Russia’s Mi-171A2 Certified For Export In India, Columbia

Russian Helicopters’ Mi-171A2 has received a certification validating the rotorcraft’s export in India and Columbia.

“The Department of Civil Aviation of India has confirmed that the standard design of the Mi-171A2 helicopter meets the requirements of the country's civil aviation (CAR). A validated type certificate for the Mi-171A2 has also been issued by Colombia's Special Civil Aviation Administration Unit (UAEAC),” the company said in a statement Friday.

In October, the helicopter’s new VK-2500PS-03 turboshaft engine (modification of VK-2500 engine) was certified to power the Mi-171A2 by India. The main design difference between the two engines is the presence of a digital control system such as FADEC in the new one. The overhaul and designated resource of this engine is two times higher than that of its predecessors. VK-2500PS-03 gives helicopters fundamentally new opportunities for their operation in high-altitude regions and areas with a hot climate. Its installation on a civilian Mi-171A2 helicopter is considered as a basic application of the engine.

The first of these helicopters meant for New Delhi has already been built at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, the company said.

Russian Helicopters aims to get the validation in China, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and several other countries.

Mi-171A2 design has 80 upgrades against the basic model, the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter family. The chopper has digital controls, and is distinguished by a new carrying system against Mi-8/Mi-17 family.
29/11/19 Defense World.net

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India’s Aviation Industry Stares at Bleak Future Despite Being Fastest Growing Market

New Delhi: India’s civil aviation sector is currently grappling with a financial crisis, which has led to the implosion of the country’s second largest airline Jet Airways.

All major airlines in India, including aviation giants Spice Jet and Indigo were operating at a loss for the financial year 2018-2019. The loss-making airlines include state-run Air India, which has been incurring losses for the last two years, India’s federal Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Parliament on Thursday.

Indigo, which showed positive growth in 2017-2018 with $362 million approx (Rs.25,766 million) profit, incurred losses of $69 million in FY2018-19. Similarly, Spice Jet posted losses of $37 million in 2018-19.

The loss comes as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) termed India the fastest growing domestic air travel market globally, followed by China.

According to the India’s Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India had 139 million domestic air travellers in 2018 — up 18.6 percent from 117 million in 2017.
28/11/19 Sputnik 

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Only data can save airlines operations now

The International Airline Transport Association pegs the maximum net post-tax profit margin for any region in the year 2019 at a meagre 5.5 % at best. The aviation business is cutthroat with very little margin and heavy competition. Airlines unwilling to change are closing shop. India is quite familiar with this phenomenon and has witnessed the closure of several airlines, starting with Modiluft, Eastwest, Kingfisher and recently, Jet Airways.

 The data revolution seems like the most obvious answer to the industry’s woes. Data science has made headway into the airline industry but only in spaces such as ticketing and revenues. Airline direct operating costs are at 50% of total revenue and not much has been done in the area due to a lack of bandwidth and connectivity. But, we are in very interesting times, as SpaceX and other organizations are ready to give the airline industry a boost with low latency gigabit internet connectivity. SpaceX is currently working with the US Department of Defense and has already demonstrated throughput of 610 megabits per second to the cockpit of a U.S. Military C-12 twin-engine turboprop aircraft. In comparison, the fastest internet connection available worldwide on aircrafts is approximately 12 megabit per second and considered a premium service for business jets and a few airliners.
 Airline operating cost can be loosely categorized into Ownership, Maintenance, Fuel and Crew. The life or airworthiness of an aircraft is measured in pressure cycles endured, meaning a flight from Srinagar to Chennai will cost almost the same as a flight from Mumbai to Pune from an ownership point of view. Dynamically optimizing city pairs, rotation of aircraft, and reducing downtime gives maximum utility and also makes it a challenging data problem that will now have an element of live data streams, making decisions more realistic and long term. Operators with multiple fleets can take advantage of planning based on sales forecasting by interchanging aircraft type depending on the requirement. If an airline has both a Boeing 777 and a Boeing 737, they carry approximately 400 and 200 passengers respectively. The airline could deploy the Boeing 777 if there is an increase in demand for a sector, which is normally operated with a Boeing 737 or vice versa. Time is indeed money for an airline operator and a single aircraft that’s not being utilized optimally can deliver quite a hefty punch on their bottom lines.
28/11/19 Vinod Joe/Analytics India Mag

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Nelco hopes to roll out in-flight data connectivity services by January

New Delhi: Nelco Ltd on Thursday said it expects to roll out in-flight data connectivity services by January.
The company had earlier this year obtained a licence from the Department of Telecommunications for providing in-flight and maritime connectivity (IFMC) services.
The Tata Group firm said it hopes to roll out in-flight services in one-and-a-half months but refused to comment on tariffs saying the modalities are being fine-tuned.
"We are hoping to start in-flight connectivity services around January timeframe. We will start with data services," Nelco Managing Director and CEO PJ Nath said on the sidelines of India SatCom 2019 organised by Broadband India Forum here.
28/11/19 PTI/Economic Times

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Plea questions DGCA appointment of examiners to check pilots; HC seeks Centre''s stand

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response of the Centre and airline regulator DGCA on a plea alleging appointment of airline employees as designated examiners (DEs) to conduct routine checks on fitness of pilots.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Go Airlines Ltd seeking their stand on the petition which has also claimed that in one instance a person was appointed as DE without the requisite qualifications.

The petitioner, Yeshwanth Shenoy, has said that appointing DEs who are also in the employ of airlines is a serious conflict of interest, since if these examiners do not clear their own pilots it will affect their airline''s operations.

Shenoy has alleged the DEs, therefore, "continue to clear unfit and incompetent pilots" for duty leading to endangering lives of the passengers and people on the ground.

He has contended that despite several representations to DGCA, the regulator "has failed to take even baby steps to ensure safety of passengers and people on ground".
27/11/19 PTI/Outlook

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Civil Aviation Ministry mistakenly deposits salary in retired employee''s bank account

New Delhi: A former blue collar employee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, who retired in September, received a pleasant surprise when the salary for October was credited in his bank account due to an error.
According to a source, Ramesh, an MTS personnel, retired in September but the ministry deposited salary for the month of October in his account.
Ministry officials are trying to rectify the mistake, the source told PTI.
26/11/19 PTI/Outlook

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Post Jet Airways crisis, domestic airlines to increase their fleet size

As the void left by the demise of Jet Airways in April is now filled and positive forecast about more passengers taking the aerial route, domestic carriers in the country continue to increase their fleet size.
IndiGo, which had a fleet 245 aircraft including 129 A320ceos and 89 A320neos, recently placed an order for 300 Airbus A320neo family planes worth at least USD 33 billion at recent list prices, handing the plane-maker one of its largest orders ever. The order is a mix of A320 neo, A321 neo, and the new long range aircraft A321 XLR that will also help the country’s largest carrier to widen its international footprint.
For the full fiscal 2020 Y-o-Y, IndiGo’s capacity increase in available seat kilometers is expected to be 25 per cent. In the turbulent second quarter, when it reported record loss of `1,062 crore, it managed to add 10 planes.
SpiceJet, country’s second largest private carrier that inducted only three Boeing 737 NG aircraft and one Q400 during the quarter ended 30 September, also plans to enhance passenger capacity in near future by inducting aircraft on short term leases in the ongoing winter schedule when demand and fare generally remain high.
The low-cost carrier that also has aggressive international ambitions and is all set to launch an airline outside India in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, is in talks with Boeing Co. to buy more 737 Max aircraft, which at present remains grounded.
Earlier, Vistara, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines’ joint venture, said it would almost double its fleet size to 42 planes by this fiscal end as compared to 22 aircraft in March 2019. Last year, Vistara had ordered 50 planes from the Airbus A320neo family, including the A321neo, to be delivered till 2023.
25/11/19 New Indian Express

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HAL, RGNAU join hands to grow HR pool in aviation, aerospace

Bengaluru: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) joined hands to promote cooperation between them to grow the pool of human resources in the aviation and aerospace industry of the country. As part of the golden jubilee celebrations of HAL Management Academy (HMA), HAL signed an MoU in this regard with RGNAU, a Central University under Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The MoU will identify the type of academic and training programmes that could be offered jointly, Bengaluru- headquartered HAL said in a statement.

