Metro may run to proposed airport

The idea of connecting the metro rail project to the proposed airport in Purandar is floating around with a feasibility study likely in the near future.
With the Pune metro project all set for a nod from the Cabinet after it was passed by the public investment board of the finance ministry on October 15, sources in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) told TOI on Friday that the future phases of the project will include a feasibility study to connecting the metro lines to the new airport and based on reports, a decision will be taken.
An official at PMC, who requested anonymity, said with the first phase of the project aiming to stretch to 31.21km, additional modifications, which also included adding around 1.8km, and connecting the metro to the existing Lohegaon airport were also considered.
"A feasibility study in connection with the extension of the Pune metro to the site of the proposed Pune airport at Purandar is needed. Transportation to the airport is among the most important, but the study is essential. One should look into the expected number of passengers at the new airport first. If the new airport is expected to receive around five lakh passengers each year, one will need to calculate the number of passengers coming to the airport per day and whether the extension of lines to 50km will be feasible. However, the studies will take place based on which a decision to modify the routes will be taken. The process is lengthy, but will be undertaken," an official told TOI.
The proposed length of the metro in the city is 31.51km. It will run on two corridors between Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and Swargate (16.59km) and from Vanaz to Ramwadi (14.92km).
31/10/16 Joy Sengupta/The Times Of India

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Indian Air Force daredevils to take over city skies

Lucknow: Locals will get a chance to witness the daredevilry of Indian Air Force (IAF) teams, as they take over city skies with their aerobatic display on Novemner 2, on IAF's 84th anniversary.
Internationally renowned for their skill and dedication, the 14-member IAF skydiving team, Akashganga, would also be performing at the event, which will be organised at Air Force Station in Bakshi Ka Talab. The team comprises para instructors of the Paratroopers Training School. Akashganga would be accompanied by Suryakiran and Sarang teams as well.
30/10/16 Times of India

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Taking a flight besieged by fuel woes

Kochi: In what may be termed a double whammy for Malayali expatriates who are already beleaguered by exorbitant airfares, airline companies operating between Kerala and international destinations are yet to reduce the fuel surcharge introduced when oil prices were ruling high, despite the crude price hitting record lows.   Some of the airlines jacked up airfares for travel between the Gulf and Kerala five-seven times, during the peak season. And, they continue to charge ridiculously high fuel surcharges, sometimes more than double the basic fare, from Malayalis who are already bearing the brunt of the economic slowdown in the Gulf caused by the crash in global oil prices.
Though fuel surcharge is levied on flights  to all destinations in India, Kerala is one of the worst hit states, which accounts for more than half of the Indian diaspora in the Gulf region.

“While the sharp fall in oil prices has brought a huge windfall for aviation sector, most of the airlines are unwilling to pass the benefit on to customers. Passengers booking tickets under the ‘YQ’ and ‘YR’ tax-codes are made to pay exorbitant fares, which comprise fuel surcharge, insurance premium and whatever else that is fit to be added to basic fare,” says IATA Agents Association of India national president Biji Eapen.

For instance, while the basic fare for  return ticket to Dubai from Kochi and vice-versa on Emirates, for travelling on November 10 and returning on Feb 5, is around `3,000, the YQ charge is `8,024. For the same booking, Jet Airways charges basic fare of `5,100 and YQ charge of `8,024. The case is almost the same with all the airlines that operate from Kerala, both on the international and domestic routes.
30/10/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/Indian Express

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In Delhi, Alleged Cases Of Poop Falling From Planes. National Green Tribunal Investigates

Imagine human excreta falling on you from airplanes flying above!

A former senior armyman has moved the National Green Tribunal alleging dumping of human waste by aircraft over residential areas near the IGI airport here, which led the green panel to order an inspection of his South Delhihouse.

Lt Gen (Retd) Satwant Singh Dahiya has sought criminal proceedings against commercial airlines and levy of hefty fines on them for endangering the health of residents, terming the act as violation of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
28/10/16 PTI/The Huffington Post

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An overview on the evolving Indian Air Force: an interview with the Indian Air Force Chief of staff

Recently our partner, India Strategic, conducted an interview with the Indian Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Chief Arup Raha.

The Indian Air Force marked its 84th Anniversary this October 8, with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, saying that IAF is looking forward to increase its combat strength.

He disclosed that the Government is considering the Make in India offers from the US Boeing for F/A 18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin for its F-16 (Block 70) and Swedish Saab for Gripen.

IAF is also open to offers for more Rafales as well as Eurofighters but under the Make in India program of the Government. He agreed that IAF needed another manufacturing line besides that of HAL’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to make up for the depleting number of its squadrons.

IAF is happy though at the Rafale deal, he observed pointing out that the aircraft will be equipped with the best of technologies.

He said there had been some delays but upgrade of the Jaguar with new engines and avionics is likely to be finalized soon. The MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 are already on upgrades.
28/10/16 SLD

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Helicopter service in Mnp on card

Manipur’s long pending proposal of connecting Imphal with headquarters of hill districts will be finally fulfilled as Centre has agreed to introduce chopper service under its Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be inked between chairman Guru Prasad Mahapatra of Airport Authority of India and managing director Dr. BP Sharma of Pawan Hans in Imphal on November 2. Union civil aviation minister Gajapati Raju and civil aviation secretary RN Choubey will also be present, an official source said Friday.
Officials of the state transport department will represent Manipur government in signing the MoU, it added.
Manipur government has already submitted a proposal to introduce helicopter service between Imphal and other places of the state like Moreh, Ukhrul, Thanlon and Tamenglong.
Introduction of helicopter service in the state was a long pending proposal which the Centre had given green signal on many occasions but never materialised.  In December 2010, Union ministry of home affairs had even asked the state government to submit the requisite information with regard to feasibility of the proposed service, initially between Imphal-Jiribam via Tamenglong and Imphal-Moreh.
28/10/16 Imphal/Nagaland Post

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UDAN cap on airfares: Govt should ensure prices are determined by the market

It aims to go way ahead of what GR Gopinath achieved with the launch of Air Deccan in 2003. The NDA government’s regional connectivity scheme—Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)—plans to have flights capped at R2,500 for an hour’s flying time to and from regional airports. As minister of state for civil aviation, Jayant Sinha says, “Hawai chappal wale ko bhi hawai jahaz mein hume bithana hai.” While the idea is commendable, the means being adopted to make it viable are not. The government believes a levy imposed on people flying regular routes will help fund UDAN. While the first flight is expected to take off in January and 16 airports are ready to fly under the scheme, airlines are not particularly enthused by the proposal. As part of the plan, airlines will be offered waiver of landing and parking charges at smaller airports.
29/10/16 The Financial Express

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Speedy reforms needed for UDAN to fly

Air India, once an unrivalled lodestar, is today a decrepit moribund organisation. For Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services, our aircraft fly to Sri Lanka, Middle East or Singapore where, ironically, Indian engineers work on them.

All our active airports put together handle less cargo than Hong Kong airport, which fuels the growth of southern China. General aviation – comprising helicopters, business jets, and small turbo prop planes that offer regional connectivity – that exploded during UPA-I had already shrunk.

The aviation business has remained stagnant during the last seven years. Growth has been reported last year but if viewed over a period of seven years – from 2009 when Kingfisher collapsed – the total number of passenger aircrafts in the country has remained static.

The grounding of Kingfisher-Air Deccan, the SpiceJet crisis and shutting down of Paramount saw 145 aircraft exiting the country. An equal number has been imported. Though Indigo filled this vacuum and grew, the market itself did not expand.

Hard numbers tell that story. The market shrank from 57 million to 55 million three years ago. At present, the total number of domestic passenger tickets sold is a measly 75 million for a population of more than a billion. Less than 3% of Indians can afford air travel and of this, 80% comes from four metros.
28/10/16 Capt G R Gopinath/Deccan Herald

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IATA calls for reduction in aviation taxes in India

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for a renewed look at the results of Indian public-private partnership in airport privatization, a reduction in taxation and for India to join international efforts on sustainability for air transport.

These will be key enablers of a vitally important industry to India to be an even bigger catalyst for social and economic development.

“Air transport contributes enormous value to India, stimulating growth and development with increasingly accessible air connectivity. India’s air transport industry has been through tough times. While many Indian airlines are now posting profits, the sector is still in loss territory with many challenges. These include a massive debt burden, onerous regulations, expensive airport infrastructure and high taxes. Addressing these will bring huge social and economic benefits to India,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

India’s air transport sector already supports 8 million jobs and contributes $72 billion in GDP. In IATA’s recently released 20-year air passenger forecast, India will displace the UK to be the third largest aviation market with 278 million passengers in 2026. In 2035, the horizon of IATA’s just-published 20-Year Passenger Forecast, IATA expects the Indian market to serve 442 million passengers.

“Realizing that growth means that we will need to accommodate the potential of 322 million new passengers in just two decades. That will be a real challenge. Without significant change, the economic and social development potential gains that come with a healthy and growing air transport sector are put at risk,” said de Juniac.

De Juniac congratulated India on publishing its first-ever Civil Aviation Policy which contains some encouraging elements, such as developments on open-skies, code-sharing and foreign direct investment (FDI). In fact, allowing FDI of 100% in an Indian airline places India among the most progressive states in this respect. But, de Juniac also noted concerns including the mandating of hybrid till for the regulation of airport charges, and the plans for a levy to cross subsidize regional flights.
26/10/16 Defence Aviation Post

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India’s Light Combat Helicopter Undergoing Weapons Integration

India’s Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), currently under development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for service in the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) is undergoing weapons integration, according to local media reports.

