Indian-origin mom told to prove lactation at Frankfurt airport

Berlin: A 33-year-old Indian-origin Singaporean woman has said that she was "humiliated" by German police when was told to squeeze her breast at Frankfurt airport to prove she was lactating, a media report said on Tuesday.
Gayathiri Bose, a manager at a transport company who has a three-year-old child and a seven-month-old baby, said she has filed a complaint with German police alleging she was told to squeeze her breast at airport security to prove she was lactating.
She told the BBC she was "humiliated" and "very traumatised" by the experience and would explore formal legal action.
She said police at Frankfurt Airport were suspicious because she was carrying a breast pump but travelling without her baby.
German police declined to comment on the specific allegations, the report said.
But they said such measures were "clearly" not part of routine procedure.
Bose, who was travelling alone, said she was on her way to board a flight to Paris last Thursday when she was stopped at the security screening station.
She said that after her carry-on bag, which contained her breast pump, went through the X-ray machine, she was taken aside for questioning.
"[They had] an incredulous tone. 'You are breastfeeding? Then where is your baby? Your baby is in Singapore?'," she said about the 45-minutue episode.
They kept her passport and she was then led to a room by a female police officer for further questioning, she said.
Inside the room, "She asked me to open up my blouse and show her my breast... She wanted me to show her by hand- expressing a little."
Bose said she complied and squeezed her breast.
31/01/17 PTI/Times of India

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Post India's civil aviation downgrade by US, top industry leaders will take day-long class by global experts on Feb 2

New Delhi: Post downgrade of India's civil aviation sector by U.S Federation Aviation Administration (USFAA) in January 2014, top officials in government and private from India’s civil aviation sector will participate in a day-long session on February 2 under the US-India  Aviation Cooperation Programme.

Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU), India’s only civil aviation university built-up at the premises of the Indira Gandhi National Aviation Academy(IGRUA) at Rae Barelli in Uttar Pradesh will host the first executive development programme for top officials and CEOs and CFOs from India’s civil aviation sector.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said global aviation experts would hold sessions and cover next generation transportation systems, airport planning,  air traffic flow management and the requirements in safety and security in aviation sector.

In an official statement issued by the MoCA said “the programme would be attended by CXO (CEOs and CFOs) level professionals from the industry and senior officials from the regulatory authorities”.
31/01/17 New Indian Express

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Etihad adds third daily frequency to B’luru from March 26

Mumbai: The UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways today announced introduction of the third daily flight between Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru from March 26.
“The triple daily schedule will provide greater choice to local passengers travelling between the two cities, and improved connectivity to destinations across the Gulf, North America and Europe from our Abu Dhabi hub,” the airline which owns 26 per cent in Jet Airways said in a statement.
Currently, the airline operates a late night departure from Abu Dhabi, and an early morning service from Bengaluru with a two-class Airbus 321, offering connectivity to and from Doha, Jeddah, London, Dublin, New York and Dallas.
Commenting on the new service, Etihad chief executive Peter Baumgartner said, the service expansion is in line with the airline’s strategy to offer greater travel options when aircraft availability and market conditions permit.
31/01/17 PTI/India.com

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Indian detained at U.S. airport

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Amid enhanced security measures and immigration restrictions placed by the Trump administration, a Baroda-based businessman has been taken into custody at an airport in the State of North Dakota.

Law enforcement officials said he was booked for “terrorising”, and held at the Grand Forks County Correctional Centre.

Paraman Radhakrishnan was on a week-long business trip to the U.S., and preparing to return home when he checked in for a flight from Grand Forks to Minneapolis, Minnesota, early on Saturday.

Mr. Radhakrishnan then allegedly entered into an altercation with airlines staff, and was accused of threatening that there was a “bomb in his bag”, local newspapers reported. “Police say the leading theory behind what may have caused the suspect to make these threats is that he became disgruntled with airport staff, but they say regardless of the reason, any threat of this nature at an airport is taken seriously,” Grand Forks police spokesperson Jay Middleton said.
30/01/17 Suhansini Haidar/Mahesh Langa/The Hindu

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Businessman arrested at a US airport, Sushma Swaraj seeks report

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian Ambassador in the US on the arrest of a Baroda-based businessman at an airport in the American state of North Dakota.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian Ambassador in the US on the arrest of a Baroda-based businessman at an airport in the American state of North Dakota.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian Ambassador in the US on the arrest of a Baroda-based businessman at an airport in the American state of North Dakota.