HAL CMD R Madhavan said over the years, HMA has assumed a whole new role which is more pragmatic and relevant to the industry needs.

"HMA plays a pivotal role in developing competencies in professionals at different levels to strengthen the aviation eco system," he added.
25/11/19 PTI/India TV News

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HAL’s Light Utility Helicopter ready

Unperturbed by the tremors within and outside Indian desi military aviation company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is ready with its three ton class Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and eagerly waiting for the orders from its clients Indian Defence forces.

A senior executive on the condition anonymity told The Pioneer that the company is wholly depending on Indian Defence forces for the orders on LUH.  He said “ We are confident that Indian Defence forces will certainly buy this three ton class very agile LUH to replace its ageing choppers like Cheetah and Chetak. We are surely depending on more orders for Tejus and LUH from the Defence Ministry. This is a make in India product and will be produced in Tumukur factory near Bengaluru.”

He said the LUH would be used  for  Reconnaissance & Surveillance,  reconnaissance, Aerial Photography, Airborne Forward Air Controller, Casualty Evacuation and to provide assistance in emergency to civil authorities etc.,

Light Utilty Helicopter (LUH) indigenously built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is 3-ton class helicopter  with 4 Bladed Composite Main Rotor System, Main Rotor Blade Folding, 4 Bladed Tail Rotor System, Single Engine with dual channel automatic fuel control (FADEC) with additional backup control, Night Flying Capability, Glass Cockpit with Smart Cockpit Display Systems (SCDS), Skid Landing Gear, Fuselage to accommodate 2 pilots in side by side configuration and 6 passengers and Crashworthy Crew Seats.
25/11/19 Kestur Vasuki/Pioneer

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Indian Navy drops HAL, Reliance from its shortlist in the $3 B chopper programme

The Indian Navy wants the public sector kept out of $3 Billion Make in India programme to build 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH) under the Strategic Partnership Model.

Public Sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and its joint venture with Russian Helicopters, India-Russia Helicopters Limited (IRHL) have been dropped from the final shortlist of Indian Strategic Partnership hopefuls.

From the private sector, Reliance and Laxmi Machine Works have been omitted from the shortlist, according to informed sources.
The shortlist of both Indian and foreign companies is likely to come up for final approv before India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) at its meeting scheduled for November 28, it is reliably learnt.

The Indian companies on the shortlist are Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), Mahindra Defence, Adani Aerospace & Defence and Bharat Forge.
22/11/19 SP's Naval Forces

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TMC suggests direct flight to Europe from Kolkata

New Delhi: Flights connecting Kolkata with Europe and in-flight announcements in regional language were the two key suggestions related to civil aviation made in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Ahmed Hassan of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) urged the government to ensure direct flights between Kolkata and European countries as it will benefit many states in the region such as Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and other northeastern states.

He said that direct flights would help boost trade and tourism in the region.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder Vaiko wanted the flight announcements to be made in regional language, at least flights within a state. He sought the support of fellow members for executing the idea.

"Flight announcements in India should be made in regional language, at least, in the flights operating within a state," he said.
Vaiko said that air travel was no longer a luxury and people fly from various parts of the country to the Gulf region. Further, salaried and middle class people are also flying. The lawmaker from Tamil Nadu said that announcements for precautionary measures and other guidelines are made only in Hindi and English.
22/11/19 Social News.xyz

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Cochin Port gets helicopter services to ease travel for cruise tourists

Helicopter services have been introduced at the Cochin Port in a move to boost tourism and add interesting experiences for cruise tourists. Chipsan Aviation from Willingdon Island has introduced the said service, in association with the District Tourism Promotion Council, Kerala Tourism and Greenix Village.

The helicopter service was recently inaugurated by Cochin Port Trust Chairperson M. Beena. On the first day, around 50 passengers were taken for a ride. This comes as welcome news for visitors as the Cochin Port is one of the most popular cruise destinations in India. As per the reports, five rides were sponsored by Cochin Customs Brokers Association, Steamer Agents Association, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Seafood Exporters Association.

Reportedly, around 49 international cruise ships visited the port during 2018-19, and still holds the top spot in terms of cruise handling ports in India.
22/11/19 Times Travel

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Air fare takes wings on Test eve

Calcutta: The craze surrounding the pink ball India-Bangladesh Test at the Eden Gardens has sent airfares on the Dhaka-Calcutta route soaring.

At 6pm on Wednesday, IndiGo was charging more than Rs 18,000 for flying from Dhaka to Calcutta on Thursday evening.

Tour operators said the fare usually varied between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000. The fares are expected to go up further on Friday morning.

The Test starts at 1pm on Friday.
The 10-odd flights from Dhaka to Calcutta on Thursday were mostly full.

An IndiGo official said its Thursday evening flight had 180 seats. By Wednesday afternoon, 175 were booked.

Biman Bangladesh operates two flights between Dhaka and Calcutta, each with 162 seats. “Both flights (Calcutta-bound) are almost full on Thursday and Friday. Usually, 20 per cent of the seats remain vacant,” an official of the airline said.

“The last time the route had seen such a surge in fares because of cricket was February 2016, when India played Pakistan in Dhaka in the Asia Cup T-20 tournament. The fares from Calcutta to Dhaka had seen a steep surge. The one-way air fare had touched Rs 20,000,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, east, Travel Agents Federation of India. “This time, the fares are likely to go higher than that.”

Airlines are also expecting a rise in demand for Calcutta-bound flights from other cities on Friday as groups of cricket lovers are likely to visit the city.
21/11/19 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph

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DGCA chief Arun Kumar warns officials against indulging in acts of conflict of interest

New Delhi: This is possibly the worst kept oldest secret of Indian aviation — officials of the regulatory agency conducting checks or deciding on airlines, airports and other agencies where their close relatives are employed. Whether it was/is senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials whose children were/are pilots or in other positions, it used to be a cosy club of those checking and those being checked.
However, for the first time a formal attempt has been made to check this issue by the DGCA chief Arun Kumar who on Wednesday issued a written order asking officials to avoid “conflict of interest” situations. Kumar has warned of strict action against employees who indulge in such practices.
“Avoidance of ‘conflict of interest’ is a sine qua non of good governance. Instances of DGCA officers participating in meetings/spot checks have come to notice in which this golden rule has been given a go-bye. Therefore, this intervention is made to reiterate that under no circumstances, any of DGCA officials shall partake in deliberations/spot checks or any other official engagement, where he or she has a ‘conflict of interest’,” reads the office memorandum issued by DGCA’s director (administration) Chandra Shekhar at the behest of Arun Kumar.
20/11/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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IAF requires 'at least' 150 C295 medium transport aircraft: Airbus

Pan-European aerospace manufacturer Airbus is confident of closing a long-pending deal to supply India with its C295 multi-role transport aircraft.

In a report on FlightGlobal.com, Airbus officials were optimistic of progress in the deal to supply 56 C295 transport variant to the Indian Air Force. The Indian Coast Guard is also buying six maritime patrol variants of the C295.

The C295 is a multi-role transport aircraft that can carry a maximum payload of 9.25 tonnes. It has a range of 2,000 nautical miles when carrying 6 tonnes; it can carry up to 71 troops. According to Airbus, a total of 209 C295 aircraft have been ordered by 28 countries across the world. As its dimensions are smaller than the Indian Air Force's existing fleet of C-130J, C-17 and IL-76 transport aircraft, the C295 can take off and land at a wider variety of airfields.

The Defence Acquisition Council had cleared the Indian Air Force's plan to buy 56 C295 aircraft in 2015, with the Coast Guard order following later. The Indian Air Force selected the C295 as the replacement for its ageing fleet of Avro 748 transport aircraft. The Indian Air Force has a total fleet of over 50 Avro 748 aircraft. The first Avro aircraft for the Indian Air Force flew in 1961.

