Home Ministry set to take over Bureau of Civil Aviation Security

New Delhi: The Hunion Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is set to move a proposal before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for taking over the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), currently under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). The move, initially opposed by MoCA, was proposed on the ground that security at airports is provided by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which reports to the MHA.
BCAS is responsible for laying down standards, policies and measures with regard to security of all commercial flights. Multiple agencies working at airports, including the Intelligence Bureau, immigration officials, security personnel, local police, are bound by regulations passed by BCAS.
“The discussion to take control of BCAS has been on for a while. We have finally decided to vest it in the MHA’s internal security wing, and a Cabinet proposal will be moved soon,” a senior government official confirmed to The Sunday Express.
Asked about MoCA’s objections, the official, who did not want to be named, said: “Discussions in this regard have been held at the top level involving the PMO and NSA, after which this decision has been taken, keeping in mind the safety and security of airports. Once the Cabinet gives its approval, the CISF will assume a larger role in airport security.The new set-up will help in better coordination and monitoring, since the CISF, IB and state intelligence all report to MHA.”
The decision is based on a security audit conducted by a team of experts from the MHA, IB, CISF and BCAS, which had recommended the change.
Another reason cited for taking control of BCAS is the issue of security clearances for airlines and airports, granted by the MHA. “In the past, there have been inordinate delays in granting clearances due to differences between the MHA and MoCA on the grounds that airlines and airports have not complied with the norms despite guidelines. In fact, the Aviation Secretary wrote to the PMO for expediting such clearances earlier this year,” said the official.
29/10/17 Rahul Tripathi/Indian Express

Read More

Handling the rise in air traffic: A multiple-airport theory

New Delhi: The construction of new terminal buildings and additional runways at Indian airports notwithstanding, the need of the hour for the country to be able to sustain the double-digit growth in air passenger traffic without facing infrastructure constraints is to have multiple airports in one city. Airports Authority of India (AAI)’s chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra told The Indian Express that the developer is in negotiations with the Gujarat government for moving the Rajkot airport outside the city, and has also written to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments for second airports in Kolkata and Chennai, respectively.
“We have to realise that the way aviation sector is growing in India, we need to have two airports in many cities. In fact, to address the capacity constraint issue, this is an area we are looking into. You see, most US big cities have two airports. For India also the time has come. This is another area that we are pursuing on behalf of the ministry,” Mohapatra said. As per data furnished by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India’s domestic air traffic registered a growth of 16.43 per cent in September when airlines flew 9.5 million passengers compared with 8.2 million during the corresponding period last year.
“The current Rajkot airport is spread over only 200 acres of land. It is totally constrained and no more development is possible. There is tremendous demand but airlines find it unprofitable to fly there. There, we are in negotiations with the state government. They have given us 2,400 acres of land 18 km away from the current airport where the new airport will be developed. Similarly, we have written to state governments of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu asking them to look at land for second airports at Kolkata and Chennai. Because beyond a point, no matter how much capacity constraint we address, Chennai and Kolkata will require second airports,” he added.
28/10/17 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express

Read More

Indigo marketshare rises to 38.2 pct, flies highest number of passengers in September; see how Air India, SpiceJet fared

New Delhi: IndiGo Airlines continues to lead in September by flying 36.65 lakh passengers, which is slightly lower than 36.78 lakh passenger carried by the airline in the preceding month. The market share of the airline during the month increased marginally to 38.2% from the month before. On the other hand, passengers carried by national carrier Air India increased to 12.9 lakh from 12.8 lakh, while another full-service carrier Jet Airways reported a decrease in passengers carried to 14.7 lakh from 15.3 lakh. The market share of Air India stood at 13.5%, which is slightly higher than the month before while the same for Jet Airways’ decreased to 15.4% from 15.9% in August. SpiceJet reported a market share of 13.8%, which is almost flat, but passengers carried decreased to 13.20 lakh compared with 13.5 lakh. AirAsia, on the other hand, reported 4.1% market share and carried 3.9 lakh passengers. Full-service carrier Vistara’s market share also stayed flat at 3.8%.
In terms of passenger load factor (PLF), SpiceJet continues to dominate with 94.2% occupancy, which has remained flat compared with August, while Mumbai-based GoAir improved its performance by reporting 88.5% PLF compared with 85.4% in the month before. IndiGo’s PLF also increased to 85.2%. Air India’s occupancy rate also improved to 78.6% from 76.1%. Jet’s PLF remained flat at 80.2%.
27/10/17 Financial Express

Read More

Dassault to invest €100 million in Anil Ambani aerospace venture

Mumbai: The French aircraft manufacturer Dassault and Anil Ambani Group promoted Reliance Aerospace laid the foundation stone for the ?6,500-crore Dhirubai Ambani Aerospace Park (DAAP) at MIHAN in Nagpur. Dassault will be investing about €100 million in the facility.

The investment is being regarded as one of the largest FDI in the defence sector.

A joint venture Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) will manage the DAAP and make parts for the Rafale fighter jets and Falcon business aircraft.

DRAL was set up as a part of Dassault's offset obligations for the ?58,000-crore deal to supply 36 Rafale fighter jets to Indian defence forces. The French companies offset obligation is worth about ?30,000 crore. The facility is coming up at MIHAN.

MIHAN is being developed by Maharashtra Government for the last 10 years as destination for the aviation industry.

Boeing has developed a MRO hanger for Air India and TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd of the Tata Group also has a facility at MIHAN. The DAAP will be spread over 289 acres.

DRAL will also manufacture components for the Legacy Falcon 2000 series of civil jets.

The components will be integrating itself into the French company’s supply chain.
27/10/17 Business Line

Read More

Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park bags India's biggest FDI in defence

Nagpur (Maharashtra): The Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park (DAAP) coming up with an capital investment of Rs 6,500 crore in partnership with Dassault Aviation will be the biggest FDI in the Indian defence sector till now, top officials said here on Friday.

The foundation stone laying ceremony, scheduled to take place here later in the day, will be attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari, French Minister for Armed Forces Florence Parly, Reliance Group Chairman Anil D. Ambani and Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier.

The DAAP will be home to the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL), a 51:49 joint venture between Reliance Aerostructure and Dassault Aviation, the French aviation major specialising in defence aircraft.
The DRAL would be the lead project for executing the offset programme of the Rafale fighter jets and the partnership will bring in not only high-level Transfer of Technology, but also help develop the ecosystem of the domestic aerospace sector and feed into the global supply chain.

The execution of this offset clause will also bring in the largest foreign direct investment in the defence sector till date and make it the largest offset contract in the country's history.

In 2016, India signed a 7.9 billion euros ($8.8 billion contract for purchasing 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition which incorporated a 50 per cent offset clause, mandating that 50 per cent of the deal value would be invested in the Indian defence ecosystem.

While the first lot of the Rafale jets from France are expected to be delivered by September 2019, the remaining will be delivered after another 30 months (around March 2022).
27/10/17 IANS/Hans India

Read More

Airlines welcome changes, want better airport facilities

Most airlines have responded positively to the recent non-privatisation model airport, in lieu of the changes made in the last six months to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI). However, though they are happy with a single operator — Airports Authority of India — they want assurance of a futuristic at approach, considering the pace at which traffic is increasing. The partial privatisation made both passengers and airlines hopeful; but, the bidding has been delayed for more than a year now.

To attract more prospective bidders, the national airports operator, AAI, also made some major changes to the terms and conditions for privatising and modernising SVPI. The AAI had invited a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the bidders for the operation and maintenance of select areas of the Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports, late last year. The select areas include passenger terminal building, passenger boarding bridges, and apron area among others, as per the bid document.

The proposal mentions that the O&M will remain with private players and the infrastructure will be handled by the AAI. Speaking on it, Shalin Joshipura, Chairman, Airlines Operators Committee, Ahmedabad, said, "Ahmedabad has witnessed tremendous growth and to match that, operational area growth took place, but nothing happened on the terminal front. I am equally interested in seeing how we focus on terminal development. We are seeing positive changes at the terminal under the current leadership, but we need to be more futuristic. If we get an assurance of a futuristic approach and synchronisation of infrastructure with the pace at which traffic is growing, we wil be satisfied with the AAI."
27/10/17 Tanushree Bhatia/DNA

Read More

Domestic air-passenger traffic up 16.4% in September

New Delhi: Domestic airlines flew 95.83 lakh passengers in September registering an increase of 16.4 per cent over 82.30 lakh passengers flown during the same period of the previous year.

IndiGo flew the highest number of passengers at 36.65 lakh followed by Jet Airways with 14.77 lakh passengers and SpiceJet with 13.20 lakh passengers, the latest data released by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation showed.

The state-owned Air India was at the fourth spot with 12.93 lakh passengers during the month while GoAir flew 8.09 lakh passengers, Air Asia flew 3.94 lakh passengers and Vistara flew 3.62 lakh passengers.

SpiceJet, however recorded the highest Passenger Load Factor of 94.2 per cent followed by GoAir (88.5 per cent) and IndiGo (85.2 per cent).

Passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline are getting filled.

The industry paid ₹2.62 crore as compensation to over 1.22 lakh passengers affected by cancellations and delays in flights among others. This includes paying over ₹1.13 crore as compensation to over 100,000 passengers who were affected by flight delays.

IndiGo reported the best on-time performance among all the airlines at 89.8 per cent at the four metro airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Vistara took the second spot reporting an OTP of 86.8 per cent followed by SpiceJet (86.4 per cent) and Air India (Domestic) at 78.4 per cent.
Commenting on the data, Sharat Dhall, Chief Operating Officer, (B2C), Yatra.com, said the passenger growth in September showed a “continuing positive momentum in the domestic air market even in a traditionally lean travel period.”

