,” said a senior officer of DGCA.
23/12/16 Siddheshwar Shukla/Millennium Post

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Air fares from Chennai touch Rs 10,000 mark for Christmas weekend

Flying for Christmas and New Year to southern cities is going to be expensive for last minute travellers as air fares from Chennai have shot up due to high demand.
One-way tickets to Coimbatore, Madurai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram for Friday touched the Rs 10,000 mark. Friday marks the beginning of the holiday weekend travel this season. Fares were hovering around Rs 2,500 for those who booked a week ago, the lucky ones may still get a few tickets on these routes for Rs4,000 to Rs7,000.
The fares are expected to shoot up further as demand continues to be high from last minute travellers for the weekend, said an official of an online ticket portal. "Ticket prices have increased by 50% to 80% on most routes," he said.
On the Chennai-Kochi route, there was only one seat available on a low-cost carrier for Friday. After the seat is sold, the price band moves up to Rs10,000. Similar is the situation on other routes. The one-way fare is edging closer to Rs10,000 for travel on Saturday as well. As trains are full, demand for seats on flights remains high.
23/12/16 The Times Of India

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13 towns in TN to get air connectivity

As many as 13 towns in Tamil Nadu would get affordable air connectivity under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of Civil Aviation Ministry and Chennai would have another air terminal in three years, Civil Aviation Secretary R. N. Choubey said here on Wednesday.

Talking to press persons here, he said that roughly 400 airstrips remained unutilised in the country and the Ministry had identified 398 under-served and un-served airports and airstrips to provide air connectivity. Arakonam, Chettinadu, Cholavaram, Hosur, Kayathar, Neyveli, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Sulur, Tambaram, Thanjavur, Ulundurpet and Vellore had been identified for air connectivity under RCS and the Centre had sanctioned Rs.4,500 crore for this purpose.

The RCS envisioned domestic ticketing of Rs.30 crore by 2022 and Rs 50 crore by 2027, he added.
23/12/16 The Hindu

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IndiGo's OTP likely to remain under pressure, says report

New Delhi: On Time Performance (OTP) of budget carrier IndiGo, which touched the lowest in more than two years in November, is likely to remain under pressure in the current fiscal even as it continues to have the largest market share, says a report.

More than a quarter of IndiGo's flights failed to depart or arrive on their scheduled time last month and its OTP from four metro airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru -- stood at a poor 72.4 per cent.

IndiGo also recorded one of the highest cancellation rates last month, behind new entrant Air Carnival, regional carrier TrueJet and competitor GoAir. IndiGo could not operate as much as 1.46 per cent of its total flights in November.


"There has been a sharp decline in OTP for IndiGo to 72.4 per cent (in November), lowest in more than last two years.

"While this could be due to fog related disruptions in the winter, with even higher capacity addition planned during the remainder of FY17, the on time performance could remain under pressure for IndiGo and will be keenly watched," ICICI Securities said in a report.
22/12/16 PTI/Economic Times

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Airline charges: Now, pay 'family fee' if you want to sit with your folks on a flight

Taking a cue from international airlines that charge extra if family members want to sit together onboard a flight, Indian airlines too are slowly but steadily adopting and implementing the measure as a revenue generating means.
The 'seat selection fee' or 'family fee' — as it is often called by other airlines across the globe — debuted in India this year when state-owned carrier Air India introduced the concept in May. Now, private carrier Jet Airways revised its seat selection fee recently, as reported by the Times of India.
For example, if a family of three board a flight from Mumbai to London, the extra charge of sitting together would come up to Rs 9,000 on an Air India flight. However, on a Jet Airways plane, the cost would be about Rs 4,500. Under the new rule, the middle row seats will also be charged.
If the family chooses bulkhead or exit row seats, then the surcharge will rise to Rs 10,500, according to the report.
Ever since Indian aviation regulator DGCA put a limit on baggage fees and cancellation fees this year, airlines in India have now turned to seat selection fee to boost their ancillary revenues from non-ticket sources, which includes preferred seating, buying food, excess baggage fees, etc.
Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, told International Business Times, India that the move smacks of a desperate ancillary revenue generation tactic. "Airlines are desperate to generate ancillary revenue however they can. Short of charging people for breathing, the move to price up family seating is not new per se, but it is becoming a sharper way to increase revenue," he said.
22/12/16 Kalyani Pandey/IBTimes

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Christmas fliers to Northeast in soup

Ahead of Christmas festivities and New Year celebrations, passengers flying out to their hometowns in the Northeastern part of the country are a harassed lot.