“LCH is ready, we are integrating its weapons, we tried rockets and it was good, we need to try missiles ATGM — anti-tank guided missile, (these) are the ones which we are integrating and we just have to demonstrate that,” the chairman of HAL, Suvarnu Raja told The Times of India.
27/10/16 Franz-Stefan Gady/The Diplomat

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Manipur likely to get chopper service soon

Under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, Manipur is likely to have a commercial helicopter service soon between the capital and Jiribam, near the Manipur-Assam border. Taking into account the inaccessibility due to hilly terrain and topography of the region, DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh during his Manipur visit on October 24 had said the ministry was working towards that end.

Singh also informed the media “the ministry has had discussions with the Manipur government to introduce ‘mobile dispensary’ to facilitate availability of medical facilities in remote areas which are most vulnerable in this area.”
Introduction of the proposed mobile dispensary would enable medical staff to carry out OPDs in these remote villages.

The DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh during the Manipur visit had assured to find out the feasibility on introduction of helicopter service in the state.
26/10/16 The Morung Express

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Lufthansa to deploy its flagship B747-800 on Mum-Frankfurt route

German national carrier Lufthansa On Wednesday said it will deploy its flagship B747-800 on the Mumbai-Frankfurt sector from Diwali, offering for the first time a First Class on board.
The 'Queen of Skies' as Boeing 747-800 is known, will offer a fewer seats lesser than (364 with first class seats) the present B747-400 which offers 371 seats in business and economy configuration.
26/10/16 PTI/Money Control

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After two episodes in Indian waters: Coast Guard puts in place elaborate plan to rescue any aircraft in sea

WITH two near Sully-like episodes witnessed on Indian waters, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has devised an elaborate plan to conduct Search And Rescue (SAR) operations in the eventuality of an aircraft ditching in the sea. Sully, the Tom Hanks-starrer narrated the story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s January 2009 emergency landing of a commuter jet on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived the crash.
According to sources in the central agency, on July 26 this year, the Mumbai Air Traffic Control (ATC) intimated the Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai, that the pilot of the flight Boeing 777-300 (EK 652) with 319 passengers on board, at a distance of 200 nautical miles (NM) reported smoke on-board whilst on passage from UAE to Maldives (Male). The flight was diverted to Mumbai for an emergency landing.
“ICG being a SAR coordinator for maritime, the diversion was reported to us. We alerted all the associated SAR resource agencies to be vigil. At the same time two of our ships on patrol were pressed into action on the approach path of the aircraft to meet any exigency,” a senior official privy to the details told The Indian Express.
27/10/16 Rashmi Rajput/The Indian Express

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Government proposes deadline to fly back de-registered leased planes

New Delhi: To make it easier for overseas aircraft lessors, the government has proposed setting a deadline of five working days for giving permission to fly back de-registered aircraft to their respective jurisdictions.
The proposal is part of the government's efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the country's fast growing aviation sector, which has been seeing over 20 per cent growth in the last nearly two years.
Lessors have faced problems in taking back aircraft leased to Indian carriers in the past, especially with regard to shuttered Kingfisher Airlines. Recently, regional carrier Air Pegasus' three planes were de-registered by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The Civil Aviation Ministry has proposed amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1937, in order to make it more easier for aircraft lessors to carry out their business in the country.
25/10/16 PTI/Economic Times

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IATA DG Calls For Further Regulatory Reform in India

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for an appraisal of India’s regulatory structure, particularly as it relates to taxation, public-private partnerships in airport privatization and the country’s prospects for joining the carbon offset and reduction scheme.

As aviation traffic increases “India will need to deal with the problem of infrastructure in advance or risk safety,” said IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac on his 50th day in his new position. De Juniac noted that India is one of the first countries he visited since assuming IATA’s top post. “It is not by chance, as India is one of the key markets,” he said. A recent IATA forecast projected India will surpass the UK as the world’s third largest market by 2026.

Calling the new civil aviation policy “ambitious with many positive elements,” De Juniac expressed concern that India’s new so-called regional connectivity scheme not only caps fares but also imposes an additional tax on flights between major cities to fund operations. “We understand there is a need for connectivity to small towns and cities, but the aviation sector is overburdened by taxes and charges,” he warned. “We are a nice target for charges.” Sustainable development requires a cost structure with fewer taxes, he added.

The regulatory structure remains a cause for unease as airlines face huge costs increases. “The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority [AERA] has been unable to preserve its independence sufficiently and has not been able to implement its own tariff orders, such as the one to reduce Delhi’s charges by 96 percent,” said De Juniac.  “In addition, the hybrid till that has been imposed in the policy will further hit airline margins, which are 6 percent in a good year as compared to airports, which have a profit of 30 to 40 percent.”
25/10/16 Neelam Mathews/Ain Online

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India could shell out $12 billion for new fighter jets

The South Asian nation's government has sent letters to several companies regarding a new fleet of military aircraft, to be jointly produced with local firms. A potential deal, according to experts, could be worth up to $12 billion.
"India is looking at paying $65 to $80 million per aircraft for 150 aircraft," says Ben Moores, a defense and aviation analyst at IHS Jane's. The country faces an elevated sticker price for the fighters because government rules require most of the manufacturing to take place in India.
The requirement, which is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" initiative, is believed to have been a roadblock in India's most recent military aircraft deal with France.
That deal, which originally called for French company Dassault to supply the Indian air force with 126 Rafale fighters, underwent lengthy negotiations due to disputes over the local production clause.
Under the final terms of the sale agreed by India and France last month, India will only get 36 jets.
25/10/16 Rishi Iyengar/CNN Money

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Aviation Min holds parleys with stakeholders for Budget inputs

Civil Aviation Ministry today held discussions with stakeholders to seek their suggestions for the Union Budget, days after unveiling the ambitious regional air connectivity scheme.

The meeting was attended by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, his deputy Jayant Sinha, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey and other senior ministry officials.


"We had a meeting with all stakeholders. We asked them to give suggestions keeping our sector's growth (in mind). They said they will do an exercise among themselves. Then they will come back to us. Whatever suggestions are there we will look at how to take them forward," Raju told PTI here.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of AAI's new subsidiary, he emphasised that the government wants to sustain the growth in the aviation sector and also create more jobs.
25/10/16 PTI/Business Standard

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Let UDAN spread its wings

With about 400 ghost airports having been built at huge costs and several others being underserved by airlines, India always required an out-of-box idea to connect smaller cities with a sizeable population to the large cities via aerial route. While Indian Railways has a good network within the country’s smaller cities, it suffers from capacity constraint with the result that people in cities like Davanagere, Chikkamagaluru, Kanpur, Vadodara or Visakhapatnam do not get any decent transport at a reasonable price. Surely, the Railways needs to raise capacity but what about the existing infrastructure built for the airlines but left unused for lack of viability? It is in this backdrop that the Union government has unveiled its first flight under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme to begin operation in January, 2017. The fare for at least half of the capacity of the airlines opting under the scheme on a 200-800 km distance will be capped at Rs 2,500 apiece. So far so good.

The trouble is, who foots the bill for filling the viability gap for the airlines. In the existing scheme of things for the operators, running smaller aircraft works out to be more expensive in terms of average passenger cost than the big planes. Besides, thanks to the neglect of smaller cities as hinterland, the operators do not even have adequate number of small aircraft. Under the UDAN scheme, the viability gap would be filled by subsidies to be coughed up by the Centre, states and the airlines. As things stand, a maximum of the subsidy is expected from the states while the operators have started murmuring about a levy on long-haul domestic flights for funding the short duration flights. No wonder, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju sounded “cautiously optimistic” about UDAN.
26/10/16 Deccan Herald

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CM N Chandrababu Naidu wants to turn Andhra into airway hub

The new terminal at Gannavaram airport will be ready by December, said chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He said works have been expedited to make the terminal operational by year-end.
At a meeting with private airliner managements here on Tuesday, Naidu said the government aims to develop Andhra Pradesh as an airway hub. He asked airline operators to increase connectivity from Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Kadapa.
"The union government will invite bids for routes under regional connectivity scheme (RCS) soon. I request you to participate in it and help the state achieve its vision of turning itself into an airway hub, by ensuring greater connectivity," he told the operators. The government is developing Gannavaram airport on a par with international airports.
He asked the airlines to come forward with temple tourism and beach tourism packages. "By connecting all major temples, religious tourism package could be offered. Similarly, beach tourism packages can be offered by connecting all seafront areas," he said and added that the airlines should focus on heli-tourism as it will also fetch great revenues.
The CM said every district in the state has tourism potential and told the airline operators to come up with new tourism packages to attract passengers. He also said East and West Godavari districts are being developed for agriculture tourism.
26/10/16 The Times Of India

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Let UDAN spread its wings

With about 400 ghost airports having been built at huge costs and several others being underserved by airlines, India always required an out-of-box idea to connect smaller cities with a sizeable population to the large cities via aerial route. While Indian Railways has a good network within the country’s smaller cities, it suffers from capacity constraint with the result that people in cities like Davanagere, Chikkamagaluru, Kanpur, Vadodara or Visakhapatnam do not get any decent transport at a reasonable price. Surely, the Railways needs to raise capacity but what about the existing infrastructure built for the airlines but left unused for lack of viability? It is in this backdrop that the Union government has unveiled its first flight under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme to begin operation in January, 2017. The fare for at least half of the capacity of the airlines opting under the scheme on a 200-800 km distance will be capped at Rs 2,500 apiece. So far so good.

