Commencing of the Aero Expo 2017

New Delhi: The second edition of Aero Expo 2017 was inaugurated today in New Delhi by Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, and minister of state Jayant Sinha.
Organised under the patronage of the ministry of civil aviation, the exposition brings together leaders from the Indian civil aviation industry and also foreign players present in the Indian market.
The event saw the participants offering new tourism products and services, and discuss the future of the civil aviation industry and its existing loopholes.
Better inclusion of helicopter services under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), clearing land and air congestion, timely land acquisition, application of the new drone policy, and the importance of having a master-plan, were among key subjects of discussion.
Speaking during a session Sinha informed that draft regulations for drones have already been finalised and that its applications would be for not only e-commerce but also for agriculture, monitoring of all sorts of products and process pipelines including exploring possibilities for launching air rickshaws for travelling smaller distances.
According to him, the draft regulations for drones will not gulp down e-commerce job but convert e-commerce delivery boys currently on motorbikes into pilots and engineers.  This is how the government foresees the futuristic developments in Indian civil aviation space, Sinha added.
02/11/17 Surbhi Kapila/Media India Group

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India's Blue Dart Express buys out Blue Dart Aviation

Indian integrated transportation and distribution firm, Blue Dart Express (BDE), says it has now taken full control of Blue Dart Aviation (BZ, Chennai) after it acquired the remaining 26% that it did not own.

In a filing with the Mumbai Stock Exchange, BDE said it completed the transaction on November 24, 2016.
30/11/16 ch-aviation

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DGCA wants pvt planes to take police permission before flying

CONCERNED WITH rising incidents of private planes being used to ferry large amounts of demonetised currency, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an order Tuesday asking them not to operate on non-guarded airfields without the approval of the local administration.
Issued by Joint Director General (DGCA) Lalit Gupta, the circular stated that general aviation flights — from non-guarded or non-operational airports — should not be operated without the approval of the area’s Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order comes after a Bihar-based businessman, who was travelling alone in a chartered jet, was apprehended last week at Nagaland’s Dimapur airport for allegedly carrying Rs 3.5 crore in demonetised currency. The Civil Aviation Ministry had said it would take legal action — including filing an FIR — against the pilot who flew the jet.
30/11/16 The Indian Express

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Why is the Government treating Boeing with kid gloves?

Even after chronic technical failures of Dreamliner aircraft and Air India’s reputation taking a beating, the government is yet to take the US-based aircraft manufacturer, Boeing to task.

In the last 3 weeks, a number of flights between Kolkata and Delhi were cancelled due to technical snags in the Dreamliner and such glitches are being reported very often in the airline’s international sectors as well.

Air India’s Engineering Union had urged the management last year to defer deliveries of the remaining aircraft. It also urged that the manpower for frequent unscheduled snags be compensated, including damages for hampering the airline’s on-time performance. But, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has still not initiated any action and is rather still taking delivery of the 5 remaining aircraft.

Meanwhile, according to officials, Boeing is in talks with Air India to revise the delivery schedule for the remaining aircraft. Boeing wants to deliver all of them by March 2018.

On the other hand, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is yet to conclude its investigation into this deal.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had in its report, submitted to Parliament in 2011, found fault with the then Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, for not supporting the airline, which has lurched from one crisis to another over the past few years and now finds itself in a debt trap.
30/11/16 Millennium Post

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India launches new AirSewa portal and mobile app to track flights

The Government of India has launched the new AirSewa portal and mobile app to provide a one-stop solution for hassle-free air travel.

Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajpathi Raju said that the ministry intends to enhance air travel experiences for passengers.

The AirSewa portal will be operated through an interactive web portal, as well as a mobile app for android and an iOS platforms.

It will include a mechanism for grievance redressal, back-office operations for grievance handling, flight status / schedule information and frequently asked questions.
29/11/16 Airport-Technology

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India seeks EASA certification for HAL-built Dhruv advanced light helicopters

India is seeking certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its Dhruv advanced light helicopters, as Ecuador considers returning the helicopters after a series of crashes.

Four of seven Dhruv helicopters supplied to Ecuador have crashed during the period October 2009 to January 2015.

The Ecuadorian Government has constituted Court of Inquiry (CoI) in each case which concluded that human errors caused the first two accidents.

Two other CoI reports have not been released by Ecuador Government, citing confidentiality, Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.

However, the aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) analysed the flight data recorders (FDR) records and discovered that the third accident was due to 'pilot associated oscillation (human error)' and the cause of the fourth accident was 'failure of tail drive shaft attributed to maintenance lapse by Ecuadorian team'.

The EASA certification will help HAL increase the export potential in global market.
29/11/16 Airforce-Technology

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Ministry of Civil Aviation focuses on skill development

As per the report submitted by IMaCS, there will be a requirement of about one million personnel directly in the civil aviation sector by 2035. The main objective of conducting the study was to thoroughly review and assess the skill needs in different segments/sub-segments of the sector at present and in future. Accordingly, the study was conducted to gauge competence skills across various segments of the sector, gaps in it, a roadmap for skill development in the sector etc.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) recently to establish a framework of collaboration on skill development, including the setting up of Skill Development Centres, Trade Facilitation Centres and Centres of Excellence.
A Steering Committee headed by Secretary, Civil Aviation has been set up for better coordination and implementation of skill development in the sector. Indian Aviation Academy (IAA) has also been appointed as the nodal institute for assisting the Steering Committee.
A tripartite MoU was signed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) with National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for ‘Setting up of Skill Development Centre and Skilling Youth’.
30/11/16 Gopanjali Roy/Biz@India

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No nod for using Russian aircraft for Cusat project

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has turned down a proposal to permit Russian aircraft M-55 Geophysica to fly over the Indian skies as part of an international research programme on climate change involving Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) and supported by the European Union.

The decision has hit the prospects of collecting valuable data on the impact of the Indian monsoon convection on the tropical tropopause layer and climate as part of the StratoClim project. The aim of the ambitious venture is to assess the role of upper troposphere and stratosphere in climate change and it involves 28 research institutions in 11 countries.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has expressed defence and security concerns for not clearing the proposal. Efforts by the research team to convince the authorities that the aircraft would be used only for research purpose have failed. The high-altitude aircraft has only a single seat, making it impossible for an Indian pilot to join the mission programme. The research team has taken the aircraft on rent from a private firm.
28/11/16 G.Krishnakumar/The Hindu

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Demonetisation: Haryana beefs up security at airstrips

Haryana government on Monday issued instructions for screening of passengers, bags and flights operating from various airstrips located in the state, for security purposes.
An official of the civil aviation department said that it has been decided to install CCTV cameras to capture the movement of passengers, bags, crew members and the aircraft or helicopter. While installing CCTV cameras, care would be taken to have better resolution, night vision recording and storage for at least 90 days. Till such time CCTV cameras are installed, video cameras would be taken on hire for screening, he added.
Decision has been taken by the state government almost a week after Rs 3.5 crore cash, in scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, was transported in a chartered flight from the airstrip in Hisar district to Dimapur in Nagaland. The state government is already probing the incident.
As per the orders, in charge guard and one responsible official of civil aviation department would jointly screen bags for firearms, explosives, cash and narcotics. A separate log book would be maintained for all the flights being operated from airstrips giving the details of the operator, aircraft, crew members, passengers and the destination to and from the airstrips. He said that ID proof of crew and passengers would be checked.
28/11/16 Ajay Sura/The Times Of India

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DGCA backtracks on proposal to punish sick pilots

India's civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is back-tracking on its own words and proposal, a week after the pilot union body slammed the regulator's draft proposal of punishing sick pilots. Sources in the DGCA office claim that the proposal may never see the light of the day.
A senior DGCA official told the Hindustan Times that the draft proposal will not become a rule. "It was meant to be a stern warning, but I think it wasn't conveyed properly."
In its draft proposal (as notified on the DGCA website), the aviation regulator had announced a proposal on November 7, that pilots coming late for flights as well as reporting sick just before a scheduled flight are likely to face tough consequences. This means in extreme cases, the harsh action may result in cancellation of the pilot's license or the pilot being temporarily grounded.
28/11/16 Kalyani Pandey/International Business Times

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Fancy Flights for Aam Aadmi

When Narendra Modi stormed to power in New Delhi, he had promised various measures to fulfill the life of public in general which were a fancy for them till date. Affordable flights for the lower middle class and connecting tier-2 and tier-3 cities to the aviation radar was one of such major measures.

Therefore, providing regional air connectivity is one of the important policy goals for the Narendra Modi government. Such services deliver a host of benefits by fulfilling latent consumer demand for convenient travel, making businesses and trade more efficient, showcasing India’s tourism potential, enabling fast medical service and promoting national integration at the same time. Moreover, building connections to tier-2 and tier-3 cities also generates powerful network effects with many regional passengers transferring on to the national aviation network between tier-1cities. This move is expected to bring fancy for aviation among the public in general a reality as majority of the Aam Aadmi lives in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

The Udan (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) program is designed to jump start the regional aviation market by improving the profitability of under-developed regional routes. Udan is a market-based policy intervention that builds on similar programs in the US, Canada and Australia. It is also consistent with universal service approaches established for other network-based services such as railways and telecom.
28/11/16 The Day After

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Aviation Experts Investigating Midair Near-Miss over India

Aviation authorities have launched an investigation into a near-miss incident earlier this month that saw two aircrafts almost collide over India.
According to The New Indian Express, an IndiGo Airbus A320 plane had recently departed from Bengaluru International Airport when it came close to hitting a KLM Boeing Dreamliner flying from Amsterdam to Kualampur on Nov. 2.
As a result of what is being considered a “serious incident,” the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau has launched a formal investigation.
Indian authorities said preliminary data indicates the “IndiGo aircraft came in close proximity with KLM plane as the required standard lateral and vertical (radar) separation was reduced. The vertical separation was reduced to 200 feet, it added.”
28/11/16 Donald Wood/Travel Pulse

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Business class or private jet? This young Indian entrepreneur can help

More rich Indians are flying than ever before, and many of them are choosing the ultimate in luxury -- a private jet.