He pointed out that the year-on-year growth of 16.91 per cent in September puts India amongst the fastest growing air passenger markets in the world.
26/10/17 Business Line

Read More

Companies monetise private jets to fly past turbulent times

New Delhi: India’s private jet set seems to have hit an air pocket as several businessmen in the country are now monetising their private jets to navigate through turbulent times. A list of companies from sectors such as infrastructure, real estate, hospitality and media have leased out their private jets to aggregators — who operate, maintain and rent them out — to earn money from these assets, industry insiders said.

GMR Group, Punj LloydBSE -1.13 %, Jaypee Group and Bhaskar Group are among companies that have rented out aircraft to aggregators over the past six to nine months, while Delhi NCR-based real estate companies DLF and Supertech have sold as well as returned the aircraft to the lessor. “Our aircraft was on lease and we have returned it to the lessor as we try to cut costs on various fronts,” Supertech managing director Mohit Arora said.

“We have also paid penalty that was part of the agreement with the lessor,” he told ET. GMR replied to the mail saying that they would not comment on the story. Emails and messages sent to all the other companies in the list did not elicit any response as of press time Wednesday.

Industry insiders said in most cases, bad financial condition is the primary reason for the decision to monetise private jets, though there are some exceptions, such as the Hero Group that has no apparent financial troubles but still rented out its private jet for extra resources.
26/10/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Read More

India Gears Up For MRO Growth

Home to one of the world’s fastest MRO growth rates and a population in excess of one billion people, India has long been viewed with interest from MROs looking for a valuable gateway between the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Like China, India is often measured individually rather than encompassed with a whole region due to its sheer size and scale. According to Aviation Week Fleet and MRO Forecast data, the majority of demand from this year through to 2026 will come from airframe work, with a sizeable chunk coming from engine maintenance. This year alone, it is estimated by the same data that total MRO demand should hit $1.4 billion.

With a compound annual growth rate of 10% for this year, higher than China’s 8.6%, India has continued to attract the attention of international companies enticed by factors from cheaper labor costs to skills access.

In recent years, Boeing set up a joint venture facility with Air India’s MRO division in Nagpur, while SIA Engineering also established a partnership with the airline earlier this month for aftermarket services. These followed last year’s announcement that Airbus intended to set up an MRO technician and pilot training center in New Delhi with the capacity to prepare more than 8,000 pilots and 2,000 maintenance engineers over 10 years beginning in 2018.

However, despite the growth, India has long been viewed by some as a complex place to do business. Challenges regularly cited by analysts and businesses relate to regulation, heavy taxation and expensive infrastructure to operate in.


To remedy the taxation issues, the Modi government passed a series of tax reforms earlier in 2016 aimed at making India’s aviation aftermarket more competitive domestically. Relating to MRO, it set out to simplify business practices while lowering the cost of importing machine parts and equipment.

Bloomberg reported in August that domestic carriers were buoyed by these measures aimed at encouraging them to service their aircraft within India and reverse the trend of work being outsourced overseas. 

The taxation issue certainly resonates with MROs in the country. Speaking in the next issue of Inside MRO, H.R. Jagganath, CEO of Air India Engineering Services, cited issues around taxation as one of the key challenges facing the maintenance provider today. “High rates of taxes tend to destroy the competitive advantage of cheap manpower in India,” he says.
25/10/17 James Pozzi/MRO-Network

Read More

What are some of the key elements of Air India’s MRO strategy?

We want to become an MRO leader in India and our neighboring countries. To achieve this, Air India is running MRO facilities across the country in all regions: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Nagpur. We are planning to set up line maintenance facilities in airports in regions such as the Middle East and countries like Sri Lanka. Partnerships are also important—we have signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. for line and cabin maintenance. We’ve leveraged each other’s strengths in areas where both parties haven’t captured business before such as line maintenance for the Airbus A350 and A380 aircraft in India. Investments are also being made in other areas such as a landing gear overhaul facility for A320-family aircraft.


Among the largest MRO operators in the fast-growing Indian market, Air India Engineering Services has ambitious plans to grow its third-party services. Its CEO, H.R. Jagannath, details how it intends to grow its capabilities and gain new regulatory approvals.

What are some of the key elements of Air India’s MRO strategy?

We want to become an MRO leader in India and our neighboring countries. To achieve this, Air India is running MRO facilities across the country in all regions: Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Nagpur. We are planning to set up line maintenance facilities in airports in regions such as the Middle East and countries like Sri Lanka. Partnerships are also important—we have signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. for line and cabin maintenance. We’ve leveraged each other’s strengths in areas where both parties haven’t captured business before such as line maintenance for the Airbus A350 and A380 aircraft in India. Investments are also being made in other areas such as a landing gear overhaul facility for A320-family aircraft.


Ai India Engineering Services
Air India opened a new MRO facility in 2015 in Hyderabad for in-house fleet work. It said eventually it hoped to offer third-party services. How has this progressed?

Approval has been obtained from the Indian regulator (DGCA) for A320-family aircraft, which will enable the Hyderabad facility to conduct major checks. In addition to this, approval to carry out C checks on the ATR 72 also has been obtained, with the Hyderabad facility becoming an Embraer authorized service center. With such significant growth in the number of ATR 72 aircraft coming into Indian fleets, we should be able to cater to the maintenance needs of operators of this aircraft type. Right now, we are negotiating with Pratt & Whitney Canada to gain support for developing a complete overhaul facility for the PW100 engines powering the ATR 72.


How is the other recently opened facility in Nagpur progressing?

As of October 2017, C and D checks on Boeing 777 aircraft, C checks on Boeing 737s and up to 4A checks on A320s are being carried out at Nagpur. In the near future, engine MRO services for the GE90 and GEnx are anticipated, and our engine correlation test certificate has been obtained. The center’s test facility is also being upgraded for the GEnx-1B, and the correlation test run will be completed by December 2017. Very soon, we will have capability for complete overhauls and testing of both the GE90 and GEnx-1B.

What does Air India look for when selecting partners such as a logistics provider or another MRO to work with?

Factors we consider include their approvals, a strong customer base, repair capability related to components, the financial health of the company in terms of turnover, net worth and profit-sharing and, of course, ensuring everything weighs up for the relationship to prove mutually beneficial.

What is the breakdown of in-house and third-party MRO work?

The amount of third-party work at Air India Engineering Services was hardly 2% just four years ago. Since then, this has grown to 15-18% in 2017. Increasing the amount of third-party work has been a key objective, from obtaining approvals to even setting up an independent marketing team with the intention of acquiring more third-party business. Various agreements have been signed in recent years with domestic airlines such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Vistara Airlines and Air Asia to provide line and major maintenance for their aircraft. Our goal in the next five years is for a 50-50 split between in-house and third-party MRO work.


India has one of the world’s largest populations of young people. How is Air India attracting young technical talent to work in the airline maintenance division?

Air India Engineering Services is hiring engineering graduates and providing them with type training on various Airbus and Boeing aircraft. This is so the younger generation acquires necessary aviation experience before the aging skilled manpower retires. We are also looking to aviation training schools and other colleges to hire new technicians. This provides us with technicians possessing the right mix of required classroom and on-the-job training. For in-house training, we also run six CAR-147 (civil aviation requirements) approved maintenance training organizations (MTO) throughout India. Efforts are also being made to obtain European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and FAA 147 certifications for all the MTOs so that training can be provided for foreign students at a lower cost.   
26/10/17 MRO-network

Read More

Airlines can’t meet rise in wheelchair requests

Chennai: Airlines are bogged down by wheelchair requests at the Chennai airport by passengers who can walk, with many senior citizens booked on international flights preferring to use the facility to avoid queues at check-in, customs and immigration. Most of these passengers travel on routes where they have to get down and change planes at transit hubs like Dubai, Singapore, Frankfurt or London.
This keeps the ground handling staff busy during peak hours and sometimes delays wheelchairs for genuine disabled passengers who have to wait for long hours outside the terminal. However, airlines are helpless because there are no rules to filter wheelchair requests. Departing passengers can book wheelchairs online or approach the airline staff at the international terminal. The airport authorities have kept telephones at a booth outside the terminal for passengers to summon airline staff.
A senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said, "This has been the norm for some time. But there has been an increase probably because the number of senior citizens travelling abroad has gone up. People who can walk also apply for wheelchair assistance in the international terminal so that they can breeze through immigration checks, customs and security checks where wheelchair passengers get priority."
He said that in most of the cases, the passengers give a tip to the wheelchair handlers and walk into the plane when they near the aerobridge. Air Passengers Association of India national president D Sudhakara Reddy said, "I once saw 75 wheelchair passengers on a flight to Frankfurt when I travelled to Munich recently. This is misuse of a facility meant for disabled passengers."
26/10/17 V Ayyappan/Times of India

Read More

Insurance card launched for Indian air passengers

New Delhi: An air travel insurance facility through a membership card for commercial passengers in India has been launched by the air travellers body Air Passengers Association of India," APAI said on Thursday. The coverage offered by the 'Flysecure' card includes for loss or damage to luggage and for other possible mishaps situations during the travel, such as medical reimbursement, theft of identity, wallet loss and burglary at home while travelling, the association said in a release here. APAI said it has tied-up with insurance company Tata-AIG and US-based company 'Refundme' for the cards.
Although the APAI does not mention it, the insurance coverage is not a typical "travel insurance" which covers a passenger from the time he or she leaves on the journey to when the return is completed. The medical reimbursement, under the APAI card, would only be available if it's reported to the medical authorities at the airport, according to details given by the Tata-AIG policy on the APAI site.
The card, which has a validity of one year covering unlimited domestic and international travel and available for Indians between the ages of 18 and 70 years, will provide three kinds of coverage to air passengers -- silver, gold and platinum.
26/10/17 IANS/Sfy.com

Read More

India projected to become the third largest aviation market by 2025

India is expected to become the third largest aviation market by 2025 surpassing the United Kingdom, and is expected to have 478 million air passengers in 2036 driven by strong demand.

