Donald Trump Responsible For Some Flight Delays In India

Donald Trump made a grand entrance on the first day of his presidential visit to India with a speech in front of tens of thousands of people in a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad. However, the arrival of the politician had a knock-on effect on the city. Road closures and diversions had forced a GoAir flight to be delayed by around two hours this morning.
Flight G8 459 was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport for Mumbai at 09.25. However, the Airbus A320 didn’t depart until 11:30. Thereafter, the aircraft arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at around 12:17.
Passengers were informed by crew members that the delay was because of pilot unavailability. However, the Mumbai-based airline has since shared that the US president’s arrival influenced the flight.
In a bid to minimize impact, the low-cost carrier issued a notification to its passengers to leave for the airport earlier than usual. This was due to traffic diversions caused by the US’ president’s visit to the state of Gujarat.
24/02/20 Sumit Rehal/Simple Flying

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Drones, AI, ML have changed the way aviation industry operates: BIAL

Bengaluru: Technology has changed the way the aviation industry operates — be it drones, AI, or ML — and that creates huge opportunities, said Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, BIAL.
Addressing the ‘Future of Aerospace and Aviation Conference’ hosted by IIM Bangalore and Bangalore International Airport Ltd with Toulouse Business School France, Raghunath said: “Challenges like regulatory policies among other things, should also prevent airlines from folding up. The dearth of talent is another challenge – the sector is struggling to find the right talent. It is going to be incumbent on all of us to find and deploy the right talent. Third, from an urban growth perspective, in an emerging market especially, where workers migrate when opportunities arise, our primary cities need to gear up in terms of urban planning – providing facilities and transport for the people who migrate for work.”
He said that with India set to become the third busiest aviation market in the next 5-7 years, it is certainly a huge opportunity for MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul), cargo, logistics, tourism and travel.”
S Raghunath, Director, General Management Programme for Aerospace & Aviation Executives at IIM Bangalore, said the aerospace industry is under pressure both from a slowdown in the sector as well as the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
The silver lining, he observed, was domestic travel in India.
“These are interesting times for regional connectivity. The government is trying hard to restart the engines of the economy. Connectivity through aviation will take knowledge workers to regional hubs and improve rural logistics, even for healthcare service providers, apart from giving a boost to tourism,” he explained.
24/02/20 Business Line

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CG Dornier aircraft undertakes operational sorties

Mangaluru: As part of measures to boost the Coast Guard''s capabilities on the country''s west coast in Karnataka, CG Dornier 761 was made to undertake operational sorties for surveillance at New Mangalore here from February 21 till Monday. A Coast Guard release here said the Air Enclave here will improve the CG''s performance in its surveillance and reconnaissance roles off the coastal areas off Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep including uninhabited islands.
At present, CG Air Enclave New Mangalore, which was activated in 2016, lacks hangar, which is essential for parking and technical maintenance activities for CG aircraft.

In absence of the hangarage facility, the aerial surveillance is being undertaken on a regular basis on detachment by CG Dornier from Kochi and Daman.

The case for provision of the state-of-art hangar is in the final stage of approval by Ministry of Defence.

The CG Dornier Squadron 749 with a Unit Establishment (UE) of 04 Dornier Aircraft will be positioned permanently at New Mangalore on completion of the aviation infrastructure.
24/02/20 PTI/Outlook

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When my sitar cries: Why musicians want airlines to be accountable for checked-in instruments

When renowned sitarist Shubhendra Rao landed in New York on November 1 last year to perform at a temple, he had little idea that the chain of events about to unfold would propel him into a campaigner for artistes’ rights. The sitar he had checked-in as luggage was severely damaged during his flight from New Delhi. And this was the third time in four years that his precious instrument was broken during air travel — once he even had to cancel a concert in France — and he had had enough. After Air India denied responsibility for damage to his sitar in a legal notice he had sent to the carrier, Rao restarted a petition he had launched in 2017 on Change.org to make airlines accountable for damage to checked-in instruments.

His petition, backed by other renowned Indian musicians such as Grammy awardee Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Shujaat Husain Khan, has notched over 81,000 signatures and helped him get a meeting with the civil aviation ministry officials on February 27.

Rao, a protégé of world-renowned sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, is hopeful an audience with the civil aviation minister would bring about a policy change in the way musical instruments are handled by airlines. Many Indian musical instruments are not allowed as cabin baggage — owing to their large size — and airlines ask them to be checked-in as regular luggage. But the problem arises when they are also treated as such, said Rao. “We aren’t talking about just any piece of luggage here. You can’t pick an instrument off the shelf and simply start playing. It takes years for it to become yours and produce the notes you want,” he told TOI.

Tabla player Abhinav Upadhyay, who often performed alongside ghazal king Jagjit Singh, agreed that musicians have a special bond with their instruments. “There are many instances of musicians having suffered because their instruments like sitar or sarod were damaged during air travel. There has to be some consideration when it comes to instruments related to fine art forms.”

Rao’s cause resonates with other musicians who also said that transporting their delicate and expensive musical instruments safely is often a struggle. Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt recounted how he once saw his mohan veena fall from the top of a tractor trolley which was carrying cargo from the aircraft upon arrival. “We had just landed in the US when I saw my instrument fall. I was shocked at how it was being handled,” he told TOI.

When Mumbai-based double bass player Abhinav Khokhar flew from Patna to Mumbai in February this year, he found his double bass — an instrument that costs upwards of Rs 2.6 lakh — covered in multiple cracks. “I had to head straight to my performance and when I reached there I found the bass broken. Luckily, I managed to arrange for a substitute instrument in time. And after several follow-ups and calls, I received compensation from the airline to cover the cost of repairs. But it took a month and by that time I lost out on eight gigs as I didn’t have an instrument. Searching for luthiers who could repair it itself was a task since bass is not an Indian instrument.”
24/02/20 Ruchika Uniyal/Times of India

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Airlines issue traffic advisory ahead of Donald Trump's visit for passengers

New Delhi : One day before the US President Donald Trump is scheduled to land in Ahmedabad for his two-day India visit, the airlines have issued an advisory to its fliers in the wake of VVIP movement and heavy security deployment enroute to airport.
Congestion and roadblocks are expected during Donald Trump's arrival and the passengers have been asked to carry some extra time with a hard copy of their ticket and photo IDs.
"We expect heavy traffic, roadblocks and stringent security checks en route Ahmedabad Airport between 8 am to 4 pm on Monday, owing to the VVIP movement. Passengers travelling to the airport must carry a hard copy of their itinerary and photo-ID to access the blocked roads. No accompanying persons will be permitted to proceed. Please keep a tab on live traffic and report at the check-in counter at least 3 hours prior to the departure time," SpiceJet said in a statement.
Air carriers Vistara and IndiGo airlines have also issued a similar advisory to their passengers.
Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Ahmedabad to review the final preparations for Trump's visit to the city.
24/02/20 News Heads

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India’s civil aviation strides will come at huge climate price, say experts

Bengaluru: Within five to seven years, India is set to become the third busiest aviation market in the world, capable of sustaining at least 1.5 billion trips out of eight billion trips globally but this planned increase could potentially wreck the country’s commitment to the 2015 Paris Climate Accord.
At a conference on the future of aviation and aerospace organised by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Toulouse Business School, France, here on Saturday, aviation industry experts called on the government to institute reforms to help the industry fulfil its potential. Among the recommendations were to upskill aviation workers and attract better talent, while carrying out structural reforms in the sector.
 “I have every confidence that Indian aviation can take on the Americans and Chinese within two decades. Our aviation is in a great place right now. It is time to make business and money,” said Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. At least one aviation insider, however, pointed out that rampant growth could defeat India’s other commitments to sustainability.
 Manish Raniga, Acting Chief Commercial Oicer of South African Airways, said that with a single long-haul flight consuming a person’s annual carbon credit, and with India’s lack of a sustainability policy for air travel, airliner proliferation may not be the panacea that the government believes it will be. “Is there infrastructure to support an expansion of 300 airliners?
In other countries, governments and airlines seek to reduce their carbon print by employing more efficient models of aircraft with quieter engines and less fuel burn, by utilising biofuels and other zero-footprint technologies and by gaining carbon credits such as planting trees. In the Indian context, these measures are totally missing,” Raniga said.
23/02/20 Akhil Kadidal/Deccan Herald

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Future of aerospace and aviation conference hosted by IIMB and BIAL