53-year-old Radhakrishnan was taken into custody at the Grand Forks International Airport by police for allegedly making a bomb threat at an airport as he told a travel agent that there was an explosive in his bag. He faces terrorism charges.
30/01/17 DNA

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Thales to Showcase its Product Range at Aero India 2017

Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. Present in India since 1953, Thales today has over 300 employees working with its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Thales India Pvt. Ltd. Headquartered in New Delhi, Thales has other operational offices and sites that are spread across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, among others.

The company has participated in the past editions of Aero India and will continue with the tradition in the 11th edition of Aero India, the international aerospace, defence, civil aviation, airport infrastructure and defence engineering exhibition, scheduled from 14 – 18 February 2017 at Bengaluru.

At this year’s exhibition, Thales will demonstrate its mastery of advanced technology and industrial prowess by displaying a wide range of its cutting-edge products, capabilities and latest developments. Thales will provide insights and demonstrations in the following areas:
29/01/17  Bharatshakti.in/Defence Aviation Post

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Air India announces Boeing Dreamliner for Dubai-Cochin operation

Dubai: Air India in a press conference has announced the Boeing Dreamliner operation on Dubai/Cochin sector from February 1.

Addressing the press conference, counsel general of India Anurag Bushan said that the year 2016 will be remembered as a turnaround year in the fortunes of India’s aviation industry.
Bushan also highlighted that India's domestic market is on track to surpass 100 million passengers in financial year 2017, and in all likelihood India will overtake Japan this year to become the world’s third largest domestic market behind the USA and China. In reaching this milestone, India will have achieved average domestic traffic growth of over 15% per annum since the liberalisation of the sector commenced in financial year 2004.

It is a fact that India’s domestic traffic was up 21.2% while international grew by a more modest 7.7%. (Source CAPA)

He also spoke about the role of government of India as a key driver of traffic growth in FY 2018,schemes like UDAN for regional connectivity and project of increasing the airports from 75 to 150 airports, which in turn will stimulate demand on regional routes, will be in operation for a period of 10 years, provide air connectivity to unserved and remote routes with airfare being capped at Rs 2,500 for an hour's journey of around 500 km.

The counsel general appreciated the role of Air India in serving the Indian community over and beyond the call of duty, example, evacuation of distressed Indians. He also informed that in UAE Air India continues to provide gratis service for transportation of mortal remains.
29/01/17 Daijiworld

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Boeing expands R&D centre in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Boeing has expanded significantly its engineering and technology centre in Bengaluru and said the centre will play a crucial role in areas like materials science, flight science and data analytics as the aircraft maker moves towards using newer materials for building planes and using the increasing amounts of digital data being generated to make all operations more efficient.
The 42,000-sqft Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre (BIETC) will house about 300 engineers, and that capacity will expand to double that by the end of the year. Overall, the company now employs about 500 engineers in Bengaluru, and this number will rise to 800 by the time the full capacity becomes operational.
"It was very evident to me early on that the talent available here will make the difference for us if we have to remain competitive and innovative in the future," chief technology officer Greg Hyslop, who was in Bengaluru for the launch, said.
28/01/17 Avik Das & Sujit John/Times of India

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South African woman arrested, over 1 kg cocaine seized

Chennai: More than one kg of cocaine, worth Rs 5 crore, was seized and a South African woman, who had swallowed capsules containing the contraband, arrested at the airport here, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said today.
The woman — Princess Ntombifuthi Msomi (47) — arrived here yesterday from Sao Paulo in Brazil via Abu Dhabi, the NCB said.
“She came on a tourist visa and was planning to leave the country after delivering the consignment of cocaine,” an NCB press release said.
It said based on specific information, NCB sleuths intercepted the woman at the international airport yesterday and seized 1.075 kg of cocaine from her possession.
The seized cocaine was concealed in “82 capsules” which the woman had swallowed, the release added.
28/01/17 India.com