"All indicators lead to growing demand for global connectivity. The world needs to prepare for a doubling of passengers in the next 20 years. It's fantastic news for innovation and prosperity, which is driven by air links," said International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General and Chief Executive Officer Alexandre de Juniac.

The trade association of the world's airlines expects India to surpass the UK and become the third largest airline market with 337 million new passengers for a total of 478 million. China is projected to remain at the top with 921 million new passengers for a total of 1.5 billion.

"The UK will fall to fifth place, surpassed by India in 2025, and Indonesia in 2030," IATA said in the report.

The US will maintain the second position with 401 million new passengers for a total of 1.1 billion.
25/10/17 Purnita Deb/IBTimes

Read More

India to have 478 million air passengers in 2036, says IATA

Mumbai: : India is expected to have 478 million air passengers in 2036 on the back of strong demand, global airlines' grouping IATA said today.
The country is projected to see a staggering growth from 141 million passengers in 2016.
Releasing its 20-year passenger forecast, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said globally a total of 7.8 billion passengers are expected to travel in 2036, with Asia-Pacific region leading the demand.
China is expected to fly the highest number of passengers at 1.5 billion, of which 921 million would be the new ones followed by the United States with 1.1 billion, including 401 million new passengers) in 2036, IATA said.

India would be the third fastest growing market, with an expected addition of 337 million new passengers, taking the total to 478 million, it added.
24/10/17 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Rising ATF Prices: Airlines need to rejig pricing, discounting strategies, says ICRA

The 16.2 per cent year-on-year growth in domestic air traffic during April-August notwithstanding, Indian carriers might need to re-look their pricing and discounting strategies to deal with the uptrend in the prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), a research note by ICRA said.
“The domestic passenger traffic growth remained range-bound during the current fiscal as reflected in 16.2 per cent year-on-year growth during 5MFY18. This is marginally higher than y-o-y traffic growth of 15.7 per cent for the month of August 2017, which in turn was slightly better as compared to the previous month,” ICRA stated, adding that it estimated the traffic to grow between 15-17 per cent during FY18, against the 20 per cent growth maintained in the last two consecutive years.
From being priced at an average of Rs 48.65 per litre last month for domestic airlines in four metros, ATF has become dearer at Rs 54.62 per litre from October 1. While jet fuel prices for domestic airlines have remained at the same levels during the calendar year 2017, on a year-on-year basis, the rates are almost 13 per cent higher.
24/10/17 Veerangana Singh/Indian Express

Read More

Aviation MRO companies want 18% GST scrapped

New Delhi: The aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul or MRO industry has asked the government to create a level playing field by either abolishing 18% goods and services tax (GST) being levied on the sector or imposing customs duty on aircraft being serviced out of the country.

The industry has made a representation to the aviation ministry seeking an exemption from GST, arguing that it makes servicing aircraft in India costlier than abroad. Next week, it plans to approach the finance ministry.

“Zero rating for service tax/GST to Indian aviation MRO industry; or introduce customs duties equivalent to 25% to the value of the import of aviation MRO services,” the industry said in its representation.

The 18% GST, industry representatives said, has come as a blow to the sector which had turned competitive after exemption from customs duty on import of spares and abolition of value-added tax by Maharashtra, which houses 80% of the MRO units in India.
“The airlines cannot get a refund for GST paid to us because there is no provision for refund available on economy class seats, which form a substantial part of the airline capacity in India,” said Bharat Malkani, vice president of MRO Association of India.

“Under the service tax regime, airlines used to get refund, thus keeping cost of servicing low. Also, pre-GST, we paid zero VAT on spares in Maharashtra and service tax on labour.

Post-GST, it is 18% on combination of spares and labour. However, imports are not taxed at all.” Overseas MRO units have gained since the implementation of the GST regime, Malkani said, because there is no customs duty on getting a plane and its spares abroad and bringing it into India. “If customs duty on imports of MRO was 18%, the government would collect $180 million annually.
22/10/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Read More

Range-bound passenger traffic, increasing ATF prices may spell trouble for aviation industry, says ICRA

With only a marginal increase in domestic air passenger traffic this fiscal and increasing prices of fuel the Indian aviation sector may be heading toward some turbulence.

“While on one hand, the passenger traffic growth is witnessing moderation on the back of increased efforts by airlines to strengthen the yields, on the other, the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices are on a sequential uptrend from August 2017 to October 2017,” said Kinjal Shah, VP and Co-Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA on Monday.

The domestic passenger traffic growth remained range-bound during the current fiscal as reflected in 16.2% Y-o-Y growth during five months in FY18.

“This is marginally higher than Y-o-Y traffic growth of 15.7% for the month of August 2017 which in turn was slightly better as compared to the previous month,” ICRA said.

Spelling out efforts to curb expenses, Shah added, “In such a scenario, the industry might need to relook at various strategies including pricing, discounting and cost efficiency measures. Though moderate capacity addition on the domestic routes in the current fiscal has supported the passenger load factors (PLFs) of the airlines, any acceleration in the capacity addition will intensify the competition , thereby putting pressure on profitability of the airlines.”
23/10/17 ZeeBiz

Read More

‘Red eye’ flights make comeback on demand spike

Chennai: Red eye flights are back. Airlines have started to operate more flights post-9pm so that travellers can beat the peak hour city traffic as well as save on hotel charges. Pioneered by Air India, the late night flights have become popular, with low cost carriers operating them on the Chennai to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata routes.
There is a plan to link these flights with ATR services from small towns so that people from here will also be able to fly toMumbai or Delhi in less than five hours There are five flights after 9pm to Mumbai. All these flights reach their destination by the middle of the night. Indigo Airlines, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Air India operate such flights. The services are beneficial to travellers as well as airlines. "The airlines will be able to fly their planes to another city at night so that they can start an early morning departure without incurring an expense while for people who travel on business, it enables same day return from a city," said an airline official.
Airlines also see an increase in the number of people who use red eye flights because they do not have to negotiate peak hour traffic reaching an airport and also while entering the city.
"There will not be much traffic at night in Chennai as travellers need to reach the airport only an hour before departure. They can also reach their home or hotel before dawn and take rest before heading for work in the day at Mumbai or Delhi." And two days advance booking fares are not very expensive, ranging from `6,000 to `8,000.
23/10/17 Times of India

Read More

Aerospace park in Tamil Nadu set to take off

Chennai: Tamil Nadu's quest for an aerospace park is finally set to turn into a reality, with the foundation stone for the first phase of the park to be laid by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday.
The aerospace park will house a component park and a testing & design centre in the first two phases, with total investments of well over Rs 500 crore.
The first phase of the park, for which 250 acres have been earmarked, will house industrial units making components for the aerospace industry. Developed industrial plots in the range of 2-10 acres have already been allotted to 14-15 units, with each of them investing Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore for setting up shop, a state government official told TOI.
The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu (Sipcot) has acquired large tracts of land in the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam belt for housing manufacturing units across industrial sectors, besides the aerospace park, said the official. "Sipcot has about 1,500 acres in that belt for allocation of land to industries in the Vallam-Vadagal region near Oragadam," he said.
"These will be low-end component suppliers who will in turn supply to larger component suppliers to the global aviation industry. While the employment potential of these units is akin to other engineering manufacturing industries, the take-off of the component park will further boost economic activities in the region, which has not got any new large industrial unit after Yamaha Motor India in 2015," the official added.
23/10/17 D Govardan/Times of India

Read More

Bhoomipuja of RAL aerospace park on 27th

Nagpur: The bhoomipujan of aerospace park of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) will be performed at the hands of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and union transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Mihan on October 27. Fadnavis confirmed the date while interacting with the media on Sunday.
Reliance Aerostructure Limited (RAL) will manufacture aircraft and helicopters in Mihan. France's Dassault Aviation is a 49% partner in the Rs6,500 crore project. Phase-I of the project is expected to generate more than 700 highly skilled direct jobs and 2,800 indirect jobs. It will eventually generate more than 10,000 jobs. RAL has decided to start construction on 104 acres. Later, this park will be spread over 289 acres land. This is a 30,000 crore offset programme related to the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets.
RAL will assemble and manufacture fixed wing aircraft, assemble line and manufacture of aerostructure for commercial transport aircraft, assembly line and manufacture of Rotary wing or helicopter for defence and commercial use. The company will also provide platform for maintenance, repairs and overhaul for transport, helicopter, and fighter class aircraft platform and system. It will also develop centre of excellence, research and development training centre, skill development in aerospace sector.
RAL plans to start with groundwork for the project to make nose cones for Falcon aircraft made by France's Dassault. The project will eventually expand the number of spares to be made here. Called S1 project, it will be spread in an area of around 80 acres.
23/10/17 Ashish Roy/Times of India

Read More

'US considering Indian request of armed drones for air force'

Washington: : The Trump Administration is "considering" India's request for armed drones for its air force, according to a senior American official.

"Yes, yes," the administration official told PTI when asked about India's pending request about the purchase of armed drones as part of its armed forces' modernisation drive.

The armed drones, the Indian Air Force (IAF) believes, would help it strengthen its defence capabilities.