The trouble is, who foots the bill for filling the viability gap for the airlines. In the existing scheme of things for the operators, running smaller aircraft works out to be more expensive in terms of average passenger cost than the big planes. Besides, thanks to the neglect of smaller cities as hinterland, the operators do not even have adequate number of small aircraft. Under the UDAN scheme, the viability gap would be filled by subsidies to be coughed up by the Centre, states and the airlines. As things stand, a maximum of the subsidy is expected from the states while the operators have started murmuring about a levy on long-haul domestic flights for funding the short duration flights. No wonder, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju sounded “cautiously optimistic” about UDAN.
25/10/16 Deccan Herald

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It may be a while before Govt’s plan to build fighter jets in India takes off

New Delhi: The government’s plan to manufacture single-engine fighters in the country is likely to face delays even though the Defence Ministry has notified request for information (RFI) from three firms to participate in the programme under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

US aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin and Sweden’s SAAB have approached the government as a response to the RFI with their “unsolicited proposals” that have apparently failed to “impress” the Defence Ministry, a senior official told BusinessLine.

This is because, even though these companies have enumerated their plans to manufacture these jets under the ‘Make in India’ programme, the Ministry is keen on plans to transform India into an export hub for these jets, the official said.

Once the RFI is issued, the government floats Request for Proposals (RFPs) to shortlist the competing firms, according to norms. However, the government is learnt to be taking one step at a time in selecting the firm that will finally be chosen to manufacture the fighter jets here.

“The RFP will take time to be issued. A lot of factors need to be ascertained here apart from Make in India, logistics and infrastructure. The issue here is that once the armed forces buy these, what thereafter? Hence, export is a big factor, and indigenisation will play a crucial part in it,” the official said.
25/10/16 Nayanima Basu/Business Line

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IGRUA may cut pilot training fee by Rs 5 lakh

New Delhi: The state-run Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy may reduce its pilot training fee by Rs 5 lakh to Rs 27.5 lakh plus taxes following a proposed switch to diesel from the costlier aviation gas or AV gas.

A senior government official told ET that the civil aviation ministry plans to approach the finance ministry with the proposal.

The move comes about a year and a half after Congress President Sonia Gandhi raised the issue. ET had in May last year first reported that Gandhi had on April 1, 2015 written a letter to the government in which she had also sought waiver of 20% tax charged by the state on AV gas, which is used by all training aircraft at the academy located in her Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli.
The foundation stone of the institute was laid in 1985 by Gandhi’s husband and then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, himself a pilot. The cost of changing the fleet type to diesel of 24 aircraft operated by IGRUA will cost the government less than Rs 50 crore, said the official, who did not wish to be identified.

Among other issues, Gandhi in her letter sought improvement in the academy’s placement record. The academy produces about 150 trained pilots every year, only about a third of which get placed in various airlines, a proportion which is seeing gradual improvement. Officials at IGRUA told ET that the government should also focus on improving the conditions at the academy.
25/10/16 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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IATA urges Indian aviation to overcome hurdles to meet potential

There is a need to have a renewed look at the results of Indian public-private partnership in airport privatization, a reduction in taxation and for India to join international efforts on sustainability for air transport, believes the International Air Transport Association (IATA). These will be key enablers of a vitally important industry to India to be an even bigger catalyst for social and economic development.

“Air transport contributes enormous value to India, stimulating growth and development with increasingly accessible air connectivity. India’s air transport industry has been through tough times. While many Indian airlines are now posting profits, the sector is still in loss territory with many challenges. These include a massive debt burden, onerous regulations, expensive airport infrastructure and high taxes. Addressing these will bring huge social and economic benefits to India,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, who is in India for a visit.

India’s air transport sector already supports 8 million jobs and contributes $72 billion in GDP.

In IATA’s recently released 20-year air passenger forecast, India will displace the UK to be the third largest aviation market with 278 million passengers in 2026.

In 2035, the horizon of IATA’s just-published 20-Year Passenger Forecast, IATA expects the Indian market to serve 442 million passengers.

“Realizing that growth means that we will need to accommodate the potential of 322 million new passengers in just two decades. That will be a real challenge. Without significant change, the economic and social development potential gains that come with a healthy and growing air transport sector are put at risk,” added de Juniac.

De Juniac also congratulated India on publishing its very first Civil Aviation Policy which contains some encouraging elements, such as developments on open-skies, code-sharing and foreign direct investment (FDI). In fact, allowing FDI of 100% in an Indian airline places India among the most progressive states in this respect.

The awarding of airport concessions has contributed to the development of India’s airport infrastructure. While the passenger experience has improved, the impact for airlines has been far less positive.
24/10/16 The Stat Trade Times

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UDAN: A case of misplaced priorities in NDA’s aviation policy

Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation, in an interview to Business Standard explained the Narendra Modi government’s intent in crafting a new regional connectivity scheme in Indian aviation.
The scheme, which has been given the acronym Udan, hopes to increase air traffic to smaller airports that are sporadically served or not served at all. The scheme rests on a set of interlocking subsidies.
Subsidizing air travel to remote regions is not unusual. US, U.K and China subsidize such travel though their preferred option is provide a direct subsidy.
India also subsidizes regional connectivity where the subsidy costs are borne by passengers flying high traffic density routes. Since 1994, airlines have had operate on regional routes based on a formula. The formula mandates a minimum number of trips on unviable regional routes, where this number is linked to the flights on routes with high traffic.
While a subsidy model to enhance regional connectivity is not out of place, to simultaneously operate two separate subsidy models to push regional connectivity seems ill-conceived.
24/10/16 Sanjiv Shankaran/The Times Of India

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Irony Of Indian Travel: Govt. Caps Domestic Airfares To Rs 2500 Per Hour; IRCTC’s Dynamic Pricing Cause Rs 200 Cr Loss!

Travel industry in India is right now undergoing a unique transformation, which was witnessed in US and Europe during 1950s and 1960s. On one hand rail travel is getting expensive, which has resulted in record loss for Indian Railways; air travel is getting cheaper day by day on the other hand.

This posts an interesting question for the travel industry as a whole – Will air travel become the de-facto travel mode for the aam aadmi and will replace rail travel as we know it? Or it is a passing phase, which will soon change?

Regional air-travel, which in layman terms means air-connectivity between a state capital with other small cities is in bad condition inside India, mainly due to high airfares and less demand.

So, in case you wish to search a flight from Delhi to Ambala or say Chandigarh to Bhatinda or Mumbai to Mehsana, there aren’t any flights available.

And in case there are airports in Tier 2 or 3 cities, then they aren’t used much. There are 16 airports in India which has less than 1 flight a day or less than 7 flights a week; there are 400 airports which haven’t witnessed a single flight in the last two air schedules.
24/10/16 Mohul Ghosh/Trak.in

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New HE-MRO Centre Will Support Indian Helicopter Operators

The Indian Defence Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar inaugurated Helicopter Engines MRO Pvt. Limited (HE-MRO), a Joint Venture of Safran and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), yesterday in Goa, southwest India. This Joint Venture will support helicopter engines operated by national and international operators from a 1,000 sqm office and a 3,800 sqm shop facility.

This new centre will provide maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) services for Safran TM333 and HAL Shakti engines installed on HAL-built helicopters. It will start its activities in 2017 with a capacity of 50 repaired engines a year and a full-capacity goal of 150 in the coming years. By then, the initial staff of 30 will also grow to 100.

The centre’s capabilities may be enlarged to include other engines as mutually agreed. Safran Helicopter Engines and HAL will provide their customers with a first-class service including optimized engine availability.

With a fleet of over 1,000 engines, including 250 TM333 and 250 Shakti, India’s armed forces are one of the largest operators of Safran-designed helicopter engines. Shakti is the Indian designation for the Safran Ardiden 1H1, co-developed with HAL and produced under license.
24/10/16 Aviation Pros

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Government scraps air ambulance plan

The state government has decided to scrap the air ambulance project initiated by the previous UDF government, said health minister K K Shylaja in the assembly on Monday.
25/10/16 The Times Of India

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CM: first flight will take off from Mopa in 2019

Expressing happiness over the proposed project of greenfield airport at Mopa, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar reiterated that the first flight will take off from the Mopa airport in the year 2019.
Parsekar on Monday disbursed compensation of Rs 30.80 crore to 600 beneficiaries whose land has been acquired for setting up the Mopa airport project, at a function organised by the directorate of Civil Aviation at Pernem.
Parsekar further said that with this amount, the government has fulfilled its assurance on additional three times more compensation to the affected people. He also disclosed that earlier government has disbursed Rs 120 crore to people whose land will be used for the project. He said that the government has succeeded in keeping its promise of extending additional compensation to people whose land has been acquired for the Mopa airport project.
25/10/16 The Navhind Times

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Why we need direct flights to India now, not after 3-4 years?

Will the forced cancellation of Prime Minister’s flight to India drive home a message to country’s top political leadership about a pressing need for a direct flight between the two countries immediately now, rather than expecting it growing organically in 3-4 years?

The general expectations among the experts of India-NZ relations have an expected horizon of 3 to 4 years before direct flights become actually operational between the two countries.