Already stricken with the turmoil back home, especially in Manipur, flyers seeking to deboard at Guwahati airport before their scheduled destination Imphal are made to face another harrowing time. They are forced to cough up as much as Rs.5,000 each by the airlines.  Not only this, the average ticket  prices of Delhi to Imphal flights, which hover between Rs 10,000-15000 at this time of the year, have shot up to whopping Rs.40,000 and above for the week.

Sample this: Moses Pfokrehrii, a student from Delhi who was flying with three of his friends to be with their respective families for Christmas, had to face the worst.  Detailing his ordeal to The Statesman over the phone from Guwahati, he said, "We had booked our tickets for 7:50 am Indigo flight from Delhi to Imphal for December 20. However, owing to the troubled situation in Imphal, we decided to deboard at Guwahati Airport.
22/12/16 Smriti Sharma Vasudeva/The Statesman

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Domestic air traffic: IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet, Air India show divergent trends in November

India's civil aviation sector remained unaffected by the currency ban announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month; the domestic air traffic business posted double-digit for yet another month. Indian carriers flew 89.66 lakh (8.96 million) passengers in November 2016, marking a growth of 22.45 percent over the corresponding month last year. IndiGo with a market share of 42.1 percent, retained its market share.
The data was published by the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday.
It may be recalled that sectors that published volume data for November, such as automobiles, as well as broad indicators such as PMI, showed drop in business activity due to demonetisation-induced slowdown.
Low-cost carrier IndiGo (owned by Interglobe Aviation) saw its market share fall marginally to 42.1 percent in November from 42.6 percent in the preceding month. In absolute terms, the carrier flew 37.73 lakh passengers.
Full-service carrier Jet Airways increased its market share marginally to 14.9 percent from 14.7 percent in October this year.
State-owned Air India witnessed a fall to 12.9 percent from 13 percent in October 2016.
19/12/16 S V Krishnamachari/IBTimes

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Domestic Air Traffic Rises 22.45% to 89.66 Lakh in November

New Delhi: Continuing the growth trajectory, domestic air traffic surged 22.45 per cent to 89.66 lakh passengers in November as low fares and introduction of new routes and services in the winter schedule of the local carriers helped them fly more passengers.
All Indian airlines together had transported a total of 73.22 lakh passengers in November 2015.
However, seat factor, which is a measure of how much of an airline's passenger carrying capacity is used or average percentage of seats filled in an aircraft, in November almost remained flat compared to October 2016 primarily due to the end of tourist season, according DGCA data released on Monday.
Gurgaon-based budget carrier IndiGo continues its domination in the domestic market, having flown 37.73 lakh passengers during the month and cornered 42.1 per cent market share in this period.
As against this, Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways together with its subsidiary JetLite clocked 17.3 per cent market share by carrying 16.54 lakh passenger in the reporting period.
Air India stood a third with a market share of 12.9 per cent, having flown 11.57 lakh passengers while budget carrier SpiceJet cornered 12.8 per cent of the total domestic passenger traffic in November, having flown 11.48 lakh passengers during the period.
19/12/16 PTI/News18.com

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India air traffic jumps in November as fares drop amid cash crunch

Mumbai: India's domestic air traffic surged in November, keeping pace with the gains in previous months, as carriers cut fares to lure passengers amid fears of a slowdown after New Delhi abruptly banned high-denomination currency notes stirring a cash shortage.

The number of passengers flown in November grew 22.45% to 8.97 million from 7.32 million a year earlier, according to government data.

On Nov. 8, India banned notes of 500- and 1,000-rupee denominations that accounted for 86% of the currency in circulation in a bid to crack down on corruption and unaccounted wealth. The ensuing cash shortage resulted in a drop in demand across sectors such as consumer goods and real estate, triggering fears of a growth slowdown in aviation sector as well.
India's domestic air traffic has been booming as rising incomes and the advent of no-frills airlines over the last decade prompted more people to shun trains for long-distance travel. According to data from the International Air Transport Association, air travel in the country grew about 19% last year, compared with a 9.7% increase in China and a 5.4% growth in the U.S.