It's a fast growing industry that's already proving profitable for Kanika Tekriwal, founder of JetSetGo, an online market place for private jets and helicopters.

"There's a question that people are frequently asked: 'Are you private jet rich or business class rich?'," said Tekriwal. "I don't think it's difficult in today's day and age to actually convince a potential private jet customer to use a private jet."

Air travel in India grew more than 20% last year and the country could overtake the U.K. as the world's third-largest aviation market by 2026, according to the International Air Transport Association. It is also home to 200,000 millionaires, according to consulting firm Capgemini.

Tekriwal founded JetSetGo in 2012. The 28-year-old describes the company as the "Uber of the skies" and says the average net worth of her customers is $100 million.
28/11/16 Rishi Iyengar/nbc-2

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Week after cash flew out of Hisar, security hiked at all airstrips in Haryana

The Haryana government on Monday issued instructions for screening of passengers, bags and flights operating from various airstrips located in the state, for security purposes. An official of the civil aviation department said that it has been decided to install CCTV cameras to capture the movement of passengers, bags, crew members and the aircraft or helicopter.
Decision has been taken by the state government almost a week after Rs 3.5 crore cash, in scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was transported in a chartered flight from the airstrip in Hisar to Dimapur in Nagaland. The state government is already probing the incident.
While installing CCTV cameras, care would be taken to have better resolution, night vision recording and storage for at least 90 days. Till the CCTV cameras are installed, video cameras would be taken on hire for screening, he added.
29/11/16 The Times Of India

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AirSewa app launched to help fliers register complaints

The Civil Aviation Ministry today launched a mobile app which would enable fliers to register their complaints regarding various services.Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju launched the mobile app, AirSewa, to offer people a convenient and hassle-free air travel experience. It will be operated through an interactive web portal as well as through a mobile app for both Android and iOS platforms.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey and Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani were also present on this occasion.

The portal will include a mechanism for grievance redressal, back-office operations for grievance handling, flight status/schedule information, airport Information and FAQs.

Speaking at the event, Raju said his Ministry was committed to provide a hassle-free and comfortable air travel experience to people. To do this, he said, it is necessary to recognize the pattern of problems that people face, and make suitable systemic improvements in the working of the department.

Raju called upon all service providers to adopt the spirit of continuous improvement so that the collaborative platform of AirSewa can make air travel enjoyable for people.

Noting that flight delays, problem in refunds, long queues and lack of proper facilities at airports and complaints of lost baggage were some of the most common problems that air travellers are facing today, Sinha said and stressed upon the need to respond to these problems in a systematic rather than an ad hoc manner.

AirSewa is an attempt to provide such a systematic approach to redressing passenger grievances, he said, adding although it was a major challenge to get the various players who are a part of the civil aviation ecosystem on to a common platform, this has been achieved through the newly launched service.
27/11/16 PTI/BGR

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Govt may provide 30% gap funding for planes with less than 20 seats

Government plans to provide as much as 30% more viability gap funding for sub-20 seater planes flying to unserved and under-served airports under the regional connectivity scheme.

Seeking to make flying affordable for the masses, the government has launched UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme under which fares would be capped at a maximum of Rs 3,500 depending on the duration of a flight on regional routes.

Fares would be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights.

To compensate the operators, the Civil Aviation Ministry would be providing viability gap funding -- which would be partly raised by way of a fixed levy on planes flying in major routes.

While the amount of funding would primarily depend on different stage length (or duration) of the flight, the ministry would also take into account certain constant factors in deciding the quantum.

"Now we will have two constants for the same stage length," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told PTI.

While unveiling UDAN scheme last month, the ministry had said viability gap funding (VGF) would be based on different stage lengths as well as the type of fixed wing aircraft.

"For the aircraft that are comparatively bigger ones such as ATRs, the VGF will be same what we have indicated earlier. But for the aircraft which have less than 20 seats, the VGF will be significantly more," Choubey said.

When asked about the quantum of increase in VGF that would be available for such planes, he said "it may be about 30 per cent higher than the VGF for an ATR".
27/11/16 PTI/Z Business

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This private two-seater plane for Rs 1.5 crore runs on car petrol

A Gurugram-based private aviation company has started manufacturing two-seater helicopters in the Aravalli ranges. The choppers will cost Rs 1.5 crore and can run for five hours on petrol.
Vivek, an official with the company, said that it is the first of its kind unit in India where people can buy their own private helicopter at such a low cost.
"We have chosen technology used in Poland. The helicopter's engine comprises 135 horse power Rotex 92 ULS. The helicopters will be manufactured at a farm house in the area, and according to orders placed by domestic and foreign customers," Vivek said. "We have organised a live demo of the chopper from November 23-26 and another on January 12 to attract more customers," the official added.
28/11/16 Ajay Kumar/India Today

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Has demonetisation hit air travel? Jury still out

The Centre’s demonetisation decision has led to a slight dip in the sale of air tickets, a top functionary of a private airline has said, but agreed with the government’s assertion that it is too early to relate the two.

Government sources, meanwhile, said there had been a surge in cash bookings after the demonetisation move but said they would “wait and watch” before commenting on the financial impact of the move on air-travel.

There are preliminary indications that so far there may have been a 10 per cent dip in air-travel bookings, but airlines are watching the situation closely before arriving at a conclusion. “It is too early to say. There is a slight dip in demand but it is not alarming as of now. We will have to see what the impact will be in the coming days,” a top executive of a private airline said.

The cash-surge in bookings was seen after the government had initially allowed the use of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for air-travel bookings, following which the government put out a rider that the tickets sold through this would be non-refundable.
28/11/16 The Asian Age

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India Said to Mull Foray Into Plane Leasing to Support Modi Plan

India is considering buying and leasing small planes to local carriers as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to connect remote towns and villages by air, people familiar with the proposal said.

To succeed, Modi’s plans would need small, 20-seat aircraft, which are usually not leased out by traditional aircraft-renting companies, the people said, declining to be identified because the proposal hasn’t been made public. The government would either use an existing state-run company or set up a new entity for this, one of the people said.

Only 75 out of India’s 450 airfields have scheduled commercial operations as carriers shy away from flying to remote areas. Modi wants to revive them by offering subsidies to airlines plying those routes. Having smaller planes will help the carriers fill up most seats and help the government objective of connectivity, the people said.
27/11/16 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg

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Return of the low-cost king: Deccan Charters's Captain Gopinath to enter regional routes

The government’s plan to attract entrepreneurs to regional aviation has drawn a star participant in G R Gopinath, pioneer of low-cost flying in India who is now considering a
comeback in the country’s regional skies.

Deccan Charters, an aviation services company owned by Gopinath, has registered for bidding for regional routes. The government has received 20 registrations from air operator permit holders to participate in the bidding.

“I had never completely left aviation, Deccan Charters has been providing charter services for tourism, medical service and corporate travel. I just want to make it bigger,” Gopinath, now 63, told Business Standard. With four fixed-wing aircraft and 10 helicopters, Deccan Charters provides services to pilgrims in parts of Uttarakhand and chartered aircraft to companies. It has also expanded into the maintenance and repair of aircraft and provides services to corporate houses like Reliance, the Tatas and the Jindals.

Gopinath did not divulge the routes he was interested in but said some of the country’s 900 airstrips provided very good opportunity for making money.

“A mining belt like Bellary has five airfields. Bagdogra is connected to Kolkata but unconnected to Cooch Behar, only 40 minutes away. The tourist circuit of Kulu-Manali-Shimla also holds promise,” he said. “Air Deccan flew between many such cities, which were rendered flightless with its demise.” Air Deccan was, after a financial crunch, taken over by the Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, which itself was grounded in 2012.
25/11/16 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Pilots Say New Rules Could Force Them To Fly Sick, Risk Safety

Indian pilot unions are angry with the government. They say the authorities have now proposed new rules that may force them to fly sick.

Earlier this month, India's civil aviation ministry proposed changes to create stricter rules on pilots reporting for flight duty.

When pilots report being sick, according to the new government proposal, doctors employed by the airline will examine them. The ministry said that it can revoke their license if pilots "pretend to be sick" because it will be treated as "an act against public interest."

Unions say that this may give rise to sick pilots "pretending to be fit" out of fear. That could endanger passenger safety not only in India but also in the countries where their planes fly, including the United States.

The pilots will also be required to report for work according to the controversial "dynamic roster" of flight schedules as opposed to a fixed roster prepared earlier.

The changes, if passed, will be in force from December, the note said.

On Tuesday, three pilots unions in the country wrote to the government saying the proposed changes "would greatly imperil air safety."

The pilots said that airline doctors may not be equipped to diagnose quickly "non-routine illnesses" such as heart problems, back pain or mental stress.
24/11/16 Rama Lakshmi/NDTV

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Dubai Airports Clears Air on Slot Allocation for Indian airlines

Clearing the air on the controversy surrounding slot allocation for Indian carriers, Dubai Airports has said the slot allocation was being done by an independent agency.

