Dubai flight suffers bird-hit, airliner faces Rs 2-crore setback

A private Gulf-based airline was the latest victim of bird-hit incident. And the cost it paid for the freak accident was a whopping Rs 2 crore. The bird hit the carrier while it was landing at the IGI Airport in New Delhi. According to the airline, the aircraft got delayed by about 15 hours after it received an almost 6-inch-long dent. The whole process of arranging another aircraft and hotel accommodation charges, fuel charges, etc, amounted to a Rs 2-crore setback, the airline claimed.
According to an airline official, the pilot of the flight coming from Dubai to Delhi on November 24 noticed a bird hitting the right wing of the aircraft while landing. After the flight landed, the airline decided to call the manufacturer of the aircraft but after four hours, the very same flight was supposed to take 370 passengers from the Delhi airport to Dubai got cancelled due to the bird hit. According to the airline, they immediately shifted passengers to hotel and called engineers from Dubai. "We cancelled the flight as we were not sure whether we can fly the aircraft or not. We called four engineers from Dubai along with replacemnet of the part which was dented due to the bird hit. Engineers took almost 48 hours to fit the new part," a senior official of gulf based airline told Mail Today.
15/12/15 Kaswar Klasra/India Today

Read More

Aviation regulator on track to meet US counterpart's conditions

New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be able to meet its requirement of hiring flight operations inspectors (FIOs), fixed by the US regulator as a pre-condition to maintain its air safety upgrade.

According to government officials, the DGCA has 55 FIOs at present — only 20 short of the total number of inspectors required according US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s directive.

“At present, we have around 55 inspectors and we are confident we will be able to hire a total of 75 till next year,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official.

Earlier this month, the FAA had upgraded India’s air safety ranking, 14 months after the downgrade, allowing Indian carriers to expand their services to the US. The US regulator had flagged several shortcomings in January last year, including a shortage of full-time flight operation inspectors and lack of technical staff in DGCA, besides weak safety procedures. The FAA’s upgrade was a signal that India's aviation safety oversight is matching international standards.
24/04/15 Business Standard

Read More

When Sachin Tendulkar was mobbed at Melbourne Airport!

Passengers lined up outside Gate 16 of the Melbourne International Airport as the boarding announcement confirmed the departure of their flight. Suddenly there was commotion, some people left the line and ran towards Gate 18. A short man, dressed casually, dragging his bag was making his way to his flight with a young, muscular and moustached man. “Who has come?” asked someone who couldn’t get a glimpse of them. “Don’t you know! That is Sachin Tendulkar,” said an Indian man as he ran towards Gate 18 to greet his hero.
The young man with Tendulkar was none other than the Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan, who was the star during the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Though Dhawan is a current player and had done well in the big event, hardly any fan bothered him. He slipped somewhere in the background as Tendulkar became the cynosure of all eyes at the gate. People had left their seats from the areas near the gates, some had left the boarding queue and made their way towards Tendulkar.
24/04/15 Nishad Pai Vaidya/Cricket Country

Read More

South African woman held with narcotics at IGI Airport

New Delhi: A South African woman trying to smuggle about 24 kilo of pseudoephedrine drugs to Johannesburg was caught at IGI Airport in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The woman had neatly packed the drugs in nine packets and concealed them in bed sheets and pillow covers.

The total worth of the recovered drug in the international market would be around Rs 23 lakh, said CISF on Thursday.

Culprit Rachael Zulu, 31, was on a tourist visit to India and was scheduled to return to her country via Abu Dhabi.
24/04/15 Deccan Herald

Read More

Upgraded Mirage fighters land at Jamnagar

Two upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter aircrafts landed at Jamnagar Airbase of the IAF from Istres, France, today.

Defence major Dassault Aviation had delivered the first two upgraded aircrafts to IAF just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to France earlier this month, where he had declared India's intent to buy 36 Rafale fighters through direct military sale.

"During their long flight, the Mirage 2000 had stop overs at Athens, Luxor, Doha," Sitanshu Kar, Chief spokesperson of the Defence Ministry said.
The acceptance ceremony was held at Istres, Dassault Aviations Flight Test Centre.
22/04/15 WebIndia123

Read More

Indian firm provides aviation solutions to Malaysia Airlines

Singapore: Malaysia Airlines has deployed a full suite of aviation solutions by an Indian IT firm to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul support for over 145 aircraft, improving efficiency and enabling airworthiness.

Ramco Systems, headquartered in Chennai, achieved the deployment in a record time span of 11 months. The process will further improve efficiency and enable continuous airworthiness, thereby reducing aircraft on-ground time, the company said.

The suite includes solutions for maintenance and engineering, procurement, advanced planning and optimisation, advanced reliability and Loadable Software Aircraft Parts.

The IT firm has equipped some 300 Malaysia Airlines engineers system-wide to access a future-ready enterprise software that allows them to automate or streamline many engineering functions, simplify compliance checks, and improve inventory management and hangar maintenance, said the airline.
23/04/15 PTI/Business Standard

Read More

India sending special aircraft for victims of Nepal bus accident

The Indian government is sending a special aircraft to Kathmandu to air-lift the bodies and survivors of Wednesday's bus accident in Nepal in which 17 people were killed and 28 others injured, an official said.
The Indian government will be sending a special plane on Thursday to bring back home the dead as well as survivors of the tragic bus accident, said the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in a statement, adding that the embassy was liaising with Nepali authorities for early completion of formalities to send the bodies to India.
"India sends IL 76 aircraft to bring back mortal remains of victims of tragic bus accident in Nepal. Aircraft to reach Kathmandu tonight (Wednesday night)," Vikas Swarup, Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson, tweeted.
22/04/15 New Kerala

Read More

Maldives considered GMR buyout, but lacked funds

The Maldivian government considered buying out the 2010 airport development contract from India’s GMR, but lacking the necessary funds declared the agreement invalid, Minivan News can exclusively reveal.

The Maldives is now facing a payout to GMR, potentially as high as US$803 million or over half of the state budget, after a Singaporean tribunal last year ruled that the agreement was valid and binding.

The government, however, expects the compensation claim to amount to US$300 million. The exact figure is yet to be determined by the tribunal.

Testimony by cabinet ministers and airport company officials – in a separate arbitration between the government and an Indian bank over the airport deal – show that ex-president Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan asked his cabinet to estimate the sum required to buy out the concession agreement from GMR.

Minivan News has obtained the opening submissions by the government and the Axis Bank made in February and March, respectively.
22/04/15 Zaheena Rasheed/Minivan news

Read More

Aviation safety upgrade: DGCA asked to meet 4 pre-conditions

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may have restored category I status to India’s aviation safety oversight mechanism but the upgrade has been accorded based on DGCA’s promise to meet four stringent conditions in up to a year’s time. The FAA may come for an audit again in 12 months to assess the development.
Sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed the FAA has specified the local aviation regulator would have to hire a total of 72 flight operations inspectors (FOIs), recertify all scheduled airlines, non-scheduled operators (NSOPs) and flying training organisations to retain the top ranking.
A senior official in the DGCA told The Indian Express, “We are required to re-certify or issue fresh air operator’s permit (AOP) to all scheduled as well as non-scheduled operators, flying training organisations to ensure full compliance with international norms. The entire process would take about a year’s time.” The FAA may choose to conduct a fresh audit of the aviation safety oversight mechanism again at the time.
The DGCA had recertified the two airlines — Air India and Jet Airways — operating to the US, ahead of a FAA audit in December last year; recertification process has now started for IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir and Air Costa. “This process of issue of fresh AOPs to scheduled operators will take up to four months,” added the official. Newer ventures AirAsia India, Vistara and Air Costa have already been issued their AOP as per new norms laid down under CAP 3100 certification process.
21/04/15 Sharmistha Mukherjee/The Indian Express 

Read More

Operation Rahat: Air India sought to pull out as many Indians as possible from Yemen

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing if Air India's highly applauded rescue flights from Yemen carried more passengers back home than aircraft capacity.
Earlier this month, AI had operated flights for 'Operation Rahat' wherein 182-seater Airbus A-321s were deployed for flying from India to Djibouti in Africa.From there, the aircraft would fly to Yemen's war-torn capital Sanaa to evacuate Indians and bring them back to India after a refuelling stop in Djibouti.

On April 9, the last day of Operation Rahat, AI operated three A-321s to Sanaa and car ried 610 people out of the city -while the planes' combined capacity was 546.
21/04/15 Economic Times

Read More

Jet Airways plans to take back two Boeing 777s from Etihad

As per a PTI report, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, which plans to enhance its services on the US routes, may ask its strategic investment partner Etihad Airways to return two of its Boeing-777 planes which are currently on lease with the Gulf-based carrier.

The private carrier has leased out seven wide-bodied planes to Etihad, which holds 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways, including five Boeing 777-300 ERs which are used for ultra long-haul operations.

"Jet Airways may ask Etihad to return two of the five Boeing 777s, which it has leased to the Gulf partner," sources said in New Delhi.

Under a commercial cooperation agreement, the two airlines had plans to connect Mumbai to Newark, Bengaluru to Chicago and Delhi to New York, through Jet Airways overseas hub at Abu Dhabi.
20/04/15 TravelBiz

Read More

Operation Rahat: Air India sought to pull out as many Indians as possible from Yemen

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing if Air India's highly applauded rescue flights from Yemen carried more passengers back home than aircraft capacity.