The C295 aircraft was pitched to India jointly by Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems Limited. The two companies plan to build the first 16 aircraft at an Airbus facility in Spain and the remainder would be built by Tata Advanced Systems Limited near Bengaluru. However, progress in the deal has been slow.
20/11/19 The Week

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Three Rafale jets handed over to IAF by France: Centre

New Delhi: Three Rafale fighter jets have been handed over to the Indian Air Force and are being used to train IAF pilots and technicians in France, the government said on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received the first Rafale jet at an airbase in France on October 8.

The first batch of four Rafale aircraft will arrive in India by May 2020.

India and France signed an Euro 7.87 billion (Rs 59,000 crore approximately) deal in September 2016 for 36 Rafale jets.

"Three Rafale fighter aircraft have been handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) till date which are being used for training of IAF pilots and technicians in France," Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Naik did not clarify when the two other aircraft were handed over to India.

He said that price of the jets was 2.86 per cent lower than the rates finalised during negotiations for procurement of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).

The MMRCA deal was negotiated by the UPA government.

The final negotiations for it continued till early 2014 but the deal could not go through.
20/11/19 New Indian Express

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Overcapacity in skies pulls down fares, hurts airlines’ bottomline

New Delhi: The rush by airlines to add planes and launch flights on slots vacated by Jet Airways has led to overcapacity in the Indian market, slashed fares and losses piling up for carriers, senior airline executives told ET.
 According to the winter schedule, airlines have announced a high double-digit increase in capacity, filling the space created on key routes after Jet’s demise.
 “Jet’s exit was a much-needed capacity correction,” said a senior airline executive who did not want to be identified. “But the government forced capacity to come back by tying slots and rights allocation to incremental aircraft addition. This, coupled with a slowing economy, has resulted in the market not being able to go through the natural correction after Jet’s exit. It has put airlines back into a doom loop, with excess capacity, not enough places to fly aircraft profitably and deep losses. Exit of another airline is quite possible.”
 Overcapacity has kept fares under stress even during the festive season that sees an uptick in travel. While the number of passengers flying during October increased 4%, fares stayed lower than last year. Data from travel aggregator ixigo showed that average fares between routes such as Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kulu were down by 9% and 54%, respectively, against last year. Some routes saw growth but not enough to offset overall losses.
 19/11/19 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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Investor Outreach For Air India Sale On, Says Civil Aviation Minister

Making headway into Air India disinvestment, the government is meeting potential investors to sell off almost its entire equity stake in the national carrier.

"Currently, the investor outreach programme is on. Air India CMD, Aviation Secretary and other concerned officials are meeting potential bidders," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told IANS.

The minister said the first meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) has met earlier and taken some decisions.
He hinted that disinvestment exercise was very much on course and can happen soon.

Asked if there were still hurdles such as FDI rules in the way of Air India disinvestment, the Minister said he was not aware of any.

The government has decided to almost completely exit the airline saying the financial support being provided to the airline could be put to better use such as building social infrastructure.
19/11/19 IANS/Outlook

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US-Based Firm Starts Helicopter Services on Pune-Mumbai-Shirdi Route, Journey Time Reduced to 35 Mins

Mumbai: US-based helicopter transport services provider Fly Blade's domestic subsidiary on Monday commenced its helicopter services in the country, connecting Mumbai with Pune and temple town Shirdi.

The commencement of the air services to these destinations will reduce the journey time to just 35 minutes as against an average four-six hours by road at present, Blade India said in a release.

The company had last December announced its plans to enter the Indian market in a joint venture with equity investment firm Hunch Ventures.

The digitally powered-aviation company, Blade, is the largest arranger of helicopter flights for civilian travel in the US. It will operate in India on fly-by-the-seat basis.

"India's major cities are consistently ranked as the most congested in the world and also have over-capacity. By broadening consumers access to on-demand aviation, we can start to mitigate these issues, while attempting to build the foundation for electric vertical take-Off and landing (eVTOL) services in the future," said Rob Wiesenthal, chief executive officer, Blade.

Blade also claimed that its lounges located at convenient urban heliports will help a passenger avoid the stress and rush of negotiating large commercial airports.
18/11/19 PTI/News18.com

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Qatar, India hold talks on air transport

New Delhi: Bilateral talks between the civil aviation authorities of Qatar and India were held in New Delhi on Monday.

The Qatari side was chaired by HE the Chairman of Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority Abdullah bin Nasser Turki al-Subaie, while the Indian side was headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation Pradeep Singh Kharola.

HE Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker also attended the talks.

Talks dealt with relations between the civil aviation authorities of Qatar and India and its importance on the volume of trade exchange between the two countries and matters of mutual interest.

The two sides stressed the need to continue bilateral meetings for greater co-ordination in matters related to civil aviation.
18/11/19 QNA/Gulf Times

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IndiGo cedes space, loses passengers in October; see who ate into the pie of India’s largest airline

Budget carrier and domestic aviation market leader IndiGo flew fewer passengers in October 2019 while SpiceJet’s monthly passengers flown numbers increased. IndiGo’s market share was down to 47.4% from last month’s 48.2%. On the other hand, SpiceJet’s share rose to 16.3% from September’s 14.7%, according to latest DGCA data. Other major carriers including state-run Air India and Go Airlines also reported a decline in their passenger growth. However, IndiGo is still the market leader with almost every one in two passengers flown by the Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal-founded airline. SpiceJet trails with over 16% share.

While Indian aviation industry suffered a major setback with the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX earlier this year followed by the shut down of Naresh Goyal-founded Jet Airways in April, the industry has still reported an over 3% passenger growth rise during September 2018 to October 2019, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. While 11.46 crore passengers were flown within India from January-October 2018, the number has witnessed a marginal jump to 11.82 crore passengers during the January-October 2019 period.

According to the DGCA data, IndiGo has 47% share of domestic aviation and the airline maintains its top position even after the slip in October number of passengers. Following IndiGo is Ajay Singh’s SpiceJet, state-run Air India at 12.9%, Go Air at 10.6%, Air Asia at 6.1% and Vistara at 5%.

Further, the DGCA data has also reported the timeliness of various airlines and GoAir delivered highest number of on-time performance in October 2019 at 79.9%. On the other hand, Air India reported the lowest at punctuality at 54.3%, meaning one in two Air India flights are late. This takes into account data collected from four major airports in the country viz New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
19/11/19 Financial Express

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Will diplomatic tensions between India-Malaysia affect HAL's offer to sell Tejas jet?

Financially struggling Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is eyeing to win the contract of supplying indigenously developed Tejas fighter jet to Malaysia, according to reports. The development has come amid worsening diplomatic relations between India and Malaysia after Mahathir Bin Mohamad, the Malaysian Prime Minister, sided with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue at the United Nations.

According to a report by the Print, Tejas is one of the shortlisted aircraft by the Malaysian Air Force for the supply of 36 new Light Combat Aircraft. It will be HAL's first foreign sale if it manages to win the contract.

The Malaysian Air Force is expected to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for the new contract in the year 2020. Besides Tejas, the other contenders participating in the process include China-Pakistan's JF-17, South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle, Russian YAK-130 and the BAE Systems' armed Hawk.

Moreover, Swedish Gripen - which is also in the race to supply 114 medium multi-role combat aircraft under the Make in India initiative to the Indian Air Force (IAF) - is also participating in the bid.

HAL sources have confirmed that Tejas will be transformed as per the requirements given by the Malaysian Air force. In September, a Malaysian team had visited HAL headquarters and deliberated with the officials on the project.
19/11/19 Ashish Shukla/IBTimes

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Jet Airways: These are the airlines that benefitted the most from its demise

The July–September quarter has traditionally been a weak quarter and airlines have struggled financially and operationally in the past. But this year was different because July–September was the first full quarter that had no Jet Airways. Remember, by then Jet’s competitors had lapped up its slots and aircraft.