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Two Sri Lankans caught smuggling US dollars out of Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Two Sri Lankans have been caught by the customs department from Mumbai airport while they were trying to smuggle out US dollars to Colombo.
On examination by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officers, two Sri Lankan nationals Aathil Abdul Jabbar and Mohammed Ramzan were found carrying foreign currency notes of 31,000 USD equivalent to Rs 21.23 lakh while departing to Colombo by Jet Airways flight.
Officials said the currency was cleverly concealed in pockets of three trousers which were kept in their hand bags.
The officers seized the currency under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 read with Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of currency) Regulations, 2015.
29/01/17 Virendrasingh Ghunawat/India Today

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Air India flight to Bangkok from May

Air India is planning to operate a direct flight from Kolkata to Bangkok from May this year. To begin with, the 180-seater Airbus A320 Neo (narrow body airliner) will travel thrice a week.

The development was announced by an Air India official on the sidelines of Destination East- tourism summit organised by CII in Kolkata.

“Air India already has started flight from Kolkata to Singapore. Now we are planning to commence services to Bangkok,” Anil Mehta,  OSD to Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said.

The official added that AI is keen to start flight operations from Kolkata to Sikkim, once the infrastructure for the airport is ready. “The airport will be ready by 2018 and we are very much ready to start flights to Sikkim too,” the official said.

The official, however, made it clear that its plan of operating its second flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra has been shelved at this juncture. “We have been interested in adding another flight to Bagdogra but still there are issues related to night landing,” he said.
28/01/17 The Asian Age

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Air India shifts to London Heathrow’s Terminal 2

Air India, a member of Star Alliance, has moved all its operations from London Heathrow’s Terminal 4 to Terminal 2, the home of Star Alliance. The national airline of India operates up to eight daily flights in and out of Heathrow with either Boeing 777 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has been serving London for nearly 70 years. At present Air India offers two daily flights to Delhi, one daily flight to Mumbai, four weekly flights to Ahmedabad and three weekly flights to Newark (New York).

Jeffrey Goh, CEO, Star Alliance said, “With 24 of our member airlines flying to Heathrow, the airport is served by more Star Alliance member carriers than any other airport in our worldwide network. Therefore our long term strategy for Heathrow has always been to locate all our members under the same roof. With Air India’s successful move to the Queen’s Terminal we have now accomplished this.”

Compared to Terminal 4, the check-in layout and concept in Terminal 2 allows customers to take greater control of their journey. This has been made possible through a combination of increased automation and common check-in.

Travellers who have not checked in online can use any of 81 multi-airline check-in kiosks available throughout Terminal 2. These also print boarding passes and bag tags. Once checked-in, Air India passengers can drop off their bags at the shared counters in Zone D. Customers requiring additional support and assistance or travelling in First Class, Business Class or holding Star Alliance Gold status will also find the respective counters in Zone D.
27/01/17 Travel Trends Today

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Telangana inks pact with AEROCAMPUS for aero skills academy

Telangana government today signed a memorandum of agreement with France's AEROCAMPUS Aquitaine on setting up an aero skills academy here.

"The scope of this partnership is to create a world-class aero skills academy in collaboration with academia and industry based in Hyderabad. The project deliverables include identifying skill gaps, designing courses and enabling EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and DGCA (Directorate general of Civil Aviation) certifications for the academy and its courses," an official release said.

This partnership focuses on developing skills across youth as well as experienced professionals in tune with the latest industry trends.

The new academy would offer specialised aeronautical courses in engineering, manufacturing and maintenance domains.
27/01/17 PTI/Business Standard

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Air India Joins Fellow Star Alliance Carriers at Heathrow Terminal 2

The national airline of India ( Air India ) operates up to eight daily flights in and out of Heathrow with either Boeing 777 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has been serving London for nearly 70 years. At present it offers two daily flights to Delhi, one daily flight to Mumbai, four weekly flights to Ahmedabad and three weekly flights to Newark (New York).