It is reported that in “absence of interest” from any major airlines so far to cover the route immediately it may take 3 to 4 years before direct flights between India and New Zealand could become operational.

This is the situation after a recently signed new deal of air services agreement between New Zealand and India earlier this year in June which opens the door for a direct flight between the two countries.
25/10/16 Indian Weekender

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Flying High: Low-Cost Carriers Driving India's Aviation Growth

Things have never been this good for India's aviation industry. In a report released this month, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has named India among the five fastest growing aviation markets in the world. India is expected to become the world's third largest market by 2026, bringing an additional 322 million fliers into the fold.

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) like IndiGo and SpiceJet have been instrumental in driving this growth. The market share of LCCs increased from 25 to 65 percent in the past decade, while full-service carriers (FSCs) like Jet Airways saw their market share sliced in half, from 70 to 35 percent, according to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, aviation advisory and research body.

Popularity of online travel services like MakeMyTrip that allow people to compare air ticket prices is one of the ways the LCCs were able to expand their customer base. More than 40 percent of Indians booked their air tickets online in 2015, up from 20 percent in 2008, according to Phocus Wright, a travel market research company.

"The convenience of booking online is certainly a part of the growth," says Chetan Kapoor, research analyst at Phocus Wright. Kapoor added that LCCs' prices, which tend to be cheaper than the FSCs, have helped drive their growth.
24/10/16 Garima Garg/Mcclatchy/AviationPros

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Connectivity scheme will turn India into third largest aviation market: PM Modi

Accusing previous governments of having "no vision" for aviation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, said his government is working in a "mission mode" for expansion of the sector and has put in place the country's first integrated policy to tap the potential of small cities.

He was speaking after dedicating the new integrated terminal building of the airport here, which is now the second green airport of the country after Kochi.

PM Modi noted that India in the near future would probably become the third country in the world in terms of airport activity benchmarks with more middle-class families aspiring to travel by air.

The Prime Minister said the country is very huge and "if you think only 80 to 100 airports not enough, then we are trying to create hurdles in the country's growth".

He said the the country's development can take new dimensions if the tier-2 and tier-3 cities are bought on the aviation map and noted that government was making efforts to revive the large number of non-functional airstrips and airports in the country.

"That is why to promote this, the government brought out a new regional connectivity scheme under which people can travel with airfares of only Rs 2,500 for up to 500 kms distance," he said.

Attacking the previous governments, he said, "Earlier airports were set up, planes would fly but the country did not have an aviation policy.

"How to take the sector forward in next five or ten years and take care of its and passengers' needs, what should be done for common people, there was no vision in place earlier. It was just moving," he said.

"After the new NDA government came to power, for the first time since independence it formulated a new aviation policy for the country... we are working in a mission mode for expansion," he said.

The PM said the new aviation policy will take care of the consumers' needs and the growth of the sector.
23/10/16 PTI/Z Business

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Aviation watchdog DGCA to soon get powers to slap penalties

Regulator DGCA and aviation security agency BCAS are all set to get powers to impose fines on violators, with the government preparing to amend the legislation in this regard. The move would give more teeth and leeway to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in dealing with instances of violations amid the domestic sector witnessing over 20 per cent sustained growth in passenger traffic.
For providing penal powers to DGCA and BCAS, the government plans to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934 and it is likely to be taken up during the winter session of Parliament starting next month.
“Today, there is no provision for levying penalties. That enablement should happen,” Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told PTI.
Currently, there are stringent provisions in place for DGCA to deal with violations at various levels, including those related to airlines, pilots, crew members and other entities.
The watchdog can debar, suspend and even cancel the permission to fly for the carriers as well as individual pilots and engineers but cannot impose any monetary penalty.
“Today, if there is any irregularity then the licence has to be suspended of the entire airline for a certain time. That is the extreme punishment. There is no provision for anything in between.
23/10/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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Nagpur SEZ to host Rafale offset manufacturing

An integrated facility will be commissioned by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and its French partner Dassault in Nagpur in the next few months for the execution of offset contracts of the just-concluded deal for 36 French fighters. A significant part of the whopping Rs. 30,000 crore offsets would be executed through the joint venture, Dassault Reliance Aerospace.

According to industry sources, the new facility will come up in the Reliance Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nagpur, and it would be fully operational within the next 12 months.

Four French companies which have a major stake in the Rafale deal — Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran and MBDA — will execute offsets worth about Rs. 30,000 crore as per their share. The Dassault-Reliance JV will only execute a part of the offsets because some of the investments have to be done in DRDO for technology development.

Last month India and France concluded a €7.87-billion deal for 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in a fly-away condition but it has a 50 percent offset clause under which that contract value has be invested and sourced from India.
24/10/16 Dinakar Peri/The Hindu

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Planespotters of Mumbai: Thrilled to stare at the sky, just to spot a plane

AS A Class V student, Sahil Patel would love staring out of his classroom window to marvel at the airplanes flying over his school in Kurla. Now 21 years old, Sahil, a resident of Jari Mari, an area in close proximity to one of the boundary walls of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, has turned to planespotting as a hobby. “When I was growing up, many would come to our area with high-end camera equipment, looking for spots to take photographs of airplanes. That increased my curiosity about planespotting,” Sahil says.
Planespotters, a small but growing community of aviation enthusiasts, throng areas around the airport and other spots to catch a glimpse of aircraft arriving in the city. These can include an inaugural flight of an airline, the first arrival of a jetliners such as the Boeing 747-800, Airbus A380 or an Ilyushin il-76 or a special livery on an airplane. Many begin their passion by spotting planes and identifying them for their makes and other trivia about them and progress to aviation photography to log their sightings.
“Earlier, it required the same kind of patience as it does for bird-watching in a forest as there were no dedicated mediums for information on new fleet or rare airplanes except for the news. Now, with apps like FlightRadar to track real-time air traffic, one can be better alerted to special arrivals and diversions coming to the city” says Vishal Jolapara, who has been planespotting for about 14 years now. He prides on having managed to photograph Air Force One, the US President’s plane, when Barack Obama visited the city in 2010. According to him, other important events in the calendar of a Mumbai planespotter would be the annual Haj pilgrimage, when rare aircrafts are in the city to ferry pilgrims to Mecca.
24/10/16 Sadaf Modak/The Indian Express

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UDAN ready for take-off: Fares for 1-hour flights capped at Rs 2,500

The central government on Friday unveiled final guidelines on its ambitious regional connectivity scheme, aimed at bringing down the cost of flying to and from smaller cities. Concerns, however, remained that the policy of cross-subsidising might get legally challenged by airlines.

While a levy to fund the corpus for the scheme was not announced, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said the government would frame rules in this regard by the end of this month. The government aims to have an annual corpus of Rs 500 crore for this purpose.

In the hallmark style of the Narendra Modi government, the scheme has been named UDAN — Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik — and aims to cap fares at Rs 2,500 for a 500-km flight of up to 30 minutes. The auction is expected to begin within days and will follow a reverse bidding process, implying that an airline which bids the lowest fare and provides more seats will win the bid for a particular route. The scheme aims to encourage airlines to provide low-cost flying by providing subsidies like viability gap funding (VGF), zero landing charges by airport operators and reduction of excise duty on jet fuel.

The ministry had announced the draft guidelines of the scheme, following which consultation with stakeholders took place. In the final guidelines, the ministry has increased the VGF amount for participating airlines. “Stakeholders said the draft VGF was not enough to bridge the cost of operation of flying on these routes,” said Choubey.

While major scheduled operators said they were still weighing pros and cons of participating in the scheme, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said he was “cautiously optimistic”. “As we gather experience, we will learn about it,” the minister said, adding that the first flight under the scheme would take off by January from one of the 16 underserved airports. There are more than 25 ghost airports in India.
23/10/16 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Pune's Hadapsar gliding centre upgrade a waste: Experts

Commercial flight operations at the Hadapsar gliding centre notified under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN (Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), will lead to cost escalation and confusion if the airport at Purandar comes up, aviation experts said. The gliding centre is 23km from Purandar.
"Two airports within 25km of each other will lead to duplication and muddles in flight operations. UDAN is a good decision from the Centre. It focuses on making `ghost' airports functional. In Pune, the state government has already decided on a new airport in Purandar. Rather than starting commercial flight operations at the gliding centre, the authorities can add another terminal to the Purandar airport design to fit the UDAN scheme," aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI on Sunday.
The ministry of civil aviation on Friday announced the UDAN scheme to boost air travel between smaller cities. Fares for one-hour flights have been capped at Rs 2,500 with the scheme expected to start from January. The Centre has identified unused or under-utilized airports that have the infrastructure to operate flights.
Airlines will bid for routes that connect small towns to cities. If the cost of a seat exceeds Rs 2,500, the government will pay the difference by either collecting more from the airlines operating on profitable routes or charging a 2% cess from passengers on profitable routes.
24/10/16 Joy Sengupta/The Times Of India

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US, UK & Gulf carriers keen on flying regional routes in India

Foreign airlines, especially from the Gulf countries, have shown interest in investing in the Indian aviation space. In an interview to Business Standard , Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that airlines have held meetings with the government to fly on regional routes.
This comes after the government’s announcement of starting regional airlines in the country through subsidies and sops.
Not naming the airlines, Sinha said that major airlines from West Asia, the US and UK have shown interest in running regional airlines in India. This can either happen through investment in existing airlines or starting a new airline service.
24/10/16 Money Control

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Govt in ‘mission mode’ to expand aviation sector, says PM Narendra Modi

Vadodara: Accusing previous governments of having “no vision” for aviation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his government has come out with the first integrated policy for the sector and is working in a “mission mode” for its expansion which will spur growth and employment. Dedicating the new integrated terminal building of the airport here, Modi noted that India in the near future would probably become the third country in the world in terms of airport activity benchmarks and “if you think only 80 to 100 airports are enough, then we are trying to create hurdles in the country’s growth”.
He said the country’s development can take new dimensions if attention is given to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, which have the same potential, and referred to government’s new regional connectivity scheme.
Attacking the previous governments, he said, “Earlier airports were set up, planes would fly but the country did not have an aviation policy.
“How to take the sector forward in next five or ten years and take care of its and passengers’ needs, what should be done for common people, there was no vision in place earlier. It was just moving,” he said.
22/101/6 PTI/Indian Express

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Tripura: 10 lakh direct jobs in aviation sector

Agartala: Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha has said that the civil aviation sector has the potential to create about 10 lakh direct jobs in the next ten years. Given a six- fold multiplier effect that jobs in this sector have, this can lead to the creation of about 60 lakh jobs – direct and indirect – in the next ten years. As jobs in the civil aviation sector tend to be of high value, this would go a long way in improving the economic condition of a large number of young people.