In a day-long conference hosted by IIM Bangalore and Bangalore International Airport Limited with Toulouse Business School France, here today, senior professionals from the aviation and aerospace industry in India called for better skill development and talent management, as well as policy and structural reforms in the sector.
 Remarking that the conference couldn’t have come at a better time with India set to become the third busiest aviation market in the next 5-7 years, Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, BIAL, said: “The market size of India is certainly a huge opportunity for MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul), cargo, logistics, tourism, travel, etc. The impact of what aviation does in terms of driving the economy can never be overstated. Technology has changed the way the aviation industry operates – be it drones, AI, ML, and that creates huge opportunity.
Today, BIAL employs over 20,000 people. The growing industry can create huge employment. There are challenges too – regulatory policies that, among other things, should also prevent airlines from folding up. The dearth of talent is another challenge – the sector is struggling to find the right talent. It is going to be incumbent on all of us to find and deploy the right talent. Third, from an urban growth perspective, in an emerging market especially, where workers migrate when opportunities arise, our primary cities need to gear up in terms of urban planning – providing facilities and transport for the people who migrate for work.”
 Calling for better collaboration between stakeholders, Satyaki Raghunath wished the conference success. In his welcome address, Professor S. Raghunath, Director, General Management Programme for Aerospace & Aviation Executives at IIM Bangalore, set the context of the conference in a time when the aerospace industry is under pressure both from a slowdown in the sector as well as the threat of the coronavirus outbreak. The silver lining, he observed, was domestic travel in India.
23/02/20 Bangalore Mirror

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Coronavirus: Airlines in Asia Pacific region to lose USD 27.8 billion revenue in 2020

New Delhi:  The Novel Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) is likely to have an adverse impact on airlines operating in Asia Pacific region (APAC) with a potential 13 per cent full-year loss in passenger demand.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), the decline could translate into a $27.8 billion revenue loss in 2020 for carriers in the region, home to some of the fastest growing airlines in the world.
Most airlines across the globe have either suspended their operations to China or have drastically reduced their frequency as the pandemic so far has claimed over 2,200 lives and spread to many countries. Bulk of the fall would be borne by carriers registered in China with $12.8 billion loss in its domestic market alone, said IATA.

However, the Coronavirus scare could also hurt growth prospects of Indian airlines, especially IndiGo which sees China as a key focus market. IndiGo and Air India have extended suspension of all their flights to China, including Hong Kong for the next three months.

While IndiGo has suspended flights till June 14, Air India’s suspension extended till June 30. SpiceJet, which operates daily services to Hong Kong, had earlier suspended flights till February 29. IndiGo has daily flights on the Delhi-Chengdu, Bengaluru-Hong Kong and Kolkata-Guangzhou route, while Air India flies to Beijing and Hong Kong.
22/02/20 New Indian Express

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After US incident, Indian aviation ministry tells flyers that the seat is not a sleeper berth

New Delhi: India's aviation ministry has asked flyers to be considerate towards other people's space. The message from the civil aviation ministry comes after a video of a man punching a reclined seat in front of him went viral in the US.
 "A little bit of basic good manners and respect are always worth a thumbs up. Your seat is not a sleeper berth. Don't be inconsiderate of other people's space,” said the tweet from civil aviation ministry's handle.
The tweet was shared under the ministry's campaign to promote responsible travelling and etiquettes of flying. On February 9, Wendi Williams tweeted from her handle @steelersfanOG a video which shows that the passenger sitting behind her punched her seat repeatedly on an American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, flight.
 “Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times - HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behaviour. The other jackhole is the AmericanAir flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him (a complimentary) rum!” “It is a good initiative by the ministry to tweet this.
While reclining economy seats is an issue globally, our authorities must tackle something uniquely Indian — the habit of passengers to stand up as soon as the aircraft comes to a halt after landing. Our crew has to keep announcing during taxi to terminal, asking passengers to remain seated and not to open overhead bins to take out their bags as that could hurt other flyers,” Times of India quoted a senior pilot as saying.
 22/02/20 Economic Times

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Land collector rate review for aviation club expansion soon

Karnal: After witnessing less enthusiasm among farmers to offer their land on e-bhoomi portal for the extension of the Karnal aviation club tarmac, the district administration has directed the Revenue Department to review the collector rates of the land in the surrounding areas of the club.

This step is being initiated following directions of the state government to approach farmers for negotiation to provide land for the ambitious project of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The farmers have to offer 55 acres voluntarily on the e-bhoomi portal. In July last year, around 60 per cent of the farmers had given consent for the project, but the remaining did not offer their land due to less price given by the government.
According to sources in the Revenue Department, the collector rate near the aviation club is between Rs 32 and 35 lakh per acre, while farmers are demanding Rs 80 lakh to 1.5 crore per acre.

“We are ready to offer our land for this project, but a meagre amount is being offered to us. We want that the government should assess the proper rate of our land,” said a farmer.

“The state government has asked us to approach farmers for negotiation. We will reach farmers, but before it I have asked Revenue Department officials to review the collector rates in the vicinity,” said Nishant Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner.
21/02/20 Parveen Arora/Tribune

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Flight crew, air traffic controllers to undergo random drug tests

New Delhi: In a bid to make flying safer, flight crew and air traffic controllers (ATCO) will now be tested for drug abuse, just like the breath-analyser (BA) checks to ensure they are not tipsy.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar has ordered “random drug testing for the consumption of (10) psychoactive substances” like cocaine, marijuana/hashish, MDMA or ecstasy and morphine/opiate. A pilot or ATCO testing positive for drug abuse for the first time will be grou- nded and undergo de-addiction/rehabilitation programme. Failing for the second time will mean cancellation of licence, which means such a person will not be able to work as a pilot or controller again.

People refusing to undergo this test “shall be removed from the safety sensitive duties until they clear detailed drug testing profile within a week, failing which the license of the involved person shall be suspended for three years,” the order stated.

While a start has been made with key positions, the DGCA will gradually bring more aviation personnel under the drug test. Testing will be done by a DGCA-authorised laboratory at six airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad in phase 1. Airlines and Airports Authority of India (which provides ATC services) “shall ensure that at least 10% of (their flight crew and ATCOs) are covered in a year.”
22/02/20 Times of India

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Gurugram Residents Store Poop Falling From Aircraft In Fridge Thinking That It’s A Rare Mineral

A bunch of residents in Gurugram got an intensive lesson on ‘heavenly endowments’ on Saturday. The most important lesson: don’t put them the refrigerator. What’s more, if their experience were to be ever made into a motion picture, a portion of the individuals who saw the daylong drama may even recommend the title, ‘Crap li Live’.

The ‘blessing’ had come out of the blue. Rajbir Yadav, a farmer at Fazilpur Badli town, was out for his wake-up routine in the fields when he saw what appeared to be an “extremely huge stone” collide with the ground close to him and disintegrate. “It hit the ground with a major wreck,” he later reviewed. Different locals present in the region gathered around Rajbir. Word spread rapidly. From the farm to the horse shelters to the back streets; within no time, the whole town was discussing it. Individuals filled the wheat farm for a look.
Among them, a portion of the more educated individuals made an estimate: this could be a meteor. The stone had a white surface and was super cold, with a transparent surface. Some uncommon mineral, at that point? A land treasure? In all the speculative talk, a few townspeople sneaked a couple of pieces into their garments and moved them quickly to their homes. To make sure they weren’t caught snoozing if the object is discovered to be an invaluable item. It was cold, so they stored the pieces in the refrigerator, guaranteed that was their most secure place. At that point, they came back to their day by day business.
Meanwhile, word reached the local administration, which dispatched a group from the National Disaster Management Authority and India Meteorological Department to the town, situated in Farrukhnagar. The primary ‘intel’ that accompanied the discovery was that an ice ball had struck the wheat field. The Meteorological Department experts decision dissolved the interest. The object was no meteor, nor any divine miracle as found in a science fiction film. This was no doubt ‘blue ice’, a term utilized for frozen toilet waste from planes.
At first sight, it would appear that aircrafts waste. All things considered, we are sending it to the criminological lab in Bhondsi to recognize what precisely it is,” said Vivek Kalia, the Pataudi subdivisional officer who went with the expert group to Fazilpur Badli.

Kalia said townspeople trusted it to be a meteor on the grounds that the ice hadn’t melted, potentially as a result of the winter climate. Blue ice is a solidified blend of human excreta and liquid disinfectants.
15/02/20 All India Roundup

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HAL Management Academy Holds Maiden Convocation of PGDAM

Bengaluru: The first batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Aviation Management (PGDAM) has passed out from HAL Management Academy. Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM-Kozhikode, was the chief guest at the convocation held at HMA here today. Professor Chatterjee appreciated the efforts of HAL in offering this unique program relevant to the industry.