“With 24 of our member airlines flying to Heathrow, the airport is served by more Star Alliance member carriers than any other airport in our worldwide network”, said Jeffrey Goh, CEO Star Alliance.

“Therefore our long term strategy for Heathrow has always been to locate all our members under the same roof. With Air India’s successful move to the Queen’s Terminal we have now accomplished this.”
Compared to Terminal 4, the check-in layout and concept in Terminal 2 allows customers to take greater control of their journey. This has been made possible through a combination of increased automation and common check-in. Travellers who have not checked in online can use any of 81 multi-airline check-in kiosks available throughout Terminal 2.
27/01/17 Defence Aviation Post

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Hyderabad youth in Dubai jail for carrying neighbour’s parcel

Hyderabad: 25 year-old Habeeb Mohammed was very happy that finally he was successful in getting an assistant clerk job with transport firm in Dubai.

But, all his dreams shattered when he was arrested at Dubai airport on charges of carrying drugs.

According to officials, Dubai law enforcement detained Habeeb for bringing the illegal medicine that were banned in the city, reported Deccan Chronicle.

Habeeb’s family has refuted the allegation and insist that he is not at fault .

Last October, Habeeb, a resident of of Chandrayangutta, was flying to Dubai for the first time through an Emirates flight.
Habeeb’s brother, Abdul Qadeer said that the parcel containing illegal drugs actually belongs to their neighbour, who is now absconding. And the person who was supposed to pick up the parcel from Dubai airport is also missing.

“He simply took the medicines given by our neighbour because he, and us, trusted them. But nobody is coming forward to save my brother,” Mr Qadeer said.

“The airport authorities who detained him say that the medicines which he was carrying with him were illegal medicines and those specific drugs had been banned in their country. But my brother was unaware of the medicines or that particular rule. We also filed a police complaint but we are not getting proper response from the authorities over at Dubai,” he said.
27/01/17 Siasat Daily

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Qatar Airways may invest in Indian aviation sector

New Delhi: India has invited Qatar to invest in its booming airline sector. The oil-rich Arab nation, which runs the hugely successful Qatar Airways, has long expressed a desire to invest in IndiGo but the Indian budget carrier has not acceded to its request.
During recent bilateral negotiations to increase flying rights between the two countries, the Indian aviation ministry asked Qatar to invest in either a startup airline here or an existing one. When reached for comment, Qatar Airways cryptically said: "We don't have a comment on this at this point. If that changes we will let you know immediately."
Qatar Airways is in the top 6-7 airlines in India in terms of market share of international travel to and from the country. Dubai-based Emirates is the biggest international airline in India, followed by Abu Dhabi's Etihad. Qatar Airways, in terms of traffic, is below these two airlines, Jet, Air India and AI Express.
"Etihad has 24% stake in Jet and the former feeds traffic from several Indian cities to Abu Dhabi. Emirates has a huge presence in India. Qatar also needs a similar traffic feed from India. Unlike UPA, the Modi government is conservative when it comes to giving flying rights to foreign, especially Gulf airlines, as it is keen to protect rights of Indian carriers also," said a source. That leaves Qatar Airways with the option of having a JV airline in India like Etihad-Jet and Singapore Airlines-Tatas' Vistara which can eventually be used to feed its Abu Dhabi hub with traffic from India.
27/01/17 Times of India

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India, Netherlands revise pact to allow seven additional flights

India and the Netherlands have revised the air services agreement allowing carriers from both the countries to operate an additional seven flights each week. This will benefit Jet Airways and KLM, which currently fly between India and Amsterdam.

An agreement was signed by civil aviation ministry and its Dutch counterpart in Delhi on Wednesday. The two sides, however, were unable to conclude an open skies pact, for which negotiations will be held later.

“The number of weekly frequencies has been increased from 21 to 28 and capacity cap at the destination has been removed. Earlier, airlines from Netherlands were restricted to operating seven weekly flights at an airport in India and now that restriction has been eased. The Dutch have been given additional code share points within India,” said an official from the civil aviation ministry.
25/01/17 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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UAE, India share thriving aviation market in region

The UAE and India share a thriving aviation sector with carriers from both sides consistently recording significant annual upswing in passenger traffic on the back of a vibrant travel demand from the 2.8 million NRIs in the Emirates apart from fast growing two-way tourist traffic.