“It’s important to understand that the assignment of traffic rights via bilateral agreements and slot allocation are two discrete processes,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports.

“Traffic rights are negotiated between governments. Slot allocation is managed separately by an independent organisation at arm’s length and in accordance with international guidelines established by the International Air Transport Association. Specifically, Dubai International’s slots are allocated by an independent slot coordinator, Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), in accordance with IATA guidelines. ACL conducts slot allocation activities at other major international airports around the world as well.”

Dubai International is the busiest airport for international passenger traffic in the world, with 90 carriers connecting the airport to more than 240 global destinations with high demand for a limited supply of slots.
25/11/16 Defence Aviation Post

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'151 Pilots, Crew Members Tested Positive For Alcohol'

As many as 151 pilots and crew members tested positive for alcohol during pre-flight medical examination in the first ten months this year and action has been taken against them, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Thursday.
A total of 38 pilots and 113 cabin crew have tested alcohol positive during pre-flight medical examination for consumption of alcohol from January 1 to October 31 this year, he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Acting against such individuals, aviation regulator DGCA suspended privileges of license of pilots as well as privileges of authorisation of cabin crew.
"Further, the concerned airlines in compliance with DGCA's order, have grounded all these pilots and cabin crew," Raju said.
24/11/16 PTI/News18

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Air Force's Upgraded Jaguar DARIN III Aircraft Gets Operation Clearance

In a significant milestone for the country's military aviation sector, the upgraded Jaguar DARIN III twin-seat aircraft has received Initial Operation Clearance (IOC).

Deputy Chief of IAF, Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria, who flew the aircraft at HAL airport in Bengaluru recently, announced the satisfactory completion of IOC.

Test Pilot of Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment, Wing Commander V Prabhakaran was his co-pilot.

HAL Chairman, T Suvarna Raju said the aircraft is now equipped with world class avionics system.

Congratulating those involved in achieving the milestone, Air Marshal Bhadauria said the DARIN III Upgrade was one of best upgrades in terms of data handling and overall capabilities.
23/11/16 PTI/NDTV

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2016 Aviation ICT Forum With Smarter At Every Step theme To Be Held in Goa in December

The fourth India Aviation ICT Forum 2016 will be held in Goa on 16-17 December, 2016 at the Grand Hyatt. This forum is hosted by SITA and supported by AAI, Air India, ACI, APAO, CAPA, IATA, KPMG and all leading industry stakeholders in India. The theme of this year’s ICT Forum is ‘Smarter at every step’ where industry delegates will explore how the aviation industry can become more smarter with the adoption of the new technologies.

India is the fastest-growing passenger market in the world and expected to surge from being the ninth largest civil aviation market sized at US$16 billion today, to become the largest as Airlines, airports and other stakeholders are transforming rapidly, enabled by new technology trends that promise a smarter experience at every step. The aviation industry must focus on those mega-trends and technologies that will deliver better insights into passengers and operations, improve ‘life on the go’ and enable better passenger relationships and operational efficiencies, states the press release of SITA.

SITA, the communications and IT solution provider, is transforming Indian aviation through the provision of modern, standardized IT and communication infrastructure across the country.
23/11/16 Tech Vorm

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Amritsar-Delhi-Birmingham flight extended to Toronto, says Malik

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has extended the Amritsar-Delhi-Birmingham flight to Toronto, said Rajya Sabha MP Shwet Malik, who is also a member of the Aviation Consultative Committee.
Malik told the Amritsar Tribune from New Delhi that he had shot off questions regarding the dwindling flights from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha.
He said today Sinha announced that the flight from Amritsar was being extended to Canada. Malik said he was assured that one direct international flight would also be made available to Amritsar airport after the government procured new aircraft.
The MP has been claiming that a conspiracy was hatched during the Congress government in 2012 after which all major international flights were diverted to the privately run Delhi airport, causing a steep fall in the Amritsar airport’s revenue. He added that post-2012, a bad phase for the Amritsar airport started, as its revenue from cargo and farm-fresh cargo plummeted.
Earlier, the rise of the Amritsar airport had started with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government elevating it to the status of an international airport in 2004 and sanctioning about Rs 500 crore for its development.
23/11/16 The Tribune

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France Promises 50 Years of Support to Indian Rafale Jets

The Indian Government on Tuesday disclosed some details of the $ 8.85 billion deal to purchase French combat aircraft. Among them is a promise by French company Dassault Aviation to provide product support for five decades.

India had cancelled a 126 jet tender in which the French company had emerged the winner.  It later awarded a contract for supplying 36 planes in fly-away condition to the same company, Dassault.

“The deliveries of the aircraft will commence in September 2019 and will be completed in April 2022,” Parrikar added.
23/11/16 Sputnik News

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Airlines slash fares post Centre's demonetisation move, offer heavy discounts – check details here

The Narendra Modi government's decision to ban old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 has affected the aviation sector with the sale of air tickets declining by 10 percent.

In order to cope up with the decline in the airline bookings after the government's demonetisation move, several domestic passenger carriers have slashed the airfares and offered special discounts for a limited period.

Several domestic airlines made surprise announcements in this regard on Tuesday and Wednesday, which assumes  significance as they have been made during the peak travel season.
24/11/16 Ritesh K Srivastava/Z News

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Tenders worth Rs 442 crore floated for runway work on Chandigarh airfield

Tenders for the re-surfacing, extension and widening work of the runway and taxi tracks on the Chandigarh airfield have been floated for an estimated cost of around Rs 442 crore. The task of re-surfacing and extension of dispersal of runways and other related works is expected to be completed within 26 months from the date of awarding the tender. According to senior IAF officials, the runway on the airfield is expected to be closed on two occasions for 15 days each when the re-surfacing work is in progress – firstly, when stress absorbing membrane interlayer is being laid and secondly, for the laying of dense asphaltic concrete.
These two occasions when the runway will be closed will not be a concurrent period so that the flying operations of the air force and domestic and international flight operations of the Chandigarh airport are not disrupted for a long period of time.
During these two 15-day periods, the military aviation flights will be diverted to another airfield nearby, while the civilian flights will not be able to operate from Chandigarh.
24/11/16 Man Aman Singh Chhina/The Indian Express

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India is Changi’s 7th largest country market

India has become Changi Airport’s seventh largest country market, accounting for 6.1% of the airport’s total passenger traffic.

For the first ten months of this year, passenger traffic to and from the India market rose 5% year-on-year to reach 2.94 million movements. For the month of October, India had the strongest year-on-year growth (+12.4%) among Changi’s top ten country markets. In 2015, Changi Airport saw a record 3.43 million passengers travelling between Singapore and India.

In 2017, Changi Airport will be offering more flight options for travel to India. A total of 13 weekly services will be introduced between now and the end of the year, representing an addition of nearly 2,300 weekly one-way seats to India.

From 20 November, Air India Express will launch flights from Kolkata to Singapore. Jet Airways will be launching a new daily Singapore-Bangalore service from 14 December.

“Since the beginning of this year, Changi has welcomed two new city links to India – Amritsar and Jaipur – both operated by Scoot, which is a new entrant into the India market. With new routes, increased frequency of services and upgauging of various aircraft this year, seat capacity on India routes has also seen a year-on-year increase of 20.3%,” Changi said in a press statement.
23/11/16 Defence Aviation Post

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Airport Expansion, Enhanced Regional Air Connectivity & Expansion in Air Traffic is top Priority of Govt.: Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, remarked that with new civil aviation policy in place and other associated reforms accompanying it, the civil aviation sector would emerge to serve the un-served at affordable pace.

Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati reassured the Indian civil aviation industry, emphasizing that the government of the day is exploring all possibilities for capacity expansion of leading airports in the country as well doing its best to make sure that the regional air connectivity is accomplished as per its UDAAN initiative.

The Minister also stressed that though the domestic civil aviation industry has been growing at a rate of more than 20% in the last few years, admitting that higher passenger growth in civil aviation sector is still a challenge for the government which could be won with addition of capacities in India's leading airports.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati also emphasized that the cargo sector of Indian civil aviation though has developed but needed further expansion and development since the industry as such has been growing over 20% per annum and hoped that this growth rate would even exceed in times to come in view of India's economic potential with its high appetite for higher growth.

Minister of State, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mr. Jayant Sinha asked civil aviation industry to grow in such a manner so that its passenger traffic, currently estimated at about 150 million for domestic and overseas sector multiplies manifold and catches on pace with the air traffic of China which presently is calculated at 500 million per annum.

In order to achieve this objective, the ministry has been adopting three pronged strategy under its UDAAN commitment which includes expansion of airports capacities, ensure regional connectivity and equip the air passenger with better level of satisfaction and experience under its Air Sewa initiative, emphasized the minister adding that the government would do all possible to transform the civil aviation sector.
22/11/16 Capital Market/Business Standard

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Govt Re-iterates The Benefits Of The Rs 58,000 crore Rafale Fighter Jets Deal in Parliament

The induction of 36 Rafale aircraft will enhance the operational capabilities of the IAF. According to the Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre, the costs of the 36 aircraft cannot be directly compared to the cost of the original MMRCA bids since the deliverables are significantly different.

Although there is no Transfer of Technology (ToT) involved in the procurement of the 36 aircraft, the provision for 50% offsets has been retained.  The delivery schedule, maintenance arrangement and product support under the Inter-Governmental Agreement are also more beneficial.