Clearly, there are multiple winners with each airline trying to corner whatever was possible. In terms of absolute passengers, IndiGo added 21 lakh passengers, cornering a major share of what was left behind by Jet Airways. But due to its size, this translates into a growth of 14 percent for the airline.
The highest growth was with Vistara and AirAsia India – the Tata Group-owned airlines, growing at 57 percent and 42 percent, respectively in terms of passengers carried. Spicejet, which took the maximum aircraft from Jet Airways, had a modest growth of 28 percent in passenger numbers, even when its capacity by ASK (Available Seat Kilometers) grew by 43 percent.
However, growth follows capacity and has largely been in sync in recent years. A comparison of capacity deployed in the market over the same quarter the previous year against the passengers added for the same period shows that AirAsia India and Vistara have added far more passengers than the capacity added, while GoAir and IndiGo have also been on the positive side.
The surprising numbers come from Spicejet, which added 42.8 percent capacity by ASK but could add only 28 percent of passengers. An indication that the airline has to look at its route network seriously and possibly look for shorter hops than longer flights to create the balance.
While IndiGo complained that it had not got its due in terms of re-allocation of slots, the airline has carried 21 lakh additional passengers. This period has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for AirAsia India and Vistara, which would have otherwise found very difficult to grow in Mumbai. The unprecedented growth for Vistara and AirAsia India is what defined the market after the fall of Jet Airways.
19/11/19 Ameya Joshi/CNBC TV18

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‘BLADE is designed to offer customers the luxury of convenience’

The sign of success in New York is a weekend home in the Hamptons. But what if it took forever to reach the Hamptons on weekends? That used to be a killjoy some years ago. Not anymore. And for that, well-heeled New Yorkers have to thank the BLADE Urban Air Mobility, Inc. In 2014, former Sony and Warner Music Group executive Rob Wiesenthal and GroupMe co-founder Steve Martocci founded this New York-based startup, and since then it has reached South Florida, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

And beginning this week, it is in India. BLADE has kicked off operations from Mumbai, with daily trips to Pune and Shirdi, and between Pune and Shirdi. In India, its first overseas market, BLADE has formed a joint venture—BLADE India—with Delhi-based Hunch Ventures, an equity investment firm that has deployed over $100 million in consumer-facing business in India, to launch the service.

BLADE, backed by Airbus and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt among others, operates on an asset-light model, partnering with chopper operators to offer on-demand flights on its app. Think of it as Uber pool, but in the air. One can either buy individual seats on a flight or charter the full helicopter.

As part of BLADE’s pilot Urban Air Mobility programme in India, choppers depart from its heliport and lounge at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai and fly to its lounges and heliports in Pune’s Mundhwa, and Shirdi, with return flights. There’s also a service between Pune and Shirdi. A one-way ticket on the Mumbai-Shirdi route starts at ₹21,900; on the Mumbai-Pune route it is ₹19,900; and on the Pune-Shirdi route ₹18,900. All prices are devoid of GST.
19/11/19 Abhik Sen/Fortune India
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India, Russia To Sign Ka-226T Contract By May 2020

The long-delayed Ka-226T helicopter procurement by India is expected to be signed by May 2020.
"An Indo-Russian joint venture has been created. The helicopter is being updated based on the requirements of the Indian Ministry of Defense. We hope to complete the project and sign a contract in the next six months," Alexander Mikheyev, CEO of Rosoboronexport, said on Monday, at the Dubai Airshow 2019.

The JV was setup between Russian Helicopters and Indian defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

In 2015, Russia and India signed an intergovernmental agreement on the supply of light Ka-226T helicopters to the Indian side and localization of the production on its territory. The document includes deliveries of 60 Russian-made helicopters and the production of another 140 aircraft in India with a localization level of 50-70%, reports TASS.

In May 2018, the Indian MoD issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure and co-produce 200 Russian Kamov Ka-226T helicopters for the country’s army and air force, estimated to cost INR 21,000 Crore (US$3 billion). Additionally, the JV intends to offer the Ka-226T to the Indian navy as part of a tender for 111 helicopters.
18/11/19 Defense World.net

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Air traffic up 4 percent in October; GoAir most punctual

Domestic air passenger traffic has grown four percent to 12.3 million passengers in October when compared to the same period last year.

Official data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation states, "The passenger load factor in the month of October 2019 has shown increasing trend compared to previous month primarily due to the onset of tourist season."

GoAir has remained the most punctual airline with an on-time performance at 79 percent occasions across four metro airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

In terms of capacity utilisation or passenger load factor, Air Heritage had the highest load factor with 97.4 percent capacity utilisation.

For IndiGo, passenger load factor stood at 85.1 percent, falling from 86.5 percent in the previous month of September.
18/11/19 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18

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Domestic airlines fly 4% more passengers in October

New Delhi: Domestic airlines flew 1.23 crore passengers in October this year registering a 4 per cent growth over 1.18 crore passengers flown in October 2018.

The latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows that IndiGo carried 58.42 lakh of the 1.18 crore passengers flown in October this year followed by SpiceJet (20.05 lakh) and Air India (15.47 lakh).

GoAir carried 13.78 lakh passengers while AirAsia flew 8.03 lakh passengers while Vistara carried 6.69 lakh passengers. SpiceJet, however, bagged the number one position when it came to passenger load factor registering a PLF of 90 per cent followed by IndiGo (85.1 per cent), GoAir (83.1 per cent), AirAsia (83 per cent), Vistara (77.9 per cent) and Air India (76 per cent). Passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline are getting filled.
GoAir reported the best on-time performance (OTP) at 79.9 per cent followed by IndiGo and Air Asia both of which were at 79.4 per cent while Vistara was at 76.4 per cent, SpiceJet (66.5 per cent) and Air India (54.3 per cent) at the four metro airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The industry paid over ₹2.70 crore to over 2.4 lakh passengers affected by cancellations, delays and those who were denied boarding in October this year. This includes paying over ₹1.53 crore for providing facilities to over 2 lakh passengers who were affected by delays. In addition, the industry also paid over ₹68 lakh to the over 25,000 flyers affected by cancellations.
18/11/19 Business Line

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Musicians want airlines to secure their instruments

New Delhi: As a crowd of over 200 lovers of Indian classical music gathered in a temple in New York, preparing to spend their evening in the shimmering melody of a sitar, musician Shubhendra Rao greeted them and announced that he had not brought his sitar along. The collective gasp of the crowd filled the auditorium.

The sitarist, who is among the leading soloists in India and a protégé of sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, discovered after a 15-hour Air India flight from New Delhi on November 1 that his sitar had been irretrievably damaged. Its stem had cracked, and the ‘tabli’, or the soundboard atop the pear-shaped base, had broken into three pieces.

But perform he did, on a sitar borrowed from a disciple though it was “like walking on an artificial limb”. He says he has had too many strokes of bad luck lately — three incidents of “vandalism” during air travel in the past three consecutive years, which even forced him to cancel a concert in France in 2017.
Mr. Rao has restarted a petition he launched in 2017 on Change.org. In it, he urges that airlines be made accountable for damage to a musical instrument. He also demands that making passengers waive the liability of airlines for fragile items by signing a “limited release” document be done away with.
He describes the special relationship every artiste has with his or her musical instrument, which is also their voice. “To every artiste, his or her instrument is like a child he or she loves and nurtures every day.” Mr. Rao says his sitar is always by his side, whether he has a broken arm or on a honeymoon.
The petition has received more than 10,600 signatures and many world-renowned Indian musicians have joined the cause. Each has his or her stories of agony and suspense every air travel brings with it.
18/11/19 Jagriti Chandra/The Hindu

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‘Golden Age of Indian Aviation Sector,’ Says IndiGo Chief Amid Economic Slowdown

New Delhi: With strong fundamentals, India’s civil aviation sector is in its “golden age” and there is also healthy competition among domestic carriers, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has said. Interestingly, the country’s civil aviation sector has been experiencing lower growth in traffic compared to previous years and there has also been softness in fares in October, according to industry experts.

The traffic grew just 1.18 per cent in September, as per the latest available official data.
IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, is the country’s largest airline with a market share of 48.2 per cent in September.