The latest data released by Dubai International Airport, or DXB, the world's busiest airport for international passengers, exemplify the fast growing air connectivity between the two countries.

DXB, which is targetting a traffic of 89 million in 2017, announced on Tuesday that it recorded capacity increases and witnessed the launch of new services by Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Air India and other carriers in 2016 as India continued to lead as Dubai's single largest destination country.

Both countries' aviation sectors are expected to get a further fillip following the second visit to the New Delhi by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to India aimed at elevating all-round bilateral ties to a new level.

The UAE and India had signed several aviation accords, including various seat quota agreements inked by New Delhi with Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah over the years to keep with the continuous surge in traffic demand.
25/01/17 Issac John/Khaleej Times

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Russia and India Negotiating Su-30 Combat Jet Support Deal

Russia and India are close to signing a long-term support agreement for the fleet of Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF). It includes an improved schedule for the delivery of spares from Russia, local manufacturing of some spares and the creation of logistics hub for the aircraft at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) production facility in Bangalore. India has contracted for the delivery of more than 300 of these aircraft.

The Su-30MKI is a specialized variant of the Su-30MK-model series and was developed and built at the Irkut factory in Russia. It features several modifications that differentiate it from the original Su-30 design. These include a set of canard foreplanes and a thrust vector control (TVC) module coupled to the aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight control system; the N011M passive electronically scanning array (PESA) radar set produced by the NIIP design bureau in Moscow; and a mix of Israeli, French and Indian-produced avionics.

It is this unique configuration of this aircraft, which is different from the other Su-30MK variants sold for export, that complicates the logistics chain for this aircraft, say Russian aerospace specialists familiar with the program. Indian officials had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the declining availability rates for the Su-30MKI, but have seen improvements in those numbers recently.

“Sukhoi availability, which had slipped to 46 percent, is today above 63 percent,” said the Indian defense minister, Manohar Parrikar, in a statement to Indian news outlets. “Our status with Russia is much better than two years back. We have signed many of the support contracts this year. Very few are left.  We are working on long-term arrangements, including manufacturing some of the [Su-30MKI] spares in India. Earlier, there were some problems due to the need to change their [Russian] laws.”
25/01/17 Reuben F.Johnson/AIN Online

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India asks Qatar to start airline or invest in one in India: Report

Doha: Indian government has asked Qatar to start an airline in India or invest in one during a bilateral meeting, an Indian newspaper reported.

According to the report by The Mint, the Indian civil aviation ministry asked the Qatar government to start an airline in India and be part of country’s growth story.

“They were looking at a regional airline, full fledged national airline or investment in an existing Indian airline,” The Mint quoted an unnamed source.

Civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey confirmed to the newspaper that the aviation ministry has written to the government of Qatar to start an airline in India.

“That’s what we have suggested to them. Look we have a fantastic market—its 100% FDI. Come fly your planes, there is money here (to be made),” Choubey said.

The message was also communicated to Qatar Airways’s CEO Akbar Al Baker when he visited the ministry in recent months, te report added.
25/01/17 Peninsula

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Boeing launches Engineering and Technology Centre in Bengaluru

Boeing, a leading player in the global aerospace industry, launched the Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre in Bengaluru on 24-01-2017.

The company mentioned that the new undertaking shall boost local employment and support many of its operations such as information technology and data analytics, engineering, research and technology. The precise employment projections and investment figures haven't been disclosed.

"The centre will leverage a talented pool of employees to increase productivity and long-term competitiveness to support Boeings engineering growth in strong global markets like India," Boeing India president Pratyush Kumar said.

In India we see a true path towards a mutual partnership for success, and the launch of this centre is a major step in that direction, he added.

In India, Boeing has had a presence in commercial plane manufacturing for 75 years now. Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are some of the big names in commercial aviation associated with Boeing. The aerospace giant has also assumed an important role in the defence sector.