Earlier this month, AI had operated flights for 'Operation Rahat' wherein 182-seater Airbus A-321s were deployed for flying from India to Djibouti in Africa.From there, the aircraft would fly to Yemen's war-torn capital Sanaa to evacuate Indians and bring them back to India after a refuelling stop in Djibouti.On April 9, the last day of Operation Rahat, AI operated three A-321s to Sanaa and car ried 610 people out of the city -while the planes' combined capacity was 546.

"DGCA joint DG Lalit Gupta has asked for all papers of Operation Rahat to see how many people were carried in the aircraft and if the number of passengers was more than the seating capacity," said a source.
21/04/15 Economic Times

Read More

China's airport plan on Pamir plateau near PoK worries India

China is planning to build its first ever airport in Xinjiang, on the strategically important and high altitude Pamir plateau, close to its border with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to Chinese civil aviation authorities, the airport is the first on a high plateau in the city of Tashkurgan. The city is the last important place on the Karakoram highway, before it enters PoK.
20/04/15 Ananth Krishnan/India Today

Read More

Operation Raahat: Pilots dealt with dust storm, damaged machines

Blinding dust storms, damaged navigational aids and confusing instructions from the ATC were some of the challenges braved by Air India crew who took part in the recent mission to airlift thousands of people, including foreign nationals, out of strife-hit Yemen.
Recounting the edgy operation, an Air India pilot who was part of the efforts said that they managed to evacuate nearly 2,900 people with the help of three aircraft and eight pilots. ‘Operation Raahat’, as the mission to airlift civilians was called, had featured a 55-member AI team, he said.
Dust storms were a major threat during the mission as they reduced visibility to as low as 100-ft, said the pilot who was speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media about the operation.
The situation was further aggravated by the malfunctioning landing systems at Sana’a airport, leaving the pilots virtually blind and dependent only on the GPS for landing.
“The major challenge was visibility. Around the time we reached there for the rescue operations, the region experienced severe dust storms and it was not until we descended to a height of 100-ft that the runway was visible,” he said.
19/04/15 PTI/Indian Express

Read More

Emergency landing of a private jet at Bhopal airport

Bhopal: A private jet from United Kingdom took an emergency landing at Raja Bhoj airport in the evening after witnessing technical snag in the engine.

According to director of Bhopal airport, K Gunasekaran, a private jet carrying three crew members requested for emergency landing.

"Air traffic control accepted their request and allowed them to land," Gunasekaran told media. He said that the crew members are safe. "Jet will stay at the airport on Saturday night and they will take off on Sunday after resolving the problem.
18/04/15 Ramendra Singh/Times of India

Read More

Jet Airways plans to take back two Boeing 777s from Etihad

New Delhi: Jet Airways, which plans to enhance its services on the US routes, may ask its strategic investment partner Etihad to return two of its Boeing-777 planes which are currently on lease with the Gulf-based carrier.

The private carrier has leased out seven wide-bodied planes to Etihad, which holds 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways, including five Boeing 777-300 ERs which are used for ultra long-haul operations.

"Jet Airways may ask Etihad to return two of the five Boeing 777s, which it has leased to the Gulf partner," sources said here.
19/04/15 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Emirates, waiting on Indian government, wants to fly A380 to Delhi

London: Emirates airline will fly the world’s largest passenger jet twice daily to New Delhi and Mumbai if approval is granted by the Indian government, President Tim Clark said in an interview in London on Friday.

Emirates currently flies the Airbus A380 daily to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, however, the airline is restricted by government approved seating capacity in adding additional A380 services.

“We’re still trying to persuade the Indian government of the merits of letting us have more seats into the 10 points and more that we would like to have,” Clark told Gulf News following the announcement of a $9.2 billion Rolls-Royce engine order for 50 A380s.

“Of course we would like to get an A380 into Delhi, of course we would like to get a second [A]380 into Mumbai and a second into Delhi because the market will take them but that’s for the Indian government to judge the merits,” he added.
18/04/15 Alexander Cornwell/Gulf News

Read More

Malaysia Airlines cuts Kochi flights

Malaysia Airlines will cancel its Kuala Lumpur-Kochi route as part of a major cost-cutting programme.
In the latest stage of the airline’s 12-point Recovery Plan, which was outlined last year and also includes thousands of job losses, MAS has confirmed that it will suspend its flights to the Kerala city on 1 June 2015. Flights to Frankfurt, Kunming and Krabi will also be cancelled.

MAS said the route cuts form part of its “strategy to be more regionally-focused, with a strong global connectivity through its oneworld alliance and partners”.

“The group is currently going through its most comprehensive restructuring,” said outgoing CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. “Our challenge is to ensure MAS operates and utilises its fleet at an optimum level, as well as to be able to maximise revenue on every route it flies.
19/04/15 Mark Elliott/TravelDaily India

Read More

Czech arrested at Mumbai airport

New Delhi/Prague: A Czech citizen was recently arrested at the airport of Mumbai, India, and taken into custody after the police found a cartridge on him, Czech server iDnes.cz wrote today, adding that the man is to face a trial soon.
 Czech diplomats are reportedly trying to help him. They say he is neither a smuggler nor an ammunition dealer.
The Czech was detained at the Mumbai international airport on Sunday, April 12, after a metal detector reacted to him while passing through. A pistol cartridge was found in his pocket.
“We can confirm that a Czech citizen has been arrested in Mumbai and accusations have been leveled against him. We can hardly anticipate how this may end. The Czech embassy and an honorary consulate are monitoring the affair,” the Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Toma Kara told iDnes.cz.
He said Czech authorities have been in contact with the man in an effort to help him.
18/04/15 Prague Post

Read More

Fighter jet makers see opportunity post India's downsized Dassault Rafale deal

India's move to buy only 36 Dassault Rafale combat jets has signalled New Delhi's decision to scale back purchases of high-end fighters from France.

And foreign combat jet makers now see a multi-billion dollar opportunity in India's move to slash purchases of high-end aircraft, as it could free up cash for any future purchase of fighter jets, including mid-range planes.

Sweden's Saab and America's Lockheed Martin are set to re-pitch their Gripen and F-16 fighters as the kind of lighter, single-engine aircraft that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the Indian Air Force needed to rebuild its fleet, Reuters reported.

Saab was proposing to establish "fully-fledged production" of the Gripen in India alongside a local partner.
17/04/15 M Rochan/International Business Times

Read More

SpiceJet to add two Muscat-Ahmedabad flights

Muscat: Muscat: SpiceJet, the second largest low fare airline in India, will fly two additional weekly flights on the Muscat–Ahmedabad sector, taking the total frequency to five flights a week.

The additional flights are effective from May 13. The additional flights are now open for booking at a promotional offer fare of  OMR39 all-inclusive for the Muscat-Ahmedabad flight.

The two additional flights will depart from Ahmedabad every Wednesday and Sunday at 11 p.m. and depart from Muscat every Thursday and Monday at 1.10 a.m. Through Ahmedabad, passengers can connect to and from the Muscat flights from Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, among other Indian cities.
17/04/15 Times of Oman

Read More

Operation Rahat: Air India crew narrate experience of conducting evacuation flights

Mumbai: In the wee hours of August 1, 1990, Air India (AI) cabin crew member Shirin Bhanot* landed at Kuwait International Airport, then checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel with colleagues. A day later, Iraqi Republican Guards overran Kuwait and eventually sparked the Gulf War. What was to be a two-three day layover became an 18-day stay for Bhanot and the flight crew.

"I saw troop movement from my room and Kuwaitis leaving in droves. Shops were looted. There were curfews," says Bhanot, who retired after 33 years of service. "We were asked not to watch TV or use lights that filter from under the door. We later learned it was because Iraqi Republican Guards were staying in the hotel."
Meanwhile, over 1100kms away on August 13 that year, Margaret D'Lima and Rita Nair stood on the stepladder of the Airbus A300 at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. Air hostesses with erstwhile Indian Airlines (IA) – now merged with Air India – they were two of the first lot that brought thousands of Indian and foreign evacuees to India. The month-long rescue effort, during which an estimated 111,000 people were flown from Amman to Mumbai, culminated into the biggest evacuation drive by a civil airliner. It's a Guinness Record that still stands.
18/04/15 Roshni Nair/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Air Canada to resume Toronto to New Delhi flight after 10 years

Bengaluru: Ten years after scrapping flights operating between Toronto and New Delhi, Air Canada plans to resume the service starting from this winter, the chief of the airlines company told the visiting Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.The President and CEO of Air Canada, Calin Rovinescu, met Modi during his formal meeting with business leaders of Canada. Rovinescu informed Modi about the plan to restart the air service to New Delhi. Air Canada is one among the 27-member Star Alliance, an airline grouping that includes Air India.Air Canada was forced to stop its services to New Delhi in 2005 after the company incurred loss due to poor performance on the route.Rovinescu, on the side-lines of Modi’s announcement of visa-on-arrival facility for Canadian nationals, said “this will be very helpful”, both for travelers and the airlines, to expand their business in India, which is one of the growing aviation markets in the world.
17/04/15 Dileep Thekkethil/American Bazar 

Read More

France may divert its order to meet India's demand for Rafale

PARIS/NEW DELHI: France is likely to divert its own military's production order for Rafale fighter jets to meet India's "urgent" requirement for 36 warplanes.

French defence sources said modalities are being worked out and nitty-gritty will be finalised once Indian and French government start talking in detail.
16/04/2015/PTI/economictimes

Read More

Indian Defense Minister's Comments Raise Doubts Over Fate Of $20B Rafale Fighter Jet Deal

India will buy Dassault Aviation-made Rafale jets only through direct talks with the French government, India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday. His comments, which came just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France, raise doubts over the fate of an existing deal with Dassault.