While acknowledging that there are problems, including high taxes on jet fuel, Dutta said there are huge opportunities going forward.

“We are in the golden age of Indian aviation and there are huge opportunities going forward… There are always problems, there are always issues and economic cycles. (But) The fundamentals are strong,” he told PTI in an interview.

According to him, tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is 30 per cent higher than rest of the world.
Bringing ATF under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been a long pending demand of the airline industry.
“Then there are throughput charges for which we should be getting credit for taxes paid,” he added.
IndiGo has been aggressively expanding its operations and has started 11 overseas routes in the last one year. Recently, it placed an order for 300 more planes from Airbus and is also considering wide-body aircraft for long haul routes. On whether there is healthy competition among local carriers, Dutta replied in the affirmative.
“We have a commonality of interests. Airlines around the world have commonality (of interests). It extends to ATF taxes, infrastructure issues. In terms of who gets which rights and who flies where, it is all fierce competition,” he noted.
17/11/19 PTI/India.com

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Sourcing from India to grow beyond $1 billion, says Boeing India Chief

Global aerospace major Boeing expects annual sourcing of key components from India to grow beyond the current level of $1 billion, a senior company official has said.

At present, more than 160 suppliers provide the company with advanced components and subassemblies for commercial and defence aircraft as part of Boeing's integrated global supply chain.

These parts and assemblies cover critical components such as aerostructures, wire-harness, composites, forgings, avionics, mission systems and ground support equipment.

"Opportunity is a 'buzzword' with us and we are constantly looking at doing more here, with partners... Our annual sourcing from India stands at $1 billion from over 160 suppliers, but this number will continue to grow," Boeing India President Salil Gupte told IANS.
17/11/19 IANS/CNBC TV18

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Russia says India delaying signing helicopters deal despite all information

Dubai: The head of Russian Helicopters said on Sunday that India was delaying the signing of a firm agreement for purchasing 140 helicopters despite providing all information.

Chief Executive Andrey Boginsky also said it would benefit India if the planned order for over 100 rotorcraft for the Indian Navy could be combined with the 140 India is looking to buy for the Army.
India and Russia signed a deal in 2015 under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' programme for the supply of 140 KA 226T helicopters with Russia to deliver 60 and the remaining to be assembled and manufactured in India.

The two countries also have held preliminary talks for the supply of over 100 of the KA 226-T helicopters for the Indian Navy, Boginsky said.

"We have done significant successful work and provided all information to India's ministry of defence, unfortunately there is no efficient and quick way from the Indian side," he told Reuters at the Dubai Air Show.

"We can't understand the reasons for the delay."

On the order for the Indian Navy, Boginsky said India would benefit from combining both orders to gain more value in enhancing its capabilities.
17/11/19 Reuters/Business Standard

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Airlines Asked To Have Swachh Bharat-Themed Cover Page For In-Flight Magazines

New Delhi: The Central government has "requested" all domestic airlines and airports across the country to have a Swachh Bharat themed cover page for the next issue of their in-flight and in-house magazines respectively, according to an official communication.
The government has shared the December issue of Air India's in-flight magazine, modelled on Swachh Bharat mission, with other airliners for reference.

The cleanliness campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2, 2014.

"Reference is invited to the meeting on November 14, 2019 at ministry of civil aviation (MOCA) wherein all the airlines and airports were suggested to use the Swachh Bharat theme as cover page of the next issue of in-house magazine of airports and in-flight magazine of airlines," the MOCA said.
15/11/19 PTI/NDTV

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IAF aircraft strength to rise to 2,000 soon: Official

Kolkata: The number of military aircraft in the country will soon increase to 2,000 from the present 1,400, thus opening up more opportunities for the MSME sector in repair and overhaul, a senior IAF officer said on Friday.

There will be a huge requirement of aircraft in the next 10 to 20 years in military aviation of the country, said Air Marshall R K S Shera, Air Officer Maintenance of the IAF.


"The number is going to blow up from whatever we have today at 1,400, it will rise to 2,000 soon," he said at a programme here.

The induction of medium transport aircraft, Airbus C295, in the IAF will begin soon, he said adding that the force has already inducted Rafale figher jets from Dassault Aviation of France.

Apart from these, a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and various other machines are to be acquired in the military sector, Shera, who heads the Maintenance Command of the IAF, said.

"The requirement of repair and overhaul of these aircraft and machines will go up and up," he said.

Shera said that to service and keep the machines airworthy, there is a huge opportunity for the Indian MSME sector in manufacturing of materials, tools and development of automated technologies.

"It is not only the number of aircraft. It is also the complex technologies that are going to come to our country for which we need the right kind of academia and the industry backup so that we become more self-reliant and indigenous," he said.

Shera said that the IAF always promotes indigenisation and self-reliance.
15/11/19 PTI/Times of India

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India's aviation growth in-line with international standards: Airbus

European aircraft maker Airbus on Thursday said India's aviation growth is in-line with international standards.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18's Anu Sharma, Grazia Vittadini, the global chief technology officer, said, "Demand for air travelling is projected to double every 15-20 years and that is an absolute success story for Airbus."

"However, it is a position of privilege which comes with great responsibilities because twice as many aircraft means also twice as many emissions and noise. So, something we really are committed to mastering for the next aviation of aircraft," she added.
15/11/19 CNBC TV18

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IAF may buy HAL's trainer aircraft, Air Chief to take sortie

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to float a Request for Proposal (RFP) with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) this December for purchasing homemade HTT-40 basic aircraft for training its pilots, sources said here on Wednesday.
Ahead of the proposed RFP, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria is scheduled to undertake a test flight of the HTT-40, short form for Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40, in Bengaluru on Thursday. The IAF will float the RFP if the aircraft is found to meet required standards for training new pilots.
"The Air Chief will fly an HTT 40 aircraft from the HAL Airport in Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon. He will fly the aircraft himself to assess its capabilities and flight worthiness," an HAL spokesperson told IANS.
The HTT-40 is a basic fixed-wing aircraft, designed and developed by the HAL, which can be used by the IAF for training and aerobatic purposes too, apart from night flying. With a maximum range of 1,000 km and a top speed of 450 mph, the tandem-seated aircraft has been designed to replace IAF's fleet of HPT-32 Deepak basic trainers, which have already been grounded following a series of accidents.
13/11/19 IANS/Economic Times

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Govt's clean diktat to airlines: Promote Swachh Bharat, get flying rights

New Delhi/Mumbai: Play the Swachh Bharat anthem on board, ask crew to wear swachhata badge, place Swachh Bharat booklets in seat pockets. These are among the government instructions that airlines are following to step up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship campaign. But, a competition to promote cleanliness across airports may turn out to be a clincher, especially for the prizes that winning airlines can get.

Best performing airlines could possibly be rewarded with traffic rights on a lucrative route or perhaps a prime airport slot, according to a communication sent by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to airlines and airports.
This is part of Swachh Bharat Pakhwada — a 15-day drive organised by all government ministries to promote cleanliness and sanitation. The aviation industry is, however, sceptical about the promised prizes.

“Giving away bilateral rights as prize to promote a government programme is uncalled for,” said a person attending the event. Airlines have been asked to appoint a nodal officer reporting back to the ministry regarding the activities undertaken by them, he said.

When contacted, civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the subject was under discussion. “No final decision has been taken. All aspects will be kept in mind before any decision is taken,” he said.
Bilateral rights and airport slots are a scarce and coveted resource for airlines. While bilateral traffic rights allow airlines to launch flights to foreign destinations, an airport slot is a permission to operate flights at an airport during specified hours.

There are set guidelines to allocate resource among airlines, based on demand and volume of operations.
14/11/19 Arindam Majumder Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Hawaiian-JAL JV expands scope to include Russia and India

Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Air Lines have expanded the geographic scope of their proposed joint venture to include numerous additional connections across Asia and the Pacific, as well as current and future service to India and Russia, in an attempt to show additional public benefits from a project they say deserves US antitrust immunity (ATI).