The Minister also said that the sector can reasonably be expected to grow at an average rate of about 10-12 % over the next ten years. However, to achieve this we first need to fill the gap between the demand for skilled manpower for a huge variety of trades in the sector, and the availability of the same.

Stressing upon the need for world class training and skilling, he said that this can raise the employability of our people across the world.Shri Sinha also flagged the issue of non-availability of land to build airports as another constraint for growth of the sector. The Minister was speaking at a workshop on Building Awareness on Aligning Skill Development in the Civil Aviation Sector with the National Skill Qualification Framework ( NSQF) in New Delhi today.
23/10/16 NorthEastDaily

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Domestic carriers want to fly bigger planes for bigger business

New Delhi: Indian carriers keen on experimenting with newer ideas are looking at inducting wide-bodied planes, unlike the narrow-bodied planes that are traditionally flown on domestic routes. However, the government wants them to go slow, as not every major airport is equipped to deal with the increased number of flights involving wide-bodied aircraft.
Sources in the civil aviation ministry said it would formally discuss the issue with airlines shortly as they expect carriers opting for wide-bodied aircraft on heavily trafficked airports.
Jet Airways plans to introduce wide-body planes starting October 30 on the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi routes. The airline said that Airbus A330 will double Jet Airways’ current capacity on the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi route.

Wide-bodied aircraft helps airlines fly almost double the number of passengers and it makes for a sensible and a profitable business case. But due to the lack of preferred time slots for departure and arrivals of flights across major metro airports, the plan could be a dampener.
Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh said, “Domestic carriers in India will subsequently have to put in wide-bodied planes, given the lesser number of slots at big metro airports.”
SpiceJet CEO, Ajay Singh added that there is a benefit to fly wide-bodied aircraft on domestic routes given the shortage of slots on major metro airports in the country. “But we are not thinking on these lines right now. We will first see how the domestic market moves,” Singh said. At present, wide-bodied aircraft are used on domestic sectors by Air India and Jet Airways.
22/10/16 Sanjay Singh/New Indian Express

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Realizing India's Aviation Potential

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for a renewed look at the results of Indian public-private partnership in airport privatization, a reduction in taxation and for India to join international efforts on sustainability for air transport. These will be key enablers of a vitally important industry to India to be an even bigger catalyst for social and economic development.
“Air transport contributes enormous value to India, stimulating growth and development with increasingly accessible air connectivity. India’s air transport industry has been through tough times. While many Indian airlines are now posting profits, the sector is still in loss territory with many challenges. These include a massive debt burden, onerous regulations, expensive airport infrastructure and high taxes. Addressing these will bring huge social and economic benefits to India,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, who is in India for a visit.
India’s air transport sector already supports 8 million jobs and contributes $72 billion in GDP. In IATA’s recently released 20-year air passenger forecast, India will displace the UK to be the third largest aviation market with 278 million passengers in 2026. In 2035, the horizon of IATA’s just-published 20-Year Passenger Forecast, IATA expects the Indian market to serve 442 million passengers. “Realizing that growth means that we will need to accommodate the potential of 322 million new passengers in just two decades. That will be a real challenge. Without significant change, the economic and social development potential gains that come with a healthy and growing air transport sector are put at risk,” said de Juniac.
21/10/16 IATA

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Rs. 2,500 For One-Hour Flights: Government's New UDAN Aviation Scheme

To boost air travel between smaller cities, fares for one-hour flights will be capped at Rs. 2,500 in the new UDAN scheme that is likely to launch in January.

The UDAN scheme (an acronym for Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik or "helping the average Indian fly") has been devised to increase connectivity.

Here's how the scheme works. The government has identified airports that are either unused or under-utilised, even though they have infrastructure like a terminal building and air traffic control towers. It has also committed to spending Rs. 4,000 crore ($598 million) to reopen 50 disused airports within four years.

The UDAN-vetted airports include Bikaner and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar in Gujarat, Bhatinda and Pathankot in Punjab, Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Lakhimpur and Jorhat in Assam.

Airlines will be asked to bid for routes that connect small towns to cities. Fares for one-hour flights will be capped at Rs. 2,500 and taxes will be kept very low. If the airline's cost of a seat exceeds this amount, the government will pay the difference - by collecting more from airlines operating on profitable routes. In technical terms, this is Viability Gap Funding. So far, two options have been discussed: either the government charges a 2 per cent cess from passengers flying on profitable routes, or it asks airlines to pay Rs. 8,000 every time they land at an airport in a major city or metro.
21/10/16 Sandeep Phukan/NDTV

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IAF now looking for single-engined combat jets

After scrapping its tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), the Indian Air Force (IAF) is now scouting for single-engined jets and has sought information from global aviation majors for this.

Lockheed Martin (LM) received the request last Friday and responded to it on Monday, a company official said on Friday.

Swedish aviation major Saab and US aviation giant Boeing have also been approached as the IAF looks to replace its obsolete Soviet-era single-engined MiG-21s that have been dubbed "flying coffins" due to their frequent crashes.

Boeing does not have a single-engined aircraft to offer and Saab will be soon be responding with its latest Gripen NG.

Jan Widerstrom of Saab India said in a statement: "Saab AB has received the request. We are happy to declare that we view this request in a very positive way and we will formally respond to it."

Sources in the industry suggest that India may purchase more than 100 aircraft.

This would make up for the aircraft that could not be acquired due to the scrapped tender as the IAF has already signed a $9 billion contract to acquire 36 Rafale jets from Dasault Aviation of France.
21/10/16 Newsx

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Airlines to be provided with passenger data

Moving towards better global connectivity from the Chandigarh international airport, the Centre has decided to provide passenger data to the airlines “for these to soar high from here”.
As the case hovering around better air connectivity from Chandigarh took off in the afternoon, Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the data on preferences of passengers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, travelling from Delhi to international destinations, would be provided to the airlines for attracting them to launch new flights.
Elaborating, he said the data indicating the tendency of passengers travelling abroad from the region would to given to the airlines in the form of a presentation for these to explore commercially viable destinations.
21/10/16 The Tribune

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Civil aviation sector can create 6 mn jobs in 10 years with right skilling: Jayant Sinha

The civil aviation sector has the potential to create about 1 million direct jobs in the next ten years. Given a six- fold multiplier effect that jobs in this sector have, this can lead to the creation of about 6 million jobs – direct and indirect - in the next ten years, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha has said.

Since most of the jobs in the civil aviation sector tend to be of high value, this would go a long way in improving the economic condition of a large number of young people, he said.

He said  the civil aviation sector can reasonably be expected to grow at an average rate of about 10-12 per cent over the next ten years. However, to achieve this, India needs to fill the gap between the demand for skilled manpower for a huge variety of trades in the sector.

Stressing on the need for world class training and skilling, he said, this can raise the employability of our people across the world. Sinha also flagged the issue of non-availability of land to build airports as another constraint for growth of the sector.
21/10/16 Domain-B

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India-Russia ink Ka-226 local production agreement

Russia and India signed an agreement to jointly produce the Ka-226T light multirole helicopter in India.

The agreement was signed by Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev and the head of Rosoboronexport Anatoly Isaikin with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman and Managing Director Suvarna Raju.

Under the terms of the intergovernmental agreement, the joint Russian-Indian enterprise created by Russian Helicopters, JSC Rosoboronexport and India's HAL must arrange the localization of production and supply of 200 light multirole Ka-226T for 9 years.

The first 60 helicopters will be produced in Russia, and the production of the remaining 140 helicopters is being planned in India.  In addition to the assembly, the agreement provides for maintenance, operation, repairs and technical support cooperation.

The joint venture is set to create facilities for repairs and maintenance of helicopters produced in India in 5 years, and facilities for the overhaul within 7 years after deliveries of the first batch of helicopters.
21/10/16 Aviation Analysis Wing

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Airlines, IATA oppose levy of tax on fliers from major cities to fund scheme

The Government’s proposal to levy a tax or fee on flyers between major cities to fund the regional connectivity scheme has been opposed by a number of Indian airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Ajay Singh, Chairman, SpiceJet, told newspersons, when the Government proposes to launch a scheme like Regional Connectivity it needs to fund it from its own budget instead of imposing more tax on consumers. “We oppose it from the perspective that there could surely be other ways to fund something which is nationally so important,” he said.