In 2007, the Indian government had floated a global tender to purchase fighter jets. Of the six companies -- including Boeing and Lockheed Martin -- that competed for the contract, France’s Dassault emerged as the lowest bidder in January 2012. The tentative order for 126 Rafale fighter jets was valued at $20 billion. However, three years down the line, price negotiations and disputes between the Indian government and the French company over local assembly have failed to achieve a breakthrough.
14/04/2015/Avaneesh Pandey/ibtimes.

Read More

Made in India or not, IAF set to take off

Immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in Paris to buy 36 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft in a “fly-away” condition off the shelf, defence minister Manohar Parrikar declared that this would bring “minimum oxygen” to the Indian Air Force that is dangerously short of equipment for its operational necessities. He was not exaggerating a bit. Although a succession of Air Chiefs have been lamenting about the pathetic and deteriorating state of the Air Force inventory, the grave ground reality hasn’t registered even on policy makers, leave alone the people at large.
The number of combat squadrons with the IAF today are fewer than what were considered “minimum necessary” more than half a century ago, after the traumatic defeat in the border war with China in the high Himalayas.
15/04/2015/Inder Malhotra/asianage.

Read More

British Airways flight to and from Mumbai diverted

Mumbai: The British Airways (BA) flights from and to Mumbai were diverted to Munich and Istanbul respectively following technical snags on Monday.

In the afternoon, Mumbai bound flight BA 139, carrying over 200 passengers, was diverted to Munich in Germany as a precautionary measure, following an electrical issue in the galley. Airline officials said the crew noticed smoke in the galley and suspecting fire the pilot decided to divert the Boeing 777-336ER.

Sources in the airline said the affected galley equipment was attended to and the aircraft took off normally after two and half hours on the ground.
14/04/15 Mumbai Mirror

Read More

India Rethinking Rafale Fighter Deal

NEW DELHI – India is rethinking its long-delayed 126-aircraft Medium-Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, and may opt to scrap the fighter purchase in favor of government-to-government sales, since negotiations under the existing request for proposals (RFP) had “gone into a loop with no solution in sight,” according to India’s defense minister.
Barely two days after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Paris, negotiated with the French government to buy 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition under a separate deal, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar on April 13 categorically stated that “if India goes in for additional Rafale fighters, it will also be through government-to-government deals.”
India has already signed deals worth more than $6 billion with the U.S. for 12 C-130J and 10 C-17 airlifters without any open tender or competition.
The “government-to-government route is better than the RFP path for acquisition of strategic platforms,” Parrikar says.
The defense minister refrained from saying the original deal had been scrapped altogether, but quipped that “a car can not run on two paths simultaneously ... The other road [MMRCA] had a lot of problems.”
13/04/2015 Jay Menon,Amy Svitak/Aerospace Daily & Defence Report

Read More

Airbus supports Modi's Make in India initiative

Toulouse (France), Apr 14: Expressing support to 'Make in India' initiative, aircraft manufacturer Airbus today said it is ready to manufacture in India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited its facility here. Modi took the tour of the facility where planes are manufactured. He was given a briefing by officials on the functioning. Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders, who received the Indian leader, said: "We are honoured to host Prime Minister Modi in Toulouse and convey to him our desire to forge a stronger industrial bond with India. India already takes a centre-stage role in our international activities and we want to even increase its contribution to our products." "We support Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' call and (we) are ready to manufacture in India, for India and the world," he added.
14/04/2015 PTI igovernment

Read More

Srilankan airlines increases frequency to Chennai

SriLankan Airlines has enhanced of its flights to Chennai from Colombo by the addition of a fourth flight. This flight will operate daily from the 16th of April. The addition of this flight brings the total frequency of flights between Sri Lanka and India to 86 flights per week. This announcement reinforces the significance of the Indian market and specifically Chennai for the airline.

The purpose of re-launching these flights is to increase frequency of the airline, providing passengers with added convenience.

Commenting on the occasion, Saminda Perera, General Manager Sales Worldwide stated, “Chennai is a key market for us and one of the fastest growing cities in Southern India. While we have always received a strong response from this market, Chennai serves as a key business hub for all multinational corporations. This daily flight will cater to growing business, corporate and leisure demand between Srilanka and Chennai.”
14/04/15 TravelTrandsToday

Read More

Foreign loan limit on airlines likely to be lifted

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has sought approval of the finance ministry to increase the $300-million cap for raising of foreign funds for working capital requirements by individual airline companies.

This follows a request from Jet Airways. It wishes to raise more funds for this need through external commercial borrowing (ECB), government sources said.

These are commercial loans taken by companies from non-resident lenders. The cap for a scheduled airline is $300 mn and the aviation sector as a whole can raise a maximum of $1 billion, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.

Jet already has $300 mn of ECB. "We do not wish to comment on this issue," a spokesperson said in response to an e-mailed questionnaire. Airlines avail of this facility because of the interest rate difference between domestic loans and debt taken from abroad.
13/04/15 Somesh Jha/Business Standard

Read More

France wins over India in Rafale game

Paris/New Delhi: It’s Advantage France as Paris seems to have won the battle of nerves with New Delhi over its acquisition of Rafale fighter jets. The decision by France’s Dassault, the Rafale’s manufacturer, to stand firm on its reservations on some aspects of the MMRCA global tender terms, seems to have paid off since India’s decision to separately buy 36 Rafale fighter jets in “flyaway” condition (off-the-shelf) will mean that there will be no technology transfer in this acquisition, thus raising question marks on the “Make in India” initiative.

Also, with this announcement, the MMRCA tender seems to have lost much of its immediate relevance, and the three-year-old contract negotiations are likely to further drag on.

Though the IAF is relieved it will get new fighters at last, New Delhi’s decision shows how much India still depends on direct foreign armament and equipment imports to maintain defence preparedness.

Sources said in the three year-long protracted contract negotiations between India and Dassault, that continued in the past 10 months of the  Modi government, both sides had refused to budge on what they perceived as their viewpoints on the terms and conditions of the MMRCA tender. Dassault, initially, had reservations on the role of state-run HAL as lead integrator for the 108 Rafale aircraft to be built in India under technology transfer from France, had the MMRCA RFP acquisition process finally gone through.

French sources told this newspaper that Dassault could not be held responsible if there was any delay in timelines for manufacture on the part of HAL. There were also reportedly some concerns raised on accountability.
13/04/15  Sridhar Kumaraswami/Deccan Chronicle

Read More

High-level meeting in Paris on Monday over Rafale sale to India

Paris/New Delhi: French President Francois Hollande would chair a high-level meeting in Paris on Monday to thrash out the finer details of the nearly USD 5 billion deal for the sale of 36 Rafale jets to India in flyaway conditions.
French sources said the meeting at the Elysee Palace would be held between Hollande, his top officials and executives from Dassault Aviation, the manufacturers of the Rafale jets.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who concluded his four-day visit to France today, had asked France to supply 36 Rafale jets in flyaway conditions as soon as possible in view of the critical operational necessity of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The deal would be between the two governments.

"There was nobody, either from Indian side or the French side, when the two leaders spoke about the Rafale. Everyone would be briefed in detail on Monday about what transpired and discussions would be held on how it can be taken forward," sources said.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the 36 Rafale fighter jets would be inducted into the IAF in two years.
12/04/15 PTI/Zee News

Read More

India to wait 2 yrs for French Rafale jets: Parrikar

India will not receive its first Rafale fighter jet from France's Dassault Aviation for up to two and a half years and tricky issues including pricing must still be worked out, India's defence minister said on Saturday. Manohar Parrikar's comments came a day after India ordered 36 ready-to-fly Rafale fighters to modernise an ageing fleet apace with neighbours China and arch-rival Pakistan, which are fast upgrading military hardware. While the order is meant to be delivered as soon as possible, terms and conditions of the deal - estimated at about USD 4.25 billion - have yet to be worked out, the minister said. "It may take two to two-and-a-half years to get the first plane," Parrikar told reporters. "Fly-away means not tomorrow, it has to be designed as per India's need, plus there is a requirement of working out the price."
India and France have negotiated for Rafale fighters for three years. A 2012 agreement to buy 126 jets stalled over cost and a dispute over the assembly of 108 aircraft in India.
12/04/15 moneycontrol.com

Read More

Jet Airways seeks to 'enhance presence' in US market

New Delhi: The Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways would soon draw up plans to expand in the US skies following the restoration last week by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of India's aviation safety rating to Category-1, sources have said.

The airline would also take on board its strategic investment partner Etihad while carrying out the exercise to avoid any "cannibalisation" of routes, they said.

Jet Airways currently operates a daily direct service from New Delhi to Newark while Etihad, which holds a 24 percent stake in Goyal's airline, flies to six US cities.

"The US market throws up a lot of opportunities and we would like to enhance our presence there. There are no immediate plans as such but we will definitely chalk out one soon," airline sources told PTI here.
12/04/15 PTI/ZeeNews

Read More

Zimbabwean woman held at Indian airport with narcotics

A woman travelling on a Zimbabwean passport was arrested in India last week for allegedly trying to smuggle out Rs 12 lakh (about US$20,000) worth of drugs.

The incident happened at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) when security personnel spotted the woman exhibiting suspicious behaviour when she arrived at the airport terminal.

The 34-year-old woman, identified as Mandhla Makulu Rostar, was about to board a flight to Dubai when she was intercepted.