The revised joint venture, as described in a document published on the US Department of Transportation’s website on 13 November, moves beyond direct Japan-Hawaii flights to now include all Asia-Hawaii nonstop flights, connections between Tokyo and Guam, South Pacific connecting routes served by Hawaiian, as well as additional South Pacific points that Hawaiian might serve in the future.

“In reevaluating the structure of the joint venture, the applicants identified two additional countries that they could serve: India and Russia,” the document reads.

JAL currently serves New Delhi, India, and plans to fly to Bangalore and Vladivostok, Russia from the first quarter of 2020. The airlines argue that these flights could provide additional traffic to Hawaii and the proposed JV.

“Although the incremental traffic is not projected to be as significant as other connecting opportunities (such as to points within domestic Japan), any incremental traffic will increase the public interest benefits produced by the joint venture," the document says.
13/11/19 Pilar Wolfsteller/Flight Global

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We've not done enough for aviation medicine specialists: Air Chief

Bengaluru: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday said that not enough has been done — in service terms — for aviation medicine experts and that it has resulted in declining interest in the important field.
"...We've not done enough for the aviation medicine people in terms of service. Do we need to look at why youngsters aren't taking up aviation medicine? Let's not sugar-coat things, they are not taking it up because it isn't a good career option. The architecture itself is wrong, let's work it out and resolve this issue," Bhadauria said at the 58th Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ISAM) annual conference.
Stating that there is no doubt in his mind or that of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that aviation/aerospace medicine has been a leading factor in making IAF as capable as it is, the air chief said work on restarting the pilot-doctor programme, which was discontinued more than four decades ago.
"We'll put some aviation specialists as full-fledged pilots as part of the pilot physician programme. This will allow you to do better. We need some approvals and clearances since the previous programme was closed. We are working on it," he said.
14/11/19 Chethan Kumar/Times of India

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Supreme Court dismisses Rafale review petition seeking criminal probe in fighter jet deal

New Delhi: In a major relief for the Narendra Modi-led government, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a review petition seeking a court-monitored criminal probe in Rafale fighter jet deal between the Indian government and France's Dassault Aviation.

The three-judge bench of the top court comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph dismissed the review pleas in a unanimous judgment.

"We cannot lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with a contract. This court did not consider it appropriate to conduct a roving inquiry in an Article 32 petition," said SC in its ruling.

"We don't feel necessary to order FIR or roving inquiry into Rafale deal case," the top court added.

The development comes as a huge relief for the Modi government, which received a lot of flak over the deal after some leaked documents related to the deal surfaced earlier.

While the top court had earlier rejected pleas seeking court-monitored investigation into the controversial Rafale deal in December last year, it again initiated hearing a review petition in February this year.
14/11/19 Aneesha Mathur/India Today

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DGCA to monitor passenger complaints, ensure timely redress

New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator plans to monitor all passenger related complaints to ensure they are redressed efficiently and in a time-bound manner.
A senior official at the the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told ET the move is aimed to empower the passengers at a time when air passenger ridership numbers are rising with many first-time fliers and carriers are adding new flights and routes to cater to the growing demand.
“We have a wing in the DGCA that monitors fares and it will now be tasked to check the closure of compla-ints filed with us or even on AirSewa, which is (the civil aviation) ministry’s portal to resolve consumer complaints,” the official said requesting anonymity.
The official said though the number of complaints are increasing not all of them are genuine. “Our intervention helps both ways—it ensures that the passenger complaint is addressed within time and also ensures the flier that they are being heard.”
Sources said DGCA director ge-neral Arun Kumar is keen to focus attention on fliers. The DGCA has, under his leadership, announced several other measures to empower the fliers.
According to DGCA data, scheduled domestic airlines received 701 passenger-related complaints in September. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried in the month was 0.61.
13/11/19 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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From Nov 18, take a chopper between Mum, Pune and Shirdi

Come November 18, and people travelling between Mumbai, Pune and Shirdi will have one more transport option to choose from. United States-based urban mobility startup BLADE, better known as the Uber of helicopter services, on Tuesday announced that it will launch helicopter services between the cities.
BLADE India, the Indian arm of BLADEwhich claims to be the largest chopper service for civilians in the US – had announced last year that it planned to start services from Mumbai by March 2019. Delayed by a few months, the company is now set to launch chopper flights on a perseat basis between the three cities.
ABlade India spokesperson said the inaugural fares per seat for Mumbai-Pune will start at Rs 19,900,
Mumbai-Shirdi at Rs 21,900, and Pune-Shirdi at Rs 18,900 without GST.
“The first chopper ride will take passengers from Pune to Mumbai, then fly to the temple town of Shirdi, and return to Pune. The average flight will reduce 4 to 6 hour journeys to all of 35 minutes,” said a spokesperson for Blade India, a joint venture between Blade and a private equity fund Hunch Ventures.
13/11/19 Satish Nandagaonkar/Mumbai Mirror

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Airbus aim to dominate Indian aviation market with A220

New Delhi: The global aerospace major showcased the A220 as the only aircra purpose-built for the 100-150
seat market, with extended range capability of up to 3,400 nautical miles. This, Airbus maintained, would make it particularly suitable for operations in India.
Aboard the aircra, the demonstration flight of which was operated by Baltic Air, wider seats, aisle and bigger windows made it appear more spacious than other aircra of the same category.
Accompanying a media team, Connor Buott, senior analyst, Single-Aisle Family Product Marketing, Airbus, said the seating configuration can be customised to any requirement of the airline. "We have options for airlines to be full economy or full business," he explained.
On the aviation market in Asia, Buott said the demand for single-aisle aircra would triple over the next 20 years, and the same trend will be seen in India too.
Since Airbus already has an established network in India, he hoped the company could secure sizeable orders for A220 from airlines here.
For aviation startups, he felt the aircra could be an ideal stepping stone, oering the lowest risk.
Known before as Bombardier CSeries (or C Series), the A220 is a family of narrow-body, twin engine, medium-range jet originally designed and built by the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier
Aerospace.
12/11/19 Rasheed Kappan/Deccan Herald

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Airbus A-220 is different from other Airbus aircraft, says Connor Buott

Pointing out that Airbus does see “high interest” for its A-220 aircraft in India, Connor Buott, Single Aisle Product Marketing Senior Analyst, Customer Affairs talked to BusinessLine as the aircraft flew from Bengaluru to Delhi on the last stop of its world tour before heading back to Riga. Airbus estimates demand for about 2,000 single aisle aircraft in India over the next 20 years. Edited excerpts:

Airbus has been sourcing a lot from India like HAL makes doors for the Airbus A-320. What about the Airbus A-220?

To the best of my knowledge we do not have any major components coming from India. Our main manufacturing facility is in Montreal so a lot of components are manufactured there. We also have final assembly in Alabama. A large part of the major assembly comes from Europe including the wings. We have some fuselage sections coming from China.

None of the components on board are from India right now?

None, out of the major systems that I am aware of. There might be some minor systems but I will have to look at the details.

This is the first time that the Airbus group has moved from naming its aircraft from 3 to 2. What prompted this move?

The Airbus A-220 is the new kid on the block, a new aircraft. It has only been about a year since Airbus has had this aircraft in its portfolio. It is being marketed quite aggressively around the world. We have done three demonstration tours and two more are planned in the near future.

You had mentioned that this aircraft can open up new airports. Can we get a sense of how many new airports?

I cannot speak of how many. Any airstrip that is longer than 1,200 metres is a great opportunity for the A-220 family of aircraft.
12/11/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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India tops Asia-Pacific commercial aviation

In the global aviation market, India is leading in the Asia-Pacific region’s growth story with regard to the commercial aviation market, a recent report titled “Indian Commercial Market Outlook” released by Boeing on Wednesday in New Delhi has revealed.

India has over 60% of the share of private consumption in the GDP in terms of the global aviation market, while the Asia-Pacific region has about 55% of the share, according to the Boeing report. The report further states that the Indian aviation market which experienced a slump at the beginning of 2019, has already picked up pace and is forecast to grow at about 7.5% of the real GDP growth between 2020 to 2025.