Expressing strong views on the issue, Alexandre de Juniac, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA, said the scheme would be paid for by some airlines and the money distributed among others. “We know who is paying but we are not sure who will be receiving it,” the IATA D-G said.

IATA officials added that for developing sustainable connectivity in any location one needs to have a cost structure that allows one to do it.
21/10/16 The Hindu Business Line

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UDAN explained: Will fare cap, subsidy woo 'everyone in hawai chappal' to fly?

Regional airlines, carriers which connect capital cities of states with smaller cities within a region, have never really flourished in India. The most recent example of how these airlines are floundering is Air Pegasus. India's safety regulator DGCA has already de-registered all the aircraft of the airline after financial troubles forced it to suspend flights indefinitely.
Some other regional airlines also seem to be struggling to continue operations. In this backdrop, the launch of UDAN, a regional air connectivity scheme, is a significant milestone in India's quest for bringing more aam aadmis on to the aviation map.
This ambitious scheme offers subsidy to airlines to mount flight to those of India's airports where either no scheduled flight operates today or where the frequency of flights is very limited. It also mandates that any airline availing of the government's subsidy should cap fares on identified routes to Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. For helicopters, this cap is Rs 5,000 for an hour of flying.
It is likely that air passengers departing from bigger metro airports are asked to fund this ambitious regional connectivity scheme through a small levy on tickets, which will be collected in a fund. States governments and airport operators are also required to chip in with incentives to make the scheme work.
An Air Pegasus, which under the current scheme of things, gets no subsidy to mount flights to less lucrative routes, may find it more viable to operate regional flights under UDAN.
21/10/16 Sindhu Bhattacharya/F.Business

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Plan to get more flying takes wing

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry on Friday unveiled the operational modalities of its regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Udey Desh ka Aam Nagrik) to connect the country’s 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports, capping airfare at R2,500 for half of the seats in one-hour flights. However, incumbent airlines were not enthused as they felt the move could push up the airfares for existing customers and suggested that the government should instead fund the scheme wholly through its budget.
Brushing aside such apprehension, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said, “We are cautiously optimistic about it (UDAN),” adding that the first flight under the scheme is expected to take off in January 2017.
Though the government will be providing for viability gap funding to finance airlines plying on the RCS routes, what has irked the incumbent carriers is one component of it — levying a cess on tickets for the non-RCS routes. Though the aviation ministry did not disclose the cess amount on Friday stating that it will be announced by the month-end, it tried to assuage ruffled feathers by saying that the amount will be “very small”.
22/10/16 Financial Express

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HAL-Safran JV looks beyond helicopter engine MRO

Panaji: While Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) maintenance, repair and overall facility in Honda is primarily for helicopter engines, its partnership with French aerospace giant Safran, makes it a likely candidate to repair Dassault Aviation's Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft engines. Speaking to TOI, HAL's chairman Suvarna Raju said that setting up a facility in Goa was a natural choice given that several aircraft were already operating at the state's defence airbases.
Defence public sector unit HAL and Safran have formed a dedicated joint venture to setup a dedicated helicopter engine support center.
"Even if you are looking at the joint venture itself, these are the possibilities. We know that the Rafale deal has been inked. Now the Rafale engine is the Safran aircraft engine (Snecma M88). You never know what bit of it we could get. HAL being the expert in the aerospace industry and with the Snecma or Safran aircraft engines together we already have a lead," Raju told TOI.
22/10/16 Newton Sequeira/Times of India

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IAF's plan to replace ailing MiG with 'Make in India' combat aircraft heading for trouble

New Delhi: An Indian Air Force plan to replace its MiG fighter fleet with a 'Made in India' combat aircraft is heading for trouble. As of now the choice is between two aircraft from Sweden and the US, both of which failed a comprehensive technical evaluation process in 2010. Plus, there are grumbles that other countries which have fighter jets were not called at all.

ET spoke to senior officials for this report. They did not want to be identified. An IAF spokesperson told ET he could not comment on the issue.

IAF's communication to the US and Sweden earlier this month said the force was looking for a modern, proven single-engine fighter aircraft in operational service. IAF didn’t offer any details of minimum performance levels, asking only for a "4th generation fighter" — a broad qualification that also fits India’s long-under-development light combat aircraft (LCA).

Industry experts, who spoke off record, said IAF's approach so far can get the force into a single vendor situation and, therefore, a recipe for slowdown in decision-making.

A single vendor situation often leads to questions over fairness in the selection process. The aim is to make a choice from a multiple vendor situation.
22/10/16 Manu Pubby/Economic Times

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Centre proposes relaxed rules for plane leasing firms

A day ahead of its introduction Centre has turned “optimistically cautious” about its regional connectivity scheme, which aims to activate torpid airports and make flying a cheaper option, Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey said here.

“This particular area of business is happening for the first time on a large scale so it is not something which is easily understood (by entrepreneurs),” Mr. Choubey said at the sidelines of an event here. “Therefore, I can say that we are cautiously optimistic.”

“I am not anticipating a flood of entrepreneurs who will queue up immediately after the scheme is launched but we will provide full support to airlines which wish to be a part of it,” he said.

The civil aviation secretary’s comments comes a day ahead of the regional connectivity scheme that will offer passengers air fares for Rs.2,500 for an hour’s journey to an unconnected airport. Centre plans to revive dormant airports and attract regional airlines under the scheme.

To help airlines offer cheaper airfares on such flights, the Centre will provide subsidies to them by creating a regional connectivity fund. The fund will be financed by a levy on domestic flights on major routes. However, most domestic airlines have termed the move illegal and are likely to challenge it in courts.
20/10/16 The Hindu

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THAI Smile Airways To Launch 4 New Flights To India

THAI Smile Airways creates another milestone, as the only scheduled airline from Thailand to fly to Gaya and Varanasi, Jaipur, and Lucknow, with the launch of new flights to India’s aforementioned four cities. The flights will gradually start operation from Bangkok to Gaya and Varanasi from October 1, Bangkok to Jaipur from November 15, and Bangkok to Lucknow from December 1, 2016. These flights will bridge the demand of both Indians and Thais, who have been looking for seamless connections for religion, work and leisure purpose, in Thailand, India and onward destinations.

Isra Stapanaseth, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) at New Delhi Office said, “Tourism Authority of Thailand congratulates THAI Smile Airline to operate direct flight from tier II cities like Jaipur, Lucknow to Thailand which are potential markets for India. THAI Smile makes it more convenient and effective in terms of tourism; segments like weddings, corporates, family, luxury travellers and commercial trades will be benefited. With this direct connectivity, we are very positive that it will boost the tourism from these cities to Thailand in the near future.”

Captain Woranate Laprabang, Acting Chief Executive Officer, THAI Smile Airways, said that THAI Smile Airways, which is a 100% subsidiary of THAI Airways, the national flag carrier, introduces new flights to India’s four popular cities. The flights will gradually start operation respectively from Bangkok to Gaya and Varanasi, effective from October 1, Bangkok to Jaipur from November 15, and Bangkok to Lucknow from December 1.

“We consider these connecting flights as one of our strategic destinations in Indian region. THAI Smile Airways is undertaking an ambitious growth programme to develop network and ensure international connectivity. Moreover, we are committed to ensuring that our passengers have greater choice and opportunity to discover new destinations by flying with THAI Smile Airways,” Captain Woranate said.
20/10/16 Travel Trends Today

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Shri Jayant Sinha says with proper manpower skilling the civil aviation sector can create about 60 lakh jobs directly and indirectly in the next ten years

The Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha has said that the civil aviation sector has the potential to create about 10 lakh direct jobs in the next ten years. Given a six- fold multiplier effect that jobs in this sector have, this can lead to the creation of about 60 lakh jobs direct and indirect - in the next ten years. As jobs in the civil aviation sector tend to be of high value, this would go a long way in improving the economic condition of a large number of young people. The Minister also said that the sector can reasonably be expected to grow at an average rate of about 10-12 % over the next ten years. However, to achieve this we first need to fill the gap between the demand for skilled manpower for a huge variety of trades in the sector, and the availability of the same. Stressing upon the need for world class training and skilling, he said that this can raise the employability of our people across the world. Shri Sinha also flagged the issue of non-availability of land to build airports as another constraint for growth of the sector.

The Minister was speaking at a workshop on Building Awareness on Aligning Skill Development in the Civil Aviation Sector with the National Skill Qualification Framework ( NSQF) in New Delhi today. The event was also attended by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy and senior officers of both ministries. Speaking on the occasion Shri Rudy informed that his ministry has developed about 1500 course curricula for training in various skills across ministries. The biggest challenge before his team has been to define the various kinds of skills and the ecosystem of each, define job roles and tailor the training programme accordingly. In this context he said that aligning a training programme to the National Skill Qualification Framework was very important as the framework provides for standardised, consistent, nationally acceptable outcomes of training across the country.
20/10/16 Business Standard

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Civil aviation sector can create 60 lakh jobs over ten years: Minister

Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha has said that the civil aviation sector has the potential to create about 10 lakh direct jobs in the next ten years. Given a six- fold multiplier effect that jobs in this sector have, this can lead to the creation of about 60 lakh jobs - direct and indirect - in the next ten years, he said.