The main objective of the AICTE approved, 15-month PGDAM program has been to develop students who could further contribute in strengthening the aerospace eco-system in India by bridging the gap between industry and academia.

The certificates were awarded to 31 students. Gold Medals were awarded to Kiran Nellore for the best academic performance and to Vineeth Vijayan for the best overall performance. M. Raviprakash bagged the best project award.
15/02/20 India Education Diary

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E-Cigarettes Banned Across All Indian Airports and Aircrafts - Aviation Security Regulator

Aviation security regulator BCAS has banned e-cigarettes and similar products on all airports and aircraft in India, according to an official document. "Upon the prohibition of electronic-cigarettes by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it has been decided that e-cigarettes include all forms of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), heat not burn products, e-hookah and the like devices," stated the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security circular dated January 10.

Distribution, sale, storage and advertisement of such products is prohibited on any airport premises or any aircraft departing or arriving in India, the regulator added. In September last year, the Central government banned production, sale and import of e-cigarettes and similar products citing health risk to people, especially the youth.
14/02/20 PTI/News18

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Ready to help IAF on Tejas and AMCA projects: Lockheed Martin ahead of Trump's India visit

New Delhi: US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin has offered to help India in its multi-billion-dollar programme to develop a next-generation advanced multi-role combat aircraft and boost capability of the Tejas fighter jet.

The offer by the US aerospace firm comes ahead of President Donald Trump's maiden visit to India on February 24-25 during which both strategic partners are expected to further expand defence and military cooperation.
Vivek Lall, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin, said the company is "very open" to assisting India in the further development of the Tejas combat jet as well as the ambitious next-generation aircraft.

"We are very open to any requirement from the government of India or the Indian Air Force for any help for the Tejas as well as the AMCA (advanced multi-role combat aircraft) project," Lall told PTI in an interview without divulging specifics.

The indigenously developed Tejas has been a showpiece project of India being implemented by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).

Both HAL and ADA are now focusing on an upgraded version of Tejas to make it a world-class plane.

India is also working on an ambitious USD 5 billion projects to develop a fifth-generation medium weight deep penetration fighter jet to significantly bolster its air power capability.
13/02/20 PTI/New Indian Express

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12 notable airlines have gone out of business in the last 14 months — here's the full list

"2019 has seen the fastest growth in airline failure in history," airline consulting firm IBA told Reuters last October.
The year 2020 looks to be off to a similar start, with Tuesday's news that Air Italy will shutter less than two years after starting operations.
Here are the commercial airlines that have been forced to close their doors and fold up their wings >>

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Growth in foreign tourist arrivals, earnings slowest in 10 years

Mumbai: Arrivals of overseas tourists in India and the country’s foreign exchange earnings from them grew at the slowest pace in a decade in 2019, government data showed.
 Tourism industry experts and airline executives attributed the slowdown to multiple factors, including street protests over the new citizenship law and elevated levels of pollution in northern India, including Delhi.
Several countries had issued travel advisories to their citizens over both issues. About 10.89 million foreign tourists visited India in 2019, an increase of 3.1% from the year before, the tourism ministry informed Parliament earlier this month, citing provisional data. The year before, arrivals grew 5.2%, while in 2017, the expansion was 14%, showed data from the tourism ministry and the Bureau of Immigration.
 Forex earnings from inbound tourists rose 8.2% to Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the past year. The growth was 9.6% in 2018 and 15% in 2017, according to figures from the ministry and the Reserve Bank of India. The government hasn’t made any assessment of the impact on tourism from agitations against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), minister of state for tourism Prahlad Singh Patel said in his reply to a query in the Lok Sabha on February 3. But travel industry experts said this was one of factors, especially towards the latter part of the year, that affected the plans of both leisure and business travellers.
“We saw a significant spurt in queries (from potential travellers) and we issued more advisories cautioning corporate travellers last year than we have done in the recent past,” said Neeraj Balani, the Indian managing director for International SOS, a global medical and travel security risk services company. It has clients from more than 1,000 cities in 90 countries. Without getting into specifics, Balani said global companies had cancelled meetings in India in the last few months of the year.
 13/02/20 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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Aviation Innovation Exposition held at Kochi Naval Base

Kochi: As part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of Kochi Naval Aircraft Yard, an Aviation Innovation Exposition was organised by the Southern Naval Command at Kochi Naval Base on Tuesday. Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air Material) Rear Admiral V Mohan Doss inaugurated the exposition in the presence of Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) Rear Admiral Philipose George Pynumootil.

The exposition was organised to bring together major indigenous aviation players like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), academia and aviation industries. The opportunity was used for pooling in resources and expertise for co-operative production, besides finding a viable solution for the continuous fight against obsolescence. Nearly 50 MSMEs, 32 exhibitors, naval repair yards and indigenisation Units took part in the exposition.
12/02/20 New Indian Express

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Indian aviation is an LCC market. The conventional FSC model will not work

Indian aviation has in recent years been dominated by low-cost carriers (LCCs). In 2019, LCCs carried 87 percent of the total number of passengers.

The number stood at 68 percent at the beginning of the year. Vistara – the only private full-service carrier (FSC) — after the fall of Jet Airways, decided to induct some of its future aircraft in all economy configuration. The airline is already operating one such aircraft.

Over the years, LCCs have been snatching more and more passengers from the FSCs. India might soon end up with one private FSC, Vistara. Air India, the government-owned other FSC is up for privatisation in the next couple of weeks.

In the early days of operations, Vistara revealed that its research pointed that food was one of the decisive factors for air travellers in India. But to an independent observer, the three-class layout of its aircraft, meal preferences, juices and Starbucks coffee in premium coffee seemed expensive for the Indian market. Slowly but surely, the airline scaled down its food offering, an area which every FSC in the past has looked to cut costs to rein in ballooning losses.

Vistara is not the first airline to do so. Over the last decade or so, FSCs in India tried every trick in the book — and sometimes outside the book — to take on the steady growth of LCCs. Yet, two large FSCs – Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways — had to shut down. Air India survives only because of government benevolence.
Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways both operated a low-cost subsidiary. These airlines tried operating certain sectors with a low-cost offering, operating non-peak hour flights as LCC offering and peak hour flights as FSC offering, reverting to a full-service model and then offering a fare class without meals and more. It is heartening to see that Vistara isn’t trying any of this, but merely going to operate certain sectors with only economy class on offer.
10/02/20 Ameya Joshi/CNBC TV18

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Airlines face growth warning as virus curtails Singapore Airshow

Asian airlines face "drastic" cuts in their planned growth because of the coronavirus crisis, an industry group warned, adding gloom to an already depleted Singapore Airshow as more companies scaled back plans on Monday.

The Singapore Airshow from February 11 to 16 is proceeding, but the exhibition centre is pockmarked with empty spaces that would have held displays from Chinese companies and others skipping the show because of the epidemic, which has killed more than 900 people.

More than 70 exhibitors, including major US Defence firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co have pulled out over concerns related to the new coronavirus.

Few deals are expected at the biennial event, where the epidemic has triggered new safety measures and cast a shadow over airline profits and demand for airplanes.

hit, the International Air Transport Association had expected passenger numbers to rise by 4% in 2020 and cargo traffic to be 2% higher.

"All bets are off in terms of traffic forecasts for this year," Andrew Herdman, the director general of the Association for Asia Pacific Airlines, said in an interview.
"If you look at the schedule cuts and the actual operations, they have been cut by 50%, 60%, 70% within China. It is pretty drastic," he said.

The Pentagon reduced the size of its delegation to the air show, which had been set to include its chief weapons buyer, US Undersecretary of Defense Ellen Lord, said on Friday.

"Sure, there were some adjustments by some colleagues, but it has not changed our footprint," U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs R Clarke Cooper said Monday, adding that his agency's delegation remained fully intact.
10/02/20 Jamie Freed & Tim Hepher/Hans India

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India Readying $2.6 Billion US Naval Helicopter Deal Ahead of Trump Trip

New Delhi: India is set to give final approval to a $2.6 billion deal for military helicopters from US defence firm Lockheed Martin ahead of a proposed visit by US President Donald Trump this month, defence and industry sources said.

