India will need 2,100 aircraft in 20 years: Boeing

New Delhi: Boeing estimates that India will require 2,100 aircraft in next 20 years valued at $290 billion. Almost 85 per cent or 1,780 aircraft of 2,100 aircraft will be single aisle such as Boeing 737. Boeing officials said the latest forecast of 2,100 aircraft is the highest ever for India.

Boeing was upbeat about the regional connectivity scheme. At a press conference on market outlook, Boeing said that if RCS works out it would be a beneficiary.

Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Sales, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing, said the company was in talks with Air India Express for Boeing 737 MAX.
31/07/17 Business Line

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Indian Air Force clears 12 national highways as emergency landing strips

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has cleared 12 national highways (NHs) as emergency landing airstrips that will enable rescue operation teams to reach affected areas easily, an official responsible for executing the project said.

Although there was initially a proposal to develop a total of 21 NHs into airstrips, for now 12 highways have been cleared, with three of those connecting Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — all Maoist-affected areas — which witness vagaries of nature like floods and cyclones almost every year.

"The IAF has given clearance to 12 NHs to be developed into emergency landing airstrips out of the total 21. However, on the remaining NHs, discussions and testing are on and soon they too are likely to be cleared by the IAF," a senior government official, requesting anonymity, told IANS.
Despite repeated attempts, the IAF had no comment to offer on the project and on related issues like the facilities to be put in place if the highways are to be used in times of emergencies.
To start with, the thickness of tar will be increased and highways will be made strong enough for aircraft to land.

"The highways will be open to the public at normal times, but in case of emergency, normal traffic will be blocked and the stretch will be used for aircraft landing. Also, alternate ways will be created for the normal traffic flow during emergencies," said the official.
30/07/17 IANS/First Post

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This Is How The Air Force Evacuated 15-YO Boy With Multiple Fractures In Flood-Hit Gujarat

The Indian Air Force rescued a teenage boy who had multiple fractures in the lower body, from the flood hit Bismillahgarh Village in Patan District. On July 28, Captain of IAF MI-17V5 Helicopter Wing Commander Vikram Thiagaraman, was tasked to evacuate a teenage boy with multiple fractures in the lower body from a spot close to Bismillahgarh Village in Patan District.
When he received information, his chopper was engaged in dropping the relief material over Dudhaghat.

Wing Commander Thiagaraman had to act fast with the daylight fast fading and it nearing sunset time. Going by the description of the physical condition of the injured, it was evident that the boy would need to be evacuated using a 'cradle'. What presented a problem was that the aircraft was on a relief material dropping mission and hence not in a state ready to undertake winching operations.
After a quick word with his co-pilot Squadron Leader M K Lamoria, Wing Commander Thiagaraman decided to undertake the modification in flight, bearing in mind - the life at stake.
The three other crew members on board, got down to the job and after great effort successfully carried out the rare in flight modification and ascertained it's safety and serviceability while the Aircrew flew the aircraft to the spot located close to Bismillahgarh.
Once overhead the village marooned in flood waters - they were faced by another problem. There were a lot of HT Cables around the area and Windmills in the vicinity with the visibility fast dropping.
The crew, maintaining extreme alertness very skillfully lowered the cradle while hovering over a clear patch keeping clear of all obstructions in the vicinity. The people on the ground helped place the badly injured 17-year-old boy Bheema into the cradle along with his father to support him.
The two were winched to safety and taken on board the hovering 'angel of mercy'.
31/07/17 India Times

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No plans to make Aadhaar mandatory for air tickets, Govt. tells MPs

New Delhi: The government has no plans to make Aadhaar number mandatory for booking air tickets, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs has been told.

This was conveyed to a group of MPs by officials led by Union home secretary-designate Rajiv Gauba on Thursday.

At the meeting of the standing committee, headed by P Chidambaram, the top officials said no decision has been taken by the government in this regard, an MP, who attended the meeting, told PTI.

The parliamentarians were assured by the officials that Aadhaar data was safe and there was no chance of it falling in wrong hands as the main server was placed in a foolproof system.

The queries by members of the panel were answered by the representatives of the home ministry and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal authority for Aadhaar in the country.

Apart from Aadhaar, the panel also discussed various national security issues, officials said.

When the MPs asked why the government was linking Aadhaar number with banks, mobile connections, welfare schemes, they said that the decision had been taken by the political executive and they were not in a position to answer it.
28/07/17 PTI/The Hindu

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Airlines lose huge money on hoax bomb calls; maximum calls received in Delhi

New Delhi: Indian airlines lose huge money due to hoax calls about bomb threats in flights and airports in the country. More than 100 such hoax calls were received in last three years, it has been found. Delhi received the maximum number of hoax calls followed by Mumbai and Bangalore.

Worrying is the fact that the number of hoax calls has gone up in the last two years.  According to government data accessed by the New Indian Express, there were 14 hoax calls in 2014. This figure grew to 34 in 2015 and the number of hoax calls increased to 54 in 2016. This year, so far, 32 hoax calls related to bombs in flights or airports have been received.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on hoax calls in flights and airports, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha on Thursday said hoax calls result in not just impacting finances of airlines but also causes huge inconvenience to passengers. The minister disclosed that 120 bomb hoax calls were received in India in the three years.

The minister, however, said it is difficult to quantify loss in monetary terms but the aviation industry sources told Express that they have lost crores of money because of the hoax call menace.  According to statistics, 40 bomb hoax calls were received at Delhi airport in last three years while Mumbai and Bangalore received 17 and 14 calls each.
27/07/17 Sana Shakil/New Indian Express

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Indian carriers eye inflight Internet as country mulls removing block

Honeywell’s Boeing 757 testbed recently made a pit stop in India. Fresh off of interviewing Indian carriers plus Honeywell and Inmarsat executives, RGN contributing editor Neelam Mathews delivers her report from New Delhi.

India’s archaic regulatory policy continues to freeze out inflight Internet in the country. Even international aircraft entering Indian airspace must switch off their systems. This may soon change as the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), anxious to open up wifi in the airspace of one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets, is awaiting the nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs (India’s homeland security), which had cited ‘security concerns’ about connectivity following the hijack of an Air India domestic aircraft to Afghanistan in December 1999.

“They need to upgrade their mindsets,” an airline official told RGN. Recently even R.N. Choubey, Secretary of MoCA, remarked that India and North Korea are perhaps the only two nations left that continue to impose this rule.

National carrier Air India has long toyed with the idea of offering inflight Internet to passengers. The carrier is once again weighing its options on whether connectivity is viable for its 777 aircraft, according to H. R. Jagannath, CEO of Air India Engineering Service Ltd. He says Air India wants a cost-effective option that offers a Supplemental Type Certificate issued by EASA and validated by the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Longhaul 777 flights are targeted as “it makes sense to have wifi on a 15-hour flight….We expect the government to give approval soon,” says Jagannath. A system has not yet been selected.
27/07/17 Runwaygirl Network

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Carry Hindi newspapers, magazines onboard: DGCA to airlines

New Delhi: Even as parts of the country is witnessing agitation against imposition of Hindi on signages, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today issued an advisory to airlines directing them to carry Hindi newspapers and magazines.
The notice has been issued to ensure that the passengers got reading material in both Hindi and English.
"Not providing Hindi reading material on board is against Indian government's policy for official language," Lalit Gupta, joint director general, DGCA, said in a letter to airlines.
Following the decision by DGCA, Congress was quick to slam it. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter and wrote, "DGCA now wants Hindi publications served on Indian flights (together with vegetarian meals?)!"
26/07/17 Bijin Jose/India Today

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Police clips airhostess's wings

The High Court has stayed police's action of withdrawing verification certificate to a woman over a complaint on the woman's marital status. The woman, an air hostess, who is going through a divorce proceeding, was fired from her job after the verification certificate was cancelled.

Police took this action after a person not known to the air hostess, Gayatri Nair, complained to the police that she had concealed her marriage. The 28-year-old air hostess is a resident of Mysuru. The commissioner of police, Mysuru, passed an order on May 13, 2017, withdrawing her police verification certificate. The certificate was originally issued on August 22, 2015. The woman approached the HC and claimed that she had not been given an opportunity of presenting her side of the story before the police commissioner passed his order "without any reason".

Nair is said to have claimed in her complaint that the air hostess had concealed "the fact of her being married". The air hostess claimed that because the certificate was withdrawn she lost her job with Indigo Airlines. She also claimed that she "is already in a matrimonial turmoil" and had filed a petition in Mysuru seeking the dissolution of her marriage.

Justice Dr Vineet Kothari, who heard the woman's plea, said that the "matter requires consideration" and issued a notice to the police concerned. The interim relief sought by the lady was also considered. The operation of the police order of May 13 was stayed till the disposal of the case.
27/07/17 Shyam Prasad S/Bengalore Mirror

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SOPs to be prepared for VIP security for helicopter use, says CM Devenda Fadnavis

Mumbai: In an attempt to avoid helicopter mishaps in future, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a standard operating procedure (SOP) would be prepared for VIPs using them. Fadnavis was replying to questions raised by members of the Legislative Council Wednesday. Instructions have been given for the SOPs to be prepared by an IG-level officer, he said.
Replying to a query by Opposition leader Dhananjay Munde on a recent mishap involving Fadnavis, the CM said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is conducting an inquiry into the incident and the committee has experts from the US and France.
“There was no helipad location policy earlier. The policy has been prepared and we will get it vetted by experts,” Fadnavis said. “As of now, we will hire a helicopter on a short-term lease till we purchase it. We have floated an expression of interest for it.”
27/07/17 Indian Express

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Revenue earned from aviation sector increases

New Delhi: The non-tax revenue receipts by way of Dividends, Guarantee Fee and Other Receipts booked to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) by the Ministry of Civil Aviation have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 87.8% between 2014-15 and 2016-17.