"Allaying all growth fears, domestic passenger traffic has again clocked record growth of 22.4% year-on-year in the de-monetization month of November," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju wrote in a Twitter message on Thursday.
20/12/16 Nikkei Asian Review

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IndiGo retains number 1 position for 11th straight month in domestic skies

New Delhi: Domestic airlines registered a 22.45 per cent growth in the number of passengers carried in November 2016 at 89.66 lakh as compared to 73.22 lakhs flown during the same period previously.

For 11 successive months in this calendar year, IndiGo retained the number one position having carried 37.73 lakh passengers from among the 89.66 lakh passengers flown by all the airlines collectively in November this year, the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows.

Jet Airways emerged as the next favoured airlines among domestic flyers having carried 13.36 lakh passengers in November followed by Air India (11.57 lakh), SpiceJet (11.48 lakh), GoAir (7.20 lakh), Vistara (2.60 lakh) and Air Asia (2.51 lakh).

SpiceJet reported the highest passenger load factor of 92.5 per cent among the domestic carriers followed by IndiGo (88 per cent), GoAir (87.3 per cent), AirAsia India (86.9 per cent) and Jet Airways (80.4 per cent). Passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline are getting filled.
19/12/16 Business Line

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Price war flares in Indian aviation sector despite rise in oil prices

Air travelers globally are bracing for higher fares after OPEC decided last month to cut output. Not in India, the world's fastest-growing major aviation market.

Carriers cut fares in November, selling tickets about 12 per cent cheaper on average for Mumbai-New Delhi flights from a year ago, according to Yatra.com, India’s No. 2 online travel agency. The steepest discounts were as much as 30 per cent for the world's seventh-busiest local route.

The slashing of fares during the peak holiday travel season threatens to wipe out gains accrued from cheap oil and push some of the operators back to losses. Carriers in China and India are expanding capacity with orders for hundreds of planes and luring passengers with discounts. Excess capacity combined with tickets offering base fares as low as 2 cents to first-time fliers have constrained the ability of Indian carriers to translate an increase in passenger traffic to profits.
20/12/16 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg/Economic Times

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Airlines may have to bear additional tax burden of Rs 15,000 crore under GST

India’s aviation industry may have to bear an additional tax burden of up to Rs 15,000 crore annually once the Goods and Services Tax is implemented, top industry executives have told the finance ministry.
Under the current indirect tax regime, the industry has to pay only about Rs 3,600 crore every year, according to industry estimates, while its annual revenue is pegged at Rs 60,000 crore.

The additional tax burden may push airlines, most of which have turned profitable, into losses again, coming as it does at a time when global fuel prices are flaring up.

In a meeting with revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Saturday, the airline executives said the industry will have to bear additional taxes on ticket sales, import of aircraft and aircraft parts, lease rentals, and transfer of spares and goods within the country.

The executives have also asked for the fuel to be brought under the GST regime--petroleum products are outside its ambit in the proposition--so airlines can claim input credit on the same. But the finance ministry is unlikely to agree to that demand for now.
20/12/16 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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Government convenes meeting with airlines to discuss GAGAN system

New Delhi: With the domestic airlines not showing any keenness to avail the over Rs 700-crore GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system even after nearly 18 months of its official launch, the Government would now hold discussions with all stakeholders for its mandatory enabling.
Aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has convened a consultation meeting with all stakeholders including airlines here tomorrow to discuss the issue.
GAGAN system, which is said to make airline operations more efficient and cut down costs as it reduces separation between aircraft, increase air safety and fuel efficiency, was officially launched by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in July last year.
The National Civil Aviation Policy, announced by the Government in June this year, makes it mandatory for all aircraft being registered in India from January 1, 2019 to be GAGAN enabled.
20/12/16 PTI/Economic Times

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India Floats Radar Tender For Light Combat Aircraft

Indian state-owned military aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has floated global bids to procure around 100 state-of-the-art active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems for an improved variant of the HAL Mark-I Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), dubbed Tejas Mark-IA, according to local media reports.
“The tender in the form of Expression of Interest (EoI) was floated on Wednesday to five of the global firms,” a HAL representative told The Economic Times on December 15.  According to the representative a U.S. defense contractor and an Israeli firm are the top contenders for the contract.