Early this year, the IAF had requested the US Government for General Atomics Predator C Avenger aircraft. It is understood that IAF would need 80 to 100 units making it approximately a whopping USD 8 billion deal.
22/10/17 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Online portal to ease clearance process at Indian airports

New Delhi: In a major reform to India’s aviation sector, the government will launch a first-of-its-kind online portal through which clearance will be granted or denied to individuals and firms at airports in the country.

The current clearance mechanism is a long, multi-window procedure. Applicants—including foreign pilots, shops and catering agencies—need to visit aviation offices such as the airport operator, regional office, headquarters of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), office of the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the civil aviation ministry. The process takes months and sometimes, more than a year, as the paperwork is huge and the process involves multiple correspondences. The applicants are required to submit five to 10 copies of the application form with documents to authorities.

Senior civil aviation ministry officials told The Sunday Standard that the online portal will make the process a single-window system, which will make the it quicker and transparent. The portal, which is likely to be launched next week, will let individuals and firms submit an application and view its progress online, sparing them visits to government offices.

An official explained that the portal would channelise the applications to one of the three authorities—civil aviation ministry, safety regulator DGCA or security regulator BCAS—depending upon their nature.

For instance, applications seeking site clearance of greenfield airports and heliports will be dealt by the ministry. Applications seeking security clearance for import/acquisition of aircraft for private use and foreign aircrew flying to India will be handled by the DGCA. BCAS will take care of applications seeking security clearance for concessionaires/business establishments intending to work in the Security Restricted Area (SRA) of an airport. It will also clear applications of catering firms supplying food to airlines, and that of ground-handling agencies seeking to operate at the airports.
 22/10/17 Sana Shakil/New Indian Express

Read More

Woman rescued from sex trafficking takes ‘flight’

21-year-old Mary was rescued from becoming a victim of sex trafficking by Mumbai police in November 2014. Mary, who is a successful cabin crew with a reputed airlines now, told FPJ, “Every Diwali, I light diyas and thank God for giving me a new lease of life and protecting me. I am grateful to the policemen who saved me. I think they were God sent.”

Mumbai : 21-year-old Mary is a successful cabin crew with a reputed airlines now but she hasn’t forgotten her fight against sex trafficking. Mary was rescued from the clutches of her perpetrators in November 2014 during Diwali.

After standard Xth, Mary’s family stopped her from going to school and even discontinued her tuition. This came as a huge blow to Mary, as it was only in education that she found her escape. After being deprived of her education, Mary felt there was nothing holding her back at home. Frustrated and depressed, Mary left home for Mumbai in October 2014 with nothing but some clothes and a little money. While, in Mumbai, she lived at a lodge in Mumbai Central and within ran out of money a month’s time. She continued to search for a job in Mumbai, but it was difficult.  A staff at the lodge noticed Mary’s vulnerability and offered to help her by introducing Mary to a man who could give her a job.

Speaking to the Free Press Journal, Mary said, “In November 2014, a man at the lodge asked me to meet him at Juhu beach. Over there, he introduced me to a middle-aged man. The man was a pimp who supplied girls for a high-end prostitution racket. Before I could guess his intention, he started pushing me towards the car. Fortunately, a police team patrolling the beach saw me and arrested the pimp.”

Mary hails from Jammu and Kashmir. She lived there with her grandmother, father and siblings. Mary attended school till the 10th grade but never got a mother’s love during her formative years. She was told that her mother had left when she and her siblings were very small. Mary did not receive the care and love of her grandmother and only found solace in her studies. While at home, Mary had to bear the snide remarks of her grandmother, as if she was not responsible for her mother going away. Her father was not much help. Instead of standing up for his daughter, he joined her grandmother and would often beat her when drunk.

Mary was sent to ‘Save Our Sisters Programme’, an anti-human trafficking initiative of ‘Save the Children India’, an organisation for survivors of human trafficking which has it’s registered office at Bandra Kurla Complex. Mary attended a Sahas Kendra programme for ten months, where she learnt life skills and attended counselling sessions to cope up with anxiety and anger issues.
22/10/17 Kainaz Choksey/Free Press Journal

Read More

India Might Finally Terminate Their Stealth Fighter Program With Russia

A new report by Defense News states that India is extremely unhappy with Russia's supposed 5th generation fighter—better known as the T-50, or by its new production name the Su-57—that will act as the base for the sputtering FGFA cooperative fighter program between the two countries. The news comes after years of squabbling over the program, usually characterized by credible reports of the Indian Air Force's dismay with the qualities of the Russian aircraft. Now it seems as if the Indians want out of the program—which aimed for at least a 108 airframe production run—once and for all. Such a move could also be a result of New Delhi's changing geopolitical and military affiliations, in particular its deepening strategic relationship with the United States.
The Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project between Sukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is a decade old. It originally aimed to create a variant of Russia's new stealth fighter with a number of alterations specified by India. These include potential enhancements to reach certain low observable (stealth) requirements, as well as particular avionics, communications systems, and weapons integration. A two seat version was also envisioned. The whole idea behind the concept being that the FGFA would leverage a fairly mature Russian next generation fighter design, and build upon it. The problem is that the design in question, the Su-57, doesn't appear to have the "bones" needed to modify it to meet India's expectations.
The T-50/Su-57's degree of low observability has always been in question. It is one of the most hotly debated topics on military aviation forums and I have described how the design balances some stealthy attributes against other features and weaponry, as well as cost and production capabilities. But time and time again India seems to have been doubtful that the base aircraft design could meet their FGFA requirements.
21/10/17 Tyler Rogoway/The Drive

Read More

Gujarat CM flags off helicopter service from Rajkot to Dwarka

Rajkot: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today flagged off a helicopter service from Rajkot to the pilgrimage town of Dwarka.
The service has been started by T3 AIR, a venture of Rajkot-based Poojara Telecom Pvt Ltd, in association with the Gujarat aviation department and the Airports Authority of India.
It will ferry pilgrims from Rajkot to Dwarka, Somnath and Ambaji.
The T3 AIR EC 130 helicopter, with a seating capacity of six passengers, will take 30 minutes to reach Somnath from Rajkot, a distance of 185 km by road.
It will take 50 minutes to reach Dwarka from here, a distance of 250 km by road.
"When Rajkot is getting an international airport, a facility like this will help save tourists' time in visiting Somnath and Dwarka," Rupani said while inaugurating the service at the Rajkot Airport.
19/10/17 PTI/Business Standard

Read More

France wants India to buy more Rafales

India has a hectic diplomatic calendar next week with a series of high-profile visits scheduled. French Defence Minister Florance Parley will be in New Delhi on an official visit during which she is likely to make a strong pitch to sell additional Rafale fighter jets.

Ms. Parley is scheduled to visit India from October 26.

“The two sides will discuss the progress of the implementation of the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets,” one official said. The issue of additional Rafale jets and the Navy’s mega tender for a new line of submarines are likely to come up for discussion, the official added.

“Ms. Parley will travel to Nagpur on October 27 to lay the foundation stone for a manufacturing facility being set up by Dassault and Reliance Defence as part of the offsets under the Rafale deal,” another official said.

In September last year, India and France concluded a €7.87-billion government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale jets in flyaway condition scheduled to be delivered between 2019 and 2022. The deal has a 50% offset clause to be executed by Dassault and its partners in India amounting up to ₹30,000 crore.

Following this, Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence announced a joint venture called “Dassault Reliance Aerospace”, which is likely to execute a major part of the offsets.
The Indian Air Force has stated its requirement for additional twin-engine fighter jets and has expressed its desire for more Rafale jets. However, with a depleting fighter strength and several squadrons of MiG-21s and MiG-27s to be phased out, the focus is now on procuring a single-engine fighter jet under the newly promulgated Strategic Partnership model. “Single engine is a priority ... Right now, we are trying to make up numbers with single-engine aircraft …,” Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa said earlier this month in response to questions on the IAF’s procurement plans.
20/10/17 Dinakar Peri/The Hindu

Read More

Soon, you may hire a charter aircraft like Ola, Uber and at half the price

New Delhi: As the Indian government strives to make flying affordable for the masses with its regional connectivity scheme, aircraft charter companies are charting a similar flight path as aggregators — much like Ola and Uber — and offering fares that are up to 50% cheaper.
As an aggregator, a company would offer flyers all available aircraft on one platform and optimise the use of the planes. There are 129 general aviation operators in the country and about 60 of them have fixed-wing aircraft in their fleets, while the remainder have only helicopters.
Conventionally, most charter companies charge customers all the costs associated with hiring an aircraft — travel from the home base, the actual trip and the empty return leg. With the aggregator model, aircraft chartering charges can drop by as much as 50%.
By positioning aircraft strategically across the country and by matching demand and supply more efficiently, the overall flying time can be reduced, significantly lowering costs for customers vis-a-vis the rate charged by a standalone charter company, according to Kanika Tekriwal, co-founder of Jet-SetGo, a New Delhi-based business charter company with cricketer Yuvraj Singh as one of its investors.
"The cost differential can, hence, even be as high as 50%," said Tekriwal. Hiring an aircraft with six to nine seats currently, ranges from Rs 150,000 to Rs 200,000 an hour. Air One Aviation Pvt, promoted by former president of Air Sahara Alok Sharma, is in the business charter business and has offered up to 500 planes through its subsidiary Ezee Charter Pvt. Sharma said the charter business segment in the country is set to grow and he plans to tap the leisure travel market.
"At a later stage, we want to launch holiday packages, which will have on offer flights according to passenger convenience and hotels to a group of people flying to a particular destination. Going ahead, I see a lot of charter flights being used for leisure travel and a big market is waiting to be tapped," said Sharma.
19/10/17 Mihir Mishra/Times of India

Read More

Pvt ailine accuses DGCA of corruption, tardiness

Mumabi: A war of words has broken out between a private airline and the aviation regulator DGCA with the airline calling out the apex aviation body for its “ineffi-ciency and ineptitude” and the aviation regulator blaming the airline for tardiness in following procedure.
Mumbai-based Supreme Airlines has complained to the Prime Minister’s Office alleging that though its new Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft arrived from the US on May 22, it was kept grounded till October 3 by DGCA officials for want of a Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA).