The non-tax revenue receipts were Rs 180.73 crore in 2014-15, Rs 858.99 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 1,203.54 crore in 2016-17.
26/07/2017 Bureaucracy Today

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New accounting standards likely to create turbulence for airlines

India’s aviation industry might be flying into a debt cloud when new accounting standards come into force in 2019. Carriers may see their loans liability soar by more than Rs 50,000 crore, with the latest set of rules calling time on the established practice of aircraft leasing.

The biggest impact of the switch would be on low-fare, asset-light airlines, especially IndiGo, which rely on lease-rentals for their operations. The new global accounting norms – IFRS 16 – would also affect legacy carriers such as Jet AirwaysBSE -1.86 % and Air India, which have adopted the industry best practice to lower their upfront costs. Net cash outgo for carriers, however, may not increase after the changeover.

A spokesperson at IndiGo declined to comment, saying the airline is in a silent period as its April-June earnings are to be announced shortly. A senior executive at Jet said there would “definitely be an impact” but didn’t elaborate.

"It weighs down the balance sheet with representative debt more than actual debt," rued a senior executive at SpiceJet, saying that since there are assets backing the debt, the switch wouldn’t change valuations of an airline based on net worth.
26/07/17 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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'Local airlines likely to induct 384 planes by March 2020'

Domestic scheduled carriers are likely to induct as many as 384 aircraft in their fleet by March 2020, according to information available with the government.

Out of the total, budget carrier IndiGo is expected to add 136 aircraft while full service airline Vistara is likely to induct at least 5 planes during the period, as per details given by civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.

National carrier Air India is likely to add 28 aircraft between April this year and March 2020 while full service airline Jet Airways is expected to have another 37 aircraft in its fleet.

Two other budget carriers - SpiceJet and GoAir - plans to add 72 and 52 planes, respectively.

AirAsia India - a joint venture between Malaysian airlines group AirAsia and Tata Sons - is expected to take deliveries of 19 planes.

Turbo Megha, which runs a regional airlines under TrueJet brand, is likely to add 14 aircraft in its fleet during the period.
25/07/17 PTI/DNA

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IAF rescues 160 people in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The IAF operating 05 MI-17V5 helicopters on July 25 from different locations airlifted over 160 people to safety and carried over 3400kgs of relief material to designated places mostly in Banaskantha district of Gujarat while also carrying NDRF teams to desired places to conduct rescue operations in Jalore district of Rajasthan.
Going by the mounting number of people stranded amidst flood waters in different districts of the state and the weather forecasts showing no signs of improvement in the next 24-48 hours, the Headquarters South Western Air Command has issued directions to its bases, aiming to keep over 20 aircraft in a state of readiness to launch flood relief and rescue operations on Wednesday.
Arrangements have also been made to further bolster the numbers with augmentation from other Commands if the need be.
25/07/17 India Tribune

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Aviation industry says bye bye to YY Fares

One of the earliest relics of the global aviation industry will soon be buried. YY Fares, the multilateral interlineable fares from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will be rescinded from October 31, 2018. The Association, which represents 275 airlines across the world, said in early July that “the rescinding of YY fares reflects the dramatic transformation that continues to take place in the distribution of airline products.”

YY Fares were established in 1945, enabling a flier to travel anywhere in the world on a single ticket in a single currency. This facility threw open the world as a travel destination for the customer as he could now fly on different airlines and have his luggage checked through to final destination. That was the essence of multilateral interlineable fares.

“It was like an open ticket,” says an official from a leading travel company. “Those times, till the 1990s, an airline would only fly to a limited number of destinations. YY fares would help a flier to travel on multiple airlines using a that open ticket,” he adds. For instance, a flier from Mumbai would take an Air India flight to Frankfurt; and use the same ticket to fly onward to, say Paris, on a Lufthansa flight.

YY Fares were honoured by all member-airlines of IATA, which used to submit coordinated international fares and rates to governments for approval. These fares later came to be known as IATA YY Fares. It was a big achievement in enabling global travel. “YY fares were the backbone of global airfares for much of the last 70 years,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO in a press release.
25/07/17 Prince Mathews Thomas/Business Line

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UID will be must for paperless air travel experience: Govt in Rajya Sabha

For a paperless and seamless travel experience, air travellers will have to provide a digital identification number at the time of booking a ticket, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
But no specific timeline has been fixed for implementing the technology-enabled seamless passenger facilities across airports in the country, Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply. The civil aviation ministry had last month announced that it would be mandatory for passengers to provide a unique identification (UID), like an Aadhaar card, passport or PAN so as to avail the paperless and seamless travel experience.
"Various stakeholder consultations have been conducted and suggestions have been received for air passengers to furnish a digital identification number at the time of purchasing an air ticket to enable seamless air travel," Sinha said, adding that no specific timeline has been fixed. The Minister said that the government has constituted three committees to implement the technology-enabled seamless passenger facilities across airports in the country.
25/07/17 PTI/DNA

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Heli-tourism comes to Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department has signed an MoU with Mak Aero Space and Aviation Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, to promote heli-tourism.

The initial services will be introduced in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati.

The helicopter transport services will include joy rides, packages, heli-taxi services, packaging with wedding plans in Tirupati, aerial reconnaissance and disaster management.

Initially, a six-seater helicopter (Bell 206 L4 / Bell 407) will be introduced and gradually the number of seats will be increased to realise the full potential of heli-tourism and air-connectivity. The Tourism Department will provide all infrastructural support, including helipads in the areas of operation, passenger-holding area, control room and security/screening facility to the Mak Aero Space and Aviation to carry out the activities.

The company will be responsible for ticketing, promotion and for executing all commercial operations with the support of the A.P. Tourism.
26/07;17 The Hindu

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Government Proposes To Declare Unruly Behaviour On Flights An Offence

New Delhi: The government has proposed to declare unruly behaviour aboard an aircraft as an offence and a punishable act, Parliament was informed today.
The ministry of civil aviation had earlier released its draft rules for a 'national no-fly list' comprising unruly passengers and mooted a ban on them from flying from three months up to an indefinite period.
The proposed no-fly list followed an incident in March when Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad hit an Air India employee "25 times" with a slipper for not being given a business class seat on an all-economy flight.
Last month J C Diwakar Reddy, an MP from Telugu Desam Party, allegedly assaulted and abused an IndiGo ground staff at Visakhapatnam airport after he was denied boarding for turning up late for his flight.
"The unruly/disruptive behaviour onboard an aircraft has been proposed to be declared as an offence and a punishable act," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The draft was released in May and was expected to be finalised by June but is yet to see the light of day despite the government recognising unruly passengers as a safety threat.
26/07/17 Outlook

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Pilots crying over pay cuts? Aviation isn't half as badly hit as the IT cos

At a time when we hear of job losses in information technology sector, there is news coming from the aviation sector which points to a similar downturn.

After asking its junior pilots to take a 30 percent pay cut, Jet Airways has now requested junior pilots to furnish surety bonds worth Rs 1 crore and serve the airline for at least five to seven years.

Earlier Jet Airways had asked its junior pilots to take 10 days leave every month, resulting in a 30 percent pay cut. Reports say that the trainee pilots will now be asked to furnish surety bonds worth Rs 1 crore. The junior pilots will have to serve the airline for 5-7 years and face encashment of the bond in case of failure to serve that tenure. The airline company employs more than 200 junior pilots, including those undergoing training.

Unlike IT sector, the pilots need to be thankful that they at least have a job, albeit their bank accounts are not swelling as they used to.

However, there is a market anomaly here. India with a growth of over 17 percent is one of the fastest growing airline market globally. Almost every airline company in the country has announced fleet expansion. In such a condition it is natural to expect that pilots will have no problem in getting hired and finding a plane to fly.

But pilots are suffering from supply side problems. Apart from the traditional route of getting a pilot licence from international courses, there are a number of private schools that have opened up in India which add to the number of candidates entering the market with a pilot licence.

Candidates with pilot licence have been known to wait for years and taking odd jobs including working with airlines as pursers in the hope that they will get a chance to be called by airline companies to work as junior pilots.

Added to the problem is the availability of foreign pilots in the country. Many airlines use the services of foreign pilots who have clocked in the required flying hours for new aircraft.
24/07/17 Shishir Asthana/Moneycontrol

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No-fly list delayed due to inter-linking of airline data

New Delhi: India's first no-fly list (NFL), which was supposed to be implemented from early July, has got delayed and is now expected to be enforced after a month or so. The reason: the government is examining how databases of different airlines can be linked so that a person put on NFL by one airline isn't able to fly on other Indian carriers either.
"Implementing the NFL without an inter-connected database could mean less effective implementation of the NFL. So we have decided to first see how to have an interlinked database among airlines and we hope to have the no fly list out in a month or so," aviation secretary R N Choubey said.
The roll out of databank creation could be like this: People booking domestic tickets will be asked to give details of some identity card like Aadhaar, passport, election commission's voter card or driving licence. Those booking international tickets have to give passport details.
In this way airlines will start compiling a database of flyers. "We are seeing how to make the databases of different airlines talk to each," Choubey said.
25/07/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Railways blueprint confirms its fears: Air travel will be No. 1 choice in three years

New Delhi: A blueprint prepared by the Railways has just confirmed its worst fear: within the next three years, domestic airlines will overtake it as India’s most preferred mode of long-distance travel for upper-class passengers. The projection for 2019-2020 is detailed in a blueprint on the future business scenario prepared by the Railway Ministry, raising the first official red flag over the national transporter losing its upper-class clientele to the booming domestic airlines sector.
While speed has traditionally provided the edge for airlines, “price” has now given them a complementary advantage, says the blueprint, which warns that these two factors need to be taken up on an urgent basis.
The blueprint analyses government statistics to show that 25 per cent of domestic air travel happens over inter-city distances within 500 km — a segment where the Railways was always believed to enjoy a monopoly — contrary to popular perception that air travel is chosen only for 800-1,000-km distances.
”It is essential that Indian Railways addresses the two key value propositions of airlines passenger business — price and speed — immediately to sustain its core business in the passenger segment in the future,” it says.
This should serve as a “wake up call”, and require clear cut strategies on pricing and capacity augmentation, it says.
25/07/17 Avishek G Dastider/Indian Express

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Low-cost flying in for the long haul

New Delhi: Barely hours after the Union Cabinet gave an in-principle approval to national carrier Air India’s strategic disinvestment late last month, India’s biggest low-cost airline IndiGo jumped into the fray showing interest in taking over the debt-laden, loss-making airline.