Bids have reportedly been issued to U.S. defense contractors Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, the French company Thales, the Israeli defense company Elta, Swedish aircraft maker SAAB, and Russia’s Rosoboronoexport.
20/12/16 Franz-Stefan Gady/Diplomat

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Indian aviation industry ramps up IT investment

Airlines and airports in India are expected to rapidly ramp up their spend on new technology over the next three years to keep up with surging growth which will see passenger traffic double to 370 million by 2020. The growth will position India as the world’s third largest aviation market.
To meet this demand airlines and airports are investing in technology to help bridge the capacity gap and accommodate more passengers. According to SITA’s 2016 India IT Trends Benchmark study, all airlines in India expect to see IT budgets increase in 2017 compared to 2016. This contrasts markedly with global airline confidence on future IT budgets, with just over half expecting an increase while around a third will see no change in 2017. The remainder globally are braced for lower budgets.
Airports in India are similarly positive about IT spending with 80 percent of airports expecting an IT budget increase in 2017 over 2016. This compares to 58 percent of airports globally who expect an increase next year.
“Rapid growth is a positive challenge for India. While many Indian airlines and airports lag the rest of the world in the use of technology, there is tremendous opportunity and desire among air transport executives to bring the country in line with the rest of the world,” said Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA Vice President, India and subcontinent. “This vital investment in technology will ensure that India can fully capitalize on the growth we expect to see in the next few years.”
19/12/16 ChannelWorld

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Demonetisation pushes airline traffic growth over 20% in November

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) unveiled on Monday that domestic airlines’ passenger traffic grew by 23.10% in November.

“Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Nov 2016 were 903.36 lakhs as against 733.82 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 23.10%,” the report said.
Indigo registered the highest number of passengers carried of 37.73 lakh followed by Jet Airways which had 13.36 lakh passengers and Air India that had 11.57 lakh passengers in November.
With the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes announcement on November 8 the government had allowed citizens to book flight tickets for a few days with old currency notes.

To bridge any gaps caused by any loop-holes the airlines later said that those who booked tickets up till November 11 with old notes will not be refundable.
19/12/16 Zee Business

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State to hire chopper, aircraft for VIPs

Patna: The Bihar government is hiring a twin-engine aircraft and a twin-engine helicopter for flying VVIPs on a wet lease of five years. twin-engine aircraft.
According to sources, the state civil aviation directorate has already placed an order with the Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd for hiring a ten-seater chopper. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, including weather radar and night-flying system, enhanced ground proximity warning system and dual flight control with auto pilot mode, among others.
As for the aircraft, the state civil aviation directorate had planned to hire a ten-seater one. But CM Nitish Kumar recently expressed preference for a 12-seater one.
"The CM recently flew to Chandigarh on a 12-seater Dassault Falcon, and said it was more spacious and more comfortable. We will, therefore, cancel the earlier tender process and float fresh tenders for hiring a 12-seater aircraft," state civil aviation director Captain Deepak Kumar Singh told TOI on Monday.
20/12/16 Piyush Tripathi/Times of India

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Air show to mark Biju Patnaik's centenary

Cuttack: As part of the birth centenary celebrations of former chief minister Biju Patnaik, who was an ace pilot himself, an air show will be performed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Khannagar.
In a bid to avoid any incidences where birds collide with aircrafts during the show and are killed or injured, the district administration has ordered Cuttack Municipal Corporation to facilitate the closure of all meat and fish shops within 5 kilometre radius of Khannagar.
Accordingly, the civic body on Monday issued orders to all meat shop owners to shut down their shops till December 23.
Meanwhile, the administration is busy making elaborate arrangements for the air show, which is expected to be attended by more than 3 lakh spectators. Schools and colleges in the city will be closed on December 23 so that students can enjoy the air show. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will also attend. During the air show, vehicular movement on the Ring Road will be blocked. IAF's internationally acclaimed AkashGanga paratroopers team will showcase their mesmerising skills.
20/12/16 Times of India

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Singapore Airline to increase flight frequency