The airline’s CEO Ammeet Agarwal has blamed the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials for the delay in certification, and the DGCA’s Deputy Director of Airworthiness Raj Kanwar has countered the allegations by slamming the airline for the delay in inspection and paperwork.

In an October 7 letter addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of State Jayant Sinha, and secretary Civil Aviation RN Choubey, Agarwal pointed out that the airline’s second Cessna aircraft arrived from the US to Jaipur airport on May 22. Before its arrival, his airline submitted all necessary documents for Certificate of Registration (CofR) as well as Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) on May 19 to the Bhopal sub-regional office which gives the approval for Continuing Airworthiness Maintenance Organisation (CAMO), a process which takes place concurrently during the operator’s registration.

While the CofR was issued on June 14, the CofA was issued by the office only on October 3 while the file circulated between Bhopal, Mumbai and Delhi. Blaming the DGCA officials for keeping the brand new aircraft grounded for 135 days, Agarwal claimed that the airline suffered a notional loss of Rs 5.40 crore when it could have flown 12,000 passengers during this period, at a time when the Modi government is aggressively promoting regional connectivity to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

According to Agarwal’s letter, the sluggishness in procedure was all a ruse to extract money from the airline.

The DGCA, however, have blamed the airline for the delay. In a letter issued on October 13, Kanwar said despite informing Agarwal of the deficiencies in the aircraft on September 22, he complied with it on only a week later. The Bhopal office submitted the inspection and other reports via email on September 29, but due to a long weekend over next three days, the papers were processed only on October 3, and CofA was issued day.
19/10/17 Satish Nandgaonkar/Mumbai Mirror

Read More

Who Paid for Modi’s Chartered Flights as CM, Asks Congress (But Won’t Say Who Foots Its Own Bills)

New Delhi: Hitting back at the BJP a day after the ruling party accused Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law of flying to Switzerland on business class tickets provided by an absconding arms dealer, the Congress on Wednesday questioned the 100-odd chartered flights – both in the country and abroad – Prime Minister Narendra Modi took while he was chief minister of Gujarat, seeking to know who paid for these trips.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the estimated cost of this air travel was around Rs 16.56 crore and asked who had paid for this. He provided documents about Modi’s travels between 2003 and 2007 accessed through RTI applications by Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.

Hinting that some corporate houses had sponsored Modi’s trips, Singhvi said that according to the RTI, Modi travelled to Switzerland (July 1, 2007), South Korea (June 16, 2007), Japan (April 15, 2007) and China (November 1, 2006) with some well-known industrialists and business tycoons.
“The nation wants to know, we want to know, as to who paid for these chartered plane travels by Modi. No information has been furnished till date in response to an RTI query made in 2007,” Singhvi said.

Singhvi’s charge was the latest instalment in the ‘parivar war’ the Congress and BJP have been waging against each other ever since The Wire‘s story last week on the business affairs of BJP president Amit Shah’s son, Jay Shah.

However, as a Cobrapost investigation in December 2014 revealed, the Congress may not be best placed to demand such transparency from Modi and the BJP when its own leaders have made ample use of private chartered flights and been less than transparent about the payments involved. After providing exhaustive details of politicians from the Congress, BJP and other parties who had used private charter flights for campaigning and other purposes, Cobrapost said it:
19/10/17 Arun Kumar/The Wire

Read More

Bhoomipujan of Ambani Group’s Aerospace park at MIHAN on 27th

The bhoomipujan of Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park at Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) will be performed at the hands of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on October 27 at 4 pm. The Commerce Ministry has given its approval to the project that has capacity to change the economic scenario of Vidarbha.
Reliance Aerostructure Limited has proposed to manufacture fixed wing aircraft, commercial transport aircraft and helicopter at MIHAN. The company has proposed to undertake varied nature of activities related to aerospace Industry under Make in India mission of Government of India. The defence production by the Reliance Group may change the skyline and financial situation of backward Vidarbha region.
The Reliance Group has proposed to invest Rs 6,500 in this Aerospace park. It will be a home to the Dassault-Reliance Aerospace joint venture.
The France’s Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence will jointly execute this work. They have forged the partnership in ratio of 49:51percent. This is a 30,000 crore offset programme related to the sale of 36 Rafale Fighter Jets.
The park will also be home to the largest defence sector foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country with the manufacturing of French aircraft.
The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) is the nodal agency for developing the aerospace park.
Sources claimed that the Phase-I of the project is expected to generate more than 700 highly skilled direct jobs and 2800 indirect jobs. The aerospace park will eventually generate more than 10,000 jobs, promoting the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives of the government. The Reliance has decided to start construction on 104 acres of land. Later this park will be spread over 289 acres land.
19/10/17  Hitavada

Read More

20 IAF Planes to Touch Down on Lucknow-Agra Expressway on October 24

Lucknow: Twenty aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), including AN-32 transport, Mirage 2000 and Sukhoi 30 MKI, will make a touchdown on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway on October 24, an official said.
A traffic blockade will be put in place from October 20, to prepare the highway stretch for the event.
The IAF will be conducting the aircraft touchdown exercise on the Agra Expressway near Bangarmau in Unnao district, according to PRO, Defence (Central Command), Gargi Malik Sinha.
In all, 20 aircraft including AN-32 transport and fighter planes like Mirage 2000, Jaguar, Sukhoi 30 MKI will take part in the exercise, Sinha said.
The aircraft will land and then take-off from the expressway, she said.
"It is for the first time any transport aircraft will land and then take off. The AN-32 are meant for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief during floods or any other natural calamity. The aircraft can bring a large amount of relief material. It can also help in evacuating people," Sinha said.
19/10/17 PTI/News18.com

Read More

iTop comes to the rescue of travel agents

With their revenues dwindling amidst a commission-squeeze by airlines, travel agents might have found a saviour in i-TOP (Indian travel agents own portal). Launched by their representative body, IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), the advance booking portal promises to bring them the much needed money.

At present, airlines sell their products through different consolidators and portals such as MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip at an agreed special rate. On the other hand, i-Top will bring all consolidators or portals under one screen.

This helps in many ways. For instance, if an agent is using XYZ portal, he will get the pricing fixed by that portal management only. I-Top allows different OTAs (Online Travel Agents) to display and sell their product in one screen. If three OTA’s selling Emirates tickets are integrated to I-Top; the user will get all the three companies’ prices on one screen.

i-Top will facilitate consolidators, OTAs or even an agent sell their products through i-Top to the network users. The user agents will have the flexibility to display all such related services, compare quality, services, trustworthiness, pricing and remunerative benefits that will help him to promote products without any compromise.
17/10/17 V Sajeev Kumar/Business Line

Read More

Why Gul Panag loves Indian airlines

For those of you who think Indian airlines are bad, all you need to do is fly an American lowcost carrier.

Not my words. Gul Panag says this along with a picture of her flight with Frontier Airlines that she posted on Twitter.

"To appreciate Indian carriers, one must fly an American low cost. Fun staff though. (Check out seat thickness/ tray table) @FlyFrontier," she tweeted along with a picture of a tray that didn't even fit her phone fully.

Another picture of seats with next-to-no legroom would surely have you thank the likes of IndiGo, who you probably love to hate.
18/10/17 Telegraph

Read More

Surge in airfares, courtesy Diwali

Chandigarh: With the festive season around the corner, the flights operating from Chandigarh have become expensive.
Officials of airlines, including Indigo, Jet Airways and Vistara, said the flights to busy traffic destinations such as Delhi and Mumbai were overbooked, owing to Diwali and long weekend.
An airport official said, “Normally, airfares are slightly dearer during Diwali. The flights are overbooked also because of the change in watch hours. Some flights were curtailed, so there is traffic on busy routes to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.”
A flight to Delhi over the weekend will cost around Rs 7,000, while a flight to Mumbai will cost over Rs 10,000. The price of a ticket to Hyderabad on Saturday is around Rs 13,000.
An official from Vistara airlines said both their flights to Delhi were overbooked.
Sources at the airport said competition among low-cost carriers had led to low fares on the Diwali day. However, the fares are exponentially higher for the days following the festival.
16/10/17 Tribune

Read More

Early birds lose out in pre-Diwali airfare war

Chennai: A flurry of discounts offered by airlines between metro cities and smaller towns to boost post-Diwali travel caused a general dip in airfares across the board for one to two days' advance booking. Short booking fares have fallen by up to 14th the price of bookings done weeks in advance.
Fares from Chennai to Mumbai, Mumbai to Delhi, Delhi to Hyderabad and also Pune are selling at their lowest.
An airline official said the fares were high nine days ago because of high demand following bookings made by travellers who were planning holidays. "Airfares have dropped now because of the offers and a reduction in business or trade-related travel between the metro cities on the holidays. Most people are likely to have already planned their trips," an airline official said.
A Delhi-Mumbai ticket was selling at upwards of `2,166 for travel on Tuesday, according to fares available on a travel website, whereas Mumbai to Delhi fares were starting from `8,000.
The fare between the two cities had touched `15,800 when booked nine days in advance. Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said, "The announcement of discounts by airlines have triggered a dip in fares.There is high demand for tickets for travel between metro cities currently. The fares may go up."
17/10/17 V Ayyappan/Times of India

Read More

Jet Airways Diwali Sale: Up To 20% Off On Domestic, International Flights

Jet Airways on Tuesday announced a special limited-period scheme targeting Diwali 2017. Under this offer, Jet Airways will provide discounts of up to 20 per cent on tickets booked during the nine-day sale period, the airline said in a press release. Jet Airways' 20 per cent off scheme is applicable on both domestic and international flights, it said. "Enjoy great savings this Diwali with attractive travel offers from Jet airways in India and overseas," Jet Airways said.
Under the Diwali 2017 scheme, flyers will be offered discounts of up to 20 per cent on premiere fares and up to 10 per cent on economy fares while booking for travel on the airline's domestic as well as international network, Jet Airways further said.
The sale, Jet Airways said, is open from October 17 to October 25, 2017. While travel validity for domestic bookings will be from November 1, 2017, guests booking tickets for international travel can immediately proceed to enjoy the benefit of these special fares booked during the festive offer, the airline said.
17/10/17 NDTV

Read More

Thales offers Hindustan Aeronautics Limited radar for Tejas aircraft

New Delhi: French defence firm Thales has developed a radar with an eye on the specific needs of the state-run aerospace firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to equip the Tejas light combat aircraft.