However, at the heart of IndiGo’s interest lies its strategy to start long-haul international operations replicating a successful low-cost model which the airline follows on domestic routes. The airline’s promoters made it clear — the plan is to start long-haul international operations, with or without Air India.

In May, another interesting development in the aviation space unfolded when low-cost airline SpiceJet’s chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said he planned to introduce a direct Delhi-London flight at ₹30,000 for a round trip. The fare quoted by Mr. Singh was much lower than ₹40,000-₹45,000 a ticket being offered by other airlines on this popular route. He said the airline woud look at unbundling services such as food, beverage and Wi-Fi from the fare component, essentially sticking to a low-cost model on a longer duration international flight.

The difference between a low-cost and a full-service carrier is simple. Low-cost airlines sell only the core product i.e. a seat to travel from one point to another to the passenger as a part of the airfare and passengers need to pay separately for the frills. Full-service airlines offer passengers a host of value added services, including in-flight meals, free beverages, and lounge for frequent fliers, among others but generally at a higher fare as these elements are packaged together.
In India, the market share of low-cost airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir has expanded from about 24% in 2006-07 to 65% in 2015-16 compared with full-service airlines such as Jet Airways and Air India.

The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% of low-cost airlines in the nine-year period compared with an 8% dip for full-service airlines shows that the former now occupied the imagination of the Indian flyer.

But can the magic of a low-cost model in flightsof between one and three hours duration be replicated on a 10-12 hour journey on international flights?
23/07/17 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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With Jet Airways' new cost cutting policies, is it time for pilots to move on to greener pastures?

After Jet Airways asked its junior pilots, who joined the brand in 2016, to take a 30 percent pay cut or leave, the full-service airline has now reportedly asked its pilots to furnish surety bonds of up to Rs 1 crore. This is said to be the airline's way of making sure that the pilots stay with the company for at least five to seven years.

The National Aviators Guild (NAG), which is Jet Airways' union, has said that the information has been passed on to the junior pilots. "They (junior pilots) have to give a seven year bond of Rs 1 crore, non-depreciating," the Times of India quoted a source as saying.

However, Jet Airways' spokesperson told the Press Trust of India that the carrier has not asked for any kind of bond. "No new bonds (have been) asked for. It is just a pattern that has been introduced," the Jet Airways spokesperson said.
The NAG now plans to meet the airline's management to discuss the bond as well as the pay cut notice that was sent to the junior employees last week. In a bid to trim costs, Jet Airways had made a few changes to the pilots' contracts and it will now be mandatory for them to take 10 days of leave in a month apart from their weekly offs, which in turn will result in a 30 percent reduction in their salaries. The pilots have been given until the end of the month to take a decision.
24/07/17 Vanilla Sharma/IBTimes

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AAI, Uttarakhand Govt.ink MoU on aviation development

Going ahead with its commitment towards the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in the country, Airports Authority of India (AAI), has signed an MoU with Government of Uttarakhand on 21st July, 2017 and joined hands with Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA).

The MoU was signed by S. Ramaswamy, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand and Anil Gupta, General Manager (Business Development), AAI in the presence of Dr. R Rajesh Kumar, ACEO, UCADA, Capt. Ashok Shetty, Head of Ops, UCADA, Sh. Chandra Shekhar, AGM (Business Development), AAI, Capt. Sandeep Soti, Chief Pilot, UCADA and Mr. G. Seetaiah, Chief Engineer, UCADA.

The scope of the MoU is to identify relevant factors influencing the development of civil aviation infrastructure in Uttarakhand, assessing commercial potential of various airports of the State, identifying technical considerations for airport operations in the State, evaluating site related technical and engineering parameters for development of projects, making estimate of the capital outlay for the future projects and development of master plan for existing and future civil aviation infrastructure in the state. AAI will also assist UCADA in obtaining necessary clearances for airport operations starting with the upgraded airport at Pithoragarh and later at Chiniyalisaur.
24/07/17 ANI/DNA

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GMR Academy, Rajiv Gandhi Aviation University join hands for PG course

Hyderabad: GMR Aviation Academy, the aviation/airport training arm of the GMR Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University for a joint Post Graduate Diploma in Aviation/Airport Operations.

P S Nair, wholetime Director, GMR Airports, and Nalin Tandon, Vice-Chancellor, RGNAU, signed the memorandum in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

This is the first of its kind PG diploma course in aviation/ airport operations for graduates aspiring to join the aviation industry.

The memorandum is aimed at facilitating and promoting professional aviation studies and providing in-depth knowledge of the functioning of an airport, in particular, and the aviation subsets in general.

The one-year course packs theory and practical on-the-job training at GMR-led airports in Hyderabad and Delhi.

P.S. Nair, wholetime Director, GMR Airports, in a statement said: “The aviation industry in India will require close to 1 million skilled personnel over the next 10-15 years, which will pose a great challenge if adequate number of people are not trained in this specialised and complex area.”

Nalin Tandon said, “The Indian civil aviation sector is currently growing at approximately 20 per cent and is expected to be the third largest market by 2020. India has the potential to become a significant part of the global supply chain. This will, in turn, steer demand for trained professionals in the field of aviation”.
24/07/17 V Rishi Kumar/Business Line

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Flying bans: PJ Kurien stand on MPs amounts to protecting misconduct

Even as tales of high-handedness, and indeed, downright degenerate behaviour by lawmakers, are dime a dozen, Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson PJ Kurien has argued for shielding them from the consequences. Kurien, bringing up the matter of the flying ban that many airlines had imposed on the likes of Ravindra Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena MP who hit a Air India official, and TDP’s JC Diwakar Reddy who got intro a spat with the ground staff of a private airline, said that airlines had no authority to impose such bans. On the face of it, Kurien’s pitch may seem logical—in case of a misdemeanour or a crime against an airline or its staff by a lawmaker, the law should be let to take its own course. However, the problem is that some offences may not constitute an outright crime under the law even though they would be perceived as serious violations of civil conduct—the Reddy matter, for instance. And in cases where it is a crime, it is more likely than not that the concerned lawmaker will get away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist—sometimes, not even as much.
Kurien and his fraternity would be better off keeping in mind that the civil aviation ministry announced guidelines in May for flying bans, and lawmakers/political leaders are not excluded. In any case, it is an accepted practice commercial concerns like restaurants, retailers, etc, to refuse to serve and evict unruly customers—and in case of repeat offences, debar them from entering. So, why single out airlines? Developed jurisdictions like the US have treated flying bans by their airlines as enforceable even though these have been hotly contested by those affected by it. An SP lawmaker who brought up the matter in Rajya Sabha considers flying bans on lawmakers a breach of privilege. Sad, that a lawmaker should hold evading the consequences of a violation as privilege.
24/07/17 Financial Express

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Yatra acquires Air Travel Bureau to expand corporate travel business

Leading online travel company Yatra has acquired corporate travel service provider company Air Travel Bureau (ATB) for an undisclosed amount. Yatra said ATB is India’s ‘largest corporate travel services provider’ with gross bookings of Rs 1,500 crore and a client base of 400 companies in the country.

"This acquisition significantly strengthens our position in the large and growing corporate travel market in India. We believe that as a combined entity, we are now the largest corporate travel services platform in India by gross bookings,” said Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nasdaq listed Yatra.

"This acquisition will allow us to deliver best-in-class experiences to an even wider set of travellers, through our web and mobile app platforms and enhance our reach to cross-sell our entire product suite, including hotels, to this customer base," Shringi.
24/03/17 Ajay Modi/Business Standard

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When writer Sudha Murthy was called cattle class

New Delhi: "Go and stand in the economy class queue. This line is for business class travelers," a well-heeled lady told Sudha Murthy at the International Heathrow airport in London.
The chairman of Infosys Foundation was at the airport wearing a salwar kameez, which perhaps made her a misfit in the queue in question.
But, what eventually got Sudhas goat was when she was called a "cattle-class person".
That was when the otherwise calm 66-year-old wife of industrialist Narayana Murthy decided to give her fellow traveler a piece of her mind.
Taking from her personal experiences, Sudha, in her new book Three Thousand Stitches, sheds light on some of the prevailing biases in the society.
"Class does not mean huge possession of money. Mother Teresa was a classy woman. So is Manjula Bhargava, a great mathematician of Indian origin.
"The concept that you automatically gain class by acquiring money is an outdated thought process," she writes in the book.
In an interview to PTI, she said she could have shown her boarding pass and cleared all doubts about her "class" in no time, but she waited to find out how, according to the lady, she was not befitting for business class standards.
"Soon I realized it was because of my dress!"
Ironically, Sudha ran into the same lady later in the day.
From her Indo-Western silk outfit paired with an expensive pair of heels, and complemented with a Gucci handbag at the airport, the latter had slipped into a plain khadi saree to suit the theme of a meeting where Sudha was pitching Infosys Foundation to sponsor funds for the overhaul of a government school.
Needless to say, the lady was shocked to see Sudha chairing the meeting.
"The clothes were a reminder of the stereotype that is still rampant today. Just like one is expected to wear the finest of silks for a wedding, social workers must present themselves in a plain and uninteresting manner," she writes.
24/07/17 Manik Gupta/PTI/India Today

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Twinkle Khanna 'choked' inside flight!