Mumbai: To meet the growing demand for travel, Singapore Airlines will increase frequency of its flights to select cities of Australia, Europe and Asia, including India, between March 26 and October 28, 2017.
In India, Ahmedabad will be served four times per week, up from the current three, with effect from March 26, the airline said in a release here today.
Elsewhere in Asia, Bangladesh capital Dhaka will be served 10 times per week with effect from July 19, up from the current seven flights a week.
While Bangkoks flight frequency will increase to six per day from five from March 26, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam will be served 19 times per week from the same day, up from the current 17.
In Australia, Melbourne will be served with 31 weekly flights, up from 28, from July 17, while flight frequency to Brisbane will increase to 28 per week, up from 24, starting August 22.
From June 4, Sydney will be served 33 times per week, up from 31 now.
To cater to peak period demand, flight frequency to Sydney will be further raised to 35 weekly flights from June 18 to September 30.
19/12/16 PTI/India Today

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KQ gets big lift from increased India flights deal

National carrier Kenya Airways has received a big boost from the signing of an agreement that gives it the right to introduce seven more weekly flights to India, one of Kenya’s strongest trade partners.

A communiqué from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation indicates that the two countries recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing carriers from both countries to get into more codeshare agreements.

India is one of Kenya’s biggest trade partners with imports from the Asian country valued at Sh253 billion last year. “As per the mandate given India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, a MoU was signed, whereby seven additional frequencies were allowed to both sides,” the communiqué stated.

“Hyderabad (the capital of the southern Indian state of Telangan) was allowed as an additional point of call on request by Kenyan side.  Domestic codeshare was agreed to from any four points by both sides.”

Kenya also agreed to grant one additional intermediate and beyond point with full 5th freedom rights in Africa to India, the statement further stated.
19/12/16 Mugambi Mutegi/Daily Nation

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'New biz models can improve efficiency in aviation sector'

New business and process models will help the aviation sector in optimising cost and improving efficiency, says a report.

Titled 'Impact of ICT on Indian Aviation', the report said digital solutions could also revolutionise the way talent is skilled and groomed to enter the sector.

The country's aviation sector is on the cusp of aggressive growth and technology disruption, it said.

Prepared by leading consultancy KPMG and technology solutions provider for the airlines industry SITA, the report emphasised that key to success for airports and airlines would be to create a carefully crafted digital strategy and road map.
18/12/16 PTI/Z Business

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Flying in to Goa this season got cheaper

Tourists looking to holiday in Goa for Christmas and New Year season could finally find a silver lining due to the demonetization move.
Flight prices to Goa that shoot up uncontrollably during the year-end have been reined in this year, seemingly through the curbed spending power caused by demonetization and also the central government policies imposing controls on the aviation sector.
Goa is also not hosting the two electronic dance music festivals, Sunburn and Supersonic, this year. This could have also affected the demand for tickets to the state.
Though flight tickets to Goa from the metros are still relatively high, the rates have not touched the usual hair-raising levels.
Flight prices on routes like Delhi to Goa or Kolkata to Goa, touched even 18,000 to 20,000 last year during the season. This year a flight ticket from Delhi to Goa is priced at 7,842 on Christmas eve and 9,748 on New Year's Eve. The fares from Kolkata are similar.
The airfare from Mumbai to Goa will cost around 5,000 on December 24 and December 30. In case of Bengaluru, this cost hovers around Rs 3,000, keeping the ticket costs afforable on both these sectors.
19/12/16 Gauree Malkarnekar/The Times Of India

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To hell with heli-tourism, shift this helipad

The muchhyped heli-tourism project of the state government landed in controversy with the locals expressing strong opposition to the noise pollution. The helipad is located in Sundipeta Sports Ground, the only playground serving for 10 schools and colleges in Srisailam mandal. The sound emanating from the chopper is causing disturbance to the students of educational institutions that surrounded the helipad.

It may be recalled that the Sumit Aviation Corporation has been permitted to run helicopter service from Hyderabad to Srisailam at a cost of Rs 14,800 per head. Similarly, a joy trip is being conducted charging Rs 2500 per head to enable tourists to catch glimpse of the Nallamala forest region and the River Krishna. The problem of helipad cropped up as the Revenue department has no helipad in the Srisailam Devasthanam limits.
19/12/16 S Syamsundar Rao/The Hans India

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India will need $10-15bn for aviation infra

The country will require between $10 billion and $15 billion for the growth of aviation infrastructure.

Civil Aviation Ministry Ashok Ganapathi Raju told a conference on aviation here on Saturday that additional allocation is needed for this purpose. "We have a situation where certain airports are choked while there are 30 others which are lying unused," Raju a cabinet ministry in the Union Government said.