The government is trying to pull out all the stops for Trump's trip in a bid to reaffirm strategic ties between the two countries, which have been buffeted by sharp differences over trade, to counter China.
India's defence purchases from the United States have reached $17 billion since 2007 as it has pivoted away from traditional supplier Russia, looking to modernise its military and narrow the gap with China.
Modi's cabinet committee on security is expected to clear the purchase of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian navy in the next two weeks, a defence official and an industry source briefed on the matter separately told Reuters.
"It's a government-to-government deal, it is close," said the industry source.
10/02/20 News18

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4 IAF pilots begin training for spaceflight in Russia

Bengaluru: Four Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots began training for the country''s maiden manned mission Gaganyaan around the earth''s orbit in 2022 at the Gagarin research and test cosmonaut training centre in Russia''s Moscow, an official said on Tuesday.

"The year-long training, which includes biomedical, physical practices, study of the Soyuz manned spaceship (module) and weightlessness mode aboard the special Ilyushin-76 MDK aircraft began on Monday," an official of the state-run Indian Space Research Organsiation (ISRO) told IANS here.

The four pilots, whose names and ranks have not been made public yet, were selected by the space agency for the week-long human spaceflight around the earth to conduct experiments in micro-gravity and bio-science.

The training is being conducted under a commercial contract between Glavkosmos joint stock company of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos and the human spaceflight centre of the Indian space agency.

The Yuri A. Gagarin state scientific research-and-testing cosmonaut training centre in star city of Moscow''s Oblast trains cosmonauts for space missions.

The spaceflight training centre is named after former Soviet Union''s air force pilot Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human to fly solo into outer space on April 12, 1961, completing one orbit around the earth in Vostok-1 capsule.
11/02/20 IANS/Outlook

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Corona hits launch of flights

Calcutta: Planned launch of flights to China from Calcutta is being stalled and the number of aircraft flying over the city on their way to and from China has dipped following the coronavirus outbreak in that country.

Calcutta airport officials said China Eastern Airlines, which operates flights between Calcutta and the Chinese city of Kunming, had suspended its operations till February 29.

Dragonair, a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, has suspended its Calcutta-Hong Kong service, officials said. The airline, however, claimed it had only reduced the frequency from six flights a week to five.

IndiGo airline had earlier announced suspension of its flights between Calcutta and Guangzhou, another Chinese city.
Officials of the airline on Monday said their plans to launch flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Calcutta had been stalled because of the situation in China. “We’ll wait and watch before going ahead with the plan for the new flights,” an IndiGo source said.

An airport official said Dragonair had informed them about suspension of its Calcutta-Hong Kong flights.

However, the airline said in a statement: “In view of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak and also significant drop in market demand, we just announced capacity cuts across our network. Basis the demand, there has been capacity rationalisation for our services from Calcutta into Hong Kong. From six flights per week, effective February 9 until March 29, we will be operating five flights per week. Our onward flights from Hong Kong into China have also been rationalised by 90 per cent.”

The number of overflying flights handled by Calcutta’s air traffic control has dipped since the beginning of this month. According to officials, 42 flights bound for China and another 52 leaving the country would fly over Calcutta.
11/02/20 Telegraph

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London’s Gatwick Airport offers incentives to attract Indian carriers

New Delhi: London’s Gatwick Airport is offering incentives to attract Indian carriers at a time when airlines such as Vistara and IndiGo are planning to launch flights to the British capital and slots at the main Heathrow Airport are scarce.
 “Particularly with Jet (Airways shutting its operations) last year, we think it is a good opportunity to establish routes from Delhi to start with and Mumbai later,” Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate told ET in an interview. “We have met Air India, Vistara, IndiGo and SpiceJet.” Wingate said Vistara has applied for slots at Gatwick but it is also pursuing Heathrow. “So, if they were to come to Gatwick… there is a competition between us and Heathrow to secure the slots,” he said.
While Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, is in the final stages of launching medium-haul international flights and is set to start inducting Boeing 787 Dreamliners from February-end, IndiGo had applied for approvals from the government but has not announced any plans yet. SpiceJet has said that it would like to operate low-cost flights on dual-aisle aircraft like Dreamliners. Wingate said Gatwick is not just the second largest airport in the UK but is also working to create new slots at the airport by increasing efficiency in the system.
 10/02/20 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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Remembering JRD Tata

February 10 remains a milestone date in the history of Indian aviation, as it was on this day in 1929, when Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata received the first flying license in India, labelled No. 1.
To this day, Indian pilots are issued licenses as a sequence following that license No. 1

Tata Group tweeted:

JRD Tata's aviation dreams came true #ThisDayThatYear in 1929, when he became the first pilot to have qualified in India with No. 1 on his flying license. And that’s how Indian aviation was born! https://t.co/ZBLfDNsBH0 #ThisIsTata pic.twitter.com/6hwiHMgClb

— Tata Group (@TataCompanies) February 10, 2020

As an ode to the Father of Indian aviation, Business Traveller India looks at few key highlights of his flying career:
-The first flight in India’s aviation history lifted off from Karachi (pre-partition phase) with JRD Tata at the controls of a Puss Moth aircraft. When he landed on the Juhu mudflats that October day in 1932, India’s first air service was inaugurated.
-During the World War II period when airline operations were severely restricted and controlled; JRD Tata and Nevill Vintcent a former officer of the Royal Air Force decided to venture into field of the aircraft manufacture. Therefore, in 1942, Tatas submitted a proposal to the British government for the manufacture of Mosquito aircraft in a factory they would build for the purpose in Pune. The project was approved in 1942 and thus was born Tata Aircraft. However, the factory was instead used to make invasion gliders, as per the British government’s order.
-As the chairman of Air India, and a director on the board of Indian Airlines, JRD Tata strived hard to bring the carrier on par with the world’s best airlines; and was successful in doing so. He was at helm of Air India until 1977.
-In 1979, JRD Tata became the recipient of Tony Jannus Award, conferred on individuals for their outstanding achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. Exactly, a decade later, he was conferred with the Daniel Guggenheim Medal Award in 1989.
10/02/20 Sanchita Nambiar/Business Traveller

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Coronavirus impact on jet fuel exports limited; India may get diverted crude: Nayara CEO

Singapore — India's Nayara Energy has not seen any major disruption to its jet fuel exports despite global air travel disruptions as bulk of its overseas sales are under term contracts, but there could be an impact on volumes if the spread of coronavirus is not contained soon, its CEO B Anand told S&P Global Platts in an interview.

Register Now An expected slowdown in China's crude oil appetite due to refining run cuts also may prompt Middle Eastern and other key global crude suppliers to look for other markets in the near term, and India would be a logical alternative, he added.
"Nayara mainly has long-term commitments for jet fuel. Structurally, we do not see major disruption to our jet fuel exports. But there could be an impact if this continues and spreads further," Anand said, adding:

"We are seeing weaker cracks and it's a situation that we are closely watching."

Traders expect more downside pressure on jet fuel refining margins in Asia as airlines suspend multiple flight routes in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Both physical and paper jet fuel cracks against Platts Dubai crude benchmark tumbled below the psychological support level of $10/b last week as aviation fuel demand continues to slide in line with the growing number of flight cancellations and suspensions.

The FOB Singapore jet fuel/kerosene crack against front-month cash Dubai crude was the weakest in four-and-half-years at $8.23/b on Friday. The last time the crack spread was any lower was on August 6, 2015, when it stood at $7.83/b, Platts data showed.
10/02/20 S&P Global

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India Among 20 Countries Most Prone to Importing Deadly Coronavirus, Says German Study

New Delhi: India ranks 17th among the list of countries most likely to import cases of the deadly coronavirus , according to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the Humboldt University in Germany.

The study, titled ‘2019 Novel Coronavirus Global Risk Assessment’ was conducted by analysing air traffic patterns connecting 4,000 airports worldwide with over 25,000 direct connections between them. The "relative import risk" for India was found to be 0.219 per cent.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has a localised relative import risk of 0.066 per cent, with Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport at 0.034 per cent and Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport at 0.020 per cent.

Other airports in that list include Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Explaining the “relative import risk” in the context of the 2019-n-CoV outbreak and global air transportation, the research states, “The spread of the virus on an international scale is dominated by air travel. Wuhan, the seventh largest city in China with 11 million residents, was the relevant major domestic air transportation hub with many connecting international flights before the the city was effectively quarantined on January 23, 2020 and the Wuhan airport was closed. By then the virus had already spread to other Chinese provinces as well as other countries.”