Boeing's footprint in India comes from its research centre, field services and subsidiaries present across New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hindan, Rajali, Hyderabad and Chennai. While the company has 500 employees in India, its suppliers account for a total of 3,500 jobs.
25/01/17 Dollar Business 

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Jet Airways plane hits runway: Crew put off roster

New Delhi: The crew of the flight B737-800 has been placed off roster in order to assist with the investigation following a narrow escape for 168 people as tail of the plane hit the runway on landing at the Dhaka International airport on January 22.
The incident has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).  In a detailed statement, Jet Airways said the crew of the flight has been placed off roster in order to assist with the investigation as a standard practice.  “Jet Airways flight 9W-276 of December 22, 2017, from Mumbai to Dhaka with 8 crew and 160 guests, had a tail-strike on landing. There were no injuries to guests or crew, all of whom deplaned safely and have since proceeded onwards to their final destinations,” said the statement.
24/01/17 India.com

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Narrow escape for 168 as tail of Jet Airways plane hits runway on landing in Dhaka

New Delhi:  168 people onboard a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai had a narrow escape after the tail of the aircraft hit the runway on landing at the Dhaka International airport last week, prompting the airline to remove the pilots from duty.
The B737 aircraft has been grounded and a team from Boeing company is expected to visit Dhaka to assess the extent of damage to the plane while engineers from Jet Airways have already started the assessment, sources said.
The incident, which happened on January 22, has been reported to aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
DGCA sources said Bangladesh's aviation authorities are expected to investigate the incident since it happened in Dhaka.
According to them, if the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Bangladesh, which is the country's aviation regulatory body, decides not to probe the incident, then AAIB may take up the investigation.
24/01/17 PTI/Times of India

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Dinesh Keskar: The Boeing dealmaker who wants more

January 13 marked an important milestone for the civil aviation industry in India. That day SpiceJet announced a deal to buy 205 aircraft worth $22 billion from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, becoming its biggest customer in India.

The deal is only second to the $27-billion order that IndiGo placed with Airbus in 2015.

For Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, Sales, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing, the special moment came a few days earlier on December 31, 2016, when he sealed the deal with SpiceJet. He had come a long way from 1989, when he was hired by Boeing to work in India for a year.

Instead, the mechanical engineer who has a doctorate in aerospace engineering, has stayed put for 38 years and has sold over 1,000 Boeing aircraft in India and the rest of the Asian Pacific countries.

Among these are other ‘large’ orders. He picked up a 230-aeroplane order in Indonesia, was present with former American President Barack Obama as Vietnam signed for 100 Boeing aircraft and was also there for the 75 Boeing 737 MAX-deal with Jet Airways in 2015.

Keskar started his innings selling aircraft in 1990 (he started out as an engineer before that).
For Keskar, it‘s not just about selling aircraft but building a relationship and history with the airline, and how the two partners work together to build trust.

“In terms of deals, of course pricing is important,” he concedes but is quick to add that the product itself is important; you may get the best deal but if the product does not do well then it is no good.
“It is relationship, product and trust and longevity of association which are important for anybody,” says Keskar. He points out that in 2005 when SpiceJet re-launched its services, it was with three Boeing 737 aircraft. That relationship helped him now to strike a deal with the Delhi-based airline, which was also in talk with Airbus.

Back in 1991, “it was a complex and difficult process” selling aircraft as there were only Air India and Indian Airlines. Boeing undertook a campaign which lasted close to two years, after which Keskar finally sold four Boeing 747 aircraft to Air India for $ 700 million. From there to completing the 205 aircraft deal with SpiceJet, one would think that the 62-year-old is ready to call it a day.
24/01/17 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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RwandAir to commence Harare, Mumbai flights

RwandAir on Monday said it would commence flight operations from Lagos to Harare, Zimbabwe and Mumbai, India from April 2017.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the airline’s Country Manager, Ms Ibiyemi Odusi, made the announcement in a statement issued in Lagos.
Odusi said these were part of the seven new routes being planned by the airline which currently operates daily flights from Lagos to 20 destinations in Africa and Middle East.
“This year, there are plans for New York, London, Mumbai, Harare, Lilongwe, Bamako and Conakry.
“Mumbai and Harare flights will commence April. London Gatwick is slated for this quarter also,” she said.
Odusi said the airline would deploy A330-200, A330-300 and B737- 800 aircraft with onboard wifi /mobile network to the new routes.
23/01/17 Guardian

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Russia's Pobeda approved for flights to India

Pobeda (DP, Moscow Vnukovo) has been approved by Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) to commence scheduled flights from Ekaterinburg and Astrakhan to Goa, India. Each route is limited to once per week. The agency announced the decision in late December.