Raju told SITA aviation ICT conference here that the government has identified 40 roles in the aviation industry for skill training. This will help the industry to access a readily available pool of skilled and trained personnel in the country itself.
19/12/16 K Giriprakash/The Hindu Business Line

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Indian Flights May Soon Have In-Flight Wi-Fi!

In-flight Wi-Fi might be a reality soon in Indian flight carriers, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday at the Dabolim International Airport, the minister also said that the current aviation laws need to be amended by the Parliament to enable Wi-Fi access during flights.
Raju also said his ministry was weighing in the pros and cons of enabling Wi-Fi in aeroplanes.
18/12/16 India Times

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Aviation sector on upswing, says Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Bambolim: Emphasising that the domestic aviation sector is on the “upswing”, Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Saturday said there has been an exceptional growth in recent years, but lack of timely capacity expansion at airports remains a cause of concern. Air connectivity can be an enabler for the country to move to a higher growth trajectory, the civil aviation minister said. “Indian aviation industry is on the upswing and today stands at an inflection point in its chequered history. We have recorded an exceptional growth in the past two years,” he said at an event in Bambolim, Goa.

Domestic air passenger growth has been more than 20 per cent for nearly two years while local carriers are also embarking on significant fleet expansion plans. Striking a note of caution, the minister said (lack of) timely capacity expansion at airports at big cities and metros remains a cause of concern. “Though the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as well as other private and greenfield airport operators have significant investments in the pipeline, they run the risk of falling behind the passenger growth figures,” Raju noted.
With India’s changed international image, an improved economic environment, increased regional business potential and growth in tourism, “We are strategically placed to launch into higher trajectory of growth by using air connectivity as an enabler,” he added. Last month, the civil aviation ministry launched Air Sewa, a one-stop solution for all aviation-related needs and governance. Ashok Gajapathi  Raju also said more than 200 nodal officers have been identified and trained in the overall aviation ecosystem for quality disposal of grievances received through Air Sewa.
17/12/16 PTI/Indian Express

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DGCA is in a time warp, says Shakti Lumba

There is an acute shortage of senior airline pilots and commanders in India. With new airlines and more aircraft coming in, the shortage is likely to keep getting more and more acute. Poaching among airlines has become a serious issue and many airlines have been asking the notice period for pilots to be raised to one year.
Industry veteran SHAKTI LUMBA, 66, is not known for mincing his words. The former Indian Airlines pilot who also headed Alliance Air (he spent 28 years with Indian airlines) for some time is a known fire-brand in the sector – a “man who always carried his resignation letter in his pocket”. After a long and controversial career with Indian Airlines and Alliance Air, Lumba worked with IndiGo for five years and was part of the start-up team for the airline.
In Lumba’s view, the growth of aviation in India going forward will be restricted by a severe shortage of senior pilots. He argues that the DGCA will be largely to blame for this as the organisation is caught in a time warp and is more a controlling agency than one that ensures safety and facilitates the sector. He also wants the directorate for flight inspection disbanded. Excerpts from a no-holds barred chat with Anjuli Bhargava. Edited excerpts:
Why do you think growth of aviation in India will be restricted by a severe shortage of pilots and why will the DGCA be to blame?

For any aviation policy to work, to my mind, the ministry of civil aviation, DGCA and airport policies have to be on the same page. In India, they are not.

In India, the story is of growth. Besides having more passengers, it also means having more skilled manpower. Airlines in India end up doing in-house training for almost all kinds of skilled personnel they require. There is no institute in India providing all the kinds of skilled manpower. My question is where are you going to get the manpower?

When you announced a new aviation policy, has anyone looked at what kind of manpower is needed to support this policy and what are the changes we require in regulation so that this policy moves smoothly.

DGCA needs total upgrading. It still doesn’t have a twitter account. Emails are on their personal account. Most of its work is still done on paper. Instead of being a safety regulator or facilitator, it is a controlling agency and a pretty stupid one at that.
18/12/16 Anjuli Bhargava/Business Standard

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Gearing up to take off

A lot has been said about the life of an air hostess, be it the erratic working hours, the improper conduct of passengers, and how their personal life is put on the back burner.

But despite arguments against the profession, the life of an air hostess continues to excite many young girls.

Shalu Deelwal, who is pursuing her Ph.D in Hindi from DU, was one of the candidates who had come for the walk-in interviews organised for cabin crew for two private Indian airlines.