"Rostar was chosen for a detailed inspection by security officials of the force and when her baggage was scanned, two packets containing about 12 kilograms of narcotics was found," a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said.
12/04/15 New Zimbabwe

Read More

Airbus tells PM Narendra Modi it's ready to Make in India, will hike outsourcing kitty to $2 billion

New Delhi: Aircraft maker Airbus Industrie has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that its outsourcing from India will increase to $2 billion from $ 400 million over the next five years as part of the Indian government's Make in India initiative.

This was conveyed to Modi during his tour of the Airbus headquarters on Saturday in Toulouse, in southern France, where he flew down from Paris. Modi arrived in France on Thursday night on the first leg of his three-nation tour, which will also take him to Germany and Canada.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted: "500% increase in 5 years. @Airbus to PMA @narendramodi : Indian outsourcing to increase from $400 mil to $2 billion." "Make in India gains further momentum. $2 billion cumulative outsourcing planned by @Airbus from India by 2020," he posted.
12/04/15 Economic Times

Read More

Rafale deal: Congress dares Subramanian Swamy to move court

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Saturday dared BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to move court over the Rafale deal a day after the latter threatened to take legal recourse claiming that there were shortcomings in the fighter aircraft.

"I dare Subramanian Swamy to go to court on Rafale Jet purchase," Singh said in a tweet, a day after Swamy threatened to take legal recourse if the government went ahead with Rafale jet deal with France saying there were shortcomings in the fighter aircraft.

Swamy, a national executive member of BJP, had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to go ahead with the Rafale deal, which was negotiated by the erstwhile UPA government.

The performance of the French jet "turned out to be worst of all the aircraft" in Libya and Egypt, he claimed and said, "If the Prime Minister for some other 'compulsion' decides to go ahead with the deal, I will have no option but to approach the court in PIL to get it set aside."
11/04/15 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Indian outsourcing to rise from $400mn in 5 years: Airbus

Expressing support to Make in India initiative, aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Saturday it was ready to manufacture in India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited its facility. Airbus assured Modi that its Indian outsourcing will increase from $400 million to $2 billion over the next five years, as part of the Indian government's Make in India initiative.

Modi took the tour of the facility where planes are manufactured and was given a briefing by officials. Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders, who received Modi, said: "We are honoured to host PM Modi in Toulouse and convey to him our desire to forge a stronger industrial bond with India. India already takes a centre-stage role in our international activities and we want to even increase its contribution to our products." In India, Airbus Group already operates two engineering centres — one focused on civil aviation and the other one defence — besides, a research and technology (R&T) centre, which together employ over 400 highly qualified people.

The group's senior representative conveyed their decision to expand these centres so that they can take on comprehensive design responsibilities for future Airbus group programmes.
12/04/15 Ahmedabad Mirror

Read More

Rafale deal to boost strategic partnership

New Delhi: While the decision to buy 36 Rafale aircraft in fly-away condition address the immediate concerns of the Air Force, the surprising part of the announcement is the timing since the deal was on the verge of collapse. Just last month, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had reiterated that France had to adhere to tender norms. He had also said that if the deal was to fall through, India would buy additional Sukhois. Officials, however, indicated that there was potentially a larger “Make in India” component to the direct purchase by inviting Dassault to partner with an Indian private entity and build more Rafales in India. Some see this decision as an acknowledgement that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is not capable of producing an advanced aircraft and irrespective of what is said, the fact remains that no private player in India has the capability to execute such a sophisticated project.
11/04/15 Dinakar Peri/The Hindu

Read More

SIA, Silk Air to swap flights on Kolkata operations

Kolkata: Singapore Airlines plans to be nimble footed and provide just-in-time additional capacity during rush seasons like summer and winter vacations and Durga Puja.

Speaking to TOI, airline general manager David Lau said the airline did not plan to increase frequency like Thai Airways and Emirates but operate larger aircraft anticipating demand during peak traffic seasons.

"We will rejig the aircraft that is operated by Singapore Airlines and sister airline Silk Air to offer optimum capacity. When traffic is lean, we will operate four Silk Air and three Singapore Airlines flights to Kolkata a week. When traffic increases, we will operate four Singapore Airlines and three Silk Air flights," Lau said.
10/04/15 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

Read More

Jet Airways Expands Codeshare Pacts With Vietnamese, Indonesian Carriers

New Delhi: Private carrier Jet Airways today announced expansion of its codeshare pacts with the national carriers of Vietnam and Indonesia, which would allow its passengers unhindered air travel to the ASEAN region.

Mumbai-based Jet Airways, which is partly owned by the Gulf carrier Etihad, currently operates its services between Bangkok and Singapore to Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam under a similar pact.

Similarly, Jet Airways currently codeshares with Garuda Indonesia for flights between Singapore and Jakarta.

Code-sharing allows an airline to book passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to multiple destinations where it has no presence.
10/04/15 PTI/NDTV

Read More

India to Buy 36 Rafale Fighter Jets From Dassault Aviation

Paris: India has agreed to acquire 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation SA, marking another victory in France’s push to compete with American-made combat planes.

The deal, announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Paris on Friday, aims to wrap up more than three years of protracted negotiations between India’s government and Dassault Aviation. French officials said both sides were still negotiating the final details of the acquisition, including the final price.

Mr. Modi told reporters he had asked for the jet fighters to be “ready to fly in the near future.”

The contract with India is the biggest ever for the Rafale jet—a workhorse of the French air force that until recently has struggled to draw interest from foreign militaries. A breakthrough came in February when Egypt became the first foreign buyer with an order of 24 jets for about €5 billion.
10/04/2015 Stacy Meichtry /Santanu Choudhury/ Wall Street Journal.

Read More

For PM Narendra Modi, 36 ready-to-fly Rafale jets wrapped in Paris red carpet

New Delhi: Keeping in mind the “critical operational necessity” for multi-role combat aircraft in the Indian Air Force, India on Friday asked France to supply 36 Rafale fighter jets in “fly-away” condition “as quickly as possible” — double the number proposed in the original tender.
The unusual request was a departure from the past with New Delhi approaching Paris directly this time, independent of the ongoing negotiations with Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Paris on Thursday, and French President Francois Hollande agreed to sign an “inter-governmental agreement” for the aircraft under terms “better than” those being currently negotiated with Dassault.
The original tender had proposed the purchase of 18 fighter jets in “fly-away” condition — aircraft ready for immediate flight — and 108 to be made operational by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under a transfer of technology clause.
11/03/15 Shubhajit Roy/Pranav Kulkarni/Indian Express

Read More

From Sana’a to Kochi, a safe journey for infant

6-day-old Parvathi will have no memories of the bombing at Amran in the strife-torn Yemen where she was born. Nor will she remember the elaborate arrangements made at Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery where she was airlifted with her parents six days later.

Though 362 Indians were flown in from Yemen by an Air India flight in the early hours of Friday as part of Operation Raahat, the entire attention was on the toddler.

Considering that her trip had to be delayed by a day after she was diagnosed with newborn jaundice, the Indian authorities in Yemen arranged an incubator and drafted in a doctor, Uma Nambiar, to accompany her parents, Raji and Shaaji, in their flight to Kochi. The parents hail from Oachira.
11/04/15 MP Praveen/The Hindu

Read More

PM Modi flies Boeing to an Airbus facility

Air India 001 that flew the Prime Minister and his delegation from New Delhi to Paris, and then from Paris to Toulouse to the Airbus facility, is a Boeing 747-400.

Air India still flies wide-bodied Boeings on long-haul flights, though for the Australian sector, some Airbus aircraft are being used.

Airbus is the preferred choice for new entrants Vistara and Air Asia, as it is with the budget carrier IndiGo. Though there are more Boeings flying globally, Indian carriers prefer the sleek bodied Airbus jets.

Airbus is in negotiations with several A350 customers like Thai Airways, European and Chinese carriers
11/04/2015 Smita Prakash/ANI

Read More

With TNT in bag, FedEx may create a duopoly in India

New Delhi: US courier services giant Fedex’s acquisition of the Dutch TNT Express will create synergies and economies of scale, but from an Indian perspective, the international express logistics space may become a duopoly.

Fedex and DHL being the two major players, can drive pricing power, says an industry expert.

“In the Indian market, the top four players include DHL, Fedex, TNT and UPS, of which UPS has a very small presence. So, for Indian players in the logistics market, the pricing power will be controlled by these two players. This is what we need to watch out for,” said Sanjiv Kathuria, co-founder of Dotzot, a start-up in the e-commerce delivery space, which delivers 20,000 packets a day.
09/04/15 Mamuni Das/Business Line

Read More

Out-of-fuel flight lands in city, 150 lives saved

Kolkata: A flight with nearly 150 people had a close shave on Tuesday night when it flew into Kolkata with hardly any fuel left. Sensing the urgency in the pilot's voice, the air traffic control put all incoming flights on hold, allowing the plane to fly the shortest possible route and land.

On Tuesday evening, a Tigerair flight from Singapore with 141 passengers was headed for Dhaka. The weather in the Bangladesh capital was, however, not conducive to land and the pilot was forced to hover over the city. Minutes ticked by and passengers in the cabin grew restless. Tigerair is a low-cost carrier based in Singapore that flies to different cities across South-East Asia and to Chennai, Tiruchurapalli, Kochi, Bangalore and Hyderabad in India.

Inside the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot debated on the situation and decided to hang around a little more before acting on the next course. All they needed was a window of opportunity to touch down at Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport. Every additional minute pushed up the risk.
Around 8pm, after nearly 40 minutes of hovering, the captain finally decided to forgo the hope of landing in Dhaka and decided to head for Kolkata, its alternative destination. Not that there was any option. The fuel was down to the minimum required to take the flight to Kolkata.