The airline has not set a start date for flights nor announced on what equipment they will run. Pobeda (Russian for "Victory") is the low cost arm of Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) and runs services using a fleet of twelve B737-800s.

Goa will mark the tenth international destination for the carrier, which services Russian domestic routes as well as scheduled international services to Almaty, Baku, Bratislava, Cologne/Bonn, Girona, Larnaca, Memmingen, Milan Orio al Serio, and Tbilisi.

Goa is a popular beach-side tourist destination which every year welcomes a large influx of Russian visitors arriving on charter flights. Russia's recent economic downturn has seen a decline in visitor numbers, however Russians still remain the top tourist demographic, according to numbers quoted in The Hindu.
23/01/17 ch-aviation

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Garuda Indonesia launches direct flights to Mumbai

Garuda Indonesia has launched thrice-weekly, direct flights from Mumbai to Jakarta. Garuda Indonesia became the 20th member of the SkyTeam alliance in March 2014.

The Jakarta-bound service will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and will be operated by Garuda’s state-of-the-art 162-seater, Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a two-class cabin configuration. This service will depart from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 2305 hours and arrive at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta at 1005 hours the next day. On the return leg, the service departs from the Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta at 1255 hours and arrives at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai at 2030 hours.
23/01/17 Travel Trends Today

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Washington Dulles to get non-stop India flights on Air India

Washington’s Dulles International Airport will get a non-stop flight to India thanks to new routes being added by Air India.

The service would begin in July, with India’s state-owned national carrier planning nonstop service from Delhi. The capital-to-capital route is expected to operate three times a week on Boeing 777 aircraft, The Times of India reports.

Washington Dulles becomes Air India’s fifth U.S. destination, joining Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK, Newark Liberty and San Francisco. Air India would be the only carrier offering nonstop service to India from Washington.

The Dulles service would bring Air India back to Washington for the first time since May 2010, when the airline flew to Dulles “as a tag on its flights into New York,” according to Routes Online.
18/01/17 Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today

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UK pilots’ aerobatics to spice up air show today

On their first visit to India in 2017, daredevil aerobatic pilots Mark Jefferies, Tom Cassells, Chris Burkett and Steve Carver, from Global Stars Flying Club of UK, are all set to spread their charm during the first air show to be held in Vijayawada from Thursday.

The four-member pilot team has already landed in the city and has been practising for the show from the past couple of days. The aerobatic team is led by 57-year-old Mark Jefferies, who won British the Aircraft Championship consecutively for three years. With more than two-and-half decades of flying experience, he has been participating in  various air shows across the globe since 2002. Right from the age of 6, Mark aspired to become a pilot. Being an adventure freak since he was a child, his passion drove him to choose the aerobatic wing.

“Flying is my passion. I feel life inside the aircraft rather than any other place on earth. Somersaults and smoke gradients are my favourite of all the formations,” he exclaims.

Tom Cassels, who is in his early 50s and is the second chief for the Global Stars team, says, “It is a pleasure to visit a city like Vijayawada. Its river edge is pretty suitable for aviation. Clear boundaries and bird-less sky are primary requirements for air shows and the city has fulfilled the same.”
12/01/17 The New Indian Express

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What RwandAir’s direct flights to Mumbai mean for trade, tourism

The move by RwandAir to start direct commercial flights to Mumbai, India in quarter two of the year will ease market access and help reduce transport costs, the business community and experts have said. It could also boost tourism arrivals, they added.

The development follows the signing of bilateral air services agreements between Rwanda and India during the 8th Vibrant Gujarat Summit, a global business forum in India, early this week, paving way for the commencement of the flights.