Former actress and Akshay Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna recently had tough time while traveling on a flight as she was "choked"  at 30,000 feet when she was forced to inhale the smell of “dead toads” from a fellow passenger's socks.

"Polite way of telling fellow passenger about the 2 dead toads in his socks, chemical weapons capable of decimating nations? #ChokingAt30000Ft," the actress posted.

Twinkle said she complained about the matter to the air hostess.

"I did and she sniffed around, sympathetically nodded and when he fell asleep she surreptitiously sprayed his smelly feet with perfume!" she added.
24/07/17 IBNS/Glamsham.com

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Russia-India talks on buying new generation MiG-35s

Moscow: As the new generation Mig-35 fighter, touted as being superior to the US F-35, made its public debut at the MAKS Aerospace Exhibition, its Russian makers say talks are on with India for buying the jet.
In the partially cloudy sky at the Zhukovsky airport, the 4++ generation jet roared through its routine, keenly wathched for the first time by hundreds of spectators.

Ilya S. Tarasenko, Director General of JSC Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (JSC RAC "MiG") said on the sidelines of the airshow that the new jet is "better" than the 5th generation Lockheed-Martin F-35 which made its public debut at the recent Paris Airshow, adding it could easily take on its rival in a dogfight.

To a question on whether India has expressed interest in the jet, he said: "Of course they have."

"After having presented the MiG-35 in January we began to actively promote it in India and in the world. We are proposing supply of the aircraft for tenders in India and we will actively work with the air force in order to win the tender," Tarasenko said.
23/07/17 IANS/Business Standard

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‘Salary cut lesser evil than layoffs in aviation space’

New Delhi: Slashing salaries is a “lesser evil” than pink slips in the domestic aviation sector, feel HR experts against the backdrop of a leading airline asking junior pilots to take ten days off every month as part of cost balancing effort.
While the domestic aviation sector has been registering double-digit growth continuously for over two years, Jet Airways’ move to reduce junior pilots’ pay and disinvestment proposal of Air India have thrown the spot light on the prevailing tough business conditions amid stiff competition.
The sector might be one of the fastest growing in the world but most airlines have wafer-thin margins as deeply discounted fares and rise in aviation fuel prices along with staff costs take a toll on their overall profitability.
Against the backdrop of Jet Airways’ decision, HR experts opined that the move seems to be a case of “organisational stress” even though cost optimisation is a major concern for most of the sectors.
Staffing firm TeamLease Services co-founder and executive vice president Rituparna Chakraborty said it is a specific situation of “organisational stress”.
23/07/17 PTI/India.com

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50% spurt in Indian flyers in two years, railways numbers down

Chennai: Airlines in India have registered a 50 per cent increase in the number of passengers carried over the past two years. Compared to 7 crore passengers in 2014-15, the 15 airlines in India carried 10.37 crore passengers in 2016-17, data released by Lok Sabha on Wednesday stated.
Low-cost airlines like Indigo, Air Asia and Go Air have been the carriers of this growth registering an increase of 75, 382 and 32 per cent during the period. In absolute terms, Indigo carried 1.79 crore passengers more in 16-17. The carrier accounts for 40 per cent of all passengers carried in FY17.
The increase comes at a time when Indian Railways has lost 17 crore passengers from FY14 to FY17.
Statistics also show that Indian Railways had 14.2 crore passengers in all air-conditioned classes like AC sleeper, 3-tier, executive class and AC chair car in 2016-17.
22/07/17 Times of India

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IAF aircraft flying over sea fitted with Underwater Locator Beacons after IAF AN-32 disappeared last year

Chennai: Saturday will mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of the IAF's AN-32 transport aircraft with 29 people onboard over the Bay of Bengal.
The aircraft, which took off from the IAF Station at Tambaram near Chennai for Port Blair, went off the radar around 9.15am on July 22, 2016.
"All IAF aircraft flying over the sea have been equipped with Underwater Locator Beacons (ULBs)," said retired Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur.
A massive search and rescue operation involving the Navy, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), IAF and vessels of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was launched to trace AN-32.
This apart, international emergency response teams and satellites from USA were also used for the purpose. Though 290 search and rescue sorties were undertaken, the flight could not be located. Last year, ICG officials involved in the search operations said the emergency locator transmitter (ETL) of the missing aircraft was not emitting any signal.
22/07/17 Yogesh Kabirdoss/Times of India

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Not just Kohinoor, Hyderabad's WW fighter plane now a relic in London museum

Hyderabad: The demand for the return of the only surviving aircraft of the now defunct Hyderabad Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), UK, is getting louder. The Hyderabad Squadron 110 of the RAF that played a crucial role in two World Wars turns 100 on November 1. The aircraft, DH9A (De Havilland 9A), belonging to the Hyderabad Squadron 110, is now parked at the RAF Museum in London. The aircraft has been restored and it is in a working condition. City heritage activists have renewed the demand that DH9A aircraft be returned to Hyderabad for display in the city in a fitting tribute to the contribution of the princely state of Hyderabad to the victory of the Allied Forces in two World Wars.
That this year happens to be the centenary of the Hyderabad Squadron 110 calls for celebration. Hyderabad, which participated in two World Wars, does not have any memorabilia.All the war material deployed by the princely state were left on foreign soil. The only surviving memory is the DH9A aircraft.
The Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, had donated as many as 18 aircraft to the RAF during World War I and World War II.The aircraft were divided among three squadrons named after Hyderabad - 110, 152 and 253 squadrons. The surviving aircraft belongs to squadron 110. The aircraft of other two squadrons do not exist now. The RAF formed on November 1, 1917 was heavily funded by Mir Osman Ali Khan. The Nizam had donated 10 lakh dollars to the British air force between December 1914 and March 1917.Apart from purchasing aircraft, the British government used the money for ambulances, motor cars and animals like horses, mules and camels for use in war.
22/07/17 Syed Akbar/Times of India

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Domestic airlines fly 20% more passengers in June

New Delhi: Domestic airlines flew 95.86 lakh passengers in June this year registering a growth of almost 20 per cent over the 79.75 lakh passengers flown during the same period in the previous year.

IndiGo retained the number one spot having flown 38.26 lakh passengers followed by Jet Airways (14.58 lakhs) and SpiceJet (12.73 lakhs). Air India carried 12.49 lakhs while Go Air flew (8.05 lakhs), Vistara (3.44 lakhs) and AirAsia (3.51 lakhs).

SpiceJet, however, reported the highest passenger load factor of 94.5 per cent during June this year among all the domestic airline. Passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline are getting filled.

AirAsia reported a PLF of 89.6 per cent, followed by GoAir (89.4 per cent), IndiGo (87.8 per cent) and Vistara (86.4 per cent).

IndiGo reported the best on-time performance among all the airlines at 86.1 per cent at the four metro airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Vistara took the second spot reporting an OTP of 80.8 per cent followed by SpiceJet (79.8 per cent) and Go Air (75.9 per cent).
19/07/17 Business Line

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Making you pay for seat selection is now serious money for airlines

British airline Ryanair was once proposing charging customers to use the washrooms on airplanes. The plan, however, did not take off (pun intended).

However, something similar is happening in India's fast growing aviation market.

In July of 2015, a notice from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) read, “Sub-rule (1) of rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 states that every air transport undertaking engaged in scheduled air services shall establish tariff having regard to all relevant factors, including the cost of operation, characteristics of service, reasonable profit and the generally prevailing tariff.”

In simpler terms, the government 'delinked' the price of your airline ticket from services that you get on board a plane like meals, airport lounge charges, web check-in, carry-on baggage and even charging for a seat, as it was felt unnecessary to all.
“On the basis of various feedback received, it is felt that many a times these services provided by the airlines may not be required by the passengers while travelling,” the government’s notice read.
These add-on services are demarcated under ‘ancillary revenues,’ in the airline financial reports. The simple idea behind the move was to see if flyers could be charged for only those services that they use. For example, an airline could reduce its ticket price if a flyer isn't checking-in her baggage.

The move was seen as one that could 'unbundle' services of an airline in a way that passengers could reduce the price they paid. However, two years later, airlines have managed to create a revenue stream from these ancillary service that can now cost a flyer more than the base fare for their ticket.
19/07/17 Yoshita Rao/Zee Business

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Who Arranged Special Flight for JC?

Anantapur MP JC Diwakar Reddy flew to Delhi on a Special Flight to cast his ballot in the Presidential Elections. JC was in the no-fly list of the major domestic airlines and so has to make this costly arrangement to reach Delhi.
It was JC’s son, Pavan Kumar Reddy who arranged the eight-seater jet for his father. Pavan refused to identify the company but said he has several friends who have private jets and one of them immediately arranged one when he asked.
Pavan Kumar Reddy also traveled to Delhi with his father in the Private Jet. On 15th of June, Diwakar Reddy created hulchul at Vishakapatnam Airport after he was refused boarding pass by IndiGo Airlines.
19/07/17 Mirchi9.com

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DGCA braces for ICAO safety audit

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is bracing for a safety oversight audit by the U.N. body, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), in November this year. The aviation regulator is taking a series of steps to save it from the embarrassment of the 2012 audit in which the ICAO had raised safety concerns about India’s aviation system.
The measures include hiring flight operation inspectors, aligning its rules with ICAO norms, certifying flight examiners, among others.