Sinha also said that the sector can reasonably be expected to grow at an average rate of about 10-12 % over the next ten years. However, to achieve this one first needs to fill the gap between the demand for skilled manpower for a huge variety of trades in the sector, and the availability of the same.
20/10/16 Priyanka Kakodkar/The Times Of India

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Scientist identifies plane which dropped 'blue ice' on MP woman, wants DGCA to affirm

Almost ten months after an elderly tribal woman suffered a shoulder injury with a football-sized iced sewerage material that fell on her from the sky in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, a Delhi based aviation investigator B K Srivastava claims to have identified the commercial plane which 'leaked' it. Besides Sagar, Srivastava has also zeroed in on two other commercial planes that apparently which dropped huge ice chunks while flying over state's Harda district on April 5 and in West Bengal on October 13 this year where villagers took 'selfies' with it.
He has pled director general of civil aviation (DGCA) to either investigate these mid-air drops or share radar images with him to corroborate his own findings. Srivastava has sent a letter to the DGCA referring incidents reported from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal asking them to get it investigated by air safety office. DGCA's air safety headquarters is located in Kolkata.
Initially, he had a doubt that these ice chunks could be a 'megacryometeor' - extremely large atmospheric ice conglomerations that fall under blue-sky atmospheric conditions but he is sure that they were 'blue Ice' - a term used in aviation context for frozen sewage material leaked mid-flight from toilets of aircraft's on the flight route.
"I am confident about my findings, but this has to be ascertained by the regulatory body. By going through geographical coordinates and radar images we can pin point the commercial air craft which dropped the ice-chunks lavatory materials while flying overhead," claims Srivastava who has done extensive research on mysterious ice ball dropping from sky. Experts say waste leaking out of a lavatory is in a liquid form, but gets frozen because of low temperatures at height at which airplanes fly. There is a fall of roughly 2 degrees for every 1,000-foot elevation. However, chances of such a chunk of ice reaching the ground is remote although not unheard of.
20/10/16 P Naveen/The Times Of India

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IATA chief keen India sign carbon offsets pact early

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed “disappointment” that India “did not come to the table as an early adaptor” of the carbon offset and reduction scheme for the aviation sector that was agreed to at the International Civil Aviation Organisation Assembly meeting earlier this month in Montreal.

“We are disappointed because other developing nations like China, Indonesia, Zambia and Kenya have signed. We are disappointed because we have seen India at the front edge of environment defence policies signing the Paris accord and the Kigali Agreement. So we were expecting India in the front row of environment protection regulation for aviation,” Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA, said here at a press conference late on Thursday evening. This is Juniac’s first visit to India after taking over charge as IATA DG.

Juniac pointed out that there are wrong ideas or misinterpretations about the system (in India). “Like it does not apply to domestic traffic. It is not a punitive tax. It offsets emissions by investing in projects that produce carbon. Like a tax it attempts to facilitate growth. It is a licence to grow,” he said.

He added that it is an important agreement to fulfill commitments to sustainability with carbon neutral growth from 2020, pointing out that the global aviation industry is the first and only industry in the world to ask for regulation. “Not only ask for regulation but also stick with this commitment,” the DG said.
21/10/16 The Hindu Business Line

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UDAN ready for take-off amid turbulence fears

New Delhi: The central government on Friday unveiled final guidelines on its ambitious regional connectivity scheme, aimed at bringing down the cost of flying to and from smaller cities. Concerns, however, remained that the policy of cross-subsidising might get legally challenged by airlines.

While a levy to fund the corpus for the scheme was not announced, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said the government would frame rules in this regard by the end of this month. The government aims to have an annual corpus of Rs 500 crore for this purpose.

In the hallmark style of the Narendra Modi government, the scheme has been named UDAN — Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik — and aims to cap fares at Rs 2,500 for a 500-km flight of up to 30 minutes. The auction is expected to begin within days and will follow a reverse bidding process, implying that an airline which bids the lowest fare and provides more seats will win the bid for a particular route. The scheme aims to encourage airlines to provide low-cost flying by providing subsidies like viability gap funding (VGF), zero landing charges by airport operators and reduction of excise duty on jet fuel.

The ministry had announced the draft guidelines of the scheme, following which consultation with stakeholders took place. In the final guidelines, the ministry has increased the VGF amount for participating airlines. “Stakeholders said the draft VGF was not enough to bridge the cost of operation of flying on these routes,” said Choubey.

While major scheduled operators said they were still weighing pros and cons of participating in the scheme, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said he was “cautiously optimistic”. “As we gather experience, we will learn about it,” the minister said, adding that the first flight under the scheme would take off by January from one of the 16 underserved airports. There are more than 25 ghost airports in India.
21/10/16 Arindam Majumdar/Business Standard

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India may impose riders on bilateral air traffic negotiations with Dubai

New Delhi: A commitment on providing desired slots to Indian airlines at the Dubai airport is likely to become a key factor in talks to decide any increase in bilateral traffic entitlements between India and Dubai.

Negotiations between the two sides are likely to begin soon. “I am not saying anything on whether the increase in bilateral entitlements will depend on commitment by Dubai authorities on providing desired slots to Indian carriers or not. But this is going to be the key factor during the discussions,” said a top aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named.

This will be the first time the Indian government seeking such a commitment during the negotiations to increase the quota of flights with a foreign country. Indian airlines have complained to the aviation ministry about not getting desired slots at the Dubai airport.
Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had on January 3, 2016, written to the Dubai authorities about providing such slots to Indian carriers.
21/10/16 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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Airline traffic grows 23.5% as 82.3 lakh travel in Sept

Registering robust growth, domestic airlines carried over 23 per cent more passengers at 82.3 lakh in September compared to the year-ago period, according to official data released on Wednesday.
Even though the growth rate is 23.46 per cent for September, the overall number is slightly lower than 83.81 lakh passengers flown by carriers in August.
Last month, budget carrier IndiGo remained the market leader with 40 per cent share while rival SpiceJet had the highest passenger load factor of 93.5 per cent.
Latest data from aviation regulator DGCA showed that local carriers flew 82.3 lakh people last month compared to 66.66 lakh people in September 2015.
"Another month of record growth for Indian aviation. Maintains its top rank with 23.4 per cent growth in Sep 2016," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in a tweet.
The sustained domestic air passenger traffic growth of more than 20 per cent over the past year also comes against the backdrop of airlines coming out with attractive fares to garner increased market share amid stiff competition.
"Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January- September 2016 were 726.98 lakh as against 590.21 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 23.17 per cent," DGCA said.
In terms of market share, Jet Airways was at the second position with 16.2 per cent.
National carrier Air India emerged third with 14.7 per cent market share, followed by SpiceJet (12.5 per cent), GoAir (8.3 per cent), Vistara (2.5 per cent), Jet Lite (2.4 per cent), AirAsia (2.3 per cent) and Air Costa (0.6 per cent) and TruJet (0.4 per cent).
Among others, Air Carnival's market share stood at 0.1 per cent while Air Pegasus did not operate any flights in September.
19/10/16 PTI/Business Today

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DGCA bans Note 7 on flights

Director General of Civil Aviation B S Bhullar on Wednesday night 'prohibited' in-flight carriage of Samsung Galaxy Note 7. India's decision comes almost a week after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and several foreign and Indian carriers, including Jet Airways and Vistara, banned the Note 7 from aircraft due to fears that its battery may catch fire and explode.
Bhullar issued the order late on Wednesday night. Indian carriers had waited for the DGCA to issue the order but when it did not come for such a long time, they started banning Note 7 on their own. On Tuesday night, Jet Airways issued an order saying: "In light of the recent incidents of fire/explosion associated with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, carriage of this particular device on person, in cabin and as part of checked luggage is strictly prohibited on all Jet Airways aircraft with immediate effect. Shipping of these devices by air cargo is also prohibited."
The FAA has gone to the extent of saying that airlines should not allow passengers to board aircraft if they insist on carrying their Note 7s with them.
20/10/16 The Times Of india

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Now, fly at fares as low as Rs 2,500 under govt's UDAN scheme

Come October 21 (Friday) and the aam aadmi can fly at fares as low as just Rs 2,500 under the government's UDAN (Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.

The scheme is the government's ambitious plan for regional connectivity and is expected to come into effect on Friday (October 21).

Under the draft which was unveiled earlier this year on June 1, the scheme fixes all-inclusive fares at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights in its attempt to make flying affordable for the common man.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju is expected to announce the final contours of UDAN scheme on October 21, sources said.

Besides capping ticket prices, the scheme seeks to provide air services between unserved and under-served areas and is part of larger plans to boost the domestic aviation sector, which is clocking over 20 per cent passenger growth since more than a year now, with the number of passengers flown by the Indian carriers surging to 23.46 per cent in September.

The government expects the first flight under RCS (regional connectivity scheme) to take off by the end of this year or early January 2017.

Global airlines grouping International Air Transport Association, in its latest 20 years forecast, has projected that India would add 322 new fliers in its total 442 million air passengers by 2035.
19/10/16 Z Business

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Airbus eyes India market for Panther MBe helicopters

Airbus Helicopters has delivered its first AS565 MBe Panther helicopter to the Mexican Navy. The next potential market for the Panther MBe appears to be India, where its name is being proposed for a Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) programme.

The Mexican Navy recently took delivery of the first of ten AS565 MBe Panther helicopters it purchased in 2014, receiving the new version of the multi-role, medium class military rotorcraft. The Mexican Navy will receive three other units before the end of the year, and the remaining six by early 2018.