The Asia-Pacific region’s commercial aviation market is likely to grow at a little over 4% in terms of real GDP growth.

The airlines network has also been on the rise since the last 10 years and the commercial aviation market in India has witnessed a growth of 400% in the last 10 years. While in 2008, the weekly flights in India were just 1,118, it jumped to 4,501 weekly trips in 2018, according to the report.

Seeing this exponential growth in the Indian commercial aviation market, Boeing has forecast that air carriers in India will need 2,380 new commercial airplanes, valued at USD 330 billion, to handle the growing demand for air travel over the next 20 years and to operate and maintain the expanding fleet, operators are expected to spend $440 billion on aviation services, including ground, station and cargo operations, along with maintenance and engineering.

The last 10 years also witnessed a massive passenger growth in the Indian aviation market; since 2008, the domestic aviation passenger grew three times till 2018 and international passengers in India grew by 2.5 times and the Indian commercial aviation sector carried 184 million passengers in 2018 compared to 72 million in 2008.
09/11/19 Dibyendu Mondal/Sunday Guardian Live

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Domestic passenger traffic slips to 1.6% in September: IATA

New Delhi: Weak economic activity, along with subdued private consumption eased India's year-on-year domestic air passenger traffic growth rate to 1.6 per cent in September from 4.5 per cent observed in August.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India's domestic air passenger volume -- measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) -- was the lowest among the major aviation markets such as Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US.

In the period under consideration, India's domestic passenger traffic growth was preceded by that of Japan at 10.1 per cent, China at 8.9 per cent, the US at 6 per cent, Russia at 3.2 per cent, Australia at 1.8 per cent and Brazil at 1.7 per cent.

The country's domestic available passenger capacity -- measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs) -- contracted by (-) 0.4 per cent in September.
08/11/19 IANS/India Today

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Kerala govt set to use chopper for anti-Maoist drive

Thiruvananthapuram: The furore over Agali Maoist encounter has not bogged down the state government from intensifying its drive against the red ultras. The Home Department has given sanction to the Police Department to procure a helicopter on a wet-lease basis to intensify its anti-Maoist operations. Sanction has been given to procure AS 365 Dauphin N3 from Pawan Hans Ltd for a fixed monthly charge of Rs 1.44 crore for 20 hours flying per month. In case of flying beyond this limit, an hourly charge of Rs 68,000 will be levied extra.
The sanction was given in view of the proposal submitted by State Police Chief Loknath Behera.
Pawan Hans and Chipsan Aviation Ltd had submitted Expression of Interest, but the former was picked up after several bouts of discussions held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Tom Jose. Sources said technical aspects, specific requirements of helicopter and comparative statement of tender documents of other states were examined in detail before finally zeroing in on Pawan Hans. “Apart from its efficiency, being a Public Sector Undertaking, the lot went to Pawan Hans. At this critical juncture, we do not want to invite unwanted allegations by opting for a private firm,” said a top-level officer.
07/11/19 Shan A S/New Indian Express

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Start with signature in Hindi: Aviation secretary

New Delhi: Those finding it difficult to do file notings in Hindi has a time-tested advice from civil aviation secretary -- start small to achieve big.
The Karnataka cadre officer of 1985-batch Pradeep Singh Kharola has advised staff to at least put in their signatures in Hindi on official communications if not more.
Kharola who chaired the meeting of official language committee also directed the staff to write brief communications in Hindi while long official letters to have a covering note in Hindi.
08/11/19 Nirbhay Kumar/FreePressJournal

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‘Qatar Airways has not closed the door on plans to start an airline in India’

New Delhi: Qatar Airways has not given up on its plans for starting an airline in India, despite announcing a code-share agreement with IndiGo on Thursday, said. In an exclusive interview to the HinduBusinessLine, Al Baker outlines why his airline has no interest in Air India’s divestment and plans to attract Indian football fans for the FIFA 2020 World Cup, which Qatar is hosting.

What happens to your plans for starting an airline in India after today's announcement of a codeshare with IndiGo Airlines?
We are still open to starting an airline in India. But we really do not have direction on exactly how to do it, because we get so many mixed messages.

Mixed messages like what?

From the bureaucracy here. That an airline can have a stake in an Indian carrier, that a foreign carrier can launch an airline in India. Then the next is that no, they can only go up to 49 per cent, but a sovereign fund can own 100 per cent of an Indian domestic carrier. So, what happens when a sovereign fund owns an airline? If a sovereign fund can own an airline – a domestic Indian carrier – then why not an airline which is owned by a sovereign fund? It is really mixed up. So, we really do not know what is the rule.

Why is there no interest in Air India? It has many slots, including in London Heathrow?

Look, it is not all about slots. Qatar Airways also has a lot of slots. Actually, we have more slots than Air India has at Heathrow.

So it’s about the organisation of the airline, how you will be able to run it, how much flexibility you will have in recruiting and laying off people. There are a lot of things that an airline requires to be successful.

Now, with the tie-up with IndiGo, will Qatar consider giving fifth and sixth freedom rights to IndiGo, basically the right to carry passengers beyond Doha?

Indian carriers already have fifth and sixth freedom rights. We have a very liberal air services regime in Qatar. We have no problems giving Indian carriers beyond rights.

So, technically speaking, an IndiGo aircraft can land in Qatar and carry passengers onwards?

No problems at all.

How many passengers do you think you will be able to get as a result of the code share announced with IndiGo?

On a daily basis we will be able to get at least 250 passengers on the three cities where the code share has been announced. (The code share will initially cover the Doha-Hyderabad, Doha-Mumbai and Doha-Delhi routes).
07/11/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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India needs 2,380 aircraft worth $330 billion in next 20 yrs: Boeing

Presenting a bullish outlook on demand from Indian airliners, Boeing announced on Wednesday the country would be the world's fastest-growing aviation market over the next 20 years.
Speaking in New Delhi, Darren Hulst, Boeing deputy vice president of commercial marketing, was quoted as saying Indian airliners would require 2,380 new aircraft, worth approximately $330 billion, over the next 20 years. According to Reuters, passenger traffic in India has risen around 20 per cent in recent years, making it one of the fastest-growing civil aviation markets. However, growth was hit this year by the collapse of Jet Airways and a slowing economy.
Hulst sought to boost confidence in the fate of Boeing 737 MAX model, which has been grounded worldwide after fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Bloomberg reported Hulst had claimed Boeing was working with US regulators to get the 737 MAX back into service in that country in this quarter itself.
06/11/19 The Week

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Rs 191cr plane for Gujarat CM

Ahmedabad: The BJP government in Gujarat has purchased an aircraft worth Rs 191 crore for use by the chief minister and other dignitaries like the governor and the deputy chief minister, wrapping up a delayed procurement process launched five years ago.

The swanky two-engine Bombardier Challenger 650 will be delivered in the next two weeks, officials said on Wednesday. The aircraft can carry 12 passengers and has a flying range of around 7,000km, much higher than the Beechcraft Super King aircraft that has been used to ferry the chief minister and other dignitaries in the state for the past 20 years.

The Bombardier Challenger 650 can fly at a speed of around 870kmph.