Following the signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) along with Aircraft & Weapons Package Supply Protocols and Technical Arrangement with the French Government on 23rd September, 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale aircraft in fly-away condition, the deliveries of the fighter jets will commence from September, 2019, Dr Subhash Bhamre had earlier informed the Lok Sabha on November 18, 2016.

The Rs 58,000 crore deal executed by India to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France is undoubtedly one the most well negotiated pacts and one that will bring along huge gains for the domestic aviation industry besides creating job openings for the people of India.

This deal is the first since the purchase of Sukhois from Russia in the late 90s and is considered a win-win for India, the most significant feature of this contract being the enhancements for India which even French aircrafts do not have.

In an exclusive chat with DefenceAviationPost.com soon after the signing of the deal, Union Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar said, “In any foreign deal, there are 3-4 things that have to be taken care of. First is the cost, which we have negotiated at a much lesser price than the earlier price being quoted by the French team.”
23/11/16 Defence Aviation Post

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137 commercial pilots grounded for violations: Govt

Aviation regulator DGCA has grounded 137 commercial pilots from across airlines this year for their involvement in various accidents/incidents and safety violations, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
However, in Air India Express, which is the international budget arm of state-run Air India, only one pilot was grounded in the past one year, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
The minister also said that the total number of pilots who may be grounded/suspended due to these reasons at point of time is catered for.
Replying to another question, Sinha said that Air India has sufficient number of pilots to carry out its operations.
A total of 409 safety violations by the flight crew of scheduled operators, non-scheduled operators and general aviation have been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the last three years and till October this year, Sinha said.
The violations include failing in alcohol test, operating flights beyond validity of pilots proficiency check, allowing unauthorized entry in the cockpit and flight duty time limitation (FDTL)
22/11/16 PTI/The Times Of India

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Soon enjoy voice and video services using WiFi on flights in India

If flying in airplanes in the Indian airspace have any disadvantages, then inability to use phone or watching videos to remain entertained cab be counted as one of the major ones.

This may change soon, and fliers may soon be allowed to use voice and video services through Wi-Fi onboard.

The Department of Telecommunications has moved a proposal in this regard.

"The Department of Telecommunications has already moved a proposal for providing inflight connectivity for voice, data and video services for consideration of the Committee of Secretaries," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Rajya Sabha today.
22/11/16 Z News

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Soon, make calls and access net on board flights

Indian fliers will soon be able to access Wi-Fi onboard flights to make calls and access data. The Department of Telecommunications has moved a proposal in this regard, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha has said.
At present, Wi-Fi services are banned in the Indian airspace.

“The Department of Telecommunications has already moved a proposal for providing inflight connectivity for voice, data and video services for consideration of the Committee of Secretaries,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Rajya Sabha today.

In a written reply, he also said the proposal for providing onboard Wi-Fi services involves amendment of provisions of Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Telegraph Rules made there under.
23/11/16 Anupama Airy/Defence Aviation Post

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Prabhatam Aviation adds a new chapter in consolidating Regional Air Connectivity Network in Madhya Pradesh

Mumbai: India is setting new footprints in the Civil Aviation Industry by promoting Regional Air Connectivity Scheme to facilitate and stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable to every citizen across the country.  This will mobilize the optimum density of Regional Air connectivity traffic movement bringing the smallest cities and tourist destinations on the Civil Aviation network of India.

With such a focus to tap the untapped Regional Air Connectivity potential - Prabhatam Aviation Pvt. Ltd, one of India’s leading air carrier service provider has taken a formidable foot forward to commence point to point regional air connectivity through a deducted fleet of Aircrafts that will connect smaller town and cities in Madhya Pradesh which has been conferred by MPSTDC, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. Prabhatam Aviation Pvt Ltd has been a front line air carrier service provider having its own fleet of advanced fixed wings aircraft that will fly pilgrims, tourist, NRI’s, HNI’s political luminaries, bureaucrats  and corporate barons besides masses and classes to various tourist destinations, pilgrimage places besides a host of other tourist attractions in Madhya Pradesh.
22/11/16 India Infoline

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India’s air passenger traffic continues its double digit growth

India’s air passenger traffic grew by 23.20% in October as compared to the same period last year with airlines carrying 86.72 lakh passengers.

Passenger traffic grew by 23.18% in the first ten months of 2016 (January-October) as compared to the same period last year with domestic airlines carrying 813.7 lakh passengers.

IndiGo had the highest market share of 42.6% among airlines followed by Jet Airways (17.1%), Air India (13%), SpiceJet (12.9%) and GoAir (7.9%). Vistara and AirAsia India had a market share of 2.7% each.

SpiceJet had the occupancy among domestic airline clocking a load factor of 91.9% followed by IndiGo (84.9%) and GoAir (84.4%).

The overall cancellation rate was 0.72% in October with Air Carnival having the highest cancellations (8.74%).

“During October 2016, a total of 790 passenger-related complaints had been received by the scheduled domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of October 2016 has been 0.9,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
21/11/16 Anupama Airy/Defence Aviation Post

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8 IAF jets land on Agra-Lucknow expressway

Eight Indian Air Force fighter jets successfully landed on Agra-Lucknow expressway on its grand opening on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was present to see the landing of the IAF jets.
Other leaders present at the inauguration included Ram Gopal Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, former UK governor Aziz Qureishi and Azam Khan.
21/11/16 The Times Of India

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Shringla stresses on expansion of Bangladesh-India air connectivity

Indian High Commissioner Harsha Vardahan Shringla Monday emphasised on expansion of air connectivity between Bangladesh and India
According to a media report, the cal was made when the Indian High Commissioner met with Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon at secretariat.

In the meeting, they said over one million people of both the neighbouring countries travel for education, treatment, trade and tourism purposes annually.

To ensure their smooth and comfortable travel, air connectivity in Dhaka-Delhi, Dhaka-Bangalore and Dhaka-Guwahati should be introduced quickly, they said.
21/11/16 The Financial Express

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DRDO decides to produce 10 unmanned aircraft

Bengaluru: Close on the heels of Rustom-2, India's indigenously-developed, long-endurance, combat-capable drone successfully completing its maiden-flight, DRDO has decided to produce 10 such unmanned aircraft for induction into the Indian armed forces in the future.

"We have decided to produce 10 pilot-less or unmanned aircraft like Rustom-II, aimed at giving a boost to India's development programme for UAV," DRDO director S Christopher told reporters here.

He said, "Young DRDO engineers would work hard to make it successful. It would, at least, take one year to do it. We will also seek to get an order from Indian armed forces."

Christopher said development of nine prototypes of the advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) would be done after the successful flight of the first such drone.

"The first flight will be followed by development of nine more prototypes of the advanced UAV for testing, after which the certification process will start," he said.

Christopher clarified that TAPAS-BH-201 (Tactical Advanced Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201) will be in a non-combat role.

"Media reports are incorrect. Tapas is an UAV and not UCAV," he said.
21/11/16 PTI/News Today

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Srinagar: Flights cancelled due to dense fog

Due to dense fog, flights to and from the Srinagar airport were cancelled on Monday morning. As per officials stationed at the airport, it became impossible for any flight to land at the airport due to lack of visibility.
The air traffic was suspended on Sunday too due to the bad weather conditions. The officials, however, said that the situation would be reviewed if visibility improves later.
21/11/16 Shuja-ul-Hak/India Today

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Singapore-India air passenger traffic up by 4.98 pc

Singapore-India air passenger traffic has increased by 4.98 per cent in the first 10 months of this year, a Changi Airport senior executive said today.
"Traffic for India sector continued to grow in the first 10 months in 2016, and the year-on-year growth for January-October is 4.98 per cent," said Lim Ching Kiat, Managing Director, Air Hub Development at Singapores Changi Airport.
20/11/16 PTI/India Today

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Currency ban grounds air fares, flight bookings

New Delhi: Post demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, domestic air fares have dipped to an all-time low and advance booking have also hit rock bottom. Air fares are now down to 2004-05 rates when Air Deccan entered the market offering lower fares thus changing the market dynamics.

Travel agents said there has been a reduction of at least 30 per cent in domestic airfares since the announcement of demonetisation and international airfares are slowly inching downwards.
Ticket fares for Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai flights when checked in October-end were at Rs 4,500 and Rs 3,800 for travel in early December. The fares dropped to Rs 2,750 and Rs 2,100 inclusive of taxes since the announcement of demonetisation. Rates to other cities too have dropped.

Several domestic airlines this week announced special discounted fares in order to cope with the low airline bookings. The demonetisation move has come at peak tourist season.
19/11/16 Sanjay Singh/New Indian Express

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Reduce lending cost for aircraft leasing: Industry body

New Delhi: The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday called for a reduction in lending cost for leasing-out aircraft.

Besides, the industry chamber suggested that lending cost for aircraft leasing be brought at par with rates that prevail in Japan and China.
The recommendation was made at the two-day Aero Expo India-2016 that was organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

“It was recommended that lending costs for leasing out aircraft should be minimised and brought on par with norms that prevail in countries like Japan and China,” the industry body said in a statement.
20/11/16 IANS/India Live Today

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Boeing to invest in new factory in India

Aerospace major Boeing will invest in a brand new factory in India and create an entire aviation ecosystem as far as its ‘Make in India’ plans for its fighter aircraft the F/A-18 Super Hornet are concerned, said the company’s F/A-18 Program vice-president Dan Gillian. He was speaking to a visiting Indian media team now in the U.S.
The multirole, dual seat aircraft is reported to be of interest to India, and now features in “Make in India” offers. He said that in the India plan, huge opportunities exist in the supply and manufacture of avionics, engine parts and landing gear components. Further, with improvements in displays, which now worked like an iPad, there were prospects in the fields of graphics too.