By looking at air travel passenger numbers, the study says, one can estimate how likely it is that the virus spreads to other areas. “The busier a flight route, the more probable it is that an infected passenger travels this route. Using these probabilistic concepts, we calculate the relative import risk to other airports. When calculating the import risk, we also take into account connecting flights and travel routes that involve multiple destinations,” it says.

The virus, which is believed to have emerged from a seafood market in China’s Wuhan, has spread to at least 15 other countries outside China.
09/02/20 News18

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Airbus signs aircraft services MoU with Adani Defence and Aerospace

Airbus India and Adani Defence & Aerospace signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at DefExpo 2020 to leverage synergies in aerospace and civil aviation sector. The MoU was signed by Anand Stanley, President and MD, Airbus India & South Asia and Ashish Rajvanshi, Head of Adani Defence & Aerospace.           
Airbus and Adani will explore opportunities for collaboration in the area of aircraft services for Indian and South Asian market. Airbus’ Global Services forecast envisages the Indian aircraft services market to grow to US $6.3bn by 2025.
“Airbus is not only the world’s leading civil aviation company but is also a major innovator and provider of aircraft services. This MoU demonstrates our commitment to support the development of India as a world-class services hub for aerospace products,” said Anand Stanley.
Adani Defence & Aerospace has established a comprehensive aerospace and defence ecosystem in India. With Adani’s recent foray into airports, this potential collaboration will leverage the synergies between the product and services excellence of Airbus and infrastructure, engineering and mega project execution capabilities of Adani.
07/02/20 BW Smartcities

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HAL Signs Pacts with Rosoboronexport, Coast Guard, IIT Kanpur and TAPL

HAL and JSC Rosoboronexport signed an MoU yesterday during the ongoing DefExpo 2020. The MoU envisages export of spares and services to friendly countries for which license has been given to HAL. The parties will subsequently sign and agreement on mutually agreed terms and conditions. The scope will include Su-30 MKI, AL 31 FP engine, RD33 engines, accessories etc.

HAL and TAPL: HAL signed a 'Lease Agreement' with Turbo Aviation Private Ltd. for operating two Do-228 aircraft under the UDAN scheme. TAPL would operate two Do- 228 aircraft manufactured by HAL.

The agreement was signed by Mr Apurba Roy, General Manager of HAL's TAD Kanpur and Mr V Umesh, MD, TAPL.

As per the agreement TAPL would acquire two aircraft from HAL and would be operating from the state capital. The first aircraft will connect Lucknow from Shravasti, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Jhansi and Saharanpur. The second aircraft will operate from Lucknow to Hindon, Faizabad, Mirpur, Chitrakoot and Kushinagar.

HAL and Indian Coast Guard: HAL signed a contract with Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for midlife upgradation program on 17 CG Do-228 aircraft manufactured by HAL Kanpur.

The contract was signed between Mr Apurba Roy, General Manager of HAL's TAD Kanpur and Mr Sanjai Singh, Joint Secretary (Air) & AM, MoD.

The contract aims to address the obsolescence and supportability issues and enhance the operational capability of ICG Do-228 fleet.
07/02/20 Equity Bulls

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Heli-service to improve ease of travel, boost tourism: U'khand CM

Dehradun: Heli-service from Dehradun to Chinyalisour and Gauchar will benefit all the people immensely, said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat here on Saturday.

Rawat, who was talking to reporters after inaugurating the service, said: "It is a matter of fortune that this service has been started from Dehradun. It will benefit all the people, including the city residents."

"It will also help Uttarakhand tourism. We will try to connect other places too with this service," he added.

Captain Sanjeev Bhatnagar said: "It is an important step to improve regional connectivity. We will fly to Gauchar first and will come back to Dehradun. On the second trip, we will go to Chinyalisour."
08/02/20 ANI/Yahoo!

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Domestic air passenger traffic rose by 5.1% in 2019 after 4 years of double-digit growth: IATA

New Delhi: After four years of double-digit growth, the Indian domestic passenger traffic rose by just 5.1 per cent in 2019, down from 18.9 per cent in 2018, global airlines body IATA said on Thursday.
"2019 was challenging for air travel in the domestic India market. After more than four years of double digit expansion, the market''s RPK growth slowed sharply (5.1 per cent in 2019 vs 18.9 per cent in 2018) amidst the Jet Airways bankruptcy and weakening economic activity," said a statement issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA, which represents around 290 airlines comprising 82 per cent of global air traffic, measures passenger growth in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), which is calculated by multiplying the number of passengers to the distance travelled by them.
06/02/20 PTI/Outlook

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What Affect Will Coronavirus Have On Indian Aviation?

The coronavirus epidemic has led to the suspension of hundreds of daily flights to mainland China and the shutdown of some of China’s largest cities. India, one of China’s neighboring countries has seen nearly all flights to the mainland canceled, resulting in large financial implications.

Syd Sharma (Simple Flying) writes about those implications >>

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India, U.K. to sign pact on jet engine development

Lucknow: India and the U.K. are exploring various options for collaboration on joint defence projects and are close to signing a government-to-government agreement on jet engine technology development, U.K. Minister for Defence Procurement James Heappey said on Thursday.

“The two governments have decided to collaborate in the development of a jet engine. We are on the verge of signing a government-to-government agreement on jet engine technology development,” Mr. Heappey said speaking at Defexpo 2020. The announcement is imminent, he said, without getting into the details.

Before attending the expo, he was in New Delhi where he met senior government and military officials.
Official sources said the agreement was likely to be done within few weeks. In addition, the U.K. government is working on a government-to-government framework for defence deals in future given India’s preference for that route. The mechanism needs to be agreed upon by both sides is also expected to be ready along with the jet engine agreement.
06/02/20 Dinakar Peri/The Hindu

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First batch of Kamov choppers to be rolled out from Tumkur by 2025

Lucknow: The first batch of Kamov military helicopters, to be manufactured in India under an Indo-Russia joint venture, is expected to be rolled out by 2025, a top official overseeing the project said on Thursday.
In October 2016, India and Russia finalised a broad agreement for the joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and two Russian defence majors for production of the helicopters in India.

“The first batch of helicopters will come out of our production facility at Tumkur in Karnataka by 2025 if everything goes as per plan,” Indo-Russian Helicopters Ltd CEO N M Srinath said.

Under the joint venture, 200 Kamov 226T helicopters will be produced. Of these, 60 will be supplied to India in fly-away condition while 140 choppers will be manufactured in India under a USD 1 billion deal.

India is procuring the Kamov choppers to replace its ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.

The Kamov Ka-226T helicopter has 72 per cent Russian components and 28 per cent from various western countries.

Srinath said the helicopters to be produced in India will have around 70 per cent Indian-origin components out of the 72 per cent Russian indigenisation.

Overall, he said, the percentage of the Indian-origin component in the chopper will be around 40 per cent.
06/02/20 PTI/Outlook

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Titan Aviation to put $5 billion in defence corridor

Lucknow: With an investment of $5.2 billion over two years or roughly Rs 38,000 crore, Titan Aviation and Aerospace India Ltd (TAAIL), in collaboration with Ukrainian companies, has emerged as the highest investor in the defence corridor.

To come up in UP’s Bundelkhand district, the corridor will comprise an aerospace lab, aero university, manufacturing units for engines, aircraft components and air frames and an aircraft assembly line. In five to seven years, the company hopes to start a full production line for aircraft like AN 32, AN 74, AN 140 and AN 178.


K Giri Kumar, chairman and CEO of TAAIL, said the company hopes to use the expertise of Ukrainian companies to eventually produce aircraft using 3D printing along with other techniques.

“While it takes several months for an aircraft to be manufactured, this technology will help us deliver within three to four weeks,” he said.

“We would also like to replace traditional titanium with scandium alloy that will reduce weight of the final product by 30%,” said K Giri Kumar, chairman and CEO of TAAIL.