John Mirenge, the RwandAir chief executive officer, yesterday said all the paperwork had been completed, noting that the national carrier was already preparing to launch the long haul flights to India as planned. “The plan now is to begin operations into Mumbai in April 2017,” Mirenge added.
12/01/17 Peterson Tumwebaze/New Times

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No airspace data sharing with Pakistan

With bilateral relations between India-Pakistan continuing to remain fragile, the trust deficit emanating out of it is likely to affect the co-operation in civil aviation airspace. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) which is planning to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), a surveillance based technology for civil aviation safety on buoyancy all around the country's oceanic boundaries has recently showed its apprehension to UN backed International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), about sharing the data with its hostile neighbour. The insiders feel that data which has live update about the exact positions of the aircraft apart from other sensitive details may be misused by anti-social or non-state actors from the country to harm India's interests.

"We have informed ICAO of our apprehensions in regard to sharing of data which is going to be tremendous in near future," said PK Bandopadhyay, ED (Planning), CNS, AAI during DISHA, a seminar held in Delhi to discuss the development of indigenous technologies in civil aviation. Talking about installing ADS-B on water using buoyancy Bandopadhyay said, "It will make the plane constantly remain in contact with the ground."

ICAO has been asking the airlines and aviation regulators around the world to develop a foolproof mechanism by way of which the aircraft's position and its related data can be continuously tracked at all time when the plane is in air. The demand gained thrust after a Malaysian airline plane MH370 went missing in 2014 without an iota of trace, leading the investigators high and dry.
08/01/17 Shahkar Abidi/DNA

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Behave yourself on India flights to Oman

Think twice before you create a nuisance on a flight.

Some Indian carriers have now started carrying restraints, such as handcuffs and ropes, onboard all international flights, including those to Muscat, to restrain disruptive passengers, if necessary.

A senior official of an Indian airline said the move comes after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India permitted airlines to carry restraints onboard. “We have all types of security arrangements, including restraints on board, and use them to ensure the safety of flights, as and when required. However, it is up to the cabin crew to decide whether or not to use them,” a senior official of an Indian

airline said.

While some airlines use plastic handcuffs, others use ropes to control misbehaving passengers.
08/01/17 Times Of Oman

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Direct flights from India soon

India remains optimistic that a commercial airline will begin operating direct flights between the two countries but acknowledged that the route’s profitability remained an issue.


Indian Ambassador to Cambodia Naveen Srivastava said on Wednesday that despite the approval from both governments, no airlines had yet to take up the offer as there were still insufficient travelers flying directly between the two nations.


“It is mostly individuals, there are very few groups who are coming. Both the embassy and the government of Cambodia are working together to see if we can have a direct flight soon,” Mr. Srivastava said during a press conference.


“Governments can only do so much to encourage private airlines to look at direct flights, it’s about the economic viability to start,” he said.


He added, however, that tourism numbers between the two countries have been on an upward trend which could be an incentive for airlines.


“We are way ahead and the trend is positive. More people in India are learning about Cambodia and I think eventually it will reach a point where we can do it,” he said.


Tourism Ministry under-secretary of state So Visothy added that the Cambodian government has been actively promoting the country’s tourism potential in a bid to attract more travelers from India.
06/01/17 Khmer Times

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Dubai International Airport sees maximum flyers to and from India

Indians form the biggest chunk of flyers at Dubai airport, reinforcing the image of Emirates being India's de facto national carrier as it is the single largest international airline here in terms of flying people in and out of the country.

Dubai Airports has said that Dubai international airport handled 65.8 lakh passengers in November 2016. "India (with almost 9.6 lakh passengers) was the top destination country in terms of total passenger numbers recorded in November. The growth spurred mainly by increase in capacity and launch of new services by Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Air India and other carriers during the year, followed by Saudi Arabia (4.7 lakh), the UK (4.6 lakh), and Pakistan (3 lakh)," it said in a statement.

In 2015, Emirates flew 53.7 lakh people in and out of India — with a majority of them transiting through Dubai — making it the largest foreign airline in terms of passenger volumes here. On a standalone basis, it was at number three in 2015 with Jet and AI flying 70.7 lakh and 56.5 lakh, respectively, in and out of India in 2015. The Mumbai-Dubai and