Adding to his remarks, Boeing India’s president Pratyush Kumar called it a “crown jewel project” which includes indigenisation and tapping into a supplier chain of vendors.

This will attempt to mirror the system around the Super Hornet production line at St. Louis, U.S., which is now supported by 800 vendors in 44 states and employs 60,000 people.

Mr. Kumar added that with this plant, India could not only look forward to manufacturing the Block II Super Hornet and even an Advanced Super Hornet but also help it design and build an Indian-made ‘next generation’ fighter. According to him, this would also help advance the country’s aerospace capabilities.
19/11/16 Murali N.Krishnaswamy/The Hindu

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No plan to regulate surge pricing for airlines – Govt of India

The central government has said that it has no plans to impose any limits on the fare charged by airlines in India.

The clarification has come in the context of demands in certain quarters that airlines will be the next to see curbs on surge pricing after such limits were placed on taxi services such as Uber.

Last week, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed a petition by Uber that had argued that state governments did not have the right to control surge pricing by cab companies.

Like airlines, Uber and Ola have different fares depending on the demand. When demand is higher, so are the fares.

States like Karnataka and Maharashtra have placed curbs on the maximum fares that taxis can charge. Karntaka, for example, has imposed a limit of Rs 19.5 per km for an air-conditioned cab and Rs 14.5 per km for non-ac cabs.

There was speculation that since airlines also work on the same model, they too would see limits placed on the airfares.

A ticket between Bangalore to Delhi can vary from around Rs 2,500 in times of low demand to as much as Rs 40,000 in times of heavy demand.
18/11/16 S Nambrath/RTN.Asia

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Deliveries of 36 Rafale Fighter Jets To Commence From September 2019

Following the signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) along with Aircraft & Weapons Package Supply Protocols and Technical Arrangement with the French Government on 23rd September, 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale aircraft in fly-away condition, the deliveries of the fighter jets will commence from September, 2019, Dr Subhash Bhamre informed the Lok Sabha on November 18, 2016.

The Rs 58,000 crore deal executed by India to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France is undoubtedly one the most well negotiated pacts and one that will bring along huge gains for the domestic aviation industry besides creating job openings for the people of India.

This deal is the first since the purchase of Sukhois from Russia in the late 90s and is considered a win-win for India, the most significant feature of this contract being the enhancements for India which even French aircrafts do not have.

In an exclusive chat with DefenceAviationPost.com soon after the signing of the deal, Union Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar said, “In any foreign deal, there are 3-4 things that have to be taken care of. First is the cost, which we have negotiated at a much lesser price than the earlier price being quoted by the French team.”

It is noteworthy to point here that the 7.878 billion Euros deal has been clinched at a price that is 750 million euros less than what was quoted by the French team in January 2016.

“Second is the percentage of offsets which in this case is much higher than any other foreign military sales so far. This creates a huge potential for the domestic aviation industry and is in line with the Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative,” the minister said.
19/11/16 Defence Aviation Post

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Exorbitant air fares: No limit for metro routes as regional fares capped

Is the airline pricing mechanism fair and transparent in India? Why do people booking at the last minute - for emergency travel specially - have to pay a bomb? Well, the easy answer is that last minute bookings will mean most seats on a flight are already full and therefore, as per flexi-pricing rule followed by airlines, you end up paying a hefty premium for coming on board at a late hour. But how much premium is justified? And who decides if this premium is fair?
According to data complied by online travel aggregator Makemytrip, a one way Delhi-Mumbai air ticket would have cost you a neat Rs 46,973 in September this year. Bengaluru-Delhi would have cost you Rs 46.906 in the same month. These are peak prices, the maximum that has been charged on these sectors in that month. The minimum fare during the month was Rs 2,198 on Delhi-Mumbai flights and Rs 2,395 on Bengaluru-Delhi flights. It is clear that peak pricing is about 20 times the lowest fare.
As of now, there is no control over how much premium an airline can charge for last minute bookings. Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju said in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday that airlines are free to fix "reasonable" tariff under sub-rule (1) of Rule 135, Aircraft Rules 1937 having regard to all relevant factors including "cost of operation, characteristics of service, reasonable profit and the generally prevailing tariff." He also said that airlines remain compliant with the regulatory provisions of Sub-Rule 2 of Rule 135 as long as the fare charged by them does not exceed the fare established and displayed on their website.
18/11/16 Sindhu Bhattacharya/F.Business

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IAF fighter aircraft fly over Lucknow-Agra Expressway for trial

Indian Air Force fighter aircraft flew over Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Ganj Moradabad area of Unnao district on Friday ahead of its grand opening on November 21, the evening of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's 78th birthday.
"Sukhoi, Mig and Mirage air superiority fighter aircrafts on Friday successfully flew above the four km of stretch on Lucknow-Agra Expressway near Ganj Moradabad area of Unnao as part of a trial to use national highways for emergency landing. The aircrafts flew over the expressway at a speed of nearly 300km/hour at around ...1:07 pm," said senior IAF officers.
Indian Air Force (AIF) sources said that the aircrafts flew very close to the expressway but did not touch the road as the wheels would hav been be damaged.
For the Friday's trial, all facilities like make shift Air Traffic Control, safety services, rescue vehicles, bird clearance parties and other requirements were set in place by the IAF. "The operation was conducted in coordination with the district authorities and SP of Unnao," an IAF source said.
"The trial lasted for nearly one-and-a-half-hour and touchdown by the fighter aircrafts at Lucknow-Agra Expressway was historic," said district magistrate Unnao Surendra Singh.
According to eyewitnesses, huge deployment of police personnel was made on both the sides of the road to control the crowd. Locals came out of their houses and reached close to the airstrip when they heard the roaring sound of the engines of the fighter jets. "Many jostled with each other to take selfies with the flying fighter aircrafts," said a police official on duty at Ganj Moradabad.
19/11/16 Faiz Rahman Siddiqui/The Times Of India

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New aircraft rule to give lessors greater confidence: Government

New Delhi: Having a deadline of five working days for giving permission to fly back de-registered aircraft to their respective jurisdictions will help in giving lessors greater confidence and ensure speedy transfer of the plane, the government said today.

Under a new provision under Aircraft Rules, 1937, the lessor upon cancellation of registration of an aircraft can approach the government for permission to export the plane within five working days.

The same has been published in the gazette for pre-publication consultation on October 21, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told the Lok Sabha.

"The amendment will help in giving greater confidence to lessors by ensuring speedy transfer of de-registered aircraft, help in reducing lease rental and increasing the availability of lessors.
17/11/16 PTI/Economic Times

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Pilots oppose DGCA rules

New Delhi: Leading domestic airlines have backed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) proposal to implement stringent rules for pilots reporting sick to work or coming late to duty, a move which the pilots say is “illegal and ill-conceived.”

“Our member airlines are very committed towards upholding the public interest as it is our prime concern and all our actions revolve around the same and this good initiative of the DGCA bolsters our commitment,” Ujjwal Dey, Associate Director at the Federation of Indian Airlines , which represents IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir, said in a letter to DGCA chief B.S. Bhullar on Wednesday.

This is in contrast to the stand taken by the pilot community, which has termed the proposal as “illegal and ill-conceived.”

An online petition initiated by an Air India pilot recently termed the move as a “threat of severe penal action” and said the law was “nothing but illegal, ill-conceived and a direct threat to flight safety.”
18/11/16 The Hindu

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Scoot eyes long-haul flights from India

New Delhi: With budget airlines controlling almost 65% of domestic skies, it is now the turn of foreign low-cost carriers (LCC) with wide-body planes to eye the lucrative long-haul traffic to-and-from India.
Singapore Airlines' (SIA) long-haul LCC Scoot wants to operate its Boeing 787 Dreamliners on Singapore-India-Europe/Gulf routes under something known as "fifth freedom" of aviation. Under this freedom, an airline can fly from its home country to a second nation and take passengers from there to a third country and same on return.
"There is a market for long-haul LCCs to come into India or be based here. If allowed, our fare (basic, with everything else like baggage check-in, meals, beverages and Wi-Fi costing extra) could be Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 on Delhi-London and Delhi-New York, respectively, one-way," said Bharath Mahadevan, India head of Scoot. The LCC flies from Amritsar, Jaipur and Chennai to Singapore. It will soon merge SIA's short-haul LCC Tiger into it and then fly from eight Indian cities to Singapore.
However, airlines from Singapore have used up the bilateral (flying rights) with India, while Indian carriers are still using about half of their share. So, an increase in bilateral that could enable Scoot to have low-cost flights to Europe may not happen in a hurry. Lufthansa is also planning for some time to have its long-haul LCC flights to India.
18/11/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Skill Development in the Civil Aviation Sector

Delhi: The Ministry of Civil aviation hired an agency - ICRA Management Consultancy Ltd. (iMaCS)- to undertake a comprehensive skill gap analysis of the civil aviation sector and to formulate a future road map for skill development in the sector. The main objective of conducting the study was to thoroughly review and assess the skill needs in different segments/sub-segments of the civil aviation sector in the present and future. Accordingly, the study was conducted to gauge competence skills across various segments of the sector, gaps in it, road map for skill development in the sector etc.

iMaCS submitted its final report on 15.03.2016. As per the said report, there will be a requirement of about one million personnel directly in the Civil Aviation Sector by 2035.