“The salary and the chance to travel is what brought me here,” she said.

Yuri, another 19-year-old who was here from Manipur, said she loved the hospitality she experienced onboard while on her way to Delhi.

“I am dependent on my aunt. This is one job that can help me be independent,” she said.

‘I see myself there’


Immaculate dressing, perfectly done hair and make-up are what attracted 19-year-old Anjali Mishra — who has never flown in an airplane before — to nurture the dream of becoming an air hostess.

“I have never been on a flight, but I have seen air hostesses on TV. I love the way they dress and their make-up. I want to see myself there,” said a visibly excited Anjali.

Independence


“I know they get to travel a lot. It brings a lot of independence as well,” she added.

A second-year student at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, Anjali said that a job as an air hostess would allow her to earn reasonably well, even without a strong academic background.

Twenty one-year-old Shivani Sharma, meanwhile, had come for the interview with her family.

“It is my dream to be an air hostess. Two years ago I had joined the Frankfinn Institute, but my parents felt I was too young then,” she said after her interview.

Varender Kaur, 21, an IT graduate, was among the aspirants who were finally selected.

She said that she was on the hunt for jobs in the IT field when she chanced upon an advertisement inviting aspirants for cabin crew.
18/12/16 Akanksha Jain/The Hindu

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'India's aviation has dramatic headroom for growth than US and China'

New Delhi: Describing India’s aviation as a sunrise sector of growth Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha on Saturday said the sector has a dramatic headroom for growth with 150 million passenger trips a year with an average growth of over 20% every year, while China has 450 million passenger trips and US with 800 million passenger trips a year.

Addressing the 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Sinha said India’s total revenue of airlines is Rs 1.4 lakh crore and is growing at a rate of 20%, with over 90 million domestic and over 50 million international passengers travelling in and out of India.

He emphasized that the government is committed to safety and security and will launch the unified command of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the entire aviation system.

The minister specified that there are three priorities for the government, first is to put in digital experience through AirSewa, improving airport facilities with an aim to decrease in immigration lines and other customer services and to double the expansion of airports from 75 to 150 airports through the government’s ambitious plan under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
17/12/16 New Indian Express

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Airlines want direct line to passengers

Domestic airlines have approached the Centre to enable them to communicate directly with passengers in case of rescheduling of flights, especially during the fog season, citing difficulties in informing those who book their tickets through travel agents about flight delays and other critical information.

“Every morning, we wake up to fog in Delhi and I see irate customers on the social media asking us why they weren’t informed about the flight delay,” Vistara chief strategy and commercial officer Sanjiv Kapoor said at the inaugural of the two-day India Aviation ICT Forum 2016, organised by global air transport IT provider SITA here.

“Now, 98 per cent of our customers may carry smartphones but we only have contact information of those who either book through us or are frequent flyer members. We don’t have contact information of 50 per cent of passengers who book through travel agents,” he said. On the sidelines, Mr. Kapoor said that roughly 75 per cent of all airline tickets are booked through travel agents at present.

“Any technology solution that can integrate passenger information with our database in addition to regulatory solution would be a game-changer and make travel hassle-free for customers,” he said.
18/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Forget ID cards, use Aadhaar number to fly

You may soon not have to worry about carrying physical identity documents at metro airports as a plan for biometric authentication of flyers is all set to take off.

After the successful pilot run for Aadhaar-based airport entry authentication for passengers at the Hyderabad airport, the Mumbai and Bengaluru airports are planning to take up similar pilot projects.

Hyderabad pilot project

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad started a pilot project last year allowing passengers to enter their Aadhaar number at kiosks set up at one of the entry gates. The authorities now plan to implement the exercise at all entry gates.

However, the move will not be mandatory and passengers without Aadhaar numbers can proceed after showing physical identity documents at the airport entry gate.

“After successfully completing the POC [proof of concept] at the Hyderabad airport, we have formally asked UIDAI [Unique Identification Authority of India] to recognise us as authorised user agency,” S.G.K. Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), told The Hindu on the sidelines of the India Aviation ICT Forum 2016 here.
18/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Air show on banks of river Krishna from Jan 12

Residents of Vijayawada are soon going to witness a three-day air show, first-of-its kind to be organised by the Civil Aviation Department on the banks of river Krishna here from January 12, according to Krishna district collector Babu A.