"The radar has successfully completed an initial flight test campaign designed to measure its performance level," Thales said in a statement.

It said the radar meets the specific needs of HAL to equip the 80 Tejas Mk1A multi-role aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force.

"In order to meet the needs of the Indian manufacturer HAL, Thales is offering a lightweight, compact active array radar," it said.
Thales said the radar reflects its expertise in active array technologies - as demonstrated by the RBE2 radar installed on Rafale jets. It said tests on the radar were carried out recently at the Cazaux air base in France.
16/10/17 Times of India

Read More

Etihad Airways Awards IBS Software a Multi-year Contract

Abu Dhabi: IBS Software (IBS) has been selected by Etihad Airways for implementing its award-winning cargo management solution, iCargo. The multi-million dollar, multi-year contract was signed in Abu Dhabi last week. The engagement will see iCargo system manage the airline's air cargo sales and operations worldwide, automating its network-wide booking, pricing and capacity management functions with real-time revenue management-based evaluation capabilities. iCargo will also perform real-time shipment status monitoring and quality management as shipments traverse its extensive network.
David Kerr, Senior Vice President, Etihad Cargo, said: "iCargo will enable us to be available to our customers 24 hours a day through a fully integrated online booking portal. This will significantly enhance our customer service offering. We are also working with IBS to develop the functionality to support our customers with our product provision, loyalty programme and incentives programme. The development of this platform will allow Etihad Cargo to implement end-to-end integration of processes, provisioning for real-time data and greater operational efficiencies."
"To be chosen yet again by a leading airline is a reiteration that iCargo is the most definitive air cargo management solution in the world today. We welcome Etihad Airways to the growing list of iCargo customers and expect to be a transformational partner in their quest to achieve increased operational efficiencies, cost optimisation and growth. This alliance is a testimony to our capability, professionalism and commitment to add value to the business requirements of global airlines. This is a strategic milestone for IBS and heralds the beginning of a long and productive business relationship," said VK Mathews, Executive Chairman, IBS Group.
IBS was selected to replace Etihad Cargo's existing system after an intense selection process that spanned several months. Once implemented, iCargo will connect an international team of users across the business and will interface seamlessly with a host of other system applications within the IT landscape of the airline. The real-time availability of operational information through iCargo will help generate actionable intelligence, vastly improving and streamlining the selling process, revenue generation and quality of service. In addition, through its online booking capability, Etihad Cargo will enable an additional channel that will allow it to be open for business 24 hours a day.
16/10/17 PR News

Read More

India sends naval patrol aircraft for Emerald Star survivors' rescue

New Delhi: India has dispatched a naval patrol aircraft to Manila to search for sailors of the MV Emerald Star, a cargo ship that sank in the waters+ to the north-east of the Philippines.
The P-8I patrol aircraft dispatched on Sunday night carried two 'search and rescue' kits which contain inflatable dinghies and emergency food and water supply, which can be dropped near any survivors.
The 33,205-tonne cargo ship Emerald Star sank in the Pacific on Friday off the Philippines, as a typhoon churned in the region. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said 15 Indians were rescued, while a search was still on for 11 others missing.
16/10/17 Times of India

Read More

Milestone Aviation Group Supports Heligo’s Growth in India

Dublin: Milestone Aviation Group (“Milestone”) announced today the delivery of a Leonardo AW139 to Heligo Charters Private Limited (Heligo) in India. The delivery marks the fifth helicopter leased to Heligo in 2017, increasing the Mumbai-based operator’s fleet and enabling expansion of both on- and offshore services. Milestone, the global leader in helicopter leasing, began its lease partnership with Heligo in 2014 and has played a critical role in expanding the operator’s fleet to 15 aircraft, eight of which are on lease from Milestone.

Of the five helicopters delivered in 2017, the Leonardo AW139 and two Airbus AS365 Dauphins will operate offshore for the oil and gas industry while one Bell 412EP and one Leonardo AW109SP will expand Heligo's onshore VIP charter services. The helicopters were sourced from Milestone’s installed fleet and transitioned from prior operations in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Heligo at this important time in their company’s growth,” said Milestone Vice President Commercial Michael York. “Heligo has grown to become one of the largest helicopter operators in India by providing highly skilled service through stringent safety standards. We are pleased that they have entrusted Milestone to help them grow their fleet and diversify their client base.”

“We highly value our relationship with Milestone. Their partnership approach gave Heligo access to a diverse fleet of helicopters and the flexibility to bid contracts without taking asset risk” said Chief Executive Officer, Captain K Padmanabhan. “Milestone has provided us with much more than a financial solution, their support has been a central element of our growth strategy, enabling us to grow aggressively but prudently.”
16/10/17 News Wire Today

Read More

State govt announces civil aviation promotion policy 2017

Lucknow: In pursuance of the national aviation policy 2016 and regional connectivity scheme of the Union government, UP government has promulgated the ``Civil aviation promotion policy 2017 of UP’’.  The policy aims at connecting the underserved and unserved airports.  Under the Regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of the Center, an MOU has been sighed between the state government and the Union aviation ministry.

A state government release  here on Sunday said  the aim of the  ` ``Civil aviation promotion policy 2017 of UP’’  is to create a conducive business environment,  provide adequate  incentives for the  development of robust  civil aviation  infrastructure  and to aid in attracting investments to realize the untapped potential in the aviation sector.  The release said the policy aims to improve the air connectivity through development of new routes under RCS by providing incentives and also to facilitate inter- connectivity of non-RCS airports of U.P.
UP governments policy aims to realize the full potential of tourism by linking major state tourist destinations with rest of India and the world and to facilitate trade and generation of employment opportunities.  The policy aims to give a boost to agro -exports, other perishable goods, manufacturing and e-commerce businesses in UP by supporting the development of air cargo hubs and fulfillment centers.
16/10/17 Pioneer

Read More

Bombay High Court notice sent to airlines over charging for first-row seats

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has issued notices to low-cost airlines Indigo and Jet Airways and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), seeking their response on a petition challenging their policy of charging extra cost for their front-row seats.

A division bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and GS Kulkarni on Sunday asked the airlines and the DGCA to file their replies within four weeks.

In her petition, advocate Yasmin Tavariya, a cancer survivor, described her own plight and that of disabled passengers in the back-row seats of airplanes.

"Low-cost airlines have scant regard for rules under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, specifically tailored for the facilitation of services to be rendered to persons with disabilities and for the standards of accessibility for transportation, including facilities and services, to be provided by them," Tavariya said in her petition.

Senior advocate Dinyar Madon pointed out to the court about the rules and circulars of the DGCA which made it mandatory for airlines to allot seats which would be convenient for disabled persons.
The plea stated that budget airlines are acting contrary to the very spirit of the statutory and constitutional provisions by being discriminative to passengers with disability and/or reduced mobility without any rational criteria, thus being against the very grain of fundamental rights and directive principles enshrined in the Constitution of India.
16/10/17 Mustafa Plumber/DNA

Read More

More discounts on flight tickets as airlines dole out cheaper airfares this Diwali

Airlines have continued with the discounts on flight tickets in the run-up to Diwali with Air India and Jet Airways now joining the lot.

Air India said it is offering discounts in addition to cheaper fares, complimentary food and extra baggage offers.

“10% discount for domestic travel in economy and business class for bookings made on web and mobile app,” Air India said.

The scheme was made effective on October 13 and will last till December 15 for a travel period to be completed on or before December 15.

“Scheme not valid for travel on dates 21st /22nd /23rd October 2017,” Air India said.

In addition, Air India said, “Offer only valid on All flights operating on the Air India Network and booked through Air India website, and Air India mobile application. Scheme is valid for both, one-way and round-trip bookings.”

Full service carrier, Jet Airways is also offering cheaper priced flight tickets. Last week the company was offering a business class all-inclusive ticket from Mumbai to Delhi at Rs 14,805. Economy all-inclusive return tickets for the same journey however has been priced at Rs 6,000.