The Ministry has taken the following steps with respect to skill development and training in civil aviation sector:

1) A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 20.11.2016 to establish a framework of collaboration on skill development, including the setting up of Skill Development Centers, Trade Facilitation Centers and Centers of Excellence.
17/11/16 Business Standard

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Airlines in flyer hunt after demonetisation

New Delhi: This peak travel season airlines are forced to offer special schemes to fill up planes as demonetisation has led to a sharp fall in travel. While domestic air bookings were hit soon after the move was announced last Tuesday, now even international ticketing is seeing a decline.
Bharath Mahadevan, India head of Scoot, Singapore Airlines' (SIA) low cost airline which flies from the island nation to Jaipur, Amritsar and Chennai in India, said the airline used to have 500 sector bookings a day which have fallen 10% after last Tuesday.
SIA's other budget airline Tiger has also seen the 1,000-odd sector bookings a day from India fall by 10%. "We were looking at promotional fares from February due to low season then. But because of the dip in travel demand caused by demonetisation, we may start the offers from December to entice demand from Jaipur, Amritsar to Singapore," Mahadevan said.
Travel portal Yatra president Sharat Dhall said: "Announcement of sale by airlines like Jet Airways and IndiGo in peak travel season comes as a pleasant surprise to Indian travellers. Airlines have reported a short term drop in ticket sales post the demonetisation announced by the government last week, and this could be an attempt to catalyse demand and bring travellers back to the market. We anticipate that the other carriers are likely to also follow suit."
17/11/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Airlines take discount route to tide over demonetisation impact in peak holiday season

New Delhi: To cope with reduction in airline bookings after the government's recent decision to demonetise higher denomination currency notes, several domestic passenger carriers have announced special discounted fares.
Several domestic airlines came out with discounted fares on Tuesday and Wednesday. The schemes assume significance as they have been announced during the peak travel season.
"Airlines have reported a short term drop in ticket sales post the demonetisation announced by the government last week, and this could be an attempt to catalyse demand and bring travellers back to the market," said Sharat Dhall, Chief Operating Officer (B2C) of Yatra.com.
On Wednesday, airline major Jet Airways announced its winter sale with all-inclusive fares starting at Rs 1,099, on select sectors across its domestic network.
"The four-day fare sale -- from November 16-19, 2016, will be valid on economy fares and applicable for travel 15 days post the date of booking, on specific domestic destinations on the Jet Airways network," the airline said in a statement.
Low cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia India announced -- "end-of-year Big Sale" from 14-20 November for its domestic, as well as, international network.
17/11/16 IANS/First Post

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India proposes resuming air services talks in Dec

Kathmandu: India has proposed resuming stalled air service talks with Nepal in the third week of December after Nepali officials abruptly postponed a meeting previously scheduled for October 20.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, India’s Civil Aviation Ministry has said that they are ready to restart talks regarding air services between the two countries next month.

Nepal cancelled the previously scheduled meeting citing lack of preparation, and proposed to reschedule it for the third week of November.

“We have received a letter from the Indian side,” said Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the ministry and head of the air service agreement division. “A negotiation team will be formed as soon as the tourism minister and secretary return from their foreign trip.”

Nepal has proposed to review the airspace agreement with India to provide more cross-border entry and exit points for airlines. The accord has been gathering dust for years.

The Nepal government has requested India to provide three more air entry points in Janakpur, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj.
17/11/16 Kathmandupost

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‘One shouldn’t lose the opportunity to improve regional connectivity’

The introduction of a fresh National Civil Aviation Policy nearly six months ago was expected to spur more players to enter the sector. But it hasn’t happened so far. In an interview with BusinessLine, Dinesh Keskar, aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s Senior Vice President (Sales) for Asia Pacific and India, says the key to success of the policy lies in regional connectivity. Excerpts:

It has been six months since the National Civil Aviation Policy was introduced and yet no new airline has entered the sector so far...

There are several aspects to the policy. The 0-20 rule which allowed the airlines to quickly scale up their fleet size to start flying international routes hasn’t happened so far. I do not see an incredible haste among airlines to go for the international routes just because it (new policy) has been introduced. But the regional connectivity has a huge potential. It is not going to be easy for regional connectivity to start yielding results immediately. If implemented properly, it will certainly lead to more growth. But when you start connecting these new pairs of cities, they will mature into bigger markets and the infrastructure will also grow. With the fuel prices low, one shouldn’t lose the opportunity to improve regional connectivity. As far as we are concerned, we expect that some of these routes will mature enough for us to deploy B737s there.

Compared with Airbus, Boeing has lagged as far as narrow body aircraft are concerned. Narrow body aircraft has, in fact, been the mainstay of most private airlines in the country...

First of all, let me clarify we do have a narrow body aircraft in 737s. We of course do not compete in the ATR space. But we have sold hundreds of 737s and that has been our mainstay for a long time. Even though IndiGo has about 400 on order, we continue to do well in terms of deliveries. But we see SpiceJet take our aircraft on lease all the time. Jet Airways has ordered for Max and so has SpiceJet and they will start getting them by 2018. Air India Express is also buying our aircraft and we have delivered six in the last six months. They will be looking at Max also. Unlike Airbus, we haven’t had a single cancellation in India so far. IndiGo has about 100 aircraft and they have ordered four times that or even GoAir has placed orders six times their current size. Show me one airline in the West where such a situation exists.
15/11/16 K. Giriprakash/Business Line

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Airlines support tough love for ‘sick’ pilots

New Delhi: Leading domestic airlines have backed the air safety regulator’s proposal to implement stringent rules for pilots falsely reporting sick to work or coming late to duty and sending a doctor to their house to verify their claims.

“Our member airlines are committed towards upholding the public interest as it is our prime concern...and this good initiative of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation bolsters our commitment,” Ujjwal Dey, Associate Director at the Federation of Indian Airlines which represents IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir stated in a letter to the DGCA.
16/11/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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New norms hit airlines' ancillary revenue

The government’s passenger-centric initiatives such as limiting cancellation charges and reducing passenger baggage fees have hit airlines’ revenue from ancillary sources.

IndiGo, which announced its September quarter results last week, saw its ancillary revenue record a sequential decline of 3.8 per cent, compared with the double-digit growth in previous quarters. For the September quarter, revenue from ancillary sources stood at Rs 558.4 crore compared to Rs 581 crore in the April-June period. The same had grown 9.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent, sequentially, in the previous two quarters.

“The ancillary revenue figures were impacted due to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)’s new rules, limiting charges on excess baggage and booking of tickets closer to the date of departure due to low-ticket prices,” the management said during a conference call with analysts. The decline is likely to be similar for other airlines as well.
15/11/16 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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MoCA organises stakeholder conference for UDAN

The Ministry of Civil Aviation held a stake holders conference/pre-bidding meeting on the Regional Connectivity Scheme in New Delhi. Regional Connectivity Scheme -UDAN was launched by P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation on October 21, 2016 and the final RCS is available on MoCA web site. Objective of RCS is to facilitate/ stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable. Regional air connectivity is envisaged under RCS by supporting the Selected Airline Operator(s) through concessions by Central Government, concerned State Government(s) and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operation on RCS routes and financial (viability gap funding i.e. VGF) support to meet the gap, if any, between cost of airline operation and expected revenue on such routes. A selected airline operator will be identified to operate on RCS route or network, on the basis of evaluation of initial proposal(s) and counter proposal(s) for VGF, received from airline operators who are having valid Air Operator Permit issued by DGCA.
14/11/16 Travel Trends Today

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Agra-Lucknow expressway inauguration to see touchdown of 8 IAF combat jets

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is gearing up for the touch-down of eight combat jets on the Agra-Lucknow expressway when it's inaugurated on November 21.
The 302 km-long expressway, which has been a dream project of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, has been completed in a record time of 22 months, and cost Rs 13,200 crore. The expressway will be operational by December.
"All arrangements have been made to conduct the grand inauguration. A squadron of eight fighter jets will land and take off from newly constructed expressway," Navneet Sehgal, CEO, UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), told the Times of India.
This could be the biggest such landing exercise on an expressway for Indian military aviation. In May 2015, IAF had successfully landed Dassault Mirage-2000 fighter jet on the Yamuna expressway that connects Greater Noida with Agra.
A stretch in Bangarmau of Unnao district was inspected by Sehgal and Air Vice Marshal Rajesh Issar, senior officer, administration, of Central Air Command.
14/11/16 Aditya Bhat/International Business Times

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Levy for regional connectivity to make air travel expensive

Domestic air travel is set to get costlier as the government has decided to impose a new levy per flight operation to fund its regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
The government plans to impose a levy of around Rs 7,500 per flight for travel up to a distance of 1,000 kms. Similarly the levy per flight journey between 1,000 kms and 1,500 kms would be Rs 8,000 and for distances above 1,500 kms the levy will be Rs 8,500.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the objective of RCS christened as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is to enhance air passenger traffic in the country by stimulating demand on regional routes.
“Amount collected as Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) will be used to provide financial support to airlines in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for operations under the scheme,” the ministry said.
As per the directions of the ministry, RCF will be funded by a small levy per departure on all domestic flights other than the ones on Category II / Category IIA routes under RDG, RCS routes and aircraft having maximum certified takeoff mass not exceeding 40,000 kg. The purpose of RCF is to channel funds generated from air travel to stimulate further growth and development of the air travel industry itself.
15/11/16 The Navihind Times