Midway through the 55 minute journey, the pilot checked the fuel gauge again and panicked. The tank was almost empty. It would be a touch-and-go affair. The captain needed a clear field and dive straight for the runway in Kolkata. If it was held up even for a couple of minutes, the plane could run out of fuel. And that would mean catastrophe.
09/04/15 Times of India

Read More

Indian Flights Rated among the Safest

New Delhi: : The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has restored India’s aviation safety rating by upgrading it to Category I status, almost 14 months after it had been downgraded to second category, raising concerns over training, non-availability of adequate number of flight operation inspectors and other technical issues.

Following the FAA move, desi airlines like Air India and Jet Airways can increase the number of flights they operate to the US or enter into any new code-sharing arrangements with US carriers.
09/04/15 New Indian Express

Read More

Airlines redraft flight plans after US’ FAA restores safety rating

New Delhi: Nearly 14 months after India’s aviation safety rating was downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US aviation watchdog on Wednesday restored the country’s ranking to Category 1 status. Apart from boosting sentiment — the downgrade meant India ranked lower than Pakistan and was clubbed with countries like Zimbabwe and Paraguay — the upgrade will allow domestic carriers to expand flights to the US.
The US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement that India complies with international safety standards and has been granted a Category 1 rating by the regulator. “The United States Government commends the Government of India for taking corrective action to address the safety oversight issues identified during the IASA (International Aviation Safety Assessment) process,” Foxx said in the statement.
The safety downgrade had taken place in January 2014 mainly because India did not have enough flight operations inspectors (FOIs) and airworthiness officers. The immediate impact of the downgrade to Category 2 meant that only existing flights to the US could continue and no expansion could take place. Further, at any point of time Indian flights could face random checks by US authorities.
09/04/15 Financial Express

Read More

Air evacuation from Yemen by India extended by a day

New Delhi: India on Wednesday decided to extend air evacuation from Yemen till Thursday following a rescue request by a group of 140 nurses even as it pulled out another 450 people from the war-ravaged country, taking the total number of evacuees to 4500.

Nearly 450 people were rescued by Air India from Sanaa and INS Sumitra was in stand-by near Al Hudaydah to evacuate more nationals, if need be, officials said.

Announcing the extension in air evacuation days, the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said "responding to needs of 140 nurses India extends air evacuation from Yemen by a day. Flights planned for tomorrow also, subject to clearances." On Tuesday, he had said that air evacuation will end on Wednesday.
08/04/15 PTI/India Today

Read More

Akshay Kumar's Airlift has uncanny similarities with current turmoil in Yemen

1990, Kuwait - 1,70,000 Indians were brought home by the largest and the most successful evacuation ever attempted by any country, in the history of the world. Over 59 days, the Indian government systematically flew over 488 Air India commercial flights into a war zone to evacuate all of 1, 70,000 Indians and safely brought them back home.

2015, Yemen - At last count, The Government of India, as a part of 'Operation Raahat', has managed to evacuate an estimated 4000 Indians safely from the war zone

Though the scale is relatively lesser, the victory of humankind is unparalleled. Thankfully, with the advent of social media and other news channels, those in charge are getting good recognition for the intelligence, might, soul and heart put together to ensure that the country celebrates the return of its own. Moreover, it has also reopened the chapter that was written quarter of a century ago when a wealthy and powerful Indian businessman (Ranjit Katyal) managed to help his fellow Indians survive the Iraqi invasion and travel safely across the border with the help of Indian government.

"Yes, it is actually way too uncanny to see something like this happening," says Nikhil Advani, the producer of Airlift which is telling the story of this Indian (played by Akshay Kumar), "The history is repeating itself. We wanted to tell this story for its humane quotient. Full marks to Akshay for doing something like this. He was bowled over by the idea the moment he heard it."
08/04/15 Joginder Tuteja/Bollywood Hungama

Read More

Jet welcomes US move to upgrade India's aviation safety ranking

Private carrier Jet Airways today welcomed the decision of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to restore India's aviation safety ranking to category 1, which paves the way for the airline to expand its operations in the US market.

"This is a positive development for the Indian aviation sector. We thank the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and all related government agencies for their continuous efforts towards enhancing India's aviation safety systems," Jet Airways said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, after a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju here, announced that the safety was upgraded to category 1 following India meeting the requirement under the international oversight standards of the Chicago Convention and the annexes thereto.
08/04/15 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Etihad Airways and Jet Airways sponsor IPL team, Mumbai Indians

Etihad Airways and Jet Airways will be the official airline partners and principal sponsors for the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians, for the 2015 Twenty20 tournament.

The announcement was made ahead of the Mumbai Indian’s first match against the Kolkata Knight Riders in West Bengal on 8 April.
It will be the second consecutive year that Etihad Airways and Jet Airways have partnered with the Mumbai Indians, which has become one of the largest sports brands in India and followed by millions of cricket fans around the world.
Crowned champions of the 2013 IPL, the Mumbai Indians will be hoping to build on their efforts in the Pepsi IPL 2014 when they progressed to the semi-final stage having played the first five matches in the United Arab Emirates.
08/04/15 Arabian Aerospace

Read More

India gets back Category-I aviation safety ranking

India's aviation safety ranking was on Wednesday upgraded to Category-I by US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), paving the way for the domestic airlines to expand in the US skies.
The restoration of status comes more than 14 month after it was downgraded to Category-II following failure of aviation regulator DGCA to meet the international safety norms.
Announcing the upgrade here today, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said that India has worked hard to get back the status.
"I enjoyed a very productive series of meetings with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today. I want to congratulate India on achieving Category-I status in their civil aviation system," Foxx told reporters after the meeting.
    "This is a big news, because India has worked very hard over the last one year to achieve that status," he said.
US encourages India to continue sustaining that status, Foxx said.
Margaret Gilligan, Associate Administrator for FAA, in a communication today to DGCA M Sathiyavathi informed him about the decision to restore Category-1 status to India.
08/04/15 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

U.S. upgrades India's aviation safety rating

Mumbai: In a major boost for Indian civil aviation sector, more specifically for Air India and Jet Airways, the U.S. Federal Aviation Association (FAA), has upgraded the safety rating of Indian airlines as well as of the civil aviation regulator by granting a Category 1 rating to India under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.

This announcement was made by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx during his meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Mr. Foxx also announced that India now complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

A Category 1 rating means that the country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards and permits India’s air carriers to add flights to the U.S. using their own aircraft and carry the code of U.S. carriers on their operations.

The grant of Category 1 rating follows a December 8-12, 2014, FAA review of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), subsequent meetings, and an FAA visit to India on March 30-31.
08/04/15 Lalatendu Mishra/The Hindu

Read More

India Asks Dassault Aviation To Stick To Original Price

India has asked France's Dassault Aviation SA to stick to the original price tag for fighter jets or risk losing one of the world's biggest military aircraft deals, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Talks on the proposed purchase of 126 Rafale planes have been ongoing for more than three years to resolve differences over pricing as well as local assembly. The deal is back in focus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits France this week.

The deal was initially worth $12 billion but is now widely estimated to have jumped to $20 billion, primarily because of the implications of building some of the jets in India.

An unidentified Indian official said Dassault wanted to raise the price to cover the increased cost of local production, and that any such escalation could be a deal-breaker.
07/04/15 Business World

Read More

Pak aircraft to bring home 11 Indians

New Delhi: India on Tuesday accepted Pakistan’s offer to fly a special aircraft to New Delhi to bring home 11 Indians rescued by one of its warships from conflict-hit Yemen.

External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that India had accepted Pakistan’s offer to bring the 11 Indians rescued from Al Mukallah in Yemen by a special aircraft.
The Indians were evacuated by Pakistan Navy’s warship ‘PNS Aslat’ from Al Mukallah in Yemen last week along with 146 Pakistanis.

They are now in Karachi and are expected to be flown to New Delhi on Wednesday by a special aircraft.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Islamabad’s envoy to New Delhi, Abdul Basit, said that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had offered a special aircraft to send the Indians home.
India also rescued several Pakistani citizens along with nationals from over two dozen countries, including United States, France and Germany.
08/04/15 Deccan Herald

Read More

Global airline plying rule changes go to other ministries

 New Delhi: The Union civil aviation ministry has sent its proposed revision of rules for airlines wishing to ply abroad for inter-ministerial discussion, prior to being sent for Cabinet approval, government sources said on Tuesday.

The government has had discussion with those in the sector. Both incumbent and start-up airlines have opposed certain provisions of the proposed guidelines.

The government wishes to replace the current '5/20' rule, that an airline must have operated for at least five years in India and have a minimum of 20 planes before being allowed to ply abroad.

Jet Airways, Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo are so qualified.

According to the proposal, airlines will have to acquire credits based on the routes and distances they fly to earn international flying rights.

Airlines will need to earn at least 300 domestic flying credits before they fly international routes of more than six hours and at least 600 credits to operate on shorter routes to the Gulf and Southeast Asia (less than six hours).