The company, Kumar said, was negotiating with the UP government for past several months and will finally be signing MoU on Friday. “By February 15, we hope to make our first payment. While 4,000 acre has already been acquired for us, the government has promised to acquire remaining 2,000 acre in eight weeks. Our initial investment will be $300 million,” he said.
07/02/20 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Airbus, Adani Defence join hands to explore aircraft services market

Lucknow Airbus India and Adani Defence signed an agreement on Thursday to leverage synergies in aerospace and aircraft services, a fast-growing sector that is estimated to generate annual business worth USD 6.3 billion in the country by 2025.
 The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Anand Stanley, president and managing director of Airbus India and South Asia, and Ashish Rajvanshi, the head of Adani Defence and Aerospace.
 Airbus and Adani Defence will explore opportunities for collaboration in the area of aircraft services for Indian and South Asian market, the Airbus said after signing of the pact at the DefExpo2020 in Lucknow. Airbus' global services forecast envisages the Indian aircraft services market to grow to USD 6.3 billion by 2025.
 "Airbus is not only the world's leading civil aviation company, but also a major innovator and provider of aircraft services. This MoU demonstrates our commitment to support the development of India as a world-class services hub for aerospace products," Stanley said.
 06/02/20 PTI/Economic Times

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Incidents of misbehaviour with passengers by airlines'' staff decreasing continuously: Puri

New Delhi: Incidents of misbehaviour with passengers by airlines staff have decreased continuously, Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in Lok Sabha on Thursday, noting that the number of complaints have dropped from 903 in 2015 to 349 in 2019.
"Travel by air is a contractual agreement between airline and their passenger. Therefore, an aggrieved passenger has to lodge his or her complaint with the respective airlines," Puri said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The minister said that in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the number of complaints regarding staff misbehaviour were 903, 834 and 617, respectively.

He added that in 2018 and 2019, the numbers came down to 453 and 349, respectively.
06/02/20 PTI/Outlook

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HAL gets modification document from DGCA for upgraded Dornier-228 civil aircraft

Lucknow: HAL on Thursday received the modification document from the Director General of Civil Aviation for its Dornier-228 civil aircraft after reducing its gross weight below 5,700 kg.
The document was handed over to the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd by Joint DG of the DGCA, G Rajshekhar, during the ongoing DefExpo-2020 in Lucknow.
 Two civil Do-228 aircraft were produced by the aeronautical agency for launch under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN. But to meet the prospective operator's requirement of a transport aircraft flyable under Commercial Pilot Licence, their maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) had to be reduced from 6,200kg. HAL undertook efforts to reduce the weight below 5,700 kg, the agency said in a statement. Apart from that, HAL Do-228-201 (Upgraded) civil aircraft will also be equipped with a digital cockpit to ensure more accurate readings, precise information and ergonomic data displays with feedback loops and capability for self-check to alert pilot in emergencies, according to the statement. The glass cockpit architecture-enabled aircraft will be the most sought-after "new age aviation technology", it added.
 06/02/20 PTI/Economic Times

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Not much turbulence for Indian airlines from coronavirus

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus outbreak in China’s Wuhan have crossed 24,000 and the death count is now well over 400. The virus has spread across in geographical boundaries even though the count is still lower in countries other than China.

Air India and IndiGo — the Indian carriers  that  operate in China — have said they have withdrawn services completely to mainland China. They have also pulled out of Hong Kong. Indian government has cancelled all e-visas for Chinese and banned all India bound airlines from boarding any passengers from China.

The India–China market has been dominated by Chinese carriers, which operate their full quota of flights under bilateral rights, and by airlines from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore that offer one-stop connections. Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon also serve the Chinese market via Hong Kong.

Chinese aviation has grown multi-fold between 2003 and 2020. Chinese investments and outbound tourism have been very strong in South East Asia.

Carriers in the region such as Thai AirAsia, AirAsia, VietJet and Lion Air group have thrived on Chinese tourists visiting the region in large groups and year-round. The visa-free regime with most countries has helped as well.
06/02/20 Ameya Joshi/CNBC TV18

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IIMB to host International Conference on Future of Aviation & Aerospace on 22 February

Bengaluru: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), in partnership with Toulouse Business School (TBS), France, offers a General Management Programme on Aviation and Aerospace as part of its Executive Education Programme portfolio. Taking this partnership forward, IIMB and TBS will host a conference on the Future of Aviation and Aerospace, bringing together industry leaders, policy makers and scholars, on February 22 (Saturday), to discuss disruption and challenges, and the way forward.
Prof. G. Raghuram, Director, IIMB, will inaugurate the conference. Speakers include Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, Sunil Bhaskaran, CEO and Managing Director of Air Asia, Hari Marar, Managing Director of Bangalore International Airport Limited, Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy Development Officer, BIAL, Suraj Chettri, Head of Human Resources, Airbus, Sajit T C, CHRO, BIAL, Masood Hussainy, Vice President, Tata Aerospace and Defence, Chandra Shekhar Y, Regional Sourcing Leader, GE Aviation, Kota Harinarayana, former programme director and chief designer of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, Dickeli Peirre, Senior Vice President, SAFRAN, Luigi Celmi, CEO, Lufthansa Technik Services India, Jayaraj Shanmugham, Senior Customer Experience Advisor, BIAL, Vikram Rai, Country Head, GE Aviation, and Shiva Kumar H.S., Senior Sales Director– India, GE Additive.
06/02/20 India Education Diary

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TTD objects to aircraft flying over Tirumala temple

Tirupati: The hovering of a chartered aircraft above Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala for the last two days has been giving anxious moments to officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams as well as temple priests.
After the aircraft, believed to be operated by the Survey of India, repeated the exercise several times on Monday and Tuesday, TTD officials contacted the air traffic control (ATC) at Chennai airport and asked them to stop its movement. Sources said the ATC officials responded positively and the aircraft was not seen in Tirumala skies on Wednesday.

Survey of India carries out such exercises periodically to gather geospatial data. However, Agama advisors and temple priests have raised objections to the flying of the aircraft over the temple. Venugopala Deekshitulu, the chief priest at Tirumala temple, said no object should be allowed to fly in the airspace above the temple as per Vaikhanasa Agama.

“We have been demanding for Tirumala to be declared a no-fly zone for several years now. But time and again, some aircraft manages to fly in the airspace right above the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, leading to sacrilege of sorts. Such incidents also hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees of Lord Venkateswara across the globe,” Deekshitulu said.
06/02/20 Raghavan Kumar/Times of India

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How to avoid coronavirus on flights: Forget masks, says top airline doctor

Masks and gloves do a better job of spreading bugs than stopping them, says David Power, a physician and medical adviser to the International Air Transport Association. The coronavirus can’t survive long on seats or armrests, so physical contact with another person carries the greatest risk of infection on a flight.
Read in full an edited transcript from an interview with Power >>

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Aviation authorities of India, Myanmar, Thailand sit in Dhaka

Civil aviation and airport authorities of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Thailand have sat in Dhaka for the seventh meeting of Bangladesh–India–Myanmar–Thailand Air Traffic Management Coordination Group, also known as BIMT/7 in the aviation sector.

On Wednesday, the inaugural ceremony of the two-day-long meeting was held in a city hotel.

Addressing the ceremony, the Civil Aviation Authorities, Bangladesh chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said that Bangladesh sought ‘support of our friends in maintaining safe and secured air operations in our Bay of Bengal region.’

‘From weather diversion to emergency landing or post-accident support from our friendly nations was outstanding,’ he said.

Representatives from the Airport Authority of India, Department of Civil Aviation, Myanmar, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Limited, Monitoring Agency for Asia Region and International Air Transport Association were taking part in the meeting.

BIMT was an initiative to enhance safety and efficiency to handle cross-border air traffic management.
06/02/20 NewAge Bangladesh

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Naval Aircraft Yard, Kochi, celebrates its diamond jubilee

Naval Aircraft Yard, Kochi, celebrated its diamond jubilee with the release of the First Day Cover, commemorating 60 years of service, by Vice Admiral A.K. Chawla PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM, ADC, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, on Feb 5, 2020 at the Naval Base, Kochi.