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Flight ticket sales dip 10% as travel plans take a hit

Indian carriers have reported a 7-10% drop in overall sales after last Tuesday's demonetisation move. While no airline official wanted to come on record, they all had a common thing to say: A significant number number of people who would be busy making plans for this peak winter travel season are now busy `handling' their high denomination currency .
It is primarily domestic ticketing that is hit as international travel plans are firmed up way ahead in advance.
"Pehle cash thikane lagana hai. Travel is a discretionary thing which can wait till the other, bigger issues are sorted out," said a senior airline official. The government move to make tickets purchased at airport airline counters using old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes non-refundable, if cancelled, has slammed the brakes on that too as these sales had shot up after last Tuesday .
15/11/16 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India

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Odisha: Flight booking soars in rush for cash disposal

Demonetisation of high value currency notes has made black money carriers and hoarders to seek new ways to convert them to white. Though the travel industry witnessed a fall in railway reservations, there was a significant surge in air ticket bookings in the State. Transactions at banks were also high as compared to regular working days.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR), which covers a major part of Odisha, saw a reduction in bookings in unreserved coaches. The authorities attributed the reason to lack of lower denomination currency with passengers. In the reserved segment too, bookings were normal and there was a marginal fall at some counters. “We were on alert from day one following demonetisation and started monitoring bookings of highvalued transactions,” ECoR CPRO JP Mishra said.
15/11/16 Baibhav Mishra/The New Indian Express

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Lockheed Martin won’t heed Trump, to land F-16s in India

President-elect of the US, Donald Trump, may have claimed that Americans are living through the “greatest jobs theft” in the history of the world, but Lockheed Martin seems to have other plans. The American aircraft-maker has started the groundwork with the hope that India would accept its offer of moving its F-16 fighter aircraft production line from the US to India. Trump believes that US companies were moving out jobs to countries such as India, China, Mexico and Singapore.

The offer comes with the rider that India buys the fighter. “We want to be prepared and that is the reason we have started the groundwork,” said Abhay Paranjape, director, Business Development, India, Lockheed Martin. “We have met representatives of 40 defence and aviation firms from across the country to discuss our offer on making F-16s in India,’’ he added.

Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin made an offer to India that it would shift its only F-16 aircraft production line to India provided the Indian Air Force (IAF) buys the aircraft. “We are offering to make F-16 Block 70, the most advanced aircraft in India. It is one of the most proven fighter aircraft in the world and is flown by air forces in 25 countries,’’ said Randall L Howard, who looks after F-16 Business Development.
13/11/16 The New Indian Express

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'Nashik needs air connectivity with major cities'

Industries and Manufacturers' Association (NIMA), an apex body of industries have engaged in promoting industrial development across the district. In an interview with TOI's Tushar Pawar, chairman of infrastructure committee of NIMA, Manish Rawal talks about various activities the association has initiated and their efforts in promoting industrial development across the city.
What is the current industrial scenario here?
The industrial sector is passing through a phase of recession which has seen a slowdown across industries for the past few years now. The growth of these industries is adversely affected because of recession. In the meanwhile, we are expecting some improvement in sales and growth in the next few months. The Centre's decision to bring in Goods and Services Tax (GST) is definitely a boost for the industries to fetch foreign investments in the long run. The profitable outcome of GST will take some time.
What are the infrastructural issues?
There have been several infrastructural issues we deal with on a daily basis. The civic administration has just developed roads for Rs 70crore at Satpur and Ambad industrial estates of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). But, almost 20% of the streetlights in these industrial estates do not function. The lack of drainage lines is another major issue. Though industries have soak pits but most of the time, the effluent comes on the road causing inconvenience for the common public. We have been demanding construction of drainage lines in MIDC areas for the past 15-20 years, but we have still not heard from the municipal corporations.
But, Nashik still lacks air connectivity.
We have an international airport at Ozar which was constructed jointly by the state government and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). But, the air services are yet to commence here. is a good potential growth for the aviation industry here. We want to start the air connectivity with major cities of the country. There As per a survey which was recently conducted, around 30,000 industrialist and business people from Nashik travels by air to other destinations across the country. Maximum people fly to Bangalore followed by Delhi and Chennai cities. Hence, we want flights from Nashik to Bangalore and Delhi.
14/11/16 Tushar Pawar/The Times Of India

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APAI terms govt's decision to charge levy to fund RCP as"regressive & unwarranted"

Apprehending a "spiralling" effect on airfares in view of the government's decision to charge a levy up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes to fund the ambitious regional air connectivity, fliers body (APAI) has  termed the move as "regressive and unwarranted".

The Regional Connectivity Plan (RCP) packaged as a scheme "to make flying a reality for the small town common man" is more a welfare and inclusive measure, which, based on its objective, should be spearheaded by the Central and state governments, Air Passenger Association of India (APAI), said.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey had last week announced government's decision to levy up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes to fund the regional air connectivity scheme from December 1.

With the levy, that would be collected from the airlines for each domestic departure to major routes, the government estimates to have Rs 400 crore for Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF), Choubey said.

"Another 20 per cent (funding) will come from state governments. We are roughly looking at around Rs 500 crore per year available in the kitty," he had said.

"The reported  statement of the Civil Aviation secretary that the government would collect Rs 400 crore from air carriers annually by charging additional levy on scheduled flights between major cities starting from December 1, 2016, to fund RCF is most unfortunate since APAI had vehemently opposed the imposition of  regressive levy at all times," APAI President D Sudhakara Reddy said.
13/11/16 The Pioneer

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Air travel-agents to pass tax burden on customers now

In what could be another jolt for cash-strapped Keralites, travel agents accredited to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have warned that the annual accreditation fees to be imposed on them by the IATA would be passed on to customers.

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had announced its decision to impose a levy on flight services to fund its ‘regional connectivity scheme,’ which will also be passed on to customers ultimately.

According to the IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), travel agents  will have to pay Rs. 48,139 annually to the IATA for using the 2-tier BSP  Link Access to be implemented on January 1, 2017, for ticket booking.

 “Consequently, the agents will be compelled to collect ‘transaction fee’  from customers, in violation of the law. The Kerala unit of the IAAI will  be holding an annual general body meeting in Kochi on Sunday to chalk  out protest programmes against the government’s decision,” said office-  bearers of the IAAI.

 “IATA-accredited travel agents are not slaves or bonded servants of the  airlines. We will not allow any agency to dictate terms. We cannot accept such an injustice. We will not be able to generate so much revenue from the services we provide to the ‘zero commission’ foreign airlines and the domestic carriers, most of which pay a mere ‘baksheesh’ (commission) of 1 per cent. The IATA has been providing us the BSP link facilities since 2011, as per the BSP Regulatory Manuel. Making changes to such fundamental rights of the agents is illegal, biased, unilateral and arbitrary,” they said.
14/11/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/The New Indian Express

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Novoair to launch Kolkata flights Dec 01

Country's private airline, Novoair, is set to start flights on the Dhaka-Kolkata route from December 1 as its second international route aiming to provide the passengers with better aviation services.

In addition, the airliner will start flights on the Chittagong-Kolkata route from December 14, Novoair officials said at a press conference held at a city hotel Sunday morning.

Novoair Managing Director (MD) Mofizur Rahman, Head of Marketing and Sales Sohail Majid, Editor of the weekly Monitor Kazi Wahidul Alam and other officials concerned were present at the press conference.

The officials said return ticket for Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka will start from Tk 9,999 (including all taxes). Initially, there will be four flights on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The flight will depart from Dhaka at 2:25 pm and arrive in Kolkata at 3:00 pm (local time). It will leave Kolkata at 4:00 pm (local time) and arrive in Dhaka at 5:35 pm.
13/11/16 The Financial Express

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8 IAF fighter jets to touch down Agra-Lucknow Expressway on Nov 21

What could be termed as historical event, 8 Indian Air Force fighter jets will touch down on Agra-Lucknow expressway on its grand opening on November 21, the eve of Mulayam Singh Yadav's 78th birthday.
UP expressways industrial development authority CEO Navneet Sehgal confirmed this to TOI. He said, "All arrangements have been made to conduct the grand inauguration. A squadron of eight fighter jets will land and take off from newly constructed expressway."
A dream project of UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, the 302-km expressway, which has been completed in a record time of 22 months and has cost Rs 13,200 crore, will get operational by December.
On Saturday, several officials including Sehgal and Air Vice Marshal Rajesh Issar, senior officer administration of Central Air Command inspected the expressway stretch in Bangarmau of Unnao district, for the event.
Several attempts were made to contact IAF officials to get more details about the event, but none responded.
13/11/16 Arvind Chauhan/The Times Of India

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Stylish inauguration for Akhilesh Yadav’s Agra-Lucknow Expressway! 11 IAF jets set to land and take-off from it

Akhilesh Yadav's pet project, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, is all set for its big-bang inauguration on November 21. The project is the Uttar Pradesh CM’s pitch to state voters that his government is focused on development. The 302-km expressway will be operational by December this year. It has been completed in a record time of 22 months. However, unlike other expressway inaugurations, this one is special for a reason. According to a report in HT, as many as 11 Indian Air Force (IAF) jets are likely to land and take-off from the Agra-Lucknow Expressway on November 21.
The exercise is aimed at testing the quality of build of the expressway, and would also go a long way in aiding the Defence Ministry’s plan to use highways and expressways as possible landing and take-off strips. The report added that the jets will land and take-ff one after the other, releasing tri-coloured smoke. The stretch that has been chosen for this exercise is reportedly 3 kilometers long, and will fall between Bangarmau and Ganj-Moradabad. It is yet unclear which fighter jets of the IAF will participate in the exercise.
14/11/16 The Financial Express

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Govt measures slow down ancillary revenue of airlines

The government’s  passenger-centric initiatives limiting cancellation charges and steep reduction in passenger baggage fees has started to impact growth as money earned from ancillary sources has slowed down significantly in the September quarter.