In a press release issued here on Friday, the collector said that Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju will participate in the ‘Aviation Summit’ to be held in the city on January 12. CM N Chandrababu Naidu will participate as chief guest for the event. Close to 500 delegates from various departments will be present at the summit, he said.

Disclosing the details of the air show, the collector said four static air models will display aeromodelling, aerial photograph and aerial pollution monitoring at Bhavani and Punnami bathing ghats from 4 pm on January 12. The display will also be held on January 13 and 14 at 11.30 am to 11.45 am and 4 pm to 4:15 pm respectively.
18/12/16 New Indian Express

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Adventure sport enthusiasts can look forward to skydiving at Mysuru airport

Mysuru: Clouds hovering around, and the wind slamming your face with a fierce intensity as the descent into the earth begins - skydiving is an exhilarating experience, and the panoramic view of Mysuru city from an altitude of 10,000ft only adds to the enjoyment of this experience.
Social welfare department secretary P Manivannan, and tourism department secretary Naveen raj Singh, enjoyed a tandem jump, wherein the diver is accompanied by the instructor, as part of promoting the sport of skydiving in Mysuru on Saturday. "It was a wonderful jump. It was amazing to see Mysuru from the sky. The citizens of the city should undergo this experience," said Manivannan, after he dived from an altitude of 10,000ft.
'Skyriders' is an initiative being organised by the state tourism department, in association with the Delhi-based Kakini Enterprises. For the next two months, adventure sport enthusiasts in the city can take to skydiving at the Mysuru Airport. The initiative was flagged off by DC D Randeep.
Chief of Skyriders, Aanchal Khurana said, "It's a freefall till the moment the instructor unfurls the parachute. While the jump is taken at a height of 10,000ft, the parachute is opened at 5,000ft. During freefall, people drop at the speed of 180km/h."
A member of the Skyriders team, Solanki said that it would take around 45 minutes for the aircraft to reach the altitude of 10,000ft. "Before take-off, there'll be a small drill, and the people taking the jump are given basic instructions. Those having cardiac problems cannot take the ride," he said.
19/12/16 Lakshmikantha BK/Times of India

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Turf turbulence hits India’s air force one

New Delhi: An ambitious project of creating a dedicated fleet of aircraft for the Prime Minister’s foreign travel has hit rough weather. Last year, the government had proposed to take away two Boeing-777s from Air India’s fleet to be dedicated for the PM’s use abroad, on the lines of the US President’s Air Force One.
Air India and the Indian Air Force have locked horns over the expensive responsibility of maintaining and servicing the aircraft. Presently, India’s prime minister uses two Air India’s Boeing 747s for foreign visits. These planes are over two decades old.

Air India flies them commercially when the PM or President are not travelling abroad. The proposed aircraft will possess high-tech security gadgets, including an anti missile defence system, radar warning receivers and missile-approach warning systems. It can also refuel mid air in case of an emergency.

Though a year has passed since the national carrier agreed to hand over two Boeing-777-ER aircraft to the Indian Air Force’s Communication Squadron; responsibility for their serviceability and maintenance is still unclear. The aircraft have to be sent back to the manufacturer for modifications as per the changes asked for by the Special Protection Group. Who wil pay for it?
17/12/16 Pradip R Sagar/New Indian Express

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Aerolympics way to combat shortage

There is a growing manpower shortage in aviation and Aeronautical Society of India tried using the National Aerolympics to overcome it; but only 58 schools of 600 invited turned up for the 2016 edition

Of the 600 schools across India that were invited to participate in the National Aerolympics 2016, just 58 turned up for the two-phased competition meant to encourage students to take up careers in aeronautical engineering, aviation and aerospace fields.

The Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) – which is organising the event for class 10, 11 and 12 students for the eleventh time in a row – is desperately trying to overcome the shortage, which is being felt more acutely as air passenger traffic is growing by 25 per cent annually.

According to data released by the civil aviation ministry, domestic air travel in the period between January and August 2016 surged 23.14 per cent, recording 644.68 lakh air passengers; while the figure was 523.55 lakh passengers in the corresponding period in 2015.

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was on record stating that the growth in air passengers in August had been the highest recorded in the aviation markets globally, which had prompted him to tweet: “Another month of record growth for Indian aviation. August records 24% – highest worldwide.”
17/12/16 Nirad Mudur/Bangalore Mirror

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