A naval aviation history cell ‘Udaan’, which depicts the milestones achieved by NAY (Kochi) in the past six decades since the Naval Air Arm was established, was also inaugurated by the Commander-in-Chief, to mark the occasion.
Commodore Ramesh Menon, Commodore Superintendent (CS) of the Yard, delivered the opening address on the occasion which was attended by more than 600 serving and retired personnel, including many of the former CS, retired service and civilian personnel of the Naval Aircraft Yard, Kochi.
05/02/20 The Week

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Yogi Adityanath: Uttar Pradesh to procure Dornier aircraft to ferry passengers

For the first time, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) manufactured Dornier aircraft will be used to ferry passengers. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that his government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HAL for two 19 seater Dornier aircraft for non-military purpose.
"The aircraft can be used to ferry passenger from one destination to another. We can run such services," Adityanath said. While making an elaborate presentation about the Defence Expo 2020, the Chief Minister said that flight services could be started from Lucknow to Varanasi or Lucknow to Agra.
He also said that his government is making a military manufacturing policy so that Uttar Pradesh can become a hub of defence production.
The Chief Minister stressed that his government will ensure that the UP Defence Industrial Corridor, one of the two defence corridors in India spread across Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Aligarh, becomes a success story.
05/02/20 IANS/ZeeBiz

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The online battle for the Indian traveller

The travel industry was one of the earliest to be impacted by the technological revolution that has swept all before it over the last 25 years. Online travel agencies (OTAs) quickly began to steal customers who realised they could pick up great deals without leaving the comfort of their homes. In India too, the OTAs have transformed the way airlines and hotels do business.
See how writer Chitra Narayanan outlines in her book From Oberoi to Oyo, how the OTAs scaled up and muscled their way to become key players >>

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Two Boeing wide-body planes for Modi, Kovind, Naidu to cost Rs 8,458 crore

New Delhi: In the recent Budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a total of Rs 810.23 crore was allocated for the purchase of two new aircraft for Special Extra Section Flight (SESF) operations. This provision is on top of an estimated Rs 4,741.85 crore allocated by the government over the past two years -- 2018/19 and 2019/20. The two aircraft (Boeing 777-300ER), which would replace the nearly 25-year-old Boeing 747 used by Air India to ferry President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are likely to be inducted by July.
These aircraft will go with Air India One sign. Air India One (also referred to as AI-1 or AIC001) is the call sign of any aircraft with the President or Prime Minister of India on board.
The aircraft are reportedly part of Air India's 2006 order of 68 aircraft given to US-based aircraft maker Boeing. Once they are inducted, these aircraft will be reportedly used exclusively for the travel of VVIPs unlike now when the Boeing 747s are used for more than just 'VVIP travel'.
Thus far, the national carrier has denied sharing the cost of these aircraft but a back-of-the-envelope calculation show they are going to cost about $1.18 billion (over Rs 8,458 crore at the current exchange rate) to the exchequer.
How? There are four key components of these special aircraft: the engines, cabin configuration, missile defence system, and the aircraft themselves.
While the deal for the aircraft was reportedly struck in 2006, it's unlikely that the prices negotiated at that time will be applicable on the deliveries scheduled this year.
As per Boeing, the current list price of Boeing 777-300ER (ER stands for extended range) is $375.5 million. The list price of this aircraft has gone up substantially since the 2006 deal. For instance, between 2014 and 2020, the list price has moved up $55.3 million apiece. Of course, these are "rack-rates" and the actual price will be different -- depending on the negotiations between Boeing and Air India (or in this case, the government of India).
The second big element of the aircraft is the missile defence system - Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCAM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS) - which is expected to cost $190 million, as per some reports that appeared last year when the deal for these systems were signed between US and India.
The advanced system will make the aircraft of Indian VVIPs as safe as Air Force One (Boeing 747-200B) used by US President Donald Trump. It's because of these missile defence system that the aircraft will be operated by IAF (Indian Air Force) as they only have the capabilities to operate such systems.
Air India has been training IAF pilots to operate the long-haul aircraft since the national carrier has pilots with type-rated training to fly Boeing 777. Air India has been operating them for several years now; the first such aircraft was inducted in its fleet way back in 2007.
03/02/20 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Govt introduces bill to amend Aircraft Act; proposes fine up to Rs 1 cr for violations

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Aircraft Act wherein the fine amount for violations will be hiked from Rs 10 lakh to up to Rs 1 crore.
A few other provisions would also be made part of the law that will also help in complying with the International Civil Aviation Organization''s (ICAO) requirements.

The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 also provides for keeping "aircraft belonging to any armed forces of the Union, other than naval, from military or air force outside the purview" of the Aircraft Act, 1934.

Once the amendments are passed, the government would have the power to issue directions to review, if necessary in public interest, any order passed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), as per the bill''s Statement of Objects and Reasons.

A key proposal is to increase the fine amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore for violations. Other proposals include empowering BCAS or any authorised officer to issue directions, having designated officers for adjudging penalties and introducing a provision for compounding of offences.

Generally, compoundable offences are those which can be settled by paying certain amount of money.

Further, the bill seeks to empower the central government to constitute DGCA, BCAS and AAIB under the Act as well as specify their responsibilities.

It would also bring regulations of all areas of air navigation services under the Act.
04/02/20 PTI/Outlook

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Indian tourist traffic to Azerbaijan up by 67 % in 2019

Mumbai: When Azerbaijan Airlines launched direct flights connecting Baku with Delhi, last year, the twice-a-week flights appear to have gained in popularity with Indians as tourist arrivals from India into this mountainous country jumped from 39,000 in 2018 to 65,000 arrivals in 2019. Though the direct flights have stopped for now, the tourist traffic from India will only be on the rise, according to Azerbaijan Tourism Board which expects a 30 % jump in tourist arrivals this year. If airlines launch direct flights, then the numbers would double, said Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), who was in Mumbai on Monday.
"We have ongoing negotiations with Indian airlines, but there is nothing concrete as of now,'' said Sengstschmid, adding that an incentive scheme for airlines is currently under review. Azerbaijan gets majority of its tourists from metros like Delhi, Mumbai followed by Bengaluru, Ahmedabad. The ATB officials say this December and January, Baku has witnessed a sizable presence of Indian tourists. Winter temperatures in Baku rarely dip below zero degree celsius and stay around 5 to 10 degree celsius. But then again, Azerbaijan is home to nine out of eleven existing climate zones, making it an attractive destination for ski-holidayers as well.
In the past one year, Indian visitor numbers have gone up by 67% . According to ATB data, in the past three years, tourist traffic from India to Azerbaijan has been seen a growth spurt from 14,000 tourists in 2017 to 39,000 in 2018. It started with mainly MICE travel (business travellers) into Azerbaijan.
04/02/20 Manu V/Times of India

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International meet on future of transport held at NALSAR

Hyderabad: An international legal and policy conference on ‘The Future of Transport: Opportunities and Challenges in Aviation and Space Industry’ was organised by the Centre for Aerospace and Defence Laws (CADL) at National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law.

In his inaugural speech, Chairman, Airports, GMR Group, GBS Raju highlighted the passenger traffic and the need for aviation infrastructure in India. Raju also spoke about expansion of Hyderabad airport to accommodate future growth in passenger and cargo, by integrating technology and processes like e-boarding, ATRS, Self-Bag Drop, Facial Recognition etc.
Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque, sitting judge, Kerala High Court shed light on the importance of space technology in the contemporary world and emphasized the need for domestic space regulation in India.

Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR in his address highlighted the teaching and research activities of Centre for Aerospace and Defence Laws (CADL) in the last 20 years.

Dr.P.C.K Ravindran, ICAO Consultant and Aviation Advisor to Government of Sharjah, UAE spoke about the future aviation growth in India compared to other countries around the globe.

Padma Shree Dr. Y.S. Ranjan, Distinguished Professor (Former), ISRO shared his experiences about his association with former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in light of a legal and policy essay competition in the field of air and space law conducted by Sagar Singamsetty, an alumnus of NALSAR.
04/02/20 Telangana Today

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Prince Air Unveils New Bizav Model in Tough India Market

Eying a shrinking number of non-scheduled operators in India, start-up Prince Air is hoping to build an alternative private jet service based on a subscription model that the company’s founder believes will dramatically reduce cost and prices. India’s economic slowdown left the business aviation industry with 99 non-scheduled operators (NSOPs) last September, down from 130 in 2018, and more are expected to shut down.

However, founder Sanket Singh said Prince Air’s subscription model gives predictive revenue, which he believes will enable the operation to fly members at a fraction of the cost and make the private jet experience accessible to a wider audience than private charters. “We are a good fit between private and commercial jets," he said. "We provide efficiency and speed to our customers. Members will be able to skip airport security lines and get VIP access during check-ins and boarding.”

Already, Singh said the response for the service has been strong, particularly from  CEOs, doctors, tourists, and executives who travel at least a few times a week. “The luxury real estate business is booming. Builders are offering our subscription free with homes. We already have 200 inquiries and have to freeze them at the moment.”
03/02/20 Neelam Mathews/AINonline

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Amitabh Bhatt is new CEO (Bangalore Complex) at HAL

Bengaluru: Amitabh Bhatt has taken over as Chief Executive Officer of Bengaluruheadquartered defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Bangalore Complex.
Earlier, he was heading the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) project in HAL as Executive Director.
Bhatt is a Post Graduate in Management and earlier served in SKF India Limited for 15 years before joining HAL.
With his 32 years of professional experience in HAL, he spearheaded marketing, planning and projects.
He led the team as Chief of Projects (LUH), played a key role in setting up an integrated new helicopter factory, a Rs 3,000 crore greenfield project, an HAL statement said on Monday.
03/02/20 PTI/Economic Times

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Seven Bengal passengers who shared the same flight with India's first coronavirus-hit student advised home isolation

Kolkata: The state health department on Sunday said they have advised home isolation for 7 passengers in and around Kolkata who had traveled in the same flight with the Thrissur woman – India’s first coronavirus-affected patient who had arrived at the Kolkata airport on January 23 from China before heading to her hometown in Kerala.