Market leader IndiGo, which announced its results last week, saw its ancillary revenue recorded a sequential decline by 3.8 percent compared to the almost double digit growth it was registering earlier.

For the September quarter, revenue from ancillary sources stood at Rs 558.41 crore compared to Rs 580.57 crore in the April-June period. The same had grown by 9.2 percent and 3.1 percent sequentially in the previous two quarters. “The ancillary revenue figures were impacted by the DGCA’s new rules, limiting charges on excess baggage and booking of tickets closer to the date of departure due to low ticket prices,” the management said in the earnings call in respond to queries. The decline is likely to be similar for other airlines.
14/11/16 Arindam Majumdar/Business Standard

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Pilots reporting sick, DGCA sends doctors to their homes

After observing a pattern wherein pilots rostered for flights on weekends and during the festive season regularly report sick which leads to flight cancellations and delays, the Director General of Civil Aviation has asked airlines to report such pilots to them. Airlines have started sending doctors to the homes of pilots to check if they are ill.

According to the DGCA circular issued to pilots, patterns have been observed wherein pilots rostered for flights report sick especially during times of festivals, weekends or during periods of disagreement with the management over work related issues. “In some cases, groups of pilots report sick without notice and as a result airlines are forced to delay or cancel their flights at the last minute,” the circular said, adding that such action on the part of pilots causes inconvenience and harassment to the passengers.

Recently, several Jet Airways pilots reported sick to protest its new crew rostering system, which led to over 50 of its flights being delayed or cancelled. On October 28, a Mumbai-Chennai flight on which actor Abhishek Bachchan was travelling was delayed due to a pilot-related issue.

DGCA chief BS Bhullar said that pilots reporting sick in the form of a concerted move was a highly undesirable practice which could attract penalties under the provisions of the Aircraft Rules of 1937. “The Central government may debar a person permanently or temporarily from holding any license or rating mentioned in rule 38 if, in its opinion, it is necessary to do so in the public interest,” Bhullar said.
14/11/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Level flight: Charting India's airline course

Bengaluru: Last month, Jet Airways introduced wide-body services on two of its busiest domestic routes — Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi — in a move that significantly enhanced connectivity, besides boosting capacity on these key sectors.

The double-aisle Airbus A330 that was deployed, puts the airline in a niche club of Indian carriers that boast of such large aircraft (Jet Airways has Boeing 777s too), enabling them to fly long routes, non-stop. Only in this case, the airline found huge demand in the domestic market itself, compelling it to ply one of its big boys.

According to Jet Airways Chief Commercial Officer Jayaraj Shanmugam, “The Indian domestic sector is witnessing breakneck growth in demand. Our fleet mix comprising both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft is our strength, and helps us respond to market conditions and provide enhanced travel options to our guests.”

Joining Jet Airways in the wide-body boat is flag carrier Air India, which boasts of wide connectivity to Europe and the US, thanks to its fleet of Boeing 747s, 777s, and 787s. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani says, “Our profitability mantra is ‘fill more, fly more!’ We are bullish on increasing occupancy and flying to more destinations.”
13/11/16 Hrithik Kiran Bagade/Deccan Herald

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Air travel-agents to pass tax burden on customers now

In what could be another jolt for cash-strapped Keralites, travel agents accredited to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have warned that the annual accreditation fees to be imposed on them by the IATA would be passed on to customers.
Earlier, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had announced its decision to impose a levy on flight services to fund its ‘regional connectivity scheme,’ which will also be passed on to customers ultimately.
 According to the IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), travel agents  will have to pay Rs. 48,139 annually to the IATA for using the 2-tier BSP  Link Access to be implemented on January 1, 2017, for ticket booking.
 “Consequently, the agents will be compelled to collect ‘transaction fee’  from customers, in violation of the law. The Kerala unit of the IAAI will  be holding an annual general body meeting in Kochi on Sunday to chalk  out protest programmes against the government’s decision,” said office-  bearers of the IAAI.
 “IATA-accredited travel agents are not slaves or bonded servants of the  airlines. We will not allow any agency to dictate terms. We cannot accept such an injustice. We will not be able to generate so much revenue from the services we provide to the ‘zero commission’ foreign airlines and the domestic carriers, most of which pay a mere ‘baksheesh’ (commission) of 1 per cent. The IATA has been providing us the BSP link facilities since 2011, as per the BSP Regulatory Manuel. Making changes to such fundamental rights of the agents is illegal, biased, unilateral and arbitrary,” they said.
13/11/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express

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Govt measures slow down ancillary revenue of airlines

New Delhi: The government’s passenger-centric initiatives such as limiting cancellation charges and reducing passenger baggage fees have hit airlines’ revenue earned from ancillary sources.

IndiGo, which announced its September quarter results last week, saw its ancillary revenue record a sequential decline of 3.8% compared with the double-digit growth in previous quarters. For the September quarter, revenue from ancillary sources stood at Rs 558.41 crore compared to Rs 580.57 crore in the April-June period. The same had grown by 9.2% and 3.1%, sequentially, in the previous two quarters.

“The ancillary revenue figures were impacted due to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)’s new rules limiting charges on excess baggage and booking of tickets closer to the date of departure due to low-ticket prices,” the management said during a conference call with analysts. The decline is likely to be similar for other airlines as well.
Ancillary revenues are important for the airline sector, especially for low-cost carriers.
“In an industry with paper-thin margin and tough competitive environment, particularly among legacy and full-service carriers, ancillary revenue can provide a helpful boost to profitability. The regulator’s eagerness to limit that will severely impact the airline industry when oil price starts inching upwards,” said an executive of a low-cost carrier.
13/11/16 Arindam Majumdar/Business Standard

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Low fares, high costs are a challenge in India, says Lufthansa's India head Wolfgang Will

New Delhi: Lufthansa Airlines is the largest European airline in India with around 2.3 per cent of the market share of India’s international traffic. However, the German carrier faces challenge from Gulf airlines which dominate the Indian market. High costs and low fares in India is an issue too, Wolfgang Will, Lufthansa’s South Asia director tells Aneesh Phadnis. Excerpts:

Domestic and international airlines are seeing a passenger volume growth but yields are under pressure in India. What is Lufthansa’s experience?

2016 was an interesting year. As usual we saw airlines launch discount fares in February to get their base loads. But this year promotions have continued till now. We were reluctant to join the pack but we were forced to do it and yes there was a pressure on yields. Volume growth is never an issue in India because it is a growing market. India is not a low-cost market, it is a low-fare market. It is so competitive that airlines are struggling to get decent average revenue per passenger. But cost of operations is one of the highest in India.


In terms of profit is 2016 turning out to be better than 2015?

I cannot give a specific figure but all in all it is better. We did nice volumes and we had means of controlling our yields.
This is the first full year after the introduction of premium economy cabins on our India flights and this is a positive development. We could have stable yields despite all the promotions because of the premium economy product. It is priced more in the range of economy fares and for extra charge passengers get more amenities and comfort. The introduction of premium economy service has given us a nice boost and we have taken a market lead in the segment in Europe.
12/11/16 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Airline flouts order, refuses to take old notes

Bhubaneswar: Although the Centre has extended the use of `500 and `1,000 notes for booking air tickets up to November 14 midnight, one airline operating from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) has put up notices on its website that it will not accept these notes as legal tender.

Interestingly, the airline which put up the notice on its website following the Prime Minster scrapping old `500 and `1000 notes, has failed to follow the later announcement.
“Pursuant to the announcement made by Hon’ble Prime Minister, GoAir will not be accepting `500 and `1,000 denomination currency notes with effect from November 9 for any service,” said GoAir’s website.

Other airlines – Air India, IndiGo and Air Vistara – have confirmed that they will accept these notes up to Monday midnight.
BPIA officials assured they will look into the issue and will take necessary steps. “The airline must implement government orders and should respond to genuine needs of the passengers,” said BPIA director R Mahalingam.
12/11/16 OrissaPost

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Domestic flight prices set to increase as govt imposes new levy from Dec 1

Airfares are set to rise with the government deciding to levy up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes to fund the regional air connectivity scheme.

The levy amount would be for an entire flight and the price of each ticket could go up depending on the number of seats in that particular flight.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey today said the levy would be up to Rs 8,500 per flight depending on distance.

The ambitious scheme -- UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) -- seeks to connect small cities by air as well as make flying more affordable for the masses.

To provide viability gap funding for the flights operated under the regional connectivity scheme, the Ministry would impose a levy on every departure on major air routes such as the national capital, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata. "The levy for an up to 1,000 kilometre length of scheduled flight will be Rs 7,500 per flight, Rs 8,000 for a 1,000 to 1,500 kilometre flight and Rs 8,500 for flights above 1,500 kilometre," Choubey said here.

For UDAN, the government would be creating the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF).
11/11/16 PTI/DNA

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