Civil plane plan on course: HAL chief

The national programme to develop a civil passenger plane is on course and the new special company that will take it forward awaits government approval, according to HAL Chairman R.K.Tyagi.

The company is to be formed between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and National Aerospace Labs.

Private sector industry will have a significant role in the project while HAL, a defence aircraft manufacturer, will be the main integrator.

Dr. Tyagi said the next meeting with private industry would be held on December 30 to discuss issues. The civil plane project was re-allocated to the Department of Defence Production in August.

Meanwhile, six responses have come in for the search for the aeroengine for the aircraft, He was at an annual lecture event organised by the Aeronautical Society of India’s State chapter and addressed by the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.

HAL’s much delayed intermediate jet trainer (IJT) would need to do another 100-plus flights before reaching an evaluation stage. “We may have some good news there in a couple of months,” Dr. Tyagi said.
30/11/14 Madhumath DS/The Hindu

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ATF price cut to help airlines save big

New Delhi/Mumbai: With state-owned marketing companies reducing the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Rs 59,943 a kilolitre from December 1 - 4.1 per cent lower than the previous month - domestic airlines' fuel bill in the second half of 2014-15 is estimated to come down by a combined Rs 1,200 crore.

ATF for domestic carriers has become 11.22 per cent cheaper since October and is expected to see more price cuts in the next three months. According to estimates by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa), fuel costs could fall by an average 15 per cent in the January-March period.

So, the average decline in fuel bill the last six months of the financial year could be 12-13 per cent. Since ATF accounts for over 50 per cent of domestic carriers' operating costs, this implies a substantial six per cent fall in their costs during the period. Airlines had bought Rs 18,674 crore worth of ATF for domestic flights last financial year.
30/11/14 Surajeet Das Gupta  &  Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Flyers to get SMS alerts on delays in fog spell

Lucknow: Flyers to and from Lucknow will soon be able to get SMS and email alerts in advance from airlines about flight delays because of foggy conditions this winter. For this, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will coordinate with the met department and the airlines to bring the facility into operation. The Lucknow airport, as a matter of fact, happens to be Delhi's secondary airport where flights could be diverted in case of foggy conditions at the national capital.

Amausi airport officiating director Pradeep Chaddha said a meeting with the meteorological department as well as the airlines was held to put the system in place. As per the arrangement, the met department will issue a weather forecast to the air traffic control (ATC) which would then transmit the information to the airlines. Subsequently, the passengers would be informed about the possible delay in flights. The facility would be available for both domestic and international flights.

This is first time that such an arrangement has been made at Lucknow airport which witnesses more than 40 domestic and half a dozen international flight movements. SMS and email alerts would be sent to passengers with 18-hour forecasts before flights. Presently, the service provides weather updates every six hours beginning 5.30 in the morning to officials in ATC, airlines and the airport operator.
30/11/14 Times of India

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Hurrying passengers, 'rude' recliners annoy the most in planes

New Delhi: Passengers rushing out of seats before the seat belt sign goes off as the plane comes to a halt, reclining seats without warning those behind them and not switching off mobile phones unless asked by the cabin crew are some of the habits that annoy most of the air travellers.
According to a survey of air travellers in India, around 83 percent of them like to travel in their casuals and only 7 percent in formal clothing.
Another habit of air travellers which leads to arguments and even scuffles is passengers rudely reclining  their seat without informing those seated behind. 51 percent people said they hate this behaviour.
The India Air Travel Survey 2014 by TripAdvisor also found that another habit of co-passengers of not switching off their mobile phones unless asked to do so by the cabin crew annoys them. 40 percent said they dislike this habit.
30/11/14 Jagran Post 

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British Airways may consider hub-and-spoke operations with an Indian carrier

New Delhi: British Airways (BA) may consider partnering with an Indian carrier for hub-and-spoke operations in line with its relationship with American Airlines depending on how the market develops over the next 2-3 years, a top official said.

"India is the second largest market (for BA) after North America in terms of (traffic) volume or number of seats. ... Our business model (with American Airlines) is to carry traffic to the hubs in the US from where they fly them to other destinations (within the US)," BA's Chief Executive Keith Williams said.
"We will see how the market develops over the next 2-3 years. It is too early to judge at present," Williams, who was here at a function to mark the completion of nine decades of the premier British carrier's operations to India, said.He was asked whether BA was looking at tying up with an Indian carrier to launch hub-and-spoke operations from five cities to London Heathrow (LHR) like their arrangement with American Airlines. Under this arrangement, American Airlines, which merged with US Airways almost a year ago, provides convenient flight options to key business and leisure destinations across Europe and the United States.
29/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Pakistan eyes Chinese jets to counter IAF dominance

Islamabad: The Pakistani military authorities are determined to acquire 30 to 40 fourth generation stealth fighter (FC-31) aircraft from China with a view to pre-empting the rapidly increasing aerial dominance of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the region.
Conceding that senior Pakistani defence officials were already holding talks with their Chinese counterparts to acquire the fourth generation stealth aircraft (also called Shenyang FC31 Multi-Purpose Medium Fighter Jets), informed sources in the security establishment said that Pakistan has been made to approach China and Russia to fulfil its defence procurements as the Pak-US ties continue to chill, despite General Raheel Shareef’s recent visit to the United States.
The Pakistani defence officials are already in the process of signing an agreement with Russia to purchase 20 Mi-35 gunship helicopters which can be operated in the mountainous terrain of the Waziristan region where a military operation is in full swing against the Taliban militants.
The sources said Pakistan wants to procure the Chinese FC31 aircraft as part of its ongoing efforts to boost the air combat capabilities of the PAF and offset the growing strength of the Indian Air Force in the region.
29/11/14 Inernews/Gulf Times

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Boeing Poseidon aircraft delivered to Indian Navy

Built on the airframe of Boeing’s Next-Generation commercial 737, the Indian Navy is now the proud owner of their sixth Poseidon P-8I delivered this week. Boeing flew their first Poseidon in 2009 and the United States Navy put it into service in 2013.

The new plane flew into Naval Air Station Rajali and joined the air fleet of five other P-8Is already being used by the Indian Navy. Two more deliveries in 2015 will complete the contract inked with Boeing and the Indian Navy back in 2009. The P-8I is the Indian Navy variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing builds for the U.S. Navy.

In techno-speak, one of the differences in the U.S. Navy’s P8-A Poseidon and the Indian Navy’s P-8I is the Indian’s “variant features two major components that aren't fitted on the P-8A, a Telephonics APS-143 OceanEye aft radar and a magnetic anomaly detector.” According to a Boeing press release this week, “Boeing has been active in India for 70 years with its commercial airplanes providing the mainstay of India’s civil aviation sector.”
29/11/14 Examiner.com

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The new kids in Indian aviation

After Singapore Airlines and TATA joint venture Vistara announced last week that its delayed launch would take place in early 2015, two new entrants have revealed they are set to try their luck in India’s turbulent aviation market.
Start-ups Premier Airways and Air One both announced on Wednesday (November 26) that they would be taking to the skies from the middle of next year.
Their imminent arrival is a result of India’s civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju’s radical step of granting approval for six new airlines to fly.
Premier and Air One will join Vistara as part of the influx into an industry which has seen only modest expansions from the likes of Air India and Jet Airways in recent years, while foreign competitors, including Emirates and Air Asia, have made aggressive inroads into the market, increasing routes and capacity.
28/11/14 James Pozzi/MRO Network

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Student pilots land here after Heli-Pro collapse

Eighteen international student pilots left in the lurch by the receivership of Tauranga-based Heli-Pro have chosen Mainland Aviation College at Dunedin International Airport to complete their studies.

About 50 days after Heli-Pro went into receivership, Mainland's student numbers have more than tripled, from eight to 26, with the additions of a ''United Nations'' of international students, Mainland general manager Shirley Kean said.

Some of the 18 international students had been unwittingly caught up in two recent aviation receiverships in New Zealand, losing money twice in the process.

''It's not a good look. It makes people wary. We want to build up good international relationships,'' Mrs Kean said.

Mainland has been operating since 1991, having had about 270 students over the years, and offers fixed-wing flying tuition, in nine training craft, including Cessna 152, Tobago and twin-engined Senecas and Chieftains, plus a flight simulator.

''It can be a bit like the United Nations around here at times,'' she said of current students from Oman, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal, Papua and China.

The majority of students are in their early 20s and pay $70,000-$80,000 for flight training over 18 months.

Mrs Kean said Mainland offered ''pastoral care'' for the international students, which included them all staying together in Dunedin in accommodation Mainland organised.