The DGCA will be furnishing its response to the detailed protocol questionnaire posed by ICAO for its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) by August first week, officials said. This will be followed by a visit by ICAO officials to India from November 1-16 this year. “We have hired 67 flight operation inspectors and we plan to fill the remaining eight posts soon,” a senior DGCA official said, requesting anonymity.
To make the posts of flight operation inspectors attractive for experienced pilots, the DGCA offered them market-linked salary. “We managed to get the approval of the Finance Ministry within three days,” the official added.
18/07/17 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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India sought time to evaluate Russia's Su-30 upgrade offer: Rostec State Corporation

Moscow: India has sought time to "evaluate" Russia's offer of upgrading its Sukhoi-30 fleet to a near fifth-generation aircraft level, a top official of Russia's Rostec State Corporation has said.

Victor Nikolayevich Kladov, the head of the Department of International Cooperation and Regional Policy, Rostec State Corporation, said it was upto India whether it wants to pick up the entire upgrade package or opt for selective modernisation.

He said the pricing of the upgrade would also depend on that.

Talking to a select group of reporters ahead of Russia's MAKS air show, he said India was evaluating the offer for the upgrade of Sukhoi Su-30MKI.

"This question, as far as I know, was raised in St Petersburg between President (Vladimir) Putin and esteemed Prime Minister(Narendra) Modi (last month). The Indian Prime minister once again reiterated that the Indian side needs time to evaluate it's strategy of of development and how to spend money," Kladov said.
18/07/17 Economic Times

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Master aviation minister, driver director of airline industry firm

Is it a proverbial rags to riches story, or a link in an elaborate benami operation? Times Now is in possession of documents which prove that the driver of UPA minister Praful Patel was the director of a company which was extending manpower and cargo handling services to airlines. All this while his boss was the Union civil aviation minister. GVG Services Pvt Ltd was established in 2010 and, as per returns filed in 2013, had a share capital of Rs 5 crore and only two directors — Vinod Singh and Ravi Singh.
As per sworn affidavits accessed by Times Now, both the directors have listed their official address as 26, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi. But, here is a twist in the tale: the address is the official residence of Praful Patel, former aviation minister and senior NCP member.
A visit to the company's headquarters in Mahipalpur — a suburb near the international airport in Delhi —revealed that the officials of the company were reluctant to name the proprietors.
At the end of a long conversation with general manager, GV Services, Karan Raina, Times Now got a confirmation on camera. When shown the picture of Vinod Singh, Patel's driver, the top company executive said, "This is Vinod Singh, the managing director of our company. He doesn't come here often, though." The company, which services several national airports and a leading national airline, continued to have its registered address as 26, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi, the official residence of Union civil aviation minister, even after Patel had demitted office in 2011.
Times Now confronted Patel about the possibility of a conflict of interest. He didn't deny that Vinod Singh was his driver for decades, but said he wasn't aware that he had floated a company and bagged contracts running into lakhs of rupees at various airports across the country.
19/07/17 Times of India

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Airfares in India projected to increase by 8.7% in 2018

Domestic demand is increasing, particularly in China and India, putting additional pricing pressure on key markets in both, according to the 2018 Global Travel Forecast report released by travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel and GBTA Foundation, the research arm of Global Business Travel Association. Asia Pacific is expected to see a 2.8% rise in airfares 2018, while airfares in India are projected to increase by 8.7% in 2018 (the biggest increase across all key markets in the APAC region).

According to the report, airlines in the region broadly are partnering with GDSs to display basic economy airfares and grow ancillary fee revenue, also resulting in a move away from manual bookings and toward consistency in fare displays. As the fastest-growing aviation market in the world, Beijing Capital and Hong Kong Airport have reached terminal capacity while Mumbai and New Delhi are expected to do the same in 2018 and 2021, respectively.
19/07/17 Economic Times

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Owing to Airlines ban, TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy books chartered flight to Delhi

TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy issues with airlines seem to not have an end.
Following his tussle with Indigo airlines staff at the Visakha airport, the TDP MP was banned from all the airlines.
Due to the Airlines ban imposed on him, JC Diwakar Reddy had to book a chartered flight in order to go to Delhi to participate in Presidential elections and also attend the Parliamentary Sessions which in turn cost him Rs 7 lakhs.
18/07/17 Hans India

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Clarity on GST over aircraft imports soon

New Delhi: The finance ministry has assured airlines that confusion over the applicability of the goods and services tax (GST) on imported aircraft that resulted in double taxation will be sorted out soon and a clarification will be issued at the GST Council meeting likely to be held next month.
The matter is related to taxation on aircraft imported before July 8.

“Basis that assurance from the finance ministry, we have got our aircraft approved on Saturday. We have given a letter of undertaking, which says that we will pay if the government does not issue a clarification in the next GST Council meeting,” said a senior Air India official, who did not want to be identified.

Apart from Air India, one aircraft each of IndiGo, Vistara and AirAsia India are stuck because of the confusion, as are planes of other airlines. “Our aircraft is still stuck as we await clarity on it from the government,” said a senior executive of an airline whose aircraft is still awaiting clearance. The next GST Council meeting is likely to be held on August 8, 2017. The council makes recommendations on matters related to the tax.
16/07/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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Provide ramp at aircraft door for disabled: Gehlot to Raju

New Delhi: Union minister Thaawarchand Gehlot has requested the civil aviation ministry to provide ramp facility at the door of aircraft for the convenience of differently-abled passengers.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Gehlot said that persons with disabilities (PwDs) face difficulty in boarding aircraft at places where the aerobridge facility is not available.


"At most such locations, people on wheelchairs are physically lifted and taken up the flight of steps leading to the aircraft. This is not only uncomfortable but also a degrading experience," the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister said in the letter.

Noting that some airlines provide the ramp facility instead of staircase, he said this was a more convenient and dignified way of providing access to the aircraft to everyone, including persons with disabilities (PwDs).
16/07/17 PTI/Business Standard

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Flying is Extremely Affordable in India, Equivalent to Auto-rickshaw Fares: Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha of Friday said that the demand in aviation sector in India is driven by “affordability”. He also asserted that the cost of long-distance air travel in the country is equivalent to auto-rickshaw fares. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Gujarat Aviation Conclave 2017 which was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
According to a report in The Indian Express, Sinha said, “Affordability is driving the demand. Flying continues to be very affordable because of the continued stability in the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices and because the aviation technology is moving quickly.”
He also added that some people say that the cost of flying is about Rs 5 per kilometer on a typical (Airbus) 320 or a (Boeing) 737. “For long distance travel, flying is extremely affordable and extremely cost-effective,” the report quotes him as saying.
Taking his address further, he compared the price of flying to price of travelling in air-conditioned coaches of Indian Railways. The minister also said that airline operators in India currently operate about 500 aircraft and is planning to purchase ‘600 warplanes’ in the next 10 years.
In a separate development,Ashish Saraf, vice-president, industry development, strategic partnerships and offsets, Airbus Group India Pvt Ltd. said that they will deliver one aircraft per week to airline operators in India for the next 10 years.
15/07/17 Rini Sharma/India.com

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UAE, India boost aviation cooperation

The UAE and India have explored ways to take bilateral relations to a higher level with special emphasis on the aviation sector.

This came in a meeting UAE Ambassador to India, Dr. Ahmed Allbanna, had with Shri. P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Hon’ble, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, on Wednesday, 12th July 2017, where the two sides discussed the possibility of signing a new agreement to utilise the high potential for travel growth between the two countries.

Dr. Ahmed Albanna said that the UAE-India air routes are considered among the most lucrative in the world. "Currently, the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah have one air service agreement and four MoUs with India," he said, explaining that carriers from India and the UAE can now fly a total of 131,741 aircraft seats a week, each way. These are divided between Dubai (62,500), Abu Dhabi (50,000), Sharjah (17,841) and Ras Al-Khaimah (1,400). In the existing MoUs, Dubai sector has exhausted their bilateral seat capacities and Sharjah has already surpassed the 80% load required to restart the negotiations, noted the ambassador.
14/07/17 Wam/Emirates24|7

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Centre Orders Strengthening Air Connectivity Infrastructure In Lakshadweep

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday directed Ministry officials to strengthen infrastructure with regard to air connectivity in Lakshadweep. Rajnath’s instructions came at an Advisory Committee meeting for Lakshadweep here, a Ministry statement said. The Advisory Committee meeting discussed issues of connectivity like air, shipping, and the internet in Lakshadweep in detail when its members, associated with the Home Ministry, suggested 79 agenda items relating to different fields of development and security in the islands.
“Agreeing with their request, the Home Minister directed that air connectivity infrastructure be strengthened and facilities increased, and the matters should be taken up with the Civil Aviation Ministry,” the statement said. It was decided that shipping, port and harbour infrastructure should be improved substantially for which a perspective plan (2015-2030) having, inter alia, provision of induction of 13 ships and vessels, has been given ‘no objection’ by the Shipping Ministry and the Home Ministry would soon take a decision on it, it said.
As per the statement, internet connectivity in Lakshadweep will be improved from 106 Mbps to 318 Mbps, which is to be further improved by laying optical fibre cable, which is under process. The matters relating to land compensation, filling up of vacant posts, education, drinking water supply, power (especially clean energy), tourism, fisheries, industries, coastal security and implementation of advance agriculture technologies, including polyhouses, drip and sprinkler irrigation were also discussed in the meeting.
The Home Minister expressed satisfaction on the implementation of different central schemes, such as Housing for All, Aadhaar enrolment, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, renewable energy, PAHAL, National Health Mission and the banking facilities. He asked Ministry officials to take up all inter-ministerial matters with Ministries concerned and the Lakshadweep administration for implementation in a time-bound manner.
13/07/17 IANS/India.com