On the airlines’ opposition to the proposed rules,  minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said, “There are different opinions. We will take into factor all the views.”
08/04/15 Somesh Jha/Business Standard

Read More

Jet-Etihad deal: SC to hear final hearing from May 7

The Supreme Court today fixed May 7 for final hearing on a plea filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy challenging the Jet-Etihad deal. A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu posted the matter for final hearing next month on Swamy's petition seeking to quash the deal on the ground that it was against public interest as there has been squandering of natural resource, that is the sky and airspace. Swamy had told the court on January 21 that the government has furnished him copies of letters concerning Jet- Etihad deal, allegedly written by Indian officials favouring grant of additional air traffic rights to the UAE airline. On this, the apex court had asked the BJP leader to file a rejoinder within eight weeks on the contents of documents. The apex court had on December 6, 2013 made it clear that it would quash the Jet-Etihad Airways deal if any irregularities were found in it. It had issued notice to Centre and Income Tax Department on the plea seeking direction to the government to place the transcript of tapped telephonic conversation of Radia in which she allegedly had talked about the civil aviation sector.
07/04/15 PTI/moneycontrol.com

Read More

How the Gulf airlines are ruling the skies

Like all other sectors, aviation is also witnessing an intense battle between the haves and the have-nots, but with one difference: the West is powerless here, with airlines based out of Gulf countries ruling the skies.

With their wide-ranging choices and unbeatable bargains, airlines such as Etihad and Emirates are becoming the Indian traveller’s first choice to fly to Europe and beyond.

Gulf-based carriers have also made full use of bilateral agreements with India by operating multiple flights. Conversely, Indian operators have underutilised their bilaterals.

According to a report by aviation consultancy CAPA, as a result of the expanded bilateral agreements that India has signed with Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the past 12 months, weekly entitlements for UAE carriers will increase to over 135,000 seats by 2015-16.

This represents a massive increase from the 10,400 seats available to six cities in 2003-04. And it dwarfs the access offered to any other single country — it is almost as much as all European countries combined.
08/04/15 K Giriprakash/Business Line

Read More

Indians rescued from Yemen will land in Salalah on way to India

Muscat: Two Air India flights with evacuated Indians from Yemen will be landing in Salalah on Tuesday on their way to Delhi and Mumbai, the spokesperson of the Indian ministry of external affairs has tweeted.

A plan chart uploaded by Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson for Indian ministry of external affairs, on twitter shows that two A321 flights from Sanaa will land in Salalah via Djibouti on its way to Mumbai or Delhi in India.
Last week, on its way to Yemen via Djibouti, two Air India flights were parked in Muscat Airport as it was waiting for clearance.
India has been executing one of the most challenging rescue operations in strife-torn Yemen, pulling out its own and citizens from at least 26 other countries.

On Monday, India evacuated over 1,000 (574 from Sana'a by air and 479 from Al Hodeida by sea) executing a sophisticated air-sea operation showcasing its maritime power.
07/04/15 Rejimon K/Times of Oman

Read More

Global airline plying rule changes go to other ministries

New Delhi: The Union Civil Aviation ministry has sent its proposed revision of rules for airlines wishing to ply abroad for inter-ministerial discussion, prior to being sent for Cabinet approval, government sources said on Tuesday.

The government has had discussion with those in the sector. Both incumbent and start-up airlines have opposed certain provisions of the proposed guidelines.

The government wishes to replace the current '5/20' rule, that an airline must have operated for at least five years in India and have a minimum of 20 planes before being allowed to ply abroad. Jet Airways, Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo are so qualified.

According to the proposal, airlines will have to acquire credits based on the routes and distances they fly to earn international flying rights.

Airlines will need to earn at least 300 domestic flying credits before they fly international routes of more than six hours and at least 600 credits to operate on shorter routes to the Gulf and Southeast Asia (less than six hours).
07/04/15 Somesh Jha/Business Standard

Read More

Pakistan offers special aircraft to send evacuated Indian nationals home

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday offered a special aircraft to the Indian government for the return of Indian citizens who arrived in Karachi from war-torn Yemen on a Pakistan Navy ship.

Eleven Indian citizens were on board PNS Aslat along with citizens from various other countries who have been evacuated from Yemen.

"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has offered a special aircraft to the Indian high commission in Islamabad to send back the 11 Indian citizens," Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said.
07/04/15 IANS/daijiworld.com

Read More

372 More Passengers Arrive

Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: One more Air India flight touched down  at the Cochin International Airport on Monday with as many as 372 passengers on board from Yemen.
Out of the total 372 passengers who reached here by 11.30 pm, Malayalis and Tamil Nadu natives deplaned here and the flight with rest of the passengers, mostly from North Indian states, flew to Mumbai.
The evacuees were given an immediate assistance of Rs 2,000 as travelling expense.
They were provided special bus services and transportation facilities by the government.
Earlier, Norka Minister K C Joseph said in Thiruvananthapuram that a total of 823 Keralites out of the 3,000 expatriates from the state have been evacuated from war-torn Yemen.
07/04/15 New Indian Express

Read More

Airbus and Boeing slug it out for top slot in Indian aviation sector

Mumbai: The battle between the world's top two plane manufactures for supremacy in the Indian skies is turning into a war. For now, Airbus has the advantage.

The European plane maker has 196 of its commercial passenger aircraft flying in India, compared with Boeing's 160.

Airbus' potential delivery backlog looks huge. It has signed an initial pact with IndiGo for 250 planes and has an earlier firm order for another 180. That, coupled with other orders takes its likely volumes over next ten years to 516. The nation's newest local carriers, Tata Sons joint ventures Vistara and AirAsia India, have both picked Airbus as their initial choice.

Boeing's visible backlog is much smaller at 59 planes, which include long-haul Dreamliners to Air India and Jet Airways as well as narrow-bodied 737Max planes to SpiceJet. There have been talks of an order for fifty 737Max from Jet, but that hasn't been announced.
07/04/15 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

Read More

Virgin Atlantic introduces 787-9 Dreamliner on Delhi-London route

Virgin Atlantic has become the first European carrier to fly the larger Boeing 787-9 version of the Dreamliner on the Delhi-London route.

The maiden 787-9 Dreamliner flight to London from Delhi was launched by the airliner on March 31. Passengers travelling on the flight were in for a surprise as they received exclusive 787 cupcakes and the chance to take a “First Flight Selfie” whilst checking-in and boarding the flight from Delhi IGI airport.

The aircraft that arrived from London was greeted with a water canon salute as it touched down in Delhi.

Virgin Atlantic operates seven daily flights every week from Delhi to London with many onward connections, including New York.
06/04/15 NetIndian

Read More

Increasing demand for Buddha Air connectivity to Kathmandu

Mumbai: Nepal-based airline, Buddha Air is operating from India, from Varanasi in particular, for the last three years. Currently the 50 minute flights are operational only twice a week – Tuesdays and Saturdays. It is an ATR aircraft, which is 72 seater and also 47 seater, depending upon the group size. In Nepal, Buddha Air’s mountain flights are very popular. The Everest Experience which is a mountain flight-seeing tour with Buddha Air is a particular favourite with overseas visitors. “On Varanasi – Kathmandu flights we have lot of people from over overseas, though the number of Indians have also been growing. For Indians and Nepalese the the fare is very low. While the lowest Air India one way fare is `11,000, we normally offer one way fare at `5000,” mentioned said Ambuj K Narayan, managing partner, Classic Holidays, GSA for Buddha Air in Varanasi. He points out that because fares are so low, this has resulted in the airline becoming popular on this route.
07/04/15 Sudipta Dev/Financial Express

Read More

Muscat-Goa flight will boost tourism: Parulekar

Vasco: Stating that Oman and Goa have a lot in common as far as tourism is concerned, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar on Monday said that the state would experience monsoon tourism, raindrop tourism and wellness tourism with the starting of Muscat-Goa direct flight service.
Parulekar was speaking after receiving the first official flight from Muscat to Goa which is operated by Oman Air. The first official flight landed at Dabolim airport on Monday afternoon with 139 passengers onboard which were mainly from the Middle East.
A  large  contingent of officials from Oman were greeted by Tourism  Minister  in presence of director of Tourism Ameya Abhyankar, Brijesh Manerkar, general manager (administration) GTDC Bernadetta De Souza, managing marketing GTDC Yogesh Naik.
07/04/15 Goacom

Read More

Suspense over Rafale fighter jet deal before PM Modi's visit to France

New Delhi: Suspense continued on Tuesday over whether the issue of Rafale fighter deal, which has been stuck over cost, will figure in talks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have with French President Francois Hollande during his visit beginning on Thursday.

French Ambassador Francois Richier, while addressing a press conference here on Modi's visit, was evasive to questions over the multi-billion dollar deal which has been held up for long.
07/04/15 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

AIE weathers West Asia sandstorm

Kochi: Even as the fierce sandstorm that swept across West Asia threw flight operations across the Gulf out of gear for three days, the period marked a new chapter in the history of the Kochi-based low-cost carrier, Air India Express. The carrier transported about 19,000 passengers between the affected destinations and Kerala.

According to officials, not even a single flight of the airline from the three airports in the State was cancelled over the three days starting April 1, during which, it operated all its 108 operations to the affected airports and 25 other flights to unaffected areas. Barring a few delays, the airline ensured regularity in services on the back of an airport service management plan with an average occupancy of 180 passengers per flight.

“The new plan was executed after one of our aircraft from Kozhikode was grounded in Dammam owing to the sandstorm. Following this, we put in place a two-level information system by combining the call centre and a dedicated four-member team in each of the airports, who liaised with the passengers and updated them about the revised timings,” said a top airline official.
06/04/15 Hiran Unnikrishnan/The Hindu

Read More

Oman Air launches flights to Goa

Muscat: Oman Air has launched a brand-new service between the Omani capital of Muscat and Goa, in India. The new service, which was announced in January 2015 and started on 29th March, offers four flights per week.