An official said the Beechcraft Super King could actually ferry four to five passengers, not the stated capacity of nine, as additional fuel needed to be carried along because of its limited flying range.
“Refuelling is also a big issue with the old aircraft, which is not the case with this new Bombardier. Because of these limitations, the Beechcraft Super King would take around five hours to reach Guwahati from here (Ahmedabad),” he said, adding that the new aircraft would take only one hour and forty minutes to cover the same distance as it did not require refuelling.
Another official said: “The Bombardier Challenger 650 aircraft worth around Rs 191 crore will be delivered to us (Gujarat government) in the third week of this month. All formalities related to its procurement have been completed.”
The director of civil aviation, Gujarat, Captain Ajay Chauhan, said it would take another two months before the new jet could become airborne “as we need to take approvals and clearances from the customs department, the DGCA and other authorities”.
06/11/19 PTI/Telegraph

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Indian skies have fewer jumbo jets, 80 more needed to touch global average

New Delhi: The aviation industry is expanding but the number of wide-bodied aircraft has shrunk from 63 out of a total aircraft strength of 614 in 2018 to 43 — a development, which experts say, is out of sync with the global norm in which wide-bodied planes make up 20 per cent of an airline’s fleet.
In India, the share of these planes is only 7 per cent, down from over 10 per cent in the beginning of this year. Without these planes, which have more space and can carry more fuel, airlines cannot offer a comfortable experience on medium- or long-haul flights or carry a larger number of passengers.
The collapse of Jet Airways has everything to do with the falling number of wide-bodied aircraft. “You cannot have a shrinking wide-bodied market in a country where aviation is growing. We see a large opportunity in this space where now we only have Air India operating,” says Vikram Rai, country head, GE Aviation in India which has virtual monopoly in the wide-bodied engine market.
GE and CFM, which is a joint venture with Safran Aircraft Engines, has over 300 narrow-bodied and 40 wide-bodied engines in operation in India. It is a key player with current orders of 800 narrow-bodied and six wide-bodied engines.
Despite the overall slowdown, airlines are doing well with passenger growth in both the domestic and international market. The airlines have managed, within a few months, to add enough new capacity to more than fill the void left by Jet’s extinction in April.
06/11/19 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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Surya Kiran, Sarang teams to enthral Nagpurians in air show

The signature manoeuvres of the Surya Kiran and the Sarang Aerobatic teams of India Air Force are going to enthral thousands of spectators of Nagpur in ‘Air Fest 2019’ on November 8 and 10 at Vayusena Nagar. The two-day air show will be held to mark the 65th Anniversary of Head Quarters Maintenance Command (HQMC) and 87th Indian Air Force Day. The show will be held from 10 am to 12 Noon on both days. Instead of conducting this air show in Sonegaon Air force Station, HQMC is going to organise it at Vayusena Nagar Parade Ground which will provide a better view to the people.

Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team, Sarang Helicopter Aerobatic Team, Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, MI-17 Helicopters, Indian Air Force Skydiving Team, Paragliders, Air Worrier Drill Team and Aero Modelling will be major attractions of the show. HQMC send invitations to schools for the air show. Invited school students and NCC cadets will be only allowed inside the Vayusena Nagar premises on November 8 demonstration while people can view the show from Dabha ground, outside Vayusena Nagar Gate No 2, Futala Lake premises and Amravati Road near Maruti Seva. No one will allow inside the Vayusena Nagar premises on November 8. State Government officials, Central Government officials, retired Indian Air Force officials, exservicemen, media and other dignitaries will be invited for the show on November 10.
 05/11/19 Hitavada

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Chartered Accountant Files FIR in Dibrugarh Against Airlines Operating in India

Guwahati: A chartered accountant named Suresh Chandra Varma has filed a written complaint in Dibrugarh against all the Airlines operating in India.

As per the complaint, the Airlines operating in India are not refunding the GST and the Tax amount to the passengers who have not availed the flight or his flights have been cancelled.

He has also alleged that Indigo Airlines is charging Rs 50 for printing the tickets at the airport counter without issuing any receipt resulting in total GST amount fraud.

It has been alleged in the FIR that this scam is of more than Rs 1000 crores.
04/11/19 Guwahati Plus

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One year on, Flying Club remains non-starter

Trichy: Madras Flying Club, one of the oldest flying clubs in the country, was to be shifted from Chennai to Tiruchy. However, even senior airport officials are unsure when the club would start functioning from here, "We have provided office space and other facilities for the club at the Tiruchy airport. Our job is over. They can start functioning anytime," said Tiruchy Airport Director K Gunasekaran. Beyond this, he refused to divulge details as what was delaying the project.

Sources said that the flying club is unlikely to get permission to shift to any other airport."This club has to pay more than Rs 1.14 crores to the Chennai International Airport. This was agreed to be settled after starting operations in Tiruchy. So, we gave them permission. Apart from this, AAI (Airports Authority of India) has spent money on providing infrastructure for the club in Tiruchy. They are unlikely to get permission to start in any other city," a source said.

According to sources, the club has so far transferred only their flight stimulator (equipment used for pilot training purpose) to Tiruchy. "Recently, they shifted the flight stimulator to Tiruchy. Their aircraft are still in Chennai. We don't know when they will shift," a source said.

The process has been delayed for almost a year. It was in November last that Gunasekaran along with MFC officials announced launch of operations from Tiruchy. A board of the Madras Flying Club was also placed at the entrance of the airport.
04/11/19 Jose K Joseph/New Indian Express

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Aviation not in Hinduja's investment plans: Dheeraj Hinduja

Chennai: Aviation is not in the investment purview of the Hinduja group in India, said Dheeraj G Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland Ltd. "We get various investment proposals. However, aviation sector is not in the investment purview of the family," Hinduja told IANS on Monday. Earlier, the Hinduja group had considered investing in Jet Airways but later decided against it. With the central government planning to rope in a private player for Air India as part of the state-owned airline's divestment plans, Hinduja was asked on the possibilities of the groups's interest in the sector.
04/11/19 IANS/Sify

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Airfares on India’s busiest airline routes have dropped to new lows, beating even UDAN rates

When IndiGo announced its Q2-FY20 results last week, it warned of sustained weakness in the market after the unusual fares in the strong month of October. The second quarter has long been traditionally weak and while airlines have reported profits in this period of the year in the past, those occasions were when capacity was much lower and so were the oil prices.

Last year, Jet Airways and IndiGo reported bumper losses in Q2 which set in motion the fall of Jet Airways – with the airline suspending operations in April this year. This led to a frenzy of activities by airlines to get slots which were suddenly available, especially at Mumbai and Delhi. In this melee, Spicejet and Vistara doubled their departures at Mumbai – the most congested airport in the country.

While data for September is not yet released by the regulator, the domestic departures for August 2019 are up 0.4 percent over the same month last year. The capacity is back but it hasn’t grown, which is also reflecting the near-flat growth in passenger traffic.

However, this has led to one surprising factor – airfares which are touching new lows! In fact, ticket prices are so low than on certain sectors like Delhi–Lucknow, they are lower than fares on Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) routes of similar stage length and duration! The RCS-UDAN fares are subsidised and capped while the fares on all other routes are dynamic and largely driven by demand and capacity.

While there was a huge hue and cry over lower fares during Diwali days, traditionally the fares have been high only on the days leading up to Diwali and then post the festivities are over. The days of festivities sees lesser travel. The VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic travels before Diwali and returns post Diwali, whereas the holiday crowd leaves post Diwali to return about a week later.

Airfares also tend to be higher on Monday morning and Friday evenings – especially between the metro routes but a quick look at fares on the various portals shows that even those are very low post Diwali. A Monday morning flight between Mumbai and Delhi was selling at less than Rs 3,000. Likewise, the cheapest flights between major metro cities were selling for less than Rs 4,000 for most days.
04/11/19 Ameya Joshi/CNBC TV18

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Kerala Semi High-Speed Rail project: DGCA gives nod for aerial survey of proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) has received clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for conduct of aerial survey of the proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SHSR) line. The Ministry of Defence had already given its go-ahead for the survey by deploying helicopters, based on strict standard stipulations such as skipping photography ofspecified strategically significant sites and installations.

The survey marks the prelude to deciding the alignment of the ambitious project 'Silver Line', to be executed by KRDCL, a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways, an official release said here. The exact alignment of the 'Silver Line' would be finalised based on the aerial survey and the boundaries for the line on both sides would be determined only with the approval of the state government.
The process of land acquisition for the green field project would start only after that, it said. The Defence Ministry's clearance is mandatory for the survey as certain strategically significant sites fall within the ambit of the area to be covered. KRDCL has chosen the Hyderabad-based GeoKno India
Private Ltd to carry out the survey through bidding process.
01/11/19 PTI/India TV

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