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Airlines may be forced to cut their loads of passenger, cargo, fuel due to global warming: Here's why

New Delhi: More frequent heat waves and rising temperatures due to global warming may ground up to a third of airplanes worldwide during hot days in decades to come with some airports in New York and Dubai likely to be hard hit, a study showed on Thursday.
Airlines may increasingly be forced to cut their loads of passengers, cargo or fuel in order to take off safely because warming air lessens the ability of airplane wings to generate lift, according to U.S. researchers.
Worldwide average temperatures are expected to climb some 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit (3 Celsius) by 2100, researchers said.
But it is more prevalent heat waves that pose a larger threat to the airline industry, they said in a study published in the journal Climate Change.
Annual maximum daily temperatures at airports could rise by 7 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (4 to 8 Celsius) by 2080, they found, leading to more costly delays in take-offs or cancellations.
During the hottest parts of the day, between 10 and 30 percent of fully loaded planes may have to dump weight in order to begin their journey.
The phenomenon could force the aviation industry to brace for thinner profit margins, the authors said.
A full 160-seat aircraft trying to safely take off in searing heat may, for instance, need to remove 13 passenger, said the study.
13/07/17 Shivang Goel/India Today

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PETA urges airlines to go vegan in India

Mumbai: In the wake of national carrier Air India’s recent decision to serve only vegetarian food to all classes on board their domestic flights, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written a letter to all Indian carriers to go meat-free in the domestic sector. Taking it a step further, the animal rights’ organisation has proposed shifting to a vegan diet i.e. a diet free of meat, eggs, dairy and all other animal derived foods. According to PETA, implementing this would help balance the airlines’ carbon footprint.

In a letter written Thursday morning to airlines such as Indigo, SpiceJet, Go Air, Air Asia, Vistara and Jet Airways, PETA said that a vegan diet would restrict green house gas emission which leads to climatic change. The organisation asked the airlines to follow in the footsteps of Air India and come up with vegetarian food only on their domestic sectors. PETA encouraged all these airlines to include a vegan diet on
board.

According to the letter, ‘The meat industry is the world’s largest biggest consumer of fresh water according to a 2015 report in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal. The meat industry on an average uses more than 250 trillion litre water per year, which means that it is more of a water pollutant than industrial sources.”
14/03/17 Asian Age

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As GST kills declared goods, Secy wants jet fuel for small planes to attract lower tax

Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey will soon write to chief secretaries of states to commit to lower value added tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) supplied to airline companies for flying smaller planes.

The matter arose as ATF supplied to airlines for planes of less than 80 seats was considered a 'classified good' or 'declared good' under Central Sales Tax Act. CST got subsumed into the Goods and Services Tax and no category such as 'classified goods' exists now.

Under the CST Act, there were restrictions on the powers of states to impose sales tax or value added tax on a declared good and as such a declared good attracted a lower CST/VAT rate of 5 percent.

Now with CST gone and there no more being a category like 'declared good', ATF supplied to even smaller planes is now being charged at the same VAT rate as ATF for large planes which is as high as 24 percent in some states.

“So it's necessary and very urgent for states to separately state that they will not charge ATF at same level,” a source in the aviation ministry said.
13/07/17 Dhirendra Tripathi/Moneycontrol 

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GST clarification set to ease flight disruptions

The government's clarification that goods and services tax would not be applicable on imports of aircraft has eased the supply of spare parts for IndiGo's many A320 neo planes that have Pratt & Whitney engines.

The spare parts supply-hit had resulted in the grounding of such planes and rescheduling of many flights.

The government last week clarified that the airlines need not pay taxes on import of aircraft and engines taken on lease, provided GST was already paid on lease rentals. Aviation industry insiders said the situation is expected to improve now. It could not be ascertained whether GoAir is facing similar grounding of its A320 neo planes.

An IndiGo spokesperson told media that while this has caused operational disruptions both Pratt & Whitney and Airbus were working to address the issues and continue receiving the necessary operational and technical support including the provision of spare engines to help mitigate the operational impact.

The airline industry had written to the civil aviation and finance ministry earlier claiming that domestic airline industry is being double-taxed under the newly introduced goods and services tax (GST), which, if not corrected by the government, could lead to a loss of over Rs 400 crore per annum to the airlines collectively. Under GST, there is a levy of 5% on import of aircraft.
13/07/17 DNA

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Govt is working on creating national no-fly list: Sinha

Coimbatore: The government is working on creating a national 'no-fly list' which will apply to all citizens, irrespective of their "position" in society, Union minister Jayant Sinha said today.
Replying to a question on recent incidents of indecent behaviour of a few elected representatives with airline staff, the MoS for Civil Aviation said, "Safety is of paramount concern to us and the ministry is working on a national no-fly list".
"Nowhere else in the world has this type of a no-fly list been created. This will apply to all citizens of India, no matter what their role or position is, as safety applies to everyone," he said.
The minister said the decision to not serve non-vegetarian food to passengers flying economy class with Air India on domestic routes was taken to "cut down costs and wastage."
The ministry has to honestly look into how it can make Air India operate in an efficient manner, he told reporters here.
13/07/17 Times of India

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Kerala airports handle more international passengers than domestic

New Delhi: The growth in India's domestic air travel is among the key benchmarks the sellers of global commercial jets would keenly track.

But, curiously, some airports in the peninsula cater to more international than domestic passengers, illustrating the traffic potential from the Gulf and the ASEAN cities in the South.
Data from the state-run aviation property company Airports Authority of India (AAI) show that Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, and Tiruchirappalli hosted more outbound passengers than those travelling within the country in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.
"These international airports have more international flights. Look at the case of Tiruchirappalli airport, which is connected by five international destinations directly, but only one domestic destination," said Habeebullah Ubaidullah, a Trichy-based aviation analyst.
This airport, with flights to Colombo and connected domestically to Chennai by ATR aircraft, has 14 narrow-bodied international departures per day with 15,078 weekly seat capacities and more than 90% of load factor. There are only three ATR local departures to Chennai.
13/07/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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ATF not under GST: Airlines with small aircraft hit

New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation is in discussions with states to relax the tax applicable on aviation turbine fuel for smaller aircraft, on which, under the previous system, central sales tax (CST) or value added tax (VAT) was capped at 5 per cent. Under the CST Act, a list of declared goods was mentioned on which taxes were capped at 5 per cent. This list included ATF sold for use on aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass of less than 40,000 kg operated by scheduled airlines.
With the Goods and Services Tax laws replacing the old tax laws, ATF for small aircraft has lost its declared goods status. However, since petroleum products are out of GST ambit, states are free to consider ATF bought for all purposes, as one.
“It is a concern for smaller aircraft, especially since the government is pushing the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), in which a lot many airlines are operating on smaller aircraft. Some states are levying up to 24 per cent VAT on ATF,” a senior aviation ministry official told The Indian Express.
Airlines flying on RCS routes are using smaller aircraft such as 70-seater ATR 72-600 (operated by Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air), 78-seater Bombardier Q400 (operated by SpiceJet), and ATR 72-500 (operated by TruJet). In May, India’s largest airline, IndiGo, placed an order for 50 ATR 72-600 aircraft. Currently, IndiGo operates only the larger Airbus A320 airliner in its fleet.
13/07/17 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express

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Hindustan Aeronautics Limited sets revenue target at Rs 17,900 crore for 2017-18

Bengaluru: State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has targeted Rs 17,900 crore revenue from operations for the year, the company said here on Wednesday, This is the highest ever target for the firm’s revenue from operations, it added.

HAL has inked a pact with the defence ministry for the production of a range of aircraft for the armed forces in the current fiscal. It also aims at achieving a capital expenditure of Rs 1,300 crore with emphasis on capacity building, modernisation, solar power plants.

The ministry said HAL’s focus in the year will be on production of Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). The HAL HTT-40 aircraft project has been proposed by HAL for an indigenous replacement for the Indian Air Force’s retired HPT-32 Deepak as a basic trainer.

“Among the important milestones targeted to be achieved include, clearance by the director-general of civil aviation for the civil version of Dornier-228 aircraft, Jaguar DARIN-III upgrade and Mirage 2000 upgrade,” it said. The Dornier 228, a 19-seater, short take-off and landing aircraft, is expected to have an increase in maximum take-off weight, a more powerful engine and propeller blades.
13/07/17 New Indian Express

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Domestic air traffic tops 10-mn-mark for first time in May: ICRA

Mumbai: The domestic air passenger traffic in India crossed the 10-million-mark (in a single month) for the first time in the history of Indian aviation during the month of May 2017. This was due to peak season demand, whereby the passenger load factor (PLF) for the domestic aviation industry touched a new high of 88.9 per cent, the highest over the last seven years, a note by rating agency ICRA said.

According to an ICRA note, with the planned expansion by existing airlines and scale-up by new airlines, the capacity addition in the industry is likely to remain healthy in the current year, despite the industry capacity growth (measured in available seat kilometers – ASKMs) being moderate at 14.9 per cent in May 2017.

The moderation in supply growth is likely to have benefited airline yields to some extent in Q1 FY2018. Further, sequentially stagnant aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices are expected to provide support to airline profitability in the quarter, the note added.
11/07/17 Business Line

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Decks cleared for Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park

Mumbai: Construction activity at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park at Mihan, Nagpur, is set to kick start by the end of this month, with the Commerce Ministry giving its approval for developing the park.

Reliance Defence is looking to invest ₹6,500 crore in the park.