Drop in airfares during tourist season was suspected due to weaker air travel in the October period.
16/10/17 ZeeBiz

Read More

Discount battle heats up as airlines offer Diwali-special fare, starting at Rs 1,073

New Delhi: Airlines in India have rolled out attractive deals for travel this holiday season in their respective Diwali airfare sales. The customers are presented with a flurry of options to choose from as full service airlines Air India and Jet Airways and low cost carriers like Indigo, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara etc go head-to-head in the discount battle.
Air India has rolled out a special 10 per cent discount for bookings made on Air India’s web and mobile app for domestic travel in economy and business class between October 13 and December 15 this year. The offer, though, will not be valid for travel on October 21-23.
As general practice, airlines step up fares during the holiday season–typically a fortnight to Diwali going to around mid January. This is the highest grossing period for airlines as travel shoots up during holidays. However, as the airline market opens up and gets more competitive, we are witnessing a different trend.
GoAir is offering tickets as low as Rs 1,073 on select routes–Chennai Hyderabad, Jammu-Leh, Delhi-Chandigarh, Chandigarh-Delhi, Hyderabad-Chennai, Lucknow-Delhi, Kolkata-Pata, Kolkata-Bhubaneswar and Lucknow-Kolkata. The low-cost carrier is offering the discounted fares till October 31, 2017. However, the travel fare can only be availed for travel on discounted ‘low fare wednesday’.
IndiGo’s ‘early flight initiative’ gives travellers the option to use IndiGo Early for a fare of Rs 1,000. The airline is providing this offer to passengers wanting to prepone their flight (within four hours).
15/10/17 Indian Express

Read More

Govt to exit Pawan Hans

New Delhi: After setting the process rolling for the strategic sale of state-run airline, Air India, the government today made a move to sell its entire 51% stake along with management control in helicopter service operator Pawan Hans Ltd.
It came out with a notice inviting bids from private companies, including foreign ones, to buy out the government’s share.
The Miniratna PSU, which is under the administrative control of the Civil Aviation Ministry, was incorporated on October 15, 1985 as the Helicopter Corporation of India (HCI), the country’s national helicopter company with the objective of providing helicopter support services to the oil sector for its off-shore exploration operations, services in remote areas and charter services for promotion of tourism.
While initially the government owned the enterprise with 78.5% stake in government hands and 21.5% with ONGC, the latter upped its stake to 49% recently, a move that saw the equity base of PHL being enhanced to Rs 245 crore from Rs 113 crore.
13/10/17 Tribune

Read More

Observe 15 Oct as Aviation Day to Celebrate JRD Tata: Indian Pilot

An Air India captain Sabu S launched a petition on Change.org around two weeks back appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare 15 October as National Aviation Day.

The petition, which has garnered more than 3,300 signatures as of now, chooses 15 October as it was on that day, 85 years ago (15 October 1932), that French-Indian aviation pioneer JRD Tata flew his first commercial flight from Karachi to what was then Bombay.

As a 2013 Economic Times article points out, the flight “was meant to demonstrate the viability of airmail from London to the subcontinent right down to Ceylon”. Thus, JRD Tata’s first flight provided the seminal push to airmail services in the subcontinent.
Tata, who was also the founder of Tata Airlines, which eventually went on to become Air India in 1946, has been considered the father of commercial, civil aviation in India.

Considering his role in providing an impetus to aviation in the subcontinent, the online petition says “it would only be appropriate that 15 October be declared as the National Aviation Day of India”.
14/10/17 Quint

Read More

‘Aviation Met system’ launched at INS Dega Naval Air Station in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS) was inaugurated at INS Dega, the Naval Air Station by Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) here on Thursday.

The system is equipped with state-of-the-art Meteorological Sensors including Radar Vertical Wind Profiler, Transmissometer, Ceilometer and Automatic Weather Observation System.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by flag officers and personnel of the ENC.

The IAAMS undertakes automatic and continuous recording of important weather parameters that are vital for accurate weather forecasting.

It also has an inbuilt alarm feature to indicate abnormal change in weather that may affect safe flying operations.
14/10/17 TelanganaToday

Read More

Govt invites private players to buy out 51% in Pawan Hans

The government today invited bids from private companies, including foreign ones, to buy out its entire 51 per cent stake along with management control in helicopter service operator Pawan Hans Ltd.

The Miniratna PSU is under the administrative control of the civil aviation ministry and the remaining 49 per cent stake is held by oil behemoth ONGC.

In a "global invitation for expression of interest", the government asked private players to submit the bids by December 8.

"The government proposes to disinvest its entire equity shareholding of 51 per cent in Pawan Hans Ltd by way of strategic disinvestment to investors, along with transfer Of management control," it said while inviting bids.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has already lined up a host of PSUs for strategic disinvestment.

While expression of interest (EoI) from bidders was sought for four PSUs yesterday, the same for Pawan Hans was issued today.

Of the lot in question, the government plans to sell its entire stake in Hospital Service Consultancy Corporation (HSCC), Engineering Projects (India) Ltd (EPI) and National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC) to a similarly-placed CPSE.
13/10/17 PTI/moneycontrol.com

Read More

Fall in air fares brings festive cheer

New Delhi: Travellers are in for a treat this Diwali as air fares for major domestic routes have witnessed a fall.
Fares for flights from Delhi to Mumbai on Diwali eve start between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000. Similarly, the starting range for fares from Chennai to Delhi is between Rs 4,200 and Rs 5,000, and for Hyderabad to Delhi between Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,500, according to travel portals.
Top routes like Delhi-Mumbai and Hyderabad-Delhi have seen a drop in fares by 38 per cent and 32 per cent respectively, stated the data shared by online travel portal Yatra.com.
These figures are for the tickets booked a week in advance.
Airfares are usually known to skyrocket during festivals owing to a spurt in demand. Interestingly, last-minute fares too have shown a decline.
Experts, however, maintained that a fall in passenger demand at a time airlines have enhanced capacity on certain routes has sent the fares tumbling down.
"Higher capacity deployed by all airlines combined with lower demand has pulled down the overall pricing this season," said Balu Ramachandran, Head - Air and Distribution, Cleartrip.
Meanwhile, fares have increased on a few sectors like Delhi-Bangalore and Mumbai-Goa by 15 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
12/10/17 Times of India

Read More

Former head of Air Sahara brings charter aggregator co

New Delhi: Indian skies will now have Ola version for charter planes. Alok Sharma, former CEO of Air Sahara, has tied up with owners of 100 business jets in the country to start a charter aggregator company . With multiple planes in its system, Ezee Charters is offering hourly rentals ranging from Rs 1.25 lakh (plus taxes) to Rs 5.5 lakh per hour. "I got a call from Google earlier this year. They spoke of receiving lot of inquiries for charters in India but those inquiries going unanswered.Being in the charter business for a long time, I struck on the idea of tying up with business jet owners to become an aggregator on the lines of an Ola and Uber," said Sharma.
Sharma, who runs one of India's largest charter companies Air One, says Ezee has on offer from up to eight-seater King Air C 90 to 17-seater Embraer Lineage 1000, which according to him is the biggest charter aircraft in the country . "We are promoting celebrations for events like proposing in the air, pre-wedding shoots and gifting a charter because the price starts at very affordable rates. In fact, our launch idea at this time is to get people to gift a charter this Diwali," said Sharma.
He is planning to launch international charter holiday packages on Ezee to nearby countries very soon.
13/10/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

‘GST to hit aviation sector by ₹5,700 cr. a year’

The aviation industry will take a annual hit of ₹5,700 crore following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), domestic airlines told the Finance Ministry recently.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represents IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and GoAir, made a presentation before top Finance Ministry officials on September 27 on behalf of the entire airline industry, saying guideline principles of the new indirect system — revenue neutrality and equity — have been violated by the GST.

“The airline industry will be hit by ₹5,700 crore per annum and the GST will make the flourishing sector sick. The Indian carriers will become globally uncompetitive as it will give huge benefit to competing airlines, especially from the Gulf,” the airlines said in their submission to the Finance Ministry.

The airlines further said that the GST, in the current form, was against the objective of “affordability and sustainability” stated in the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 and regional connectivity scheme UDAN released last year.

The airlines submitted a slew of recommendations to the Finance Ministry for the “survival of airlines,” an airline executive said. The airlines have demanded that the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) be not chargeable on re-import of repaired aircraft engine and parts, inter-state transfer of goods for captive consumption and import of serviceable parts under service exchange programme.

Under GST, 18% tax is charged on re-import of aircraft spare parts which were earlier exempted from import duty and service tax. “The GST paid on repairs carried out in India is creditable but not if it takes place abroad. With no engine repair shop in India, it is imperative to send the spares abroad. This will cost ₹2,000 crore per annum to the industry,” said another airline executive.
13/10/17 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

Read More

India-EU need long-term comprehensive aviation agreement: European Commission

Singapore: India and the EU need to work out a long-term comprehensive agreement on aviation safety and modernisation of air traffic management to enhance cooperation, a top official of the 28-member bloc has said.

The agreement has to be mutually beneficial, Henrik Hololei, director general for mobility and transport at European Commission -- an institution of the European Union (EU), told here.

"The comprehensive agreement must be a framework to build a real partnership when it comes to aviation safety and security, cooperation in regulatory aspects, modernisation of air traffic management and environmental aspects," he said at the inauguration of the office of the European Aviation Safety Agency ((EASA) in Singapore yesterday.

Hololei was elaborating on the India-EU Horizontal Civil Aviation Agreement which has now been operationalised after the 14th India-EU Summit in New Delhi last week.

"I think this is very good for a closer cooperation because India and the EU have a lot of possibilities to deepen this cooperation. India is a very fast developing market and it is continuously important for both the sides," he said.
12/10/17 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

30 seconds of silence likely on flights carrying soldiers’ bodies

New Delhi:  Indian carriers may soon ask passengers to observe 30 seconds of silence if the aircraft is carrying the mortal remains of military personnel who have died in combat.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has forwarded a proposal from the armed forces to all airlines for comments, and government officials indicated that it may soon be accepted. "This proposal had come from the armed forces and we have forwarded it to airlines seeking their views," said a senior official at the aviation regulator. "Airlines have to be taken on board before any decision is taken."
DGCA also forwarded a possible template for the announcement that could be made on such flights. Oddly enough, the template includes terms like 'proud' and 'privileged' while referring to martyred soldiers. However, a DGCA official said the script had not been prepared by the regulator.
"It is our proud privilege/moment to announce that today on our flight we have amongst us the mortal remains of an extremely brave and gallant soldier of the Indian Army/Navy/Air Force... We request you to observe 30 seconds of silence for the departed soul," reads the template forwarded by the regulator.
10/10/17 Mihir Mishra/Times of India

Read More

Dassault plans business-jet manufacturing in India on Modi's push

Dassault Aviation SA, the French maker of Rafale fighter jets, may build its business aircraft in India, in a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to encourage local manufacturing.