And for a limited time, promotional fares are available for travel between the two destinations. Return Economy Class flights can be booked from OMR 200.3 per person, whilst Business Class flights can be booked from OMR 436.3 per person. Fares quoted include all taxes and are subject to availability.

Goa is Oman Air's eleventh destination in India, and the service meets strong demand from leisure travellers drawn by Goa's famed natural beauty. Furthermore, it provides air travellers from India's eastern coast with even greater opportunities to visit Oman and experience the country's rich culture and authentic hospitality.
05/03/15 Times of Oman

Read More

Airbus gets 6 Indian partners to bid for Navy copter contract: report

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the headquarters of the European consortium Airbus in the French aviation and defence production hub of Toulouse, Airbus Industries is reported to have struck deals with six Indian engineering firms to bid for 100-helicopter order of the Indian Navy.

Modi who will go on a three-nation tour of Europe on 9 April, is expected to use the visit to push his government's 'Make In India' initiative.

A report in the Hindu Business Line today said Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter) is planning to partner multiple Indian vendors, including Mahindra Group, Reliance, Tata Group, Punj Lloyd, Pipavav, and L&T, to bag the naval helicopter contract.

The Navy is reported to be peeved at Airbus partnering with multiple Indian vendors to bag the contract for the Navy Utility Helicopters Programme, which is tentatively valued at $1.5 billion.

Partnering with six Indian companies would allow Airbus to make six different quotes so as to reasonably ensure that it wins the contract.
06/04/15 domain-b

Read More

IAF aircraft with 225 Indians from Yemen lands in Mumbai

An IAF aircraft carrying 225 Indians evacuated from strife-torn Yemen landed here tonight. "The C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft landed at about 10.40 pm here from Djibouti," a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) official said.
06/04/15 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

US defence secretary to visit India in May to push aircraft carrier technologies

New Delhi: The new US defence secretary, Ashton Carter, will visit India next month to take forward the proposed co-development and co-production of military technologies, ranging from aircraft carrier launch systems to mini spy drones, identified during President Barack Obama's visit here in January.

US defence under-secretary Frank Kendall, who now co-chairs the bilateral Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), on his part, told a news agency in Washington that the Obama government would back the selling of General Atomics' EMALS (electromagnetic aircraft launch systems) and other key technologies to India.

As reported by TOI earlier, this is important because India wants its next 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier, which will be built domestically, to have CATOBAR (catapult assisted take-off but arrested recovery) configuration for launching fighters as well as heavier aircraft from its deck.
06/04/16 Times of India

Read More

Visa on arrival planned at Tiruchi

Tiruchi: Tourism sector is poised to get a major boost in the State with the Central government’s proposal to introduce ‘Visa on Arrival’ facility at the Tiruchi international airport.

Tiruchi is one among the non-metro airports where the facility is planned. The other airports are Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Lucknow, Varanasi and Gaya.
06/05/14 R Rajaram/The Hindu

Read More

Air India flight forced to return to Newark after engine trouble

Air India flight forced to return to Newark after engine trouble

New Delhi: A Mumbai-bound Air India flight from Newark Liberty International Airport with over 250 persons on board was forced to return and make an emergency landing today due to a serious engine problem, sources said. 

The pilot, however, made a safe landing, they said. "The flight had taken off for Mumbai at around 1650 hours (US time) and landed back at Newark (US) after being airborne for about two hours due to violent vibrations in one of the engines of the Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft", Air India sources told PTI here. 
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident and said the passengers are being adjusted in its Delhi flight. 
The aircraft was at a height of 29,000 feet when the vibrations occurred, the sources said. 

"After landing one of the blades of the engine was found fractured due to stress and this resulted in violent vibrations," they said. 
05/04/15 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

India's domestic air travel demand growth highest worldwide: Iata

New Delhi: Domestic air travel demand surged in India by 14.8 per cent in February, the highest worldwide, partly on the back of airlines keeping ticket prices lower to stimulate market in lean travel season, global airlines body Iata said in its monthly traffic report on Thursday.

According to Iata, the overall global demand rose 6.2 per cent in February 2015 over the same month last year with international demand up by 6.8 per cent while domestic demand seeing a growth of 5.3 per cent in the reporting month.

“The strongest growth occured in India and Brazil, followed by China, which benefitted from Lunar New Year-related travel,” Iata said in a release.

“Demand in India began to improve in the latter part of 2014, partly owing to market stimulation, and that has continued in 2015,” it said.

March and September quarters of the fiscal are traditionally lean seasons for the airlines in the country, and people are wooed with low fares.

05/04/15 PTI/Khaleej Times

Read More

664 passengers in three flights land in Mumbai airport from Yemen

Mumabai: In the second round of Yemen-based Indians being transported back to the country safely, 664 passengers travelled in three flights that landed in Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday. The three aircrafts brought people from Djibouti, after being evacuated by the Indian Naval ship Sumitra from Aden, the port city of Yemen. Two Indian Air Force flights IFC 1315 landed with 179 passengers, and flight IFC 1415 with 155 passengers onboard, and an Air India flight AI 170 carrying 224 passengers reached Mumbai International terminal post midnight. Sekhar Channa, District Collector and External Affairs officials received them at Mumbai?s International Terminal. The group, which included nurses, was provided railway tickets from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and snacks by Central Railway officials. Apart from free travel arrangements made by the Central Railway, they were given Rs 2,000 each by the Kerala government at the terminal. As per sources at the Mumbai Airport, around 334 passengers have landed in Mumbai and the remaining 330 in Cochin. 05/04/15 Neha LM Tripathi/Mid Day

Read More

46 rescued from Yemen reach Chennai

Chennai:  It was an emotional reunion that was waiting for 46 people from Tamil Nadu rescued from war-torn Yemen when they walked out of domestic arrival terminal at Chennai airport on Saturday. They arrived from Mumbai in batches on two flights and were part of the 334 people who were flown from Djibouti to Mumbai by two of the Indian Air Force's transport aircraft on Friday. 

State government officials booked the returnees in two domestic flights that were among the first departing from Mumbai to Chennai. 

An official from the state protocol department who received the people said that of the 46 rescued from Yemen, 25 were from Chennai, 10 from different parts of Ramanathapuram district, eight from Madurai and three from Cuddalore. "They arrived on two flights, 30 people on a GoAir flight and 16 on an Indigo airlines aircraft," he said. 
05/04/15 Times of India

Read More

Evacuees brought in two flights

Kochi: As many as 332 more Indians, evacuated from war-hit Yemen, landed in Kochi Saturday night. The Air India Boeing 777 aircraft carrying them landed at the Nedumbassery International Airport at 10.02 p. m. as scheduled earlier.

A hundred-and-thirty-two of the passengers deplaned in Kochi and the others are scheduled to be flown to Mumbai.

Operations to evacuate Indians from Yemen picked up momentum on Saturday and 330 stranded Indians were brought in by an early morning flight.

Earlier, 106 people had arrived here at 12.40 a.m. on Saturday, ferried by an Air India 777 aircraft from Djibouti. They were among the stranded Indians evacuated from the strife-torn Yemen’s capital city Sana’a to Djibouti in two sorties flown by Air India on Friday.
05/04/15 The Hindu

Read More

Engineer returns to an emotional welcome

Mangaluru: Rajesh Gowda (26), an engineer who was stranded in strife-torn Sana’a in Yemen, was given an emotional welcome at the Mangaluru Central Railway Station on Saturday.

Last of the five children of Channappa Gowda, a farmer at Kodimbala near Kadaba in Puttur taluk, Mr. Rajesh reached here via Kochi in Kerala.

Mr. Channappa broke down as he hugged his son and said, “God has sent him back. I thank him.”

He said the previous week had been very stressful for the family.

Mr. Rajesh, who appreciated the government’s efforts in helping Indians return home, said he and many others were first flown to Djibouti on Friday morning.
05/04/15 Govind D Belgaumkar/The Hindu

Read More

Air India, Adria Airways commence code-share operations to Ljubljana, Slovenia

New Delhi: Darja Bavda? Kuret, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to India officially launched the Air India, Adria Airways code-share operations to Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia, in New Delhi recently. India?s national carrier Air India and Adria Airways, the flag carrier of Slovenia, have entered into a Free Flow Code-share Agreement effective March 2, 2015. Adria Airways would code-share as a marketing carrier on Air India-operated flights on the Delhi-Frankfurt sector and Air India would code-share as a marketing carrier on Adria Airways-operated flights from Frankfurt-Ljubljana. The agreement would enable better connectivity and more competitive fares for passengers looking forward to travel on the route, said Ramesh Marwah, Executive Director, Dex Aviation Private Limited (GSA-Adria Airways). 04/04/15 Akansha Pandey/TravelBizMonitor

Read More

Oman Air Launches Flights To Goa

Oman Air has launched a brand-new service between the Omani capital of Muscat and Goa, in India. The new service, which was announced in January 2015 and started on 29th March, offers four flights per week. And for a limited time, promotional fares are available for travel between the two destinations. Return Economy Class flights can be booked from OMR 200.3 per person, whilst Business Class flights can be booked from OMR 436.3 per person. Fares quoted include all taxes and are subject to availability. Goa is Oman Air 's eleventh destination in India, and the service meets strong demand from leisure travellers drawn by Goa's famed natural beauty. Furthermore, it provides air travellers from India's eastern coast with even greater opportunities to visit Oman and experience the country's rich culture and authentic hospitality. Launching the new service, Oman Air 's Chief Executive Officer, Paul Gregorowitsch, said: 05/04/15 Zawya