The helicopters that combine new and proven technologies will be operated by the Naval Aviation in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific coast, where they will perform a range of missions including search and rescue, disaster relief transportation and evacuation, drug enforcement and coastal protection. Airbus Helicopters is a division of the Airbus Group.

In 2015, Airbus Helicopters generated revenues of €6.8 billion. This July, Airbus Helicopters awarded a contract to Mahindra Aerostructures to make airframe parts for the AS565 MBe Panther. Airbus Helicopters and Mahindra Group are proposing the Panther for India’s NUH programme.
19/10/16 Amrita Nair-Ghaswalla/The Hindu Business Line

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Have taken all steps to ensure passenger safety: DGCA to HC

Aviation regulator DGCA today informed the Delhi High Court that they have taken all necessary steps to ensure safety and security of aircraft and passengers in the country.

The Director General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) made the submission in response to a petition alleging that aviation authorities were overlooking the prescribed maintenance schedules and seeking directions to ensure safety of passengers on aircraft flying in and out of India.

"All these issues have been dealt with. We have already filed a detailed affidavit. I can take this court through all the steps taken by us. The petitioner cannot be above the DGCA technical committee," DGCA's counsel told a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner said there were several vacancies in DGCA and proper monitoring of aircraft should be done by them.

The bench then observed "How can the court go into these aspects? There is a ministry for this and DGCA is an expert body. They will do that."

The bench fixed the matter for hearing on December 1.

The petitioner, Alok Kumar, has given some suggestions like setting up of an independent expert committee to monitor the functioning of DGCA and ensure strict compliance by airlines operators of usage and maintenance of each aircraft.
19/10/16 PTI/Business Standard

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September air passenger traffic up 23 per cent: DGCA

New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic increased by 23.46 per cent during September to 82.30 lakh, official data showed on Wednesday.

The domestic passenger traffic during the corresponding month of last year stood at 66.66 lakh.

In August, the passenger traffic rose by 23.98 per cent to 83.81 lakh from 67.60 lakh in the corresponding month last year.

According to the data furnished by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), passenger traffic during January-September period grew by 23.17 per cent.
19/10/16 IANS/Business Standard

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India to be third largest aviation market by 2016, replacing UK

New Delhi: International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its latest 20-year Air Passenger Forecast has projected India to be the third largest aviation market by 2026, replacing the UK while China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market.

IATA on Tuesday said it expects India’s air passenger traffic to grow to 442 million by 2035 with 322 million new air travellers, amid the domestic aviation market growing by over 20 per cent for more than a year now.

The forecast for passenger growth confirms that the biggest driver of demand will be the Asia-Pacific region. It is expected to be the source of more than half the new passengers over the next 20 years.

China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market (defined by traffic to, from and within the country) around 2029.

India will displace the UK for third place in 2026, while Indonesia enters the top ten at the expense of Italy. Growth will also increasingly be driven within developing markets, it said.

Over the past decade the developing world’s share of total passenger traffic has risen from 24 per cent to nearly 40 per cent, and this trend is set to continue.
19/10/16 Daily Pioneer

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IATA: India to be 3rd largest aviation market in 10 years

In 10 years, the Indian aviation market will be the third largest in the world, overtaking the UK, an International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast released on Tuesday said. But given the infrastructure constraints plaguing the Indian aviation industry , experts said theyare not sure about how much of this growth will materialise.

IATA represents 265 airlines comprising 83% of the global air traffic. Globally, IATA expects 7.2 billion passengers to fly in 2035, which is almost double of the current 3.8 billion passenger traffic.Its 20-year forecast analysed fundamental drivers of travel demand to identify major air traffic trends for the next 20 years. Passenger demand was predicted by looking at factors like the emerging middle-class, diverging demographics and liberalisation of aviation markets.

But aviation experts reckon infrastructure constraint is a major hurdle as far as Indian aviation is concerned. A prime example of this is the congested Mumbai airport which handled 41 million passengers last fiscal. The airport's declared design capacity is 40 million passengers per year. "Though the airport capacity augmenta tion work is on, neither will the terminal building, nor will its single runway be able to catch up with the voracious appetite for air travel that Mumbai has," said a top official with an airline.
19/10/16 Manju V/The Times Of India

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Russia and India may set up joint production of Il-114-300 plane

The Ilyushin Il-114-300 project in the future can become a basis for setting up a Russian-Indian joint venture, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting on aviation development. According to him, a pertinent presentation has already been prepared by the Ilyushin Design Bureau and forwarded to India.

"We believe it is a good aircraft that can be offered up for joint production. At least, we will begin with assembling the aircraft on Indian territory, paving the way for its joint production in India and other countries," he said.

At the same time, Rogozin stressed that in the beginning the project’s full-scale production should be set up in Russia. He said that upon the president’s instructions the work was being wrapped up and "soon a document will be put forward, containing a synchronized schedule on the purchase of aircraft for our air companies, and the production capacities as well."
18/10/16 Russia & India Report

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Pawan Hans Helicopters may play a role in promoting RCS

Given the lukewarm response received from private airlines for the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), the National Democratic Alliance government is evaluating to bring on board state-run Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL).
The Narendra Modi-led government’s ambitious project to put the remote parts of the country on aviation map was scheduled to be operational by this year-end. While announcing the draft RCS policy on 1 July, the government had set a target to start flight operations from at least 30 unserved and underserved airports by the year end and the remaining 60 more airports by March 2017. However, it is now expected to take off sometime next year.
A senior civil aviation ministry official, requesting anonymity, said there have been some rounds of discussions, and all stakeholders and departments involved in the RCS project will engage with PHHL in this regard.
Another ministry official, who also did not want to be named, said the government is looking at involving small planes, mainly turboprop.
“We are now eyeing to induct a 12-seater helicopters which could get the viability gap funding (VGF) support,” the official added.
19/10/16 Sanjay Singh/Infra Circle

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Air fares to remain high till Oct 31

A travel agent told TOI that the normal average price for a one-way Delhi-Mumbai flight is between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000. "Owing to Diwali, the tickets are selling for around Rs 10,000 for Delhi and up to Rs 12,000 for Mumbai," he said.
The situation will remain the same till October 31. Thanks to Chhat festival, which falls just after Diwali, minimum fare for Indore- Patna flights has gone up to Rs 14,000. "Increase in airfare is obvious as demand rises during festivals. Also, this is the time for airlines to make up for losses," said Hemendra Singh Jadon of Indore-based Overseas Travel.
18/10/16 Times of India

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Rafale aerostructures to be made in Mihan-SEZ

Nagpur: Reliance Aerostructure is expected to start manufacturing aerostuctures for Rafale in a couple of months. The company had taken up land in the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur's (Mihan) special economic zone (SEZ) last year. This is part of the offset orders of the Rafale aircraft deal with France's Dassault.
Under an offset arrangement, any supplier bagging a major government order has to invest a part of the deal in India to make components or for maintenance.
Reliance Aerostructures, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), had taken up over 100 acres in the SEZ last year to set up an aerospace park. The joint venture, Dassault Reliance Aersopace, has been formed to implement orders worth 30,000 crore.
18/10/16 Shishir Arya/Times of India

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Technology firm makes flying experience fun

Chennai: Airlines Technology (AT) is a travel technology company that provides IT solutions and services to the travel industry. AT is targeting to make a big difference the way aviation industry works today.

They have vast domain knowledge and expertise to make any airline and OTA (on the air) system new distribution capability (NDC)-enabled. NDC enables the travel industry to transform the way air products are retailed to corporations, leisure and business travelers.

With NDC, the end consumer will be able to shop and choose what he wants directly on a travel portal. This will lead to great travel experience / planning and revenue for airlines.

They will aggregate this rich content between airlines, third party vendors and travel portals and they would also help them to create their existing legacy systems to be NDC-compliant.

Airlines Technology was founded by Smriti Kumar, Varun Bansal and Paras Kumar. Director of Airlines Technology, Varun Bansal, talks to 'News Today' about his company and what it does.
18/10/16 Sricharan R/News Today

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Tata JV airlines ban Note 7 on board in India

Tata Group's JV airlines have banned carriage of Samsung Galaxy Note7 on their aircraft in India. On Monday, Vistara tweeted that "carriage of Note 7 is prohibited on Vistara flights, both in hand luggage and check-in luggage." Vistara's move came a day after AirAsia Group took a similar decision for all its subsidiaries, including AirAsia India.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had last week gone to the extent of saying that passengers who insisted on boarding planes with the Note 7 would be barred from doing so. Several other global aviation safety regulators and airlines have barred Note 7 from inflight carriage due to safety fears as there have been several instances of these phones burning up.
However, the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is yet to come out with a fresh directive as it had last month allowed Note 7s purchased after September 15 to be carried in aircraft. While it is yet to issue a fresh order, Indian airlines have begun conforming to global norms of banning Note 7 from aircraft.
17/10/16 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India

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Shifting of security cost to government will lead to cheaper air tickets

There is a new thinking on airport security in the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA), which views it as a sovereign function and believe that air passengers should not be charged for it.

The Economic Times on Tuesday reported that the MoCA will approach Ministry of Finance with a proposal that the Government of India and not the passengers themselves should pay for the cost of security at airports and other aviation establishments in the country.

ET also said that the aviation ministry has the support of Home Ministry for this proposal.

The proposal if approved by all organs of the government and brought into practice , it will lead to reduction of passenger fees.
18/10/16 Business Standard

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