After Heli-Pro went into receivership, all New Zealand's flight schools were vying to offer the 18 students places, she said.
28/11/14 Simon Hartley/Otago Daily Times

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Mauritius signs $16-mn contract for HAL’s Dornier aircraft

Bangalore: The Government of Mauritius has signed a contract with HAL in its capital, Port Louis, to acquire the HAL-made Dornier aircraft for maritime surveillance to guard its extensive coastline.

The contract was signed by Kan Oye Fong Weng Poorun, Senior Chief Executive, Prime Minister’s Office (Mauritius), and by S Subrahmanyan, Managing Director, HAL (MiG Complex and Accessories).
28/11/14 Business Line

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IAF chief unveils new pilot selection system

Mysuru: Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha on Friday unveiled the new computerised pilot selection system, replacing the age-old pilot aptitude battery test.

"The new system is aimed at addressing the alarming rate of flying accidents in the IAF attributed to pilot error," Air Chief Marshal Raha told reporters at the air force selection board here, about 150 km from Bengaluru.

The new system, a brain-child of former president APJ Abdul Kalam when he was the scientific advisor to defence minister, uses better tools for pilot aptitude test in consonance with modern aircraft being acquired by the air force.

"As the cockpit of the ensuing fifth generation fighters will place huge physical and mental workload on our pilots and the system operators, only the best will be allowed to occupy these cockpits," Raha said.
28/11/14 PTI/ZeeNews

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Magazine claims officials, VIPs abuse their status to get free air tickets; Robert Vadra named

A well known magazine on Friday claimed some officials, bureaucrats and other VIPs had "abused" their status to get free tickets and other facilities from a private airline in gross violation of service rules and propriety.
At a press conference, the magazine's political editor alleged that Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had got several upgrades on international sectors for himself, one of his associates and his children and his mother.
A senior IPS officer from West Bengal, who was on deputation to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), had taken his family to 28 destinations abroad paying only a small fraction of the cost.
28/11/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Fog likely to hit air services in Delhi from December third week

New Delhi: Flight services to-and-from the national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport might be interrupted due to medium-heavy fog conditions expected to commence from the third week of December.
"We are expecting foggy conditions to set in from the third week of December to mid-February around the airport," said R.K. Jenamani, director in-charge, meteorological watch office, India Meteorological Department, IGI Airport.
"It is estimated that the foggy conditions might last for 90-120 hours this season."
A total of 289 flight diversions were caused due to fog in the last three winters from Delhi airport.
In 2011, it was 54; it was 89 in 2012 and 143 in 2013.
In April, a panel of the aviation regulator (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) recommended several steps like upgrading of infrastructure, meteorological facilities and runway radar coverage to achieve zero diversions from the Delhi airport.
28/11/14 PTI/ZeeNews

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Giving wings to flyers through aero modelling

Nagpur: He has given wings to the dreams of thousands aspiring to fly by helping them fly aero models, and quite a few times, by helping them make a career out of flying. This passion for aero-models has taken Rajesh Joshi, senior flying instructor at the air wing unit of National Cadet Corps (NCC), to new heights of popularity. The childhood obsession has taken him to the Limca Book of Records for flying the biggest aero model in India, and the city's night sky has been lit up by his models dragging illuminated banners.

"Like all children, I was always fascinated by flying objects since early days, and used to watch planes at the airport and Nagpur Flying Club. I told this to my father, who was working with Central Jail, but the financial crunch meant I could not take up flying as a career. I took it sportingly, and shifted my focus to studies, in which I was never really interested."
As a teenager, Joshi got the opportunity to join the NCC air wing and pursue his passion. "I used to spend the entire day at the unit, making different aero models. The then instructor, Gopal Krishan, was impressed by my hand work, sincerity and devotion, but cautioned me that there is no future in the field."
28/11/14 Vaibhav Ganjapure/Times of India

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Taneja Aerospace signs contract to upgrade MiG-29s

Nagpur: Pune-based Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) has bagged the contract for life cycle upgradation of MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). TAAL competed with much bigger players like Tatas, L&T and Punj Lloyd among total eight bidders to get this deal worth over Rs 12 crore.

The deal signed on Wednesday is being dubbed as the first of its kind, because so far only smaller jobs like manufacture of spares or other allied services were outsourced by the IAF. Never before has a private company been involved in retrofitting of an entire aircraft. Till now, this was the sole domain of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

TOI had reported in December last year that seven private players had evinced interest in the aircraft upgrade contract. They had responded to the request for information (RFI) floated by IAF for upgrade of MiG-29s and AN-32. The latter is a transport aircraft while the MiG-29 is known to be among the best air defence planes with the IAF.
27/11/14 Shishir Arya/Times of India

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Will provide helipad sites near stations: State to HC

Mumbai: The state government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it accepted the proposal to provide sites for setting up of helipads near local railway stations to provide relief operations to injured people.
“We accept the statement made by the Joint Secretary Urban Development Department (UDD) in the affidavit,” said Justices A S Oka and A S Gadkari.
Rajan A Kop, Joint Secretary, UDD, filed the affidavit in response to the request made by the Central Railway (CR) to provide 14 additional helipads beyond the existing helipads for evacuation of injured persons to hospitals to carry out rescue and relief operations due to incidents or accidents.
“The state government in-principle agrees to designate additional sites for use as helipads and for that matter proposes to issue directives under Section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, (MRTPA) 1966 to permit use of layout open spaces, parks, gardens and recreational grounds towards helipads in case of emergency. I submit that the government will take a decision in this regard in two weeks,” stated the affidavit.
27/11/14 Ruhi Bhasin/Indian Express

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Vietnam-India flight brings new wave of tourism

Vietnamese tourism agencies sought to capitalize on new air traffic from India by bringing a delegation over to study the market.
A source from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said they have cooperated with Vietnam Airlines and private Indian carrier Jet Airways to fly representatives from 22 leading Indian travel agencies and a group of journalists to Vietnam between November 23 and 29, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online reported.
The daily Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai/New Delhi route, which transit in Bangkok, opened on November 5 following a codeshare agreement between Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines.
Insiders said the service will help raise arrivals from India ten-fold in just a few years.
Only 10,000 passengers arrive, on average, each year.
VNAT and the Indian Embassy in Hanoi will hold a conference on Saturday, November 29, with members of the hospitality industry in both countries, the news site said.
27/11/14 Thanhniem News

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Home minister's chopper loses direction in saranda forest, inquiry ordered

Ranchi: A major security lapse occurred with union home minister, Rajnath Singh on Wednesday when his private chopper lost its way in the Saranda forest, reportedly due to wrong coordinates provided by the district administration. The pilot was forced to hover over Saranda forest for around 15 mins after not being able to locate Badajamda, where his first election rally was scheduled and finally landed at Majhgaon, the scheduled location for second rally.

Taking the matter seriously, state BJP is lodging a complaint with the election commission of India and director general civil aviation (DGCA) about the potential threat home minister faced because of the situation that arose due to erroneous coordinates.

Former BJP MP and incharge for management of aviation services of the central leaders, Ajay Maroo said that it was because of wrong coordinates provided by SDO, Jagarnathpur; Singh's chopper failed to land on the ground at Badajamda under Nowamundi block of West Singhbhum district. "The pilot hovered above for around 15 minutes seeking direction from us as he failed to locate the programme venue or any helipad in the region," he said. Due to prolonged hovering the chopper ran short of fuel and was compelled to make a landing at second programme venue in Majhgaon.
26/11/14 Jaideep Deogharia/Times of India

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Indian UAV maker off to a flying start

New Delhi: Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar might just have given a glimpse into the future when it showed the film’s protagonist chasing down an Indian-made drone.

Although the country is yet to manufacture large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) like the ones used by the US in military combat, the first steps are being taken by both the industry and Government.

Om UAV Systems, a company started about a year ago, is one of those aiming for a head start in the business. As one of the companies to get a licence for manufacturing UAVs in India from the Telecom Ministry — spectrum is needed for flying the UAVs — the company has attracted investor interest. The company’s licence is for producing 100 drones.

The other players to get the licence are Dynamatic Technologies, Ashok Leyland, Taneja Aerospace and Aviation, Avaana Software and Services, Basant Aerospace and SasMos HET Tech. But so far only Om UAV has developed its own firmware—software that is specific to a hardware—which will help the company cut down costs.
25/11/14 Debabrata Das/Business Line

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IAF may assemble PC-7 trainer aircraft

Nagpur: : The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set to take up the job of assembling one more aircraft at its base repair depot (BRD). After taking up the work for assembling Mi17 helicopters at the Chandigarh BRD, IAF may soon take up the work for Pilatus (PC-7) trainer aircraft being procured by the country. Earlier, there were plans to have an independent manufacturing set-up, but as it did not work out, the task has come back to IAF.