Building the FalconBSE 0.00 % 2000 planes in India would cut costs while ensuring quality and execution that meets standards, Chief Executive Officer Eric Trappier said in an interview on the sidelines of the National Business Aviation Association's annual conference in Las Vegas. The move will also give the company a competitive edge, he said, without elaborating. 

"We really want to do something which is a real industrial cooperation in India," Trappier said. "We are starting a big partnership." 

The Paris-based company wants to deepen its ties with the South Asian country after it bid for a defense contract worth $11 billion to supply 126 Rafale aircraft and eventually won an order for only 36 planes last year. India had initially agreed to buy all the 126 jets under a long-delayed deal, even mandating Dassault to build some of them locally. 

10/01/17 Thomas Black/Bloomberg/Economic Times

Read More

Pvt airline graft case:CBI pulled up for clean chit to bankers

New Delhi: The CBI has been pulled up by a special court for giving clean chit to some bank officials in a case involving Paramount Airways Pvt Ltd and a former CMD of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd for allegedly causing loss of about Rs 442 crore to five public sector banks.

The court said the investigating officer (IO) has given a clean chit to the bank officials despite there being "prima facie overwhelming material on record against them".

According to the CBI charge sheet, Paramount Airways Pvt Ltd (PAPL), its managing director M Thiagrajan, then CMD of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd (OICL) M Ramadoss, and three other officers were accused of causing wrongful loss to five public sector banks and the insurance company, against which claims of Rs 442 crore were raised due to payment defaults by the airline.

Special CBI Judge Kamini Lau said the November 2010 investigation report of the insurance firm on PAPL showed the total amount of reported claims by the various banks was Rs 441.30 crore, prima facie showing the involvement of bankers.

"All these documents also point out towards the severe irregularities, lapses and omissions committed by the officials of the various banks, that is, State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of India and IDBI etc. In the commercial dealings with PAPL," the court said.

It said the CBI prosecutor and IO were unable to answer its queries on the issue of IO giving a clean chit to the bank officials despite prima facie overwhelming material on record against them.

"Perusal of the final report (charge sheet) also showed that the IO had recommended departmental action against the bank officials. I fail to understand under what provisions of law the IO, whose powers to investigate are circumscribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, could have even done so.

"The possibility of this being an attempt to divert the course of investigations qua the bankers cannot be ruled out or else there could have been no other reason why he had chosen to exercise a jurisdiction where none existed," the judge said.
08/10/17 Outlook

Read More

Tejas enthralls at Air Force Day

Hindon Air Force Base: With vertical climbs, loops, turns and more, indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas on Sunday left spectators spellbound as it flew over the Hindon airbase at a function to mark the 85th Air Force Day.
Poor visibility failed to play spoilsport for the indigenous fighter, the most recent one to join the Indian Air Force, as it took off right in front of the area where the parade was held, with a vertical climb followed by a loop.

The fighter jet was being flown by Group Captain Madhav Rangachari, an ace pilot of the IAF who has been involved with the LCA since its test flights.

The ‘Vertical Charlie’ was meant to be a salute to the Air Force Chief, and the steep climb displays the aircraft’s ability to to quickly climb to heights to combat enemy fighters.
08/10/17 Indileak

Read More

Carbon offset scheme to clip the wings of aviation industry

Chennai:  Will the carbon reduction plan mooted by International Air Transport Association (IATA) strangle the Indian aviation sector? As the association is marking the first anniversary of the historic global agreement, Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the aviation industry here is cautious on signing the treaty, which, while aiming to curb emissions, could have a serious impact on the sector that is waiting at the cusp of a revolution.

The agreement, signed at the 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), is an initiative to reduce carbon footprint by airlines. Under this, the average level of carbon dioxide emissions and international aviation covered between 2019 and 2020 will be taken as the base carbon neutral growth figure, against which emissions will in future be compared. It is this base year that the aviation insiders have concerns.

Consider this: In 2016, India had 100 million domestic passengers and became the third biggest market in terms of domestic passenger volume (Source: Capa Centre of Aviation, Sydney). But these figures are deceptive. Japan, which was pushed to fourth in this ranking, had 97 million passengers for a population of 127 million, while only 100 million (less than eight per cent) of Indians flew out of nearly 130 crore population. For another comparison, Heathrow airport, London, alone, had 70 million domestic passengers in 2015 (Source: Eurostat, the statistical office of EU).
08/10/17 C Shivakumar/New Indian Express

Read More

Funding required for airport infrastructure to counter growing air traffic: ICRA

Amid growing air traffic, India would need to treble its airports capacity (terminal building capacity) at an estimated capital expenditure (CapEx) of Rs. 2.4 lakh crore in the next ten years, much higher than around Rs. 52,000 crores incurred over the last decade, credit-rating body ICRA opined.

The airports infrastructure sector in India is increasingly getting constrained by the strong growth in traffic since FY2014. During the period, FY2014 to FY2017, the passenger traffic has grown by 57 percent, while the aircraft traffic has grown by 33 percent, compared to moderate capacity addition.
As of now, CapEx plans to the tune of Rs. 65,000 crore have been finalised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) (Rs. 17,500 crores for next five years) and by private operators (around Rs. 22,000 crores for brownfield expansion in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore; and around Rs. 21,000 crores for Greenfield airports).

However, CapEx plans need to be ramped up significantly to build capacities for the anticipated level of passenger traffic, and apart from expediting execution, identifying funding sources would be important for the sector.
07/10/17 ANI/Economic Times

Read More

India maintains double-digit growth in air traffic for 36th straight month

New Delhi: India's domestic passenger traffic grew by 16 per cent in August, a global airline association said on Thursday.

"Indian airlines achieved a 36th consecutive month of double-digit traffic growth as demand rose 16 per cent," the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its global passenger traffic data.

"Traffic continues to be stimulated by sizeable increases in the number of domestic routes served."

India's domestic demand -- revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) -- was highest amongst major aviation markets like Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US.

The IATA data showed that India's domestic RPK -- which measures actual passenger traffic -- rose by 16 per cent in August compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 10 per cent and Japan at 9 per cent.

In terms of capacity, India's domestic ASK -- which measures available passenger capacity -- edged higher by 15.1 per cent in August.

It was followed by China's ASK growth at 10.4 per cent and Russian Federation's at 8.4 per cent.
05/10/17 IANS/Business Standard

Read More

India expects to triple aviation market in next 15 years

Singapore: New Delhi says that India has doubled the size of its aviation market in the last four years, and will look to triple it in the next 15 years.

Speaking in a televised interview, India's minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, adds that by the end of the current 2018 financial year, the country will hit 200 million passenger trips.

The figure is up from 160 million passenger trips made in the 2017 financial year, and double the size from four years ago.

Sinha states that while India's growth in aviation is noteworthy, it still lags behind China with an annual figure of 500 million passenger trips, and the United States with 900 million passenger trips a year.

He acknowledges that India's airports and airspace still remain congested, and that New Delhi has to plan to accommodate future growth.

"We have about 500 aircraft in the air, and over 650 aircraft on order. We have to work towards a safe and secure expansion of the aviation sector, because it is something that people are now finding very attractive as a transportation alternative," says Sinha.

"India is at a 'rail-parity'. Today the price of flying is equal to the price of upper-class air-conditioned rail travel. There has been a tremendous amount of traffic that has started to move into aviation."

Sinha explains that the number of airline trips has also exceeded the number of upper-class air-conditioned rail travel, which stood at 130 million for the 2017 financial year. In addition, total revenue for the Indian aviation sector stands at around 1.17 trillion rupees ($17.5 billion) - similar to rail travel and telecommunications.

"As we move forward, like in the US or Europe or China, there will be two or three large airline groups flying different brands.You can have full-service international carriers, low-cost domestic carriers with different brands. Our airline groups are going to be the size of airline groups around the world like in the US or Europe with the [IAG Group] that owns British Airways and Iberia, or the [SIA Group] that owns Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and SilkAir. It's a very exciting future for our aviation sector going forward"
06/10/17 Aaron Chong/Flight Global

Read More

Lower state taxes on ATF, make fuel part of GST:SpiceJet chief

New Delhi: SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh made a pitch for a cut in state taxes on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), and bringing it within the ambit of the GST to make the Indian aviation sector the fastest growing in the world.

Speaking at the India Economic Summit of the WEF, he said that if the sector were the beneficiary of a favourable tax regime, there was no reason why India would not emerge as the fastest growing aviation market in the world in the next decade.

“If we have to increase connectivity and bring down cost - in aviation cost, the biggest item is aviation turbine fuel (ATF). So, we want that ATF cost to be reduced and states should reduce sales tax and bring it within GST so that we can claim input tax credit,” Singh said. “If it happens, then ATF prices will come down, fares will come down and the aviation sector will see growth.”

He also dwelt on concerns relating to the goods and services tax (GST) and hoped that these glitches will be sorted out over time.

“We found that the government was very receptive to hearing ideas. So, we are discussing with them and hopefully, there will be a solution,” Singh said.
06/10/17 PTI/The Hindu

Read More