A day after it was learnt that the Kerala woman, a student of Wuhan university in China, had traveled via Kolkata airport, the state government set off a search to track down the co-passengers and find out if any of them were from Bengal.


The search concluded on Saturday with the officials contacting all seven co passengers from Kolkata and were relieved to find that all of them were safe and none showed any signs of the infection till Sunday.

“All of them are safe. One of the seven persons is currently in Delhi while six others are at home. We have advised them home isolation for the next few days and have asked them to contact us if they develop any symptom during this period. Our officials are keeping regular contact with them and if required we will send their body fluid samples for the necessary tests,” said Ajoy Chakraborty, the director of health services, West Bengal.
02/02/20 Tamaghna Banerjee/Times of India

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Leading airlines not keen to operate flights from Guwahati to Kathmandu & Mandalay

Guwahati: Even though tenders have been floated to operate direct flights between Guwahati to Kathmandu and also Guwahati to Mandalay (Myanmar), the leading airlines have not shown keen interest in the venture.

The recent suspension of the international flights on the Guwahati-Dhaka and the Guwahati-Bangkok routes is the prime reason behind reluctance of the airlines to operate their services on the new routes.

After suspension of the Guwahati-Dhaka flight service by SpiceJet in September, 2019, Nok Air  — the Thailand-based low-cost airline — suspended its operations from Guwahati to Bangkok from January 20 this year.  Even though both the airlines suspended its services citing ‘operational reasons’, sources said very low passengers’ load had forced the companies to give a re-think on the viability of their operations on this route.

“The exact status of the airlines to operate the flights from Guwahati to Kathmandu and Mandalay will be known by the end of this February. The bidding process for the new international flights under the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN)-IV Scheme will end by this month. The recent suspension of flights from Guwahati to Dhaka and Bangkok is definitely a psychological setback for the airlines; and thus they are giving lukewarm responses to the ongoing bidding process. But we are hopeful and expect to see a positive result,” a source in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said. The AAI will adopt a wait-and-watch policy till the end of February.
02/02/20 Sentinel

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Budget 2020: Aviation ministry to launch 'Krishi UDAN' on domestic, international routes

The civil aviation ministry will launch 'Krishi UDAN' on domestic and international routes to support farmers, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Union Budget speech on Saturday.

"Krishi UDAN will be launched by the ministry of civil aviation on international and national routes. It will help increase value realization in North East and tribal districts," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech for 2020-21 (Apr-Mar).

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional connectivity scheme of the government which was launched in 2017 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Delhi-Shimla flight. The scheme aims to improve the connectivity of underserved and unserved destinations in India.

A total of 43 airports have been operationalized since the scheme for operationalizing unserved airports was taken up, of which four were done in FY 2019-20.

The move is part of a 16-point programme of the Narendra Modi government to boost farm income.

Today, Sitharaman also announced that Indian railways will launch Kisan Rail under a public-private partnership as part of a government programme to boost farm income.

"To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishable good inclusive of meat and fish, Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail via PPP mode," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

Under the scheme, refrigerated coaches in express and freight trains will be available so that perishable goods can be transported across the country.
01/02/20 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18

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Budget 2020-21: Rs 3,797 crore earmarked for Aviation Ministry

New Delhi: Ministry of Civil Aviation has been allocated Rs 3,797 crore in this year's Budget, 2.62 per cent higher than Rs 3,700 crore which was allocated in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
 For the purchase of two B777 aircrafts - which would be for travel of the prime minister, president and vice president - the government has allocated Rs 810 crore in this year's budget that is significantly higher than Rs 272 crore allocated in 2019-20.
 Currently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu fly on Air India's B747 planes, which have the call sign 'Air India One'. The government has allocated Rs 465 crore for its regional connectivity scheme Udan, which is 3.1 per cent higher than what was allocated in 2019-20.
 01/02/20 PTI/Economic Times

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Indian aviation to continue its losing streak in FY20

After a muted domestic passenger growth in 2019, the aviation sector is staring at yet another year of losses in FY20. Though the second half of FY20 has shown some signs of improvement, the weak performance of the first half is going to drag down the financials of the entire year.

As per rating agency ICRA, the industry's losses are likely to stand at around Rs 7,800 crore in FY20 as against some Rs 10,000 crore in FY19. While a large part of these losses are contributed by national carrier Air India, the rest of industry, which primarily includes private carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara, has not been in the best of health in the first half of FY20.

For instance, the industry's losses - excluding Air India - are expected to be Rs 1,500 crore in FY20. The weak balance sheet structure and continued losses for the next few quarters are expected to weigh on the industry which would need about Rs 22,500 crore equity infusions over the next three years, says the ICRA report.

Kinjal Shah, Vice President and Co-Head, Corporate Sector Ratings at ICRA, said "Pressure on yields, increased maintenance costs and foreign exchange losses impacted the profitability of the industry during the second quarter of FY20. The two listed airlines [IndiGo and SpiceJet] have together lost about Rs 1.8 crore per day during April-to-September period..."

Though the third quarter results of IndiGo has given some respite in the backdrop of a gloomy scenario. The largest domestic carrier reported over two-fold rise in net profits to Rs 496 crore in the October-to-December 2019 period. The government has also firmed up plans to sell beleaguered Air India in an attempt to privatise it and possibly turning it into a profitable airline under a new private owner.


A major reason that has contributed to the losses of airlines in the past year is their inability to increase fares due to the highly competitive scenario. This problem is likely to exacerbate in the next few quarters as domestic carriers aggressively add new capacity on domestic and international routes. For instance, the industry has a pending order book of nearly 790 aircraft as compared to the current fleet of 682 aircraft. It's expected that the domestic capacity in FY20 would be low due to Jet Airways' shutdown last year, grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft owing to technical issues with its flight control software, and issues with the Pratt & Whitney engines for Airbus 320 neo planes (flown by IndiGo and GoAir).

The FY21's capacity additions would likely to better - at around 18 per cent - as most of the capacity issues would likely be resolved in the medium-term.
01/02/20 Manu Kaushik /Business Today

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India aims to leverage its growing aviation infra to augment its agriculture sector

India plans to leverage its aviation infrastructure to help farmers sell perishable goods in faraway places.

In her budget speech today (Feb. 1) finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Kisan Udan scheme. Under the programme, to be overseen by the ministry of civil aviation, agriculture produce such as milk and fruits will be transported by airlines on domestic and international routes.
However, Sitharaman did not share the details, including fund allocation, to the scheme.

The scheme was part of Sitharaman’s 16-point action plan to boost the growth of the country’s agriculture sector.

The finance minister also announced a Kisan Rail scheme for the transportation of farmers’ output by Indian Railways. “To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, the Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail through PPP (public-private partnership) model so that perishable goods can be transported quickly,” said Sitharaman.
In the union railway budget for 2009-10, a proposal to use refrigerated parcel vans to ferry perishable products was announced by then railway minister Mamata Banerjee.

Farmer distress has been a bugbear in the Indian economy, and it was anticipated that the government may announce schemes to address the sector’s woes. In her speech, Sitharaman emphasised that the government has a goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
01/02/20 Niharika Sharma/Quartz India

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IAF plane lands at Leh with bio-jet fuel; Bengaluru pilots execute

.An AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), powered with a 10% blend of Indian bio-jet fuel took-off from Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, Leh.
This is the first time that both engines of the aircraft were powered by the bio-jet indigenous fuel.
The aircraft was flight tested and its performance was validated at Chandigarh Air Base prior to undertaking the operational flight to Leh.
The tests were conducted by a team comprising of test pilots from Bengaluru based Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, and pilots from the operational squadrons.
An IAF statement said Leh at an altitude of 10,682 ft above mean sea level, is amongst one of the world's highest and most difficult operational airfields, it is prone to extreme weather conditions.
31/01/20 Bangalore Mirror

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