This is closer to the aim of IAF making its own aircraft. Recently, IAF has been firming plans in this direction for which assembling can be the first step. It can also help it in developing reverse engineering techniques, said a source involved in the process. There are chances that the BRD situated at Coimbatore may be assembling the PC-7s. The BRDs come under the IAF's maintenance command, which is based at Nagpur.

At present, it is the Bengaluru-based PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited which does the chunk of assembling or manufacturing for IAF. Doing the job directly is likely to make things smoother and IAF will be both the maker and user of the equipment, the source said.
25/11/14 Shishir Arya/Times of India

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Can old airlines weather the storm?

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), formed some eight years ago in 2006, had Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo Air, SpiceJet and Go Air as its members. It recently, lost its founder-member in Air India. The Federation had resisted the issue of licences to Air Asia and Tata SIA by protests to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). And when the issue of 5/20 rule was talked about, they made a hue and cry that this should not be waived and that all new airlines must complete five years of domestic service before being allowed to fly on international routes, provided they have a fleet of 20 aircraft, "as per rules" in force.

That was the rule then. Now it might change. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has not succumbed to this pressure by the Federation and had stated that 5/20 rule does not exist in any country across the world!

Now the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has released a white paper, which says "there is no logic in the policy (rule) of government that required airlines to operate local service for five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft before being allowed to fly to foreign destinations".
25/11/14 Ak Ramdas/moneylife.in

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West Asian airlines to be hit if smaller towns are off limits

New Delhi: Plans of West Asian airlines Emirates, FlyDubai and Qatar Airways to expand operations in India may be affected by an aviation ministry proposal to restrict foreign carriers from adding new flights to airports beyond Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Airlines like Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa now fly to Jaipur, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Lucknow and Pune.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju Pusapati was quoted in a recent media interview as saying foreign airlines had grown because they served destinations beyond the metros. Raju said the government would allow foreign airlines to operate out of hub airports at the six metros but Indian carriers could fly out of any international airport.

While the government will not review points of call already accorded to foreign airlines, it is unlikely to grant them new seat entitlements or points of call beyond the six metros. It hopes this will allow Indian airlines to realise their growth potential.
25/11/14 Business Standard

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Flawed and disappointing

After five and a half months of the new government coming to power, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced a draft aviation policy. Besides the Airport Infrastructure Policy of 1997, India is yet to produce a cabinet approved Civil Aviation Policy though draft policies have existed for over last 25 years. Now, we have yet another half baked four page draft document.

After enunciation of the economic importance of civil aviation, the ministry has made certain announcements. The proposed corporatisation of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited is a good sign as it will bring in greater efficiency and transparency.

However, there is no mention of hiving off and corporatising air traffic management, which has been on the anvil for some time and has been recommended by the Naresh Chandra Committee on the ‘Road Ahead’ as far back as 2002. Further, there is no mention of converting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) office into a Civil Aviation Authority – a much needed catalyst for an efficient DGCA – that was approved by the last government. This is a step backwards.
25/11/14 Sanat Kaul/Deccan Herald

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IIM-B to roll out course in Aerospace and Aviation Management

Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) is rolling out a course on Aerospace and Aviation Management. The part-time certificate programme, called General Management Programme for Aerospace and Aviation Executives (GMAE), is aimed at working professionals from the aerospace and aviation sector and will be launched on December 1.
It is being offered by IIM-B in partnership with Toulouse Business School (TBS), France. This is the first such course in aerospace and aviation management by a premier business school in the country at a time when Indian and foreign companies are showing growth opportunities in aerospace value chain, and as players in developed economies look forward to cut costs and improve efficiency.
Participants who complete the GMAE programme will be eligible to pursue the aerospace MBA being offered by TBS. Aerospace MBA is a two-year programme delivered by both faculty members from TBS and IIM-B together with industry experts from aeronautics, aviation, space and defence.
25/11/14 Rica Bhattacharyya/Economic Times

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New rules may let domestic carriers fly abroad sans curbs

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is looking to scrap restrictions on Indian carriers that want to start overseas services, a move that will benefit new entrants such as Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara but may displease existing airlines IndiGo, Jet Airways and others.

"You have limited them by laws like 5/20," civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said in an interview, referring to the rule that Indian carriers should have been flying for five years and have 20 planes to be eligible for starting overseas operations.

"Allow them. Indians are capable people and they have proved this off and on." He likened the norm to a "reservation kind of a system" that keeps small players out and said the ministry was developing a formula to replace the eligibility rule.
24/11/14 Mihir Mishra/Times of India

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Tripura slashes 4% VAT on aviation fuel

Agartala: The Tripura government has slashed Value Added Tax (VAT) on the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) by 4% with immediate effect on Saturday.

The move is aimed at attracting more private airlines and at the same time give relief to the passengers from paying exorbitant air fares.

Finance secretary Ashutosh Jindal said chief minister Manik Sarkar has decided to reduce VAT on ATF from the existing 22 % to 18 % at the meeting of the council of ministers headed by the CM.
With the decision, ATF price in Agartala has now become lowest among all northeastern states and Kolkata, he said. He added that at present Kolkata, Guwahati, Imphal and Mizoram have been collecting 20 % VAT on ATF.
23/11/14 Times of India

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Indian women pilots soar past global average

New Delhi: Ground realities may be harsh for women in India, but they're still determined to conquer the skies.
Almost 600 of the 5,050 pilots in Indian airlines are women, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). At 11.6%, this is way above the 3% global average estimated by the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
India is also seeing a steady rise in women pilots annually. The last five years saw 4,267 commercial pilots' licences being issued, of which 628 or 14.7% went to women.
Ground realities may be harsh for women in India, but they're still determined to conquer the skies.
Almost 600 of the 5,050 pilots in Indian airlines are women, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). At 11.6%, this is way above the 3% global average estimated by the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
24/11/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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India hopes to reverse flight safety rating

New Delhi: India’s hope to reverse its downgrade of safety ranking by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) soon after the US agency’s inspection in December may come a cropper.

The FAA is non-committal on upgrading India to Category 1 soon, saying its reassessment may take several months. A team from the FAA will examine the progress made by India between December 8 and 12, ten months after it downgraded India to Category 2, which has ten other countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia and Curacao.

The downgrade came as India could not achieve satisfactory on two counts – insufficient number of flight operations inspectors and airworthiness officers do not have required training to handle all types of aircraft.

India now says that it has recruited more Safety Inspectors and imparted proper training and expects a positive outcome of the inspection by January.

However, the FAA is non-committal. “The FAA will begin a reassessment of India’s Civil Aviation Authority in December, which may take several months,” an FAA spokesperson told Deccan Herald in an email from the United States.
23/11/14 Shemin Joy/Deccan Herald

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Aviators firm to provide air ambulance services

Bengaluru: Indian national operator Aviators Air Rescue Ltd will provide air ambulance services across the country using Airbus helicopters in partnership with the US-based Air Medical Group Holdings Inc, the company said Monday.

"We have recently signed a tripartite agreement with Airbus Helicopters and Air Medical Group to offer helicopter emergency medical services in the country using three Airbus-built EC 135 T3/P3 choppers from last quarter of 2015," the city-based Aviators said in a statement here.

The agreement envisages training pilots and medical personnel for the services to state governments, rescue groups, private hospitals, clinics and state-run and private firms through an annual subscription.

"Our objective is to provide top-notch air medical services on par with similar operations in Europe and the US, with the support of Airbus and Air Medical Group, which are leaders in their respective fields," Aviators managing director Arun Sharma said in the statement.
24/11/14  IANS/Business Standard

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Copter to ferry pilgrims for Panchkoshi ‘parikrama’

Vrindavan: A helicopter service will be launched on December 4 to ferry pilgrims on a " parikrama" (circle) of the holy town in just eight minutes. The Agra-based Jet Star Charter and Helicopter Services will use the helipad developed for President Pranab Mukherjee when he visited Vrindavan to lay the foundation stone of the world's tallest Sri Krishna temple on the Akshay Patra campus.

Yogesh Singh Choudhary, director of the company, said initially the chopper service would be available for a quick "parikrama" of the town but later, if the UP government permits, service to Agra could be extended.
The fare fixed for a trip is Rs 2,700 per person for conducting a "parikrama" of the Panchkoshi.
On foot, it takes about four hours to complete the 15-km "parikrama".
24/11/14 Times of India

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5/20 policy clips wings of Indian carriers: Assocham

New Delhi: The rule that requires Indian airlines to complete five years of domestic operations and have a fleet of 20 aircraft before starting services abroad has prevented the carriers from claiming their rightful share in international passenger traffic, according to an industry body.

A white paper released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on the civil aviation industry says there’s no logic in this provision, which is popularly known as the 5/20 policy.