The facility is set to host the first ‘Make in India’ defence project, since it will be home to the Dassault-Reliance Aerospace joint venture. France’s Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence have teamed up in a 49:51 stake joint venture, to carry out the obligations and execute the ₹30,000-crore offset programme related to the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

The park will also be home to the largest defence sector foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, with the French aircraft manufacturer slated to bring in the first tranche of FDI amounting to ₹200 crore by the month-end.

On July 3, the Ministry of Commerce granted approval to the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure arm Reliance Aerostructure as a co-developer of the park, confirmed a senior executive. The Maharashtra Airport Development Company is the nodal agency for developing the aerospace park.

A senior executive told BusinessLine that manufacturing at the site will start by the end of this year with the last approval falling in place. Some 50 people have already joined the company.

“For the last two months, we have people who are already training in France. They are part of the team, the lead managers at the site, and have been undergoing training with the Dassault team in France,” the executive told this newspaper.
10/07/17 Amrita Nair-Ghaswalla/Business Line

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FDI is an economic decision: Civil Aviation Minister

The Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, says while no date has been given for Group of Ministers to begin talks on Air India, all suggestions and speculations are being looked into.

In an exclusive conversation with CNBC TV18's Ashpreet Sethi he also clarifies on IB raising concerns with respect to 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in aviation
11/07/17 CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol

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Good news for flyers, airlines ticket prices to fall as new rules in Delhi get nod

New Delhi: In big relief for air passengers and more so for frequent flyers, airfares are likely to drop in the coming days along with aircraft landing and parking fees too. The User Development Fee (UDF) has been reduced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for passengers on both domestic and international flights from Delhi. As per a Live Mint report, passengers will be charged just  Rs 10 as UDF for domestic flights like Delhi-Mumbai from Rs 578 which was charged previously. For international flights like  Delhi-New York , rates will dip from a whopping Rs1,335 per ticket to Rs 45, the regulator said in its order. Till now,  both passengers departing and arriving at the airport had to pay UDF, but now only those who are departing will have to pay.
New tariffs, have been pending implementation since last few years since the Delhi airport operator had gone to the courts in protest against proposed tariff revisions. National carrier Air India had challenged this in the Supreme Court. On July 3, the court vacated a stay granted by the Delhi high court, allowing the revised tariffs to commence.
09/07/17 Financial Express

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Kerala to reduce VAT on aviation fuel

Kerala has announced reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from the existing 4% to 1% for airlines ready to operate in the State under the Union government’s UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, an endeavour to make regional connectivity easy.

The initiative was announced at Wings 2017, a meeting of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) organised by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi, on Friday. The official notification will be issued soon, the meeting was informed.

Kerala is also for reducing the VAT on ATF to 1% for all airlines, including foreign carriers operating to Thiruvananthpauram, Kochi, and Kozhikode and the upcoming airport at Kannur.

The State also informed the meeting, attended by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathy Raju, its plan to construct airstrips in Munnar, Guruvayur, Wayanad and Bekal to improve regional connectivity.

The State was represented by the Additional Residents Commissioner, New Delhi, Punit Kumar and Chief Project Engineer in charge of Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) K.S. Shibukumar at the meeting.

Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Meghalaya also announced incentives for UDAN by lowering the VAT on ATF to 1% at the meeting, official sources said.
08/07/17 S. Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu

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GST relief for aircraft on lease

In a major relief to airlines, the import of aircraft on lease will be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Finance Ministry said in a notification on Saturday.

“We represented the matter to the Revenue Department. The Revenue Department moved expeditiously and clarified the matter immediately,” Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey told The Hindu.

Airlines will not have to pay taxes on import of aircraft on lease if the GST is already paid on lease rentals, according to the notification by the Finance Ministry.

“The government has finally provided exemption from the levy of GST as part of customs duty on the import of aircraft, engines and parts on lease basis. Thus, GST would only be payable on payment of lease rentals and not at the time of import,” said Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, Ernst & Young.

“This would bring huge relief to the airline industry by resolving the issue of dual levy of GST, especially for the reason that GST paid at the time of import was not creditable against economy class travel,” Mr. Jain said.
08/07/17 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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GST impact: Airlines, cab aggregators grapple with higher lease payouts

New Delhi: Under the new indirect tax regime, leasing of goods is regarded as a service and attracts the goods and services tax (GST). This has created complexities for airlines, cab aggregators and cab leasing companies, even as they grapple with teething issues of implementation of the GST.

Among the many issues faced by airlines, the anomaly in terms of input tax credit for economy class and dual taxation on aircraft leasing top the list. According to the rules, while input credit arising from procurement of both goods and services can be used in case of business class, input credit from services alone can be used for off-setting tax liability with respect to economy class travel.
"Similar to business class, full input tax credit should be given to economy class ticketing too," said a senior airline executive.
The airlines have also raised the issue of dual taxation on aircraft leasing. Under the new norms, aircraft leasing will attract a dual levy — once at the time of import as Customs duty and again when lease rentals are paid as GST on services.
Under the previous taxation system, cross-border aircraft leases by scheduled airlines were not subject to Customs duty, central excise and value-added tax (VAT).

"We have sought continuation of the tax exemption. The impact is largely related to cash flows, as we will be able to claim an input credit against tax liability on sale of tickets and cargo space," said a senior executive from Air India.
Air India pays a lease rent of around $350,000 for its narrow-body Airbus aircraft and around $1 million for its wide-body Boeing 787 aircraft.
08/07/17 Arindam Majumder Karan Choudhury & Ajay Modi/Business Standard

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Rajiv Pratap Rudy attended first International Aviation Security seminar organises by NSG

New Delhi: The Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (I/C) Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy attended the second day of the first International Aviation Security Seminar in Manesar today. National Security Guard (NSG) has organised the seminar, with the aim of bringing all major stakeholders under one roof and facilitate them sharing views/opinion, discussions, brain storming with the matters concerning Aviation Security.

Prominent personalities/speakers from various organizations/aviation sector delivered lectures and shared valuable views on the matter of aviation security. Weapons and equipment were also displayed showcasing the current weapons and systems used by the forces and cutting edge systems considered for future planning.

Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri Rajiv Nayan Choubey and DG, NSG Shri Sudhir Pratap Singh also attended the seminar. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha addressed the seminar yesterday.

About 300 delegates/officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India, Central Industrial Security Force, State Police Forces, Airports, Airlines, Foreign Security /Aviation of USA, France, Germany and Sri Lanka participated in the Seminar.
08/08/17 India Education Diary

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NSG organises first International Aviation Security seminar India's 26th highest monumental flag installed at NSG campus

Delhi: The Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (I/C) Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy attended the second day of the first International Aviation Security Seminar in Manesar today. National Security Guard (NSG) has organised the seminar, with the aim of bringing all major stakeholders under one roof and facilitate them sharing views/opinion, discussions, brain storming with the matters concerning Aviation Security.

Prominent personalities/speakers from various organizations/aviation sector delivered lectures and shared valuable views on the matter of aviation security. Weapons and equipment were also displayed showcasing the current weapons and systems used by the forces and cutting edge systems considered for future planning.

Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri Rajiv Nayan Choubey and DG, NSG Shri Sudhir Pratap Singh also attended the seminar. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha addressed the seminar yesterday.
07/07/17 Business Standard

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Flying International From Tier 2 City Is Now Cheaper

For anyone who’s planning on taking an international trip, ixigo, Indian travel search marketplace recommends booking flights from tier 2 cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Kochi, etc. By doing so travellers are likely to save up to 41% on their air tickets. With low-cost airlines such as Scoot, AirAsia, Tigerair, Thai Smile, Air Arabia and Air India Express starting operations from tier 2 cities, more and more people are opting to fly out of these cities to fit their international trips in smaller budgets.

Aloke Bajpai, CEO & Co-founder, ixigo, said, “We found that the difference in international airfares from tier 1 & 2 cities is drastic enough to urge travellers to modify their travel plans and fly out of these cities. If planned in time, at an average one can save around 41% on flight bookings, which is much more than the cost that one would have to bear to travel to these tier 2 cities to take their flight. For instance, if you live in Delhi and are planning to travel to Singapore, catching a flight from Jaipur will prove to be cheaper despite the cost involved in reaching there.”
08/07/17 Business World

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India back at top of domestic air travel growth chart globally: IATA

New Delhi: After a temporary blip, India is back as the world's fastest growing domestic air travel market in May, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). India saw domestic air travel in May 2017 over same month in previous year grow at 17.7%, followed by China at 16.8%.
IATA had said that India had been the fastest growing domestic aviation market globally for 22 months in a row, while giving the figures for March. But in April, Russia overtook India by witnessing 16.7% growth as opposed to India's 15.3%.
The very next month India got back at the top. IATA said the fastest growing markets — India, China, Russia and Japan — saw double digit growth in domestic air travel with the figures being — 17.7%, 16.8%, 12.8% and 10.3%. However, growth rates in India are moderating from the heady 20% plus seen in past two years. The reason: oil prices are inching up due to which airlines are hiking fares leading to a fall in passenger traffic growth.
"After adjusting for inflation, airfares at the start of the second quarter were around 6% lower than a year ago. IATA estimates that this contributed to around 40% of the annual growth in passenger traffic seen in May. However, the degree of fare stimulus is around half that seen in the second half of 2016. This stimulus is likely to fade further in light of rising airline cost pressures, while business confidence has softened. However, passenger demand is likely to remain well supported during the upcoming peak travel months of July and August," IATA said in a statement.
06/07/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Smaller cities offer cheaper airfares to overseas hotspots

New Delhi: If you were considering a Sentosa trip for your kids, or seeking much-needed retail therapy on Orchard Road, you’d be better off giving Delhi’s crowded airport a miss and flying to Singapore instead from Jaipur.

The reason is simple: It’s much cheaper to board a flight from Sanganer – just about half of what it costs to fly to Singapore from Delhi’s T3. Fares on short-haul overseas routes from non-metro airports nosedived this summer, dovetailing neatly into federal efforts at spreading aviation to the hinterland and smaller cities in India.

Data compiled for ET by online travel portal ixigo show that international budget carriers are offering cheap fares from Lucknow, Jaipur and Trichy, to Singapore, Hong Kong and other cities in India’s neighbourhood (see chart).
The entry of budget carriers on the short-haul routes and lower operational fees at tier-2 airports have caused fares to fall. Data show that the average of lowest fare available for August on the Delhi-Singapore route comes to about Rs 10,145, which is 45.30% more than the fare available between Jaipur and Singapore — Rs 5,549.
07/07/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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India's 2-year-long double digit growth in the domestic aviation market to end: IATA

Global airlines' body IATA has warned that India's over two-year-long uninterrupted double-digit growth in the domestic aviation market is set to end this month, saying the domestic traffic has been witnessing a slowdown since demonetisation.
India's 2-year-long double digit growth in the domestic aviation market to end: IATA

Global airlines' body IATA has warned that India's over two-year-long uninterrupted double-digit growth in the domestic aviation market is set to end this month, saying the domestic traffic has been witnessing a slowdown since demonetisation.

"The very strong upward SA (seasonally-adjusted) traffic trend has slowed since the unexpected 'demonetisation' in November 2016, in line with the wider impact that this looks to have had on economic activity."

"At the current trend, India's impressive run of double- digit year-on-year growth rates looks set to end in July," said International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its monthly report.

The domestic air traffic in the country has seen an impressive double-digit growth since January 2015, which petered out early this year.
From January 2016 until February 2017, India saw over 20 percent growth for 14 consecutive months, as per government data.

In March, however, the growth dropped to 18.59 percent. It slowed down further in April (17.71 percent) and May (17.63 percent).

At the same time, India also lost its fastest growing domestic aviation market tag after a gap of 23 months.

In March, domestic growth in China (15.1 percent) outpaced India's (14.6 percent), as per IATA.
06/07/17 PTI/moneycontrol.com

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Maiden flight puts them on cloud nine

Thiruvananthapuram: Clouds were floating outside the windows and the houses, rivers, trees below seemed so distant, so tiny. The new experience sent 58 passengers aboard a flight from Kochi to the city to raptures.

The group comprised differently abled persons who were on their maiden trip aboard an aeroplane on Thursday.

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Shobha Koshy and member Sr. Biji Jose were present to welcome the group at the domestic terminal of the city airport.

The trip and the reception left the group, accompanied by 12 teachers, beaming. They recounted their experience up in the sky and sang songs. “On the flight, we clapped and laughed,” said a group member.

The trip was organised by the Rotary District 3201’s Rotary Club of Cochin International Airport, Rotary Cochin West and Rotary Tricity. The clubs had organised the Rotary Olympics for Special Education Students in November last and selected 11 schools through draw of lots. Five students each were selected from these schools along with a couple of more children such as Jilumol who works as a graphic designer despite having no arms. The club presidents and Rotary project chairman M. Romelal also accompanied the students.
07/07/17 The Hindu

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Kerala CM to meet Narendra Modi on airfare hike

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the steep hike brought about in ticket rates by airline companies, especially during festival seasons.
Addressing a conference of MPs representing Kerala, organised here on Thursday as a prelude to raising the demands of the state in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning on July 17, the chief minister said that the assurance given by the Union civil aviation secretary in this regard has turned out to be hollow.

The union civil aviation secretary had assured that airlines would be given permission to increase the number of seats during festival seasons, when he had attended a meeting of airline companies organized here on May 15.

The chief minister said that he will meet the prime minister over the matter in August as the issue stands unresolved and the airline companies increased fares steeply during the Ramzan.
07/07/17 Times of India

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Civil Aviation Ministry reiterates concerns with Revenue Secretary: Sources

Indian airlines still await clarity on the impact of new tax regime - goods and services tax (GST) - that was rolled out from July 1. Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that the Civil Aviation Ministry has once again taken up issues raised by the airlines ranging from dual taxation on aircraft lease and import to absence of input tax credit on the economy class tickets with the revenue department. CBEC Commissioner Sanjeev Srivastav told CNBC-TV18 on the GST Helpline that some clarification is likely shortly.
07/07/17 CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol

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Israel Aerospace, Kalyani to jointly build, maintain missiles in India

New Delhi: Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd (KSSL), a subsidiary of Bharat Forge Limited, will expand its partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on this as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel earlier this week.
The new MOU covers the establishment of a maintenance centre for select advanced air defence systems in Hyderabad. The two companies have also agreed on expanding their joint operations for development, manufacturing, and marketing of precision ammunition systems. In February 2017, IAI had inked an MOU with KSSL on establishing a joint-venture that will develop, build, market, and manufacture select air defence systems and light-weight special-purpose munitions, in accordance with the Indian Government's 'Make in India' policy.
Bharat Forge Limited Chairman and MD Baba Kalyani said, "It augments the group's efforts in developing and manufacturing state-of-the-art indigenous systems in niche technology areas of defence sector in India."
IAI President and CEO Joseph Weiss said, "India has been IAI’s partner for many years as well as a key market for us. The Indian government's 'Make in India' initiative requires international companies to rethink their operations in India. The changes in India have not gone unnoticed by IAI. We have been revamping all of our operations in India and believe that together with our partners in the Kalyani group, we will preserve our position in India for both countries' continued growth."
06/07/17 Business Reporter

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DGCA begins special audit of airlines

New Delhi:  The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will audit all big Indian airlines in the run-up to being audited itself by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) this November.The exercise has kicked off with the regulator ordering a "special audit" of IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet.In the second phase, other airlines like Air India and GoAir will be audited.
"The operations of these airlines are increasing in terms of both fleet size and number of flights. In view of that, we will check the airlines' overall safety and operations and the airworthiness of their fleet," said a senior DGCA official.
The airlines did not comment on this audit. A senior official of one of these airlines said: "This is part of the DGCA 's preparation for its upcoming audit by United Nation's aviation watchdog, ICAO. This audit is not due to the regulator finding any discrepancy in our operations as we increase our flights."
05/07/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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No credit set-off in GST, airlines see red

Mumbai: The domestic airline industry is being double-taxed under the newly introduced goods and services tax (GST), which, if not corrected by the government, could lead to a loss of over Rs 400 crore per annum to the airlines collectively, industry officials said. It could also lead to an increase in airfares.

Under GST, there is a levy of 5% on import of aircraft.

"Industry is discussing with the civil aviation ministry for exemption of tax on imports. We will also have to pay 5% GST on lease rentals available for credit set-off," said Amar Abrol, MD of CEO, AirAsia India. "Only GST paid on services is available for credit set-off; GST paid on purchase/import of goods is not available," he said.

The airline industry has approached the civil aviation and finance ministries in this regard. As per an estimate, the airline would have to pay about Rs 10-12 crore per aircraft import as GST levy.

The development seems significant, as Indian airlines have over 1,000 aircraft on order and the country is set to become the third-largest buyer of commercial passenger planes in the world, behind only the US and China. A recent report released by aviation consultancy firm CAPA states for every aircraft in service, there are 2.2 aircraft on order. There are around 480 aircraft in the country at present.
05/07/17 Shahkar Abidi/DNA

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Choosing a seat of your choice can cost you up to Rs 1200 per flight

Unbundling' of airline services were hailed as something that will dramatically reduce the money you paid for your air tickets. However, two years since its launch, flyers are being treated to paying for any and every seat that they want to reserve during their web check-ins.

The case today is that a seat at the back of a plane could cost you an additional Rs 150 to Rs 200 if you reserve it during a web check-in.

Earlier, airlines were charging extra if a customer preferred special seats like the first row or seats next to emergency exit as they offered greater legroom in the cramped economy class. However, with the passage of time, airlines have now started charging for any seat, be it a window, aisle or a middle row seat if reserved online.

You could easily end up paying at least 40% more of the cost of your return journey just so that you get the seat of your choice. Seat selection with extra legroom on certain airlines have charges going up to Rs 1200 extra per seat.

For bulkhead seats or seats behind a dividing walls/curtains between cabins on Jet Airways costs up to Rs 749 extra.
04/07/17 ZeeBiz

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Israel Aerospace’s accelerator seeks to support Indian start-ups

Mumbai: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which is to supply systems for Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles to Bharat Electronics Ltd for installation on Indian warships, is look to engage with start-ups that work in the field of aviation and defence.

The decision has sparked interest among Indian conglomerates such as the Kalyani Group and Piramal Enterprises.

As Israel continues to produce an impressive number of highly successful tech start-ups — earning it the moniker ‘Start-up Nation’ — IAI is keen to build what is being referred to as the country’s first aviation accelerator.

The Bedek Aviation Group, IAI’s biggest division that conducts heavy aircraft maintenance and upgrades, and converts aircraft to various specified configurations such as aerial refuelling and cargo, will host the accelerator. The aim is to identify start-ups that have passed the seed stage, so that their products can be used by IAI, said officials.

The start-ups will utilise IAI’s infrastructural facilities as well as professional guidance from leading aviation specialists.

Israel’s aviation accelerator has sparked interest among Indian firms, with the $3-billion Kalyani Group looking to up the ante, given its association with IAI. In February, the group’s defence arm Kalyani Strategic Systems had inked an MoU with IAI to incorporate a joint venture company in India.
05/06/17 Amrita Nair-Ghaswalla/Business Line

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