Read More

Modi?s France visit gives wings to IAF dream project

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s visit to France next week will herald a new chapter for the Indian Air Force, as its dream project of having 360 degree ?eye in sky? is likely to take off with both countries finalising a deal for procuring two Airbus-330 aircraft to be used as platforms for AWACS-India programme. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), in its meeting held last Saturday, has given a go ahead to the proposal of acquiring the aircraft for Rs 5,113 crore and the formal signing of the deal is likely during Mr Modi?s three-nation tour, that will also take him to Germany and Canada. The DAC has also approved ?Project Maitry?, under which, India and France will be working on development of Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM) for the Indian Navy. The two Defence deals are being seen as a consolation for France as the hectic efforts to seal a deal of acquiring 126 Rafale fighter jets for the IAF were unlikely to get the desired results. The French leadership was particularly keen to finalise the 20 billion dollars defence deal for Medium-Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) during Mr Modi?s Paris visit, as the long-drawn talks for finalising the contract remain inconclusive even after three years of tough negotiations between the two sides. 05/04/15 Day and Night News

Read More

India evacuates 664 more from Yemen; 334 land in Mumbai, 330 in Kochi

New Delhi/Mumbai: Three aircrafts brought back 664 Indians from strife-torn Yemen on Friday -- while two flights carried 334 in Mumbai, 330 landed in Kochi late on Friday night. Kochi Arrival The Air India flight carrying passengers from Yemen landed at around 12.30 AM on Saturday where Kerala minister KC Joseph alongwith several state government officials was at the airport to welcome the evacuees. The Indian nationals, including nurses and workers, among others, reached home by the special AI flight, bringing an end to their more than a week-long ordeal. Mumbai Arrival Two C 17 Globemaster transport planes, one carrying 179 Indians and the other carrying 155 people, landed in Mumbai past 11 p.m. Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted that both IAF flights have landed in Mumbai. "They include persons evacuated by INS Sumitra," he posted. The passengers were flown home from Djibouti, where the Indians were brought from Yemen. 04/04/15 Zee News

Read More

India getting full Yemeni, Saudi cooperation in evacuation of Nationals

New Delhi: India is getting full cooperation from Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the evacuation of its stranded nationals, and over 300 Indian Nationals rescued by Air India flights to Sana were flying back to India today. ''The evacuation operation is being conducted under very difficult circumstances as the security situation in Yemen was deteriorating by each passing day with Al Qaeda becoming active in the strife,'' senior Government officials said here. However, it is not an Iraq like situation. Moreover, Indian operations were not being opposed by any parties as it has not taken sides in the conflict. With todays arrivals, the total number of people evacuated from Yemen would reach over 1300. 04/04/14

Read More

Sandstorm in Gulf causes delay in flights to Mangaluru

Mangaluru: Flights from the Gulf nations to Mangaluru city were affected due to the heavy sandstorm witnessed in the Gulf region over the past few days. On Friday April 3, Jet Airways from Dubai was delayed by about two hours. It was supposed to reach Mangaluru at 8 am, instead it landed at 10 am. Similarly, Air India Expess flight was scheduled to land at 7.30 am, but was delayed by three hours and reached only at 10.30 am. Air India Express flight from Dammam arrived late by two hours at 9.50 am. 04/05/15 Daijiworld

Read More

Jet Airways in codeshare partnership with airberlin

Jet Airways, India?s premier international airline, has entered into a codeshare agreement with airberlin, Germany?s second largest airline effective April 2015. This development will see Jet Airways placing its code (9W) on airberlin?s (AB) daily flights to Berlin (TXL) and Dusseldorf (DUS) from gateway point Abu Dhabi. Jet Airways operates 12 daily services to Abu Dhabi from 11 Indian cities, according to Jet Airways. Raj Sivakumar, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said: We are pleased to commence our codeshare partnership with airberlin, offering our guests convenient flight connections to Berlin and Dusseldorf via Abu Dhabi. With Germany established as India's largest trading partner in Europe and 8th largest foreign investor in India, we are confident that these flights will prove to be popular amongst travellers between India and Germany, not only for business purposes but tourism as well.? 03/04/15 Financial

Read More

Air India flight in Sanaa, evacuation begins

New Delhi: India today began air evacuation of its citizens from Yemen as the first Air India flight landed in Sanaa to rescue those trapped in the largest city of the war-ravaged country.

After hectic diplomatic efforts, India finally got permission to land in Sanaa and the first flight with a passenger capacity of 120 has landed, the Spokesperson in the external affairs Ministry said.
03/04/15 Sachin Parashar/Times of India

Read More

Air India gets nod to fly into Sana'a

New Delhi: In a big relief for Indians stuck inside Yemen, the government has received permission to fly two Air India planes into the capital, Sana’a on Friday.

Confirming the news to The Hindu, Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. (Retd.) V.K. Singh, said that the two flights will try to make at least two trips to transport passengers from Sana’a to Djibouti, where he is overseeing and coordinating their return to India. “We have been stuck for two days because of the lack of permission to land in Sana’a,” He told The Hindu, “If all goes well, we hope to bring at least 500 more Indians out of Yemen today.”

The two Air India planes have been on standby at Muscat airport, waiting for clearance from Saudi Arabian authorities, who control the airspace over the capital and have been conducting regular airstrikes on Yemen. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Saudi King Salman earlier this week, but permission had been held up while the bombing continued. India has also been evacuating passengers through the sea route to Djibouti, with INS Sumitra rescuing passengers from Aden and Al Hudaydah, including at least 11 foreign nationals, of “South Asian and African nationality,” said officials.
03/04/15 Suhasini Haidar/The Hindu

Read More

168 Indians evacuated from Yemen land in Kochi

Kochi: Providing a great relief to the waiting family members as many as 168 Indian nationals, including 151 Keralites and 17 people from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, arrived at Nedumbassery Airport from strife-torn Yemen early Thursday.

The special Indian Air Force flight C-17 Gglobemasters, carrying those evacuated from Yemen by INS Sumitra, touched the run-way at around 0150 hrs, bringing an end to their week-long ordeal.

An array of Kerala Ministers, including Cultural Minister K C Joseph, who is also in charge of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA), PWD Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju and Excise Minister K Babu and other top officials, including District Collect M G Rajamanikyam and MLAs received the evacuees at the airport.
02/04/15 Kaumudi Global

Read More

Varanasi-Colombo flight of Mihin airlines to be stopped from tomorrow

Varanasi: The seasonal weekly airlines service between temple city Varanasi and Colombo of Sri Lanka will stop tomorrow. The service of Mihin airlines will resume in August. Representative of the Mihin airlines Abhay Sahay here said the last flight of this season will take off for Colombo from the Lal Bahadur Shastri airport situated at Babatpur, tomorrow. The airlines will again resume this seasonal weekly service from the first week of August till December.

Mr Sahay added that the service was started by Mihin airlines in 2015, keeping in mind the huge influx of pilgrims coming to visit Varanasai, Sarnath and other Buddhists spots. In the initial period, the airlines gave this service three time a week, which was later reduced to two days a week and finally, it came down just a flight in a week. There is a chance that the airlines may start a new service between Colombo and Kolkata very soon.
02/04/15 Web India 123

Read More

Bengaluru engineer disappointed at flight being cancelled

Bengaluru: City-based metallurgical engineer Ravi Kumar along with 319 other Indians, who were waiting at the Sana'a airport in strife-torn Yemen to be airlifted, today were disappointed after the authorities concerned announced the cancellation of the flight after the plane was denied landing permission.

"As many as 320 Indians were called to Sana'a airport this evening. Just after we checked in, the airport authorities announced the cancellation of the plane to airlift us from the strife-torn Yemen. The flight was cancelled as the authorities denied landing permission," Ravi said in a Whatsapp message sent to PTI office here.

Ravi also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to directly look into the issue.
02/04/15 Sahil Online

Read More

Private airports seek easy overseas flying rules

Domestic airlines aspiring to start overseas operations but feeling restricted because of the government's policy on it have an unlikely ally – the private airports.

The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO), in its feedback to the government on the revision of Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) and 5/20 rule – which currently permits only airlines with five years of experience and 20 aircraft to fly on international routes – has batted for a more "simplified" rule than the one the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has come up with.

The MCA recently proposed to replace the existing 5/20 rule with domestic flying credit (DFC) rule, which would allow airlines to operate on overseas routes only after they log in specified flying credits for deploying flights to remote and unused airports.

The ministry has defined DFC as the capacity deployed by airlines as Available Seat Kilo Meter (ASKM) in regular scheduled operations multiplied by a factor devised for providing incentive for operating on remote area routes.
01/04/15 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

AirAsia India, Vistara's international plans may run into turbulence with new govt policy

New Delhi: The big daddies of Indian aviation industry remain united in opposing any move to remove the 5/20 rule. Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir besides Air India hold firm in their view that new airlines, Vistara and AirAsia India, should also be subject to this rule. The incumbents, under the aegis of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), said in a letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation late this evening that the 5/20 rule need not be abolished since any change in this rule will remove level playing field conditions. Air India is not part of FIA but has been concurring with the view of this lobby group anyway.
The ministry has proposed new rules to replace 5/20 rule and sought views from all airlines by Tuesday evening. The 5/20 rule bars domestic airlines from flying anywhere abroad unless they have completed five years of Indian operations and have a fleet of 20 aircraft. It is a rule unique to India and has been responsible for Indian carriers failing to compete with foreign airlines in carrying people to international destinations. No such restrictions are placed by other countries on their respective airlines.
01/04/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

Read More