The policy was introduced by the Manmohan Singh Government in December 2004. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has indicated that it wants to review the policy.
23/11/14 Business Line

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Air Works India forms JV to start MRO services in Nepal

New Delhi: High taxes on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities in India has made Air Works India Engineering focus on growing international business. The company has formed a joint-venture with Nepal-based Yaksa Investment, 'Air Works Nepal', which will provide aviation maintenance services to international airlines and domestic operators from Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. Air Works India is also exploring possibilities to start to satellite line maintenance stations in Myanmar and Bhutan over the next few years.
Sanjeev Munjal, vice-president (strategy and M&A), Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd, said, "The commencement of operations in Nepal in is line with our overall expansion plans to start aviation engineering services' ventures in neighbouring countries where availability and quality of MRO services is not up to international standards. We are also examining possibilities to start operations in Myanmar and Bhutan."

While Air Works will extend its technical capabilities from India to facilitate operations in Kathmandu, Yaksa Investment will secure clearances from local regulatory authorities. Air Works will provide line maintenance services on ATR 42/72, Airbus 320/330 and Boeing 737/777/787. Commercial operations in Nepal are expected to commence by March/April 2015.
24/11/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Airlines eye tech partners to tap customer data

Airlines are seeking to work more closely with travel technology companies to mine customer data for ways to generate more revenue beyond ticket sales, emulating other industries already using such methods.
While retailers have implemented ever more ingenious ways to make better use of customer data, both online and offline, many airlines have been slower off the mark, only recently looking to harvest more profitably wealth of information provided by their frequent-flyer loyalty schemes.

"Revenue from the ticket is barely covering costs these days," Uwe Klenovsky, commercial director of Thomas Cook Airlines, said at the CAPA World Aviation Summit in Antwerp. The International Air Transport Association ( IATA) forecasts that global airlines will achieve a net profit margin of only 2.4% this year, higher than 2013 but a long way from the 10% margins in the 1960s.
24/11/14 Times of India

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Mumbai aviation firm pulls out of Odisha project

Mumbai: A Mumbai-based aviation company which had been helping an aviation company in Odisha to set up regional connectivity in that state, has pulled out of the project alleging that the Odisha firm was siphoning off funds and putting it into other uses, jeopardizing the future of the project.

In a complaint filed with the sub-judicial magistrate court in Bhubaneshwar, Supreme Aviation Pvt Ltd has said that the directors of M/s Air Odisha Pvt Ltd had approached them last year for business loan of Rs 1 crore for setting up offices and guest offices as per the requirement of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Accordingly, the Odisha company was provided a significant part of the loan.

The complainant added that in January this year it realised that the accused, through a well-knit criminal conspiracy, had committed fraud, cheating and criminal breach of trust and had utilised the loan amount for purposes other than those agreed upon. The money was allegedly used for personal as well as other business purposes, jeopardizing the regional connectivity project.
23/11/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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Ministry of Defence defers purchase of trainer plane

New Delhi: Two specific proposals before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) — the proposed manufacturing of 56 transport aircraft by Tata-Airbus to replace the IAF’s ageing Avro fleet and the proposed acquisition of another 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the IAF — were deferred at Saturday’s meeting since the government apparently “wants more information regarding the proposals”.
23/11/14 Deccan Chronicle

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Will Parrikar clear single-tender Avro replacement bid?

Bengaluru: All eyes are on India's new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is set to chair his first Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting in New Delhi on November 22. Among the crucial decisions to be taken by Parrikar, the 13,000-crore ‘private sector only' Avro replacement project initiated by the UPA-2 regime would be the most-awaited one. Aimed at encouraging the private sector to take major lead in India's aerospace and defence programmes, the project envisages the delivery of 56 medium transport aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), under the ‘Buy and Make' category.The decision to keep PSUs like aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) at bay from the tendering process has already ran into trouble. The tender was issued during A K Antony's regime in May 2013 and was strongly opposed by some of his Cabinet colleagues as well. The tender had sought foreign OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to identify an Indian partner other than HAL, to supply 16 aircraft from their original facilities and provide ToT (Transfer of Technology) for manufacturing the remaining 40 aircraft by the Indian partner.
22/11/14 Dr Anantha Krishnan M/One India

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New runway at NDA for safety of cadets

Pune: With a recent approval from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to extend the existing runway length at the National Defence Academy's (NDA) Air Force Training Team (AFTT) facility in Khadakwasla, officers believe cadets will now be able to land small and medium-sized transport aircraft there for training purposes, as well as get adequate space to land sorties safely with a small margin of error.

The total cost of the new runway is estimated to be around Rs 40 crore. Speaking to Mirror, Wing Commander and officer in-charge of AFTT, S K Singh, said, "The MoD recently gave permission for the runway extension — actual work will start in a few months. The new runway, which will help cadets make safe landings, will be 1.5 kms in length and 30 metres wide."

Air force cadets begin their association with AFTT in the Vth term, when they start learning aviation-related subjects prior to flying training in the VIth semester. The training team aims at inculcating aviation sense in budding air warriors, to groom them in all aspects of military aviation. The Super Dimona is used to initiate the VIth term Air Force cadets to powered flight, with attention given to enabling cadets with the ethos prevalent in all flying training units of the Indian Air Force.
22/11/14 Sandip Dighe/Pune Mirror

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Domestic airlines have cut fuel emissions, says DGCA report

Mumbai: Implementation of fuel saving measures and induction of new efficient planes has helped Indian airlines to improve fuel efficiency and control emissions.

Total carbon emissions by Indian airlines increased in 2013 over 2012 due to an introduction of new routes and an increase in aircraft movements. Emissions measured on an unit basis, though higher than global average, declined, says Directorate General of Civil Aviation report on carbon footprint in aviation for 2013.

The DGCA study records data on emissions of both domestic airlines and foreign airlines. However emissions are recorded only on outbound departures for international flights.

Indian airlines contributed to about 11.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2013 compared to 11.5 million tonnes in the previous year a growth of 3.37% over previous year. Emissions of foreign airlines declined 3.9% to 3.6 million tonnes. Total airline related emissions rose to 15.6 million tonnes in 2013, a rise of 1.57%.

Airline emissions account for about 95% of aviation emissions and the rest are reported from airports.
21/11/14 Business Standard

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37 Army officers get Army aviation wings

Nashik: Thirty-seven Army officers earned the 'Army aviation wings' in a passing out parade ceremony on Saturday at the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) Gandhinagar Airfield here.
The Army Aviation wings to officers, after their 18-week training, was given by Chief of Army staff Training Command and Colonel of Punjab Regiment, Lt General BS Sachar, who presided over ceremony as the chief guest, a CATS release said.
The prestigious 'Silver Cheetah' trophy was awarded to captain Pankaj Bhatia. Sachar also presented trophies to cadets for their best performance in the 18-week course.
21/11/14 PTI/ZeeNews

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Mahindra Gets Nod to Sell its Australian Airplanes in India

Melbourne: Mahindra group can finally start selling its airplanes in India after it got approval from the country's civil aviation ministry.

"The aviation ministry yesterday has cleared few norms for certification, which will finally allow us to sell our Australian planes in India," said Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director on Mahindra Group.

In 2009, Mahindra group announced its intention to be a big player in the aerospace business by acquiring 75.1 per cent of stake each in two Australian aerospace firms for Rs 175 crore.

Since then it had started selling its aircraft in some markets but was unable to do so in India due to regulatory issues. Its aircraft are already flying in the Middle East and Australia.

"We bought an Australia company and we are selling our planes in California but due to a rule to do with seating capacity for piston engine plane, we were not able to sell in India," saids Mr Mahindra, who was also part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's CEO delegation to Australia.
19/11/14 NDTV

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Govt to decide on Saturday on Tata-Airbus bid to supply 56 transport aircraft to IAF

New Delhi: The government will decide on Saturday whether to press ahead with the Rs 13,000 crore mega project for the private sector to supply 56 medium transport aircraft to the IAF despite only a single bidder, the Tata-Airbus consortium, being in the fray.

Though the defence acquisitions council (DAC) chaired by Manohar Parrikar will take the final decision, MoD sources on Tuesday said the "emerging dominant view" is that green signal should be given to the crucial project designed to promote Indian private sector's entry into the domestic aerospace arena with foreign collaboration.

"The Tata-Airbus technical and commercial bid is a credible offer submitted in a competitive environment. The other seven contenders backed out for one reason or the other," said a source.
19/11/14 Rajat Pandit/Times of India

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DGCA withdraws proposal to ban charter operations with less than three aircraft

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has withdrawn and amended its proposal that suggested re-designation of all non-scheduled operator permit (NSOP) holders with less than three aircraft as ‘private’ airlines.
Officials on Tuesday said the civil aviation requirement to get a licence has now been retained to one aircraft only, as against three proposed earlier to get licence to fly the non-scheduled aircraft commercially. The DGCA proposal had also suggested de-licensing of such existing commercial non scheduled flight operators, a move that was criticised by the Business Aircraft Operator’s Association (BAOA) as “retrograde”, and one that would force a majority of India’s air charter industry to stop all “commercial” flights.
Earlier, in October, the aviation regulator had proposed a draft rule which would have permitted a non-scheduled air operator to start operations with one plane or a helicopter, but to raise the fleet size to at least three within a year of securing the flying licence.
18/11/14 Indian Express

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Will finalize Boeing MRO start date in a week: Raju

Nagpur: Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Tuesday the delay in getting the Boeing MRO operational was "unacceptable." After visiting the site, the under construction taxiway and interacting with officials of Air India, the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) and a representative of Boeing, Raju said he would get down to "real business" in Delhi by next week to finalize a firm timeline.

"Within a week, I will call a meeting of all stakeholders and get them to work out a time frame within which the MRO facility could get rolling," he said. The project was conceived in 2005 but the actual construction started in 2011. The Rs800 crore unit is ready and the minister is keen that there are no further delays in getting it started.

Raju said he was "satisfied with MRO unit as stand-alone," but was quick to add that "the integration work was lacking." "Now, we are at the fag end of 2014. That the project is still to start production is something I am worried about. I came to see the ground reality and assess the status. The parliament session is beginning soon and if someone raises a question, I have to answer it," he said.
18/11/14 Ramu Bhagwat & Shishir Arya/Times of India

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SpiceJet's Q2 Signals Cheap Air Tickets are Here to Stay

Budget carrier SpiceJet started the trend of announcing hefty discounts on air fares in India. Despite being neck-deep in losses, India's third largest carrier by market share cut air fares on some tickets by 50 per cent in January 2014 and followed up with a series of even steeper discounts. (Read)

By the end of the year, the price of a promotional SpiceJet ticket came down to triple digits. Other airlines followed suit raising fears of a price war in India's troubled aviation sector, where only a couple of carriers are making profits.

There was apprehension that SpiceJet was resorting to "mindless discounting", but second quarter results show that "there is a method to the madness", SpiceJet's COO Sanjiv Kapoor told NDTV on Monday. SpiceJet lost Rs 310 crore in the three months to September 30, which is 45 per cent less than the Rs 560 crore it lost last year. (Watch the full interview here)

The narrowing of losses has been driven by operational performance, SpiceJet says. The carrier has increased the passenger load factor, which measures the capacity utilization in percentage and cut down costs.
18/11/14 Varun Sinha/NDTV

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Not bird or plane, it's a poll chopper

Ranchi: They are the fabled pushpak vimans of poll-bound skies.
As many as nine helicopters are parked at the Birsa Munda Airport hangar for their use by political parties for speedy and hassle-free Assembly poll campaigns in far-flung areas.
And yes, whirring blades and rapid descent of a chopper make for a grand entry in front of gaping rural crowds. Leaders simply love that.
So, while the BJP's central leadership has hired four choppers for electioneering in Jharkhand, ruling party JMM is also not far behind with three choppers. The Congress and JVM have hired one each.
Though the facility does not come cheap and the campaigners have to be mindful of the electioneering expense cap set for the candidates concerned - Rs 28 lakh - the flying machines are in high demand.
BJP's four choppers include three single-engine machines and a twin-engine counterpart. All are hired from Delhi-based Tarsi Airlines owned by one Gulab Singh. The cost is steep - Rs 70,000 per hour - while the cost of parking, fuel, groundsmen is extra.
18/11/14 Amit Gupta/Telegraph

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Air traffic grows 18.31% in October

Domestic air passenger traffic posted double-digit growth in October for a third straight month.
The eight scheduled airlines together carried 5.93 million passengers in October, an increase of 18.3 per cent over the 5.01 million in the same month of last year. The number was also the second highest in absolute terms this year. In May, the eight airlines had seen air traffic rise a combined 7.9 per cent over a year before, to 6.02 million passengers.
Budget carrier IndiGo continued to maintain a strong lead in the domestic market; nearly one of every three travellers fly with it. IndiGo’s market share, however, dipped marginally to 31.9 per cent last month from 32.8 per cent in September.
Air India grew its market share by almost three basis points during the month. With  19.5 per cent in October, AI was the second largest carrier in market share in domestic skies.
Jet Airways, with low-cost arm JetLite, accounted for 20.5 per cent of the domestic air travel market, marginally lower than the 20.8 per cent the duo had in September. SpiceJet and GoAir had 17.3 (down from 18.6 in September) and 8.5 per cent (down from 9.2 per cent), respectively. Newcomers Air Costa and AirAsia India’s shares were each 1.1 per cent.
17/11/14 Business Standard

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Despite delays, Air India grabs market share, passengers from private airlines in October

New Delhi: Air India, which was facing flak around Diwali with severe flight delays and cancellations, actually carried the maximum passenger loads across its aircraft in October.

According to data released by DGCA, aircraft occupancy across Air India's domestic network was the best among all domestic airlines at 83.5 percent, followed by SpiceJet at 80.1 percent as market leader IndiGo languished at 76.8 percent and even AirAsia India flew with 76.2 percent occupancy.

In other words, while Air India had more than 8 in 10 seats full on its aircraft and SpiceJet was close behind, IndiGo and AirAsia India flew with almost one in four seats empty. This is surprising since October was the festival month and actually saw passenger traffic growth of 18.31 percent month on month to 59.25 lakh passengers.
During the Diwali week, passengers travelling on the Air India network actually faced much difficulty as many flights got delayed - some beyond two hours - or were clubbed with other flights. This also lead to offloading of some pre-booked passengers. Airline officials had expressed their helplessness then, saying engine trouble had grounded some aircraft creating capacity shortage.
17/11/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/FirstBiz

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Push for aviation fuel in GST

New Delhi: The BJP-led government is looking to include aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the list of products to be covered by the proposed goods & services tax (GST), ensuring uniform tax on the fuel across all states.

Jet fuel in India is almost 60 per cent higher than other countries and represents 40-50 per cent of a carrier’s operating costs. Besides, the tax imposed on the fuel by the state is steep, averaging around 30 per cent.

Officials in the aviation ministry said they were working with the finance ministry to bring the fuel within the ambit of GST as part of the new aviation policy.

States have been demanding that all petroleum and alcohol products should be excluded from GST so that they can continue to levy taxes on them.

“We want jet fuel to be part of the GST. This will reduce taxes on the fuel by a huge margin and at one stroke, make aviation profitable in this country,” said the officials.

The GST regime aims to replace multiple state and central levies with a single tax regime.
16/11/14 Jayanta Roy Chowdhury/Telegraph

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Aviation minister to visit Boeing MRO project Tuesday

Nagpur:  The Boeing maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) depot is completely ready and could become operational in a month or so. Aviation minister Ashok Gajpathy Raju will arrive in the city on Tuesday for a high-level meeting with Air India officials to review progress of the Rs 800 crore facility coming up as part of MIHAN. This MRO is billed to be the most modern in Asia and save huge foreign exchange and time for Indian airlines operators. The MRO is a joint venture between Boeing and Air India with 49:51 stakes.

The two big hangars 100X200 metres each are ready, and were built by infrastructure giant L&T. Two Boeing 747 aircraft can be accommodated and overhauled at a time at these hangars. Such a MRO facility was not available in the country and planes had to be sent to Boeing's Seattle headquarters in the US or to the MRO that has come up in China.
17/11/14 Times of India

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Seaplane takes off from Nagpur, lands safely in Khindsi

Nagpur:  The trial run to check the feasibility of flying an amphibian between Nagpur and Khindsi in Ramtek was held on Saturday. A Mumbai-based company Maritime Energy Heli Airservices (MEHR) has decided to operate the aircraft on the Nagpur-Khindsi-Nawegaon Khairi-Nagpur circuit.

Officials of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) were on the first flight to look at the route's safety aspect. The project is brainchild of former Ramtek MLA Ashish Jaiswal.

The company is already operating seaplanes on Mumbai-Lonavla and Mumbai-Shirdi routes. The novel experience will, however, be quite costly. The first route costs 4,500 and the second 5,500. These do not include charges for other activities. MEHR is mainly targeting high-end Indian and international tourists who go to Kanha from Nagpur.

It has applied for Juhu-Girgaum route too but not much has happened after the trial run. It has plans for Goa and Gujarat too.
15/11/14 Times of India

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Aviation: Cruising gets tough

Airline industry is facing stiff competition, it even led to existing players seeking to block newer ones.

For the past couple of months, the civil aviation sector in the country has been giving some pleasant news. There is a record order for aircraft, a new airline hit the skies, one more is waiting in the wings, more passengers are flying and some operators recorded positive vibes after several quarters.

But only months before, the annual reports of airlines recorded a cumulative loss of Rs 9,737.47 crore for 2013-14. Budget airlines IndiGo and GoAir managed to record profits though with diminished figures, compared to the previous fiscal, while the loss escalated for others. However, the aviation players were not disheartened and they looked at opportunities to turn the tide. Nobody was confident enough to say the time for gloom is over though the picture appeared a bit rosy.

The last few moths, however, saw bitter wars, smart moves anticipating rival’s strategy, and discount sales at unexpected times for unexpected reasons. Riding on over two dozen discount sales announced by all airlines, airlines managed to attract 491.47 lakh passengers this year until September, an increase of over 34 lakh from the corresponding period last year.
15/11/14 Shemin Joy/Deccan Herald

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Rise in carbon emissions from airline operations

New Delhi: Carbon emissions due to airline operations from Indian destinations increased by 1.57 per cent in 2013 with a latest government report saying the planes emitted 1.56 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide compared to 1.53 crore tonnes in 2012.

However, this was just 2.21 per cent of global emissions due to airline operations, which had touched 70.5 crore tonnes.

The latest “Carbon Footprint of Indian Aviation, 2013” report prepared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned that the emissions are likely to increase given the “significant expected” growth of Indian aviation.

The report also predicted that the baseline emissions due to airline operations are estimated to touch 2.65 crore tonnes in 2020, adding that India is committed to actively addressing climate change challenge.

The emissions of India scheduled passenger airlines to and from domestic destinations was 63.65 lakh tonnes last year, which rose from 61.35 lakh tonnes in 2012. The 2013 figure was nowhere near 67.55 lakh tonne carbon emissions in 2011.
15/11/14 Deccan Herald

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Aviation school gets Bell 47G helicopter

Nashik:  The Combats Army Aviation Training School (CATS) has received a Bell 47G helicopter from the Punjab government recently as a museum piece.

The helicopters were in Indian military service from 1957 to 1972 and utilized by other countries. The machine was recently returned to the Army, which has inducted it as a gratitude to aviators in the past.

An official said Bell 47G is a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter manufactured by Bell helicopter. The Bell 47G variants were powered by the Lycoming VO-435 engine and supercharged 168KW Franklin 6VS-335-A.

A CAATS official said the chopper was the fourth of the first lot of four Bell 47G helicopters received by the Indian Air Force in 1954, followed by 11 more till August 1962. These helicopters were used extensively in Casualty Evacuation (CAS EVAC) and Search and Rescue (SAR) tasks and also participated actively in the Sino-Indian war in 1962 for evacuating wounded soldiers from the battle front.
15/11/14 Times of India

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IIMB to offer course in aerospace, aviation

Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Management,?Bengaluru, (IIMB), in association with the Toulouse School of Business (TSB),?France, will offer a general management programme in aerospace and aviation for executives (GMAE).

The part-time and year-long course, set to commence in April 2015, will be offered as a certificate programme with an option for candidates to complete a full-fledged aerospace MBA?programme from the TSB in the second year.

According to IIMB professor S Raghunath, who is also one of the programme directors,  India is set for a period of strong growth in the aviation sector.

“Strong market growth rate and development of infrastructure will accelerate business opportunities for the aviation industry and related players.

“Our country has a record of consistent growth in air traffic in terms of passengers and cargo, and will continue to do so in the future,” he said, adding that both Indian and foreign companies have excellent growth opportunities in the aerospace value chain as players in developed economies are looking to cut costs and improve efficiency.
15/11/14 Ramzauva Chhakchhuak/Deccan Herald

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IIMB to offer course in aerospace, aviation

Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Management,?Bengaluru, (IIMB), in association with the Toulouse School of Business (TSB),?France, will offer a general management programme in aerospace and aviation for executives (GMAE).
The part-time and year-long course, set to commence in April 2015, will be offered as a certificate programme with an option for candidates to complete a full-fledged aerospace MBA?programme from the TSB in the second year.
According to IIMB professor S Raghunath, who is also one of the programme directors, India is set for a period of strong growth in the aviation sector. “Strong market growth rate and development of infrastructure will accelerate business opportunities for the aviation industry and related players. Our country has a record of consistent growth in air traffic in terms of passengers and cargo, and will continue to do so in the future,” he said, adding that both Indian and foreign companies have excellent growth opportunities in the aerospace value chain as players in developed economies are looking to cut costs and improve efficiency.
He added that with the expansion of growth in the sector, a number of companies would occupy a certain niche in the value chain relating to software, services and technology. Companies such as Tata Advance Systems Limited, Larsen and Toubro, Aviation Software Development Consultancy (a part of Tata), HAL, BEL, Acumen Aviation, Altran Aviation, Apollo Microsystems, Calsoft Labs are already in the fray, he added.
15/11/14 Ramzauva Chhakchhuak/Deccan Herald

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Eye in the sky

When filmmaker Rahat Kulshreshtha was shooting a music video for singer Shreya Singhal last year, he wanted to take a few aerial shots over the Noida Expressway on the outskirts of Delhi. The only way to do it was to hire a helicopter and seek regulatory permissions for its use. Yet, shot from a minimum of 2,000 feet, the footage would not have been up to the mark. It was then that he found out about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) being used in the US for taking aerial shots from less-distant heights. He bought one from there for his own venture.

UAVs are defined as vehicles installed with avionics that can either fly autonomously or by using the commands from the base. The common person perhaps knows them better as drones, because of the military connotations.

However, UAVs can be used for various civilian purposes, such as film productions, wedding photography, surveillance and highrise real estate projects.

Kulshreshtha teamed up with Gaurav Mehta and Tanuj Bhojwani, two batchmates at Ashoka University. They set up Quidich earlier this year — a Delhi-based firm that provides aerial images and videos through UAVs.
14/11/14 Rashmi Pratap/BLink

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Aviation minister pushes for ombudsman

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has renewed the efforts of the ministry to have an aviation ombudsman, a proposal which has been pending since 2011.

The minister’s office has forwarded a note to Civil Aviation Secretary V Somasundaram about the practice of appointment of ombudsman in some of the ministries and departments in the government and the possibility of having such an arrangement in the civil aviation sector.

The note said the institution of ombudsman is a major step forward in timely redressal of grievances and for bringing about better standards. Raju wants to check the viability of having having an ombudsman for the ministry, PSUs under the ministry, Air India, Airports Authority of India, Pawan Hans Ltd and DGCA.

Raju’s fresh efforts came after a series of delaying tactics on constituting an ombudsman when other sectors managed to set up watchdogs.
14/11/4 Deccan Herald

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Diamond Aeronautics to launch inter-city air services next week

Surat: While SpiceJet has suspended operations from Surat airport after a buffalo hit its plane last Thursday, Diamond Aeronautics Private Limited (DAL) is ready to start its air services next week.

Sources said the DAL, an airline company set-up by four diamond barons, has sought permission from Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to go ahead with launching their air services to destinations like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Indore from Surat.

DAL owners met the AAI officials two days ago and expressed their wish to kick start operations from next week.

DAL director Ishwar Dholakiya told TOI, "We are ready to roll. But, the last Thursday's incident at the airport has forced us to re-schedule our launch dates. Otherwise, our original plan was to start the air services this week."

He said that two aircrafts are parked at Surat airport hangar and have not taken flight since the the buffalo incident.
14/11/14 Melvyn Reggie Thomas/Times of India

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Indian Air Force hopes Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal would be inked 'sooner than later'

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force on Friday expressed hope that the multi-billion contract for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) would be inked "sooner than later", saying the project is "very important" for it to replace some of the obsolete fleet under its command.

"MMRCA deal is very important for which which we have been stating right from the beginning. Everybody knows, government knows, the public knows (that it is) to replace some of our obsolete fleet which have served the nation well for the last 4-5 decades," Air Force chief Air Marshal Arup Raha said.

He said "though it has taken time", the deal was a planned activity and replacement for the obsolete aircraft that the force has in combat fleet."The process is very huge, little complicated. Most of the things have been sorted out and therefore we expect that final stage will progress rapidly and the deal may be signed sooner than later," he said.
14/11/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Sushma Swaraj’s helicopter fails to land in Shillong

Shillong: The helicopter in which External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was travelling in Meghalaya Friday failed to land here due to poor visibility, an official said. ”Sushma Swaraj has cancelled her visit to Shillong as the Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force carrying her couldn’t land at the helipad due to bad weather,” Sanjay Goyal, district magistrate of East Khasi Hills, told IANS.
Sushma Swaraj was accompanied by Minister of State for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs General V.K. Singh (retd). He, however, said the helicopter landed safely at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati. The external affairs minister was scheduled to inaugurate Shillong Passport Seva Kendra, which will now be inaugurated by Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in the later part of the day.
14/11/14 India.com

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Sea Plane trial run from Nagpur to Ramtek, Pench dam

Nagpur: Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (Mehair) will be conducting trials of sea plane landing and take-off from Nagpur to Khindsi lake at Ramtek and Pench Khairi irrigation dam on November 15.

The sea plane service has received a tremendous response in Mumbai and Nashik, said Ashish Jaiswal, former Shiv Sena MLA from Ramtek and Amol Khante, the project coordinator.
13/11/14 PTI

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Ambani plane pilots goof, create panic in Mumbai

New Delhi: The private Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) Mukesh Ambani gifted to wife Nita on her birthday seven years ago created a major scare at Mumbai airport on Monday night. The aircraft repeatedly emitted "May Day" signal to Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) tower. The pilots of the "Delhi-Lahore-Muscat" flight were screaming: "Karachi, Muscat we are going to ditch". Their engine was on fire and the plane was going to crash!
There was obvious panic in the ATC tower after the first "international air distress" signal came just after 8.30pm, with controllers frantically contacting their Karachi, Muscat and Delhi counterparts to find out what exactly was happening.
Karachi and Muscat told Mumbai that they were neither in contact with any such flight number, nor had any aircraft reported an engine fire or loss of controls leading to May Day calls. After drawing a blank there, the ATC used the signal's "direction finder" and asked the ground staff of Mumbai airport to check the aircraft parked in the direction of private jet hangars as the signal was coming from ground.
"The ground staff found that the signal was coming fromambani's ACJ, a super luxury Airbus A-319, safely parked in a hangar and not going anywhere. Two pilots were in the cockpit," said an official.
Seething with anger at the unprecedented scare that lasted for almost two hours, the ATC conducted a probe into the pilots' behaviour and what they found has left them even angrier. "The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) was to conduct an evacuation exercise of theambani ACJ on Tuesday to see if the crew can safely lead its occupants out in the required time in case of an emergency. Reliance Commercial Developers Pvt Ltd (RCDL), which operates this plane, was practising for the upcoming safety drill. The pilots have told us that they switched on the emergency May Day switch inadvertently and broadcast their practise message to us, which they are not supposed to do during drills," said an official.
13/11/14 Times of India

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Aviation sector must be a lot more competitive

In recent times several groundbreaking news have come in, such as entry of AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, permission to Etihad to expand its operation, double-digit growth in domestic traffic, etc
Lobbying in the aviation sector seems to be fading away with Air India deciding to pull out of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) despite being its founding member since 2006. According to news reports there were differences over the re-organisation of the aviation sector. FIA, so far, has been relying on domestic carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to keep itself going, not yet extending its membership to the Malaysia-owned AirAsia.
While some players in the aviation sector may say FIA is losing its relevance as it has not been able to push the interests of airlines on issues such as fleet and equity requirements, aviation turbine fuel pricing and sales tax, slot allocation etc, the question that arises is, should the Narendra Modi led government itself not be looking into the much needed reforms in the sector which faced accumulated losses of over Rs 10,000 crore in 2013-14. In recent times several groundbreaking news have come in such as entry of AirAsia and Singapore Airlines, permission to Etihad to expand its operation, double digit growth in domestic traffic, Etihad injecting much needed investment in Jet and most of all re-entry of Tata Group in the aviation industry. All these developments have potential to revive the fortune of industry.
The industry, however, still requires some progressive steps from the government to ensure a level playing field. One such act could be review of present regulatory regime governing the aviation sector in India, in order to remove inbuilt loopholes which have impeded the process of infusion of competition in the sector, for long.
13/11/14 Pradeep S Mehta/Asian Age

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‘Check if airlines have got sexual harassment panel’

New Delhi: Why has the government not ensured that Vishakha guidelines on sexual harassment are implemented across the civil aviation industry, the Delhi high court demanded to know on Wednesday.

Justice Hima Kohli asked the Centre and Delhi government to verify if airlines operating from the capital— international and domestic—have a sexual harassment committee as per the landmark Supreme Court guidelines. HC also questioned SriLankan Airlines on why it had not set up regular internal complaints committees, as per the guidelines, at its seven offices in India to look into instances of sexual harassment.

"What steps have you (Centre, Delhi government and airlines) taken for the implementation of Vishaka guidelines in all Airlines or at every workplace. You should have done it by now. You should ensure Vishaka guidelines are functional in every other organization," the court remarked.
13/11/14 Times of India

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HAL eyes joint ventures with industries

Nashik:  The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has decided to focus more on indigenisation of its products and enter into joint ventures and collaborations with private industries.
HAL organised a two-day exhibition that concluded on Wednesday, which was attended by close to 30 industries engaged in manufacturing defense products. The participant industries also included a number of vendors, who are already supplying to the HAL.
Speaking to TOI, an official from HAL said, "We are already outsourcing components to industries but we are focusing on increasing presence of the industries as part of our policy of indigenising our products. This will not only provide business opportunities to the industries, but will also help us reduce cost and save our time. As part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the HAL, Ozar, we held a national seminar on self-reliance in aerospace sector and expo with participation of our industry partners with an aim to provide opportunities to the industries to be our partner by manufacturing the components we require."
Speaking to TOI, L Subramani from Hical, said, "We are in aviation business with 70% export. We have two manufacturing units in Karnataka. We are planning joint venture with the HAL and have held meetings with its officials."
13/11/14 Times of India

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Facilitating aviation with right policies

The draft aviation policy announced by the government has many welcome elements but it also suffers from tentativeness and uncertainty in some respects.

It intends to reform the aviation sector which badly needs a thrust to realise its potential.

It is a sunrise sector and has seen much expansion in the last many years. It can be considered an infrastructure business and has positive links with the economy.

While the entry of private players has changed the face of the industry, it is not in good health.

What the government basically has to do is facilitate the functioning of the industry with the help of right policies and provision of the best infrastructure which only it can create.
13/11/14 Deccan Herald

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India’s Draft Civil Aviation Policy geared to face new demands

“It is a step towards making civil aviation a vibrant sector in our country, to rise to its full potential,” said India’s Civil Aviation Minister, Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, while releasing the Draft Civil Aviation Policy today. The new Civil Aviation Policy is expected to be in place by January 2015, he added. The Draft has been released for consultation with public and stakeholders within three weeks, after which six to seven groups of experts would be constituted to interact with stakeholders and review the inputs received during the process. Underlining the major shifts in the Draft in comparison to the earlier Civil Aviation Policy, the Minister said, “It aims to develop a transparent policy in which regulations for the Civil Aviation sector would be more meaningful.”

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri V. Somasundaran highlighted the salient features of the Draft Civil Aviation Policy in terms of better services and conveniences to flyers. The Draft notes that “airports are to be designed as integrated multi-modal hubs, so that they provide the best possible service levels as well as potential for growth. An integrated multi-modal hub should include rail, metro, bus and truck connectivity as well as accommodation and other services”, he added.

While developing airports, it is equally essential to ensure that related sectors such as access to manufacture, business, tourism and pilgrim centers are developed. This needs to be done in association with other Central Government Departments as well as the State Government/Union Territory. The six metropolitan airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad would be developed as major international hubs and would in future be the main access points for international travel to and from India. In future a “hub-and-spoke” model would be followed, which would also facilitate the development of regional networks and air connectivity as a whole. The existing bilateral agreements with foreign bilateral agreements will be designed in such a way as to facilitate the hub-and-spoke model.
12/11/14 eTurboNews

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Wings Aviation’s Seaplane to begin service in India by December end

Thiruvananthapuram: A nine-seater seaplane procured by Wings Aviation from the US has taken off from Miami and is expected to arrive at the Begumpet airport, Hyderabad by Nov 19. According to Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) managing director Anil Kumar, the seaplane services would commence in India before the end of year, and well in time before the 35th National Games. KTIL is currently entrusted with the implementation of the project.

"We wanted to bring in the aircraft by September, but had to re-route the flight plan because of restricted air space over the Ukrainian war zone. Unexpected typhoons and tornadoes also added to the delay. The seaplane can fly for four hours and only in daylight. Also, we had to gather landing permission from around 15 airports, of which three refused to give us permissions for various reasons," said, Umesh Kamath, chief managing director, Wings Aviation.

The KTIL had extended its early bird incentive from April 30 to Oct 31 hoping that it would rally potential seaplane operators to begin services as soon as possible. Now the operator is planning to seek a two-month extension on the early-bird deadline.
12/11/14 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India

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PIL for acceptance of Re by domestic airlines on foreign

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today sought a response from the Centre on a plea for a ban on those carriers based here which do not accept Indian currency while providing services on their inbound and outbound flights from foreign locations.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and R S Endlaw asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain to examine the facts, saying on what basis the airlines are not accepting Rupees.

"If these (products) are sold in Rupees, all of us will be happy. We actually want to know the reason behind this (not accepting Indian currency)," the court said, adding "we also want to become patriotic."

The court's direction came on a PIL filed by Manjit Singh seeking a direction to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Finanace to impose a rule in India for acceptance of Indian Rupees on all airlines and ships, based here, coming inbound or going outbound for sale of onboard services or products.
12/11/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Mahesh Sharma assumes charge as MoS for Civil Aviation

Mahesh Sharma assumed the charge as Minister of State for Civil Aviation today. A Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Gautam Budh Nagar constituency UP, Sharma is also a member of Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Urban Development.

He is the National Convener of Medical Cell (BJP) and Chairman of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Standing Committee for Public Relations.

Addressing the media on the occasion, Mahesh Sharma said, "Growth in international tourism and a further boost to the image of credible India are the top priority areas which require our immediate attention to achieve newer heights."

He stressed upon the need to interlink tourism with civil aviation and connectivity from airports to tourist sites.
12/11/14 myiris

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Pilatus waits on Indian trainer decision

Swiss airframer Pilatus has quickly established itself as a trusted supplier to the Indian air force because of the smooth entry into service and performance of its PC-7 MkII basic trainer aircraft (BTA). As of last month, its in-service examples had exceeded 22,000 flying hours and accumulated well over 42,000 landings.

The last 15 PC-7 MkIIs currently under contract – aircraft numbers 61 to 75 – will be based at air force station Tambaram near the southern Indian city of Chennai. Tambaram will receive its first trainers in June 2015, where they will be used to train flight instructors – a task currently carried out on vintage Hindustan Aeronautics Kiran MkII jet trainers.
An accelerated delivery schedule has already seen Pilatus deliver 51 trainers under a contract signed with New Delhi in 2012. The remainder are due to be handed over by August next year. Meanwhile, an option clause in the original contract for as many as 38 additional aircraft on top of the original 75 will expire in May, and is likely to be allowed to lapse.
12/11/14 Atul Chandra/Flight Global

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Gujarat cities to be air-connected by December

Ahmedabad: Gujarat will soon have intra-state air connectivity between the cities in the state. As per a latest agreement signed by the state government's civil aviation department and Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (MEHAIR), in the next 45 days, nine cities of Gujarat will be connected with airline services.

On Friday, the state government allotted a letter of intent to the company, which will require to begin air services between these nine cities by December 22.

With commissioning of this service, Gujarat will become the second state in India to have intra-state air connectivity, a state government statement informed.

The cities to be connected with air services include Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Mandvi, Jamnagar, Keshod, Porbandar and Rajkot.
07/11/14 Business Line

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Air Deccan keen to start services to Himachal Pradesh

Shimla:  Budget airline Air Deccan today offered to start to-and-fro flights to Shimla, Kullu, Dharamsala and Kangra from Delhi and Chandigarh.

Chairman and Managing Director of Air Deccan Captain G R Gopinath expressed his interest to start services to different parts of the hill state at an investor meet organised by Himachal government in Bangalore.
The airline is keen to start three flights per day to Shimla from Delhi and two flights each between Chandigarh and Kullu, Gopinath said, adding the services can be started within one month of obtaining necessary clearances.

Evincing keen interest in the offer, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh agreed in principle to the proposal and asked the company to submit the proposal soon so that the government could examine it and take follow up action.

The chief minister put the government's viewpoints on investment and said "we want to develop an IT park in Himachal and the exercise on it will be started on return to Shimla".
07/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Snag hits chopper of PM’s fleet before take off

Varanasi: One of the helicopters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fleet developed a snag before take off and had to be replaced at DLW ground before PM Narendra Modi flew to LBS International Airport Babatpur to take a flight to Delhi on Saturday.

After participating in cleanliness drive at Assi Ghat and Mata Anandmayi Ashram, the PM returned to Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) helipad to fly to Babatpur airport. However, before the take off, Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots detected technical snag in one of the helicopters (Z2906).

A reserve chopper was immediately called from Babatpur airport and the fleet of three choppers took off with the PM. IAF officers said that snag was not a major one but the chopper was removed from the fleet as a precaution.
08/11/14 Times of India

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Arunachal Minister urges early completion of Heliport at Tawang

Tawang: Arunachal Pradesh Tourism, Art and Culture Minister Pema Khandu today urged the executing agency to expedite early completion of the Ugyen Sangpo heliport at Tawang in compliance with the guidelines issued by the Director General of civil aviation (DGCA).
A team from the DGCA visited the heliport in July last and raised observation with regard to heliport's compliance with DGCA guidelines after the MI-172 crash on April 19, 2011.
Khandu, who is a MLA from the district today, visited the heliport to assess the status of ongoing works, an official communique informed here.

Citing the safety issues and also the difficulties being faced by the passengers in availing helicopter service from temporary helipad at Lumla, Khandu directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to complete the remaining works at the earliest and to request the Civil Aviation department for operating the heliport service on temporary basis till re-carpeting was done.
07/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Israel ready to share aviation security technology with India

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country was "ready and willing" to share with India technology in areas such as aviation security, border protection and water harvesting, an official statement said Friday.

Netanyahu conveyed this to India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh during their hour-long meeting here Thursday.

"Netanyahu briefed the home minister on technologies that have been developed by Israel in areas such as aviation security, border protection and water harvesting."

"He said Israel was ready and willing to discuss transfer and development of such technologies with India," a home ministry statement said.

The statement also said a delegation from the Israeli industry would be happy to visit India to explore manufacturing opportunities in different sectors.
08/11/14 IANS/ZeeNews

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IBS bids to reopen US IPOs for India

IBS Software, which provides IT systems to the global aviation industry, is preparing to go public in a deal that could mark the first US listing from India in four years.

IBS is planning to raise about US$200m through a US listing in the first half of 2015, according to multiple sources.

JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are working on the transaction.

No Indian issuer has completed a US IPO since August 2010, when online travel booking company MakeMyTrip priced a US$80.5m Nasdaq listing, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Indian equities, however, have enjoyed a resurgence since Narendra Modi’s election victory in May, and the country’s technology sector is attracting no shortage of international interest.
08/11/14 IFR Asia

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Pipe carying aviation turbine fuel ruptures

Mumbai: A pipe supplying aviation turbine fuel, from a Kurla-based supply station to the Mumbai airport, ruptured on Saturday. Fire brigade officials and Nehru Nagar police rushed to the spot and averted what could have spiralled into a major disaster. The fuel station is located off the Central Railway's harbour line.

Construction work for putting up a fence was going on at the site and around 1pm, workers accidentally drilled into the pipe. Several litres of fuel passed into an open drain nearby. On reaching the spot, the police immediately cordoned off the area.

"Four fire engines were summoned as a precautionary measure. Company officials were summoned to assist in mending the pipeline. It took three hours to bring the situation under control. Repair work went on till late in the evening," said an officer from the Nehru Nagar police station.
08/11/14 Times of India

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Army celebrates 28th anniversary of Aviation Corps

Jammu: The Army's Northern Command Aviation Corps today celebrated its 28th Anniversary 65 kms from here at Udhampur, a Defence spokesman said.

The Army Aviation Corps (ACC) was raised on November 1, 1986 as a separate Corps. Various functions were organised by officers, JCOs and Jawans on this occasion with their families at various Army Aviation units, he said.

On this occasion Lt Gen D S Hooda, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, complimented all the personnel of Army Aviation Corps for their dedication, hard work and complimented them for their whole hearted support beyond the call of duty in recently conducted 'Megh Rahat' relief and rescue operation in the state.
01/11/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Sea plane trial landing at Gangapur on Monday

Nashik: Maritime Energy Heli Air Services (Mehair) will conduct the trial landing of its sea plane services at Gangapur dam on pMonday morning in the presence of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials.

The sea plane service is aimed at connecting Mumbai and Nashik. Scheduled for a start in September, the service was delayed because of various clearances for landing. The only hurdle ahead is that of the DGCA clearance that will come only its officials inspect the trial landing and give their nod to the service.

Earlier, the trial landing was postponed due to bad weather and unavailability of the DGCA officials.
01/11/14 Times of India

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DGCA tells cops about Singapore Airlines probe

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and local police, which are conducting a parallel investigation into the recent Singapore Airlines turbulence incident in which 22 people were injured, are at loggerheads over the issue of jurisdiction.

The situation became tense after the office of assistant commissioner of police (airport division) wrote to the DGCA asking it to submit the details of the probe carried out by it.

DGCA, in turn, has written to top police authorities saying that the police has no jurisdiction over it. A senior DGCA official, who had knowledge about the matter said, "The cops have no jurisdiction over the airline incident investigation and should submit to us all the statements of injured passengers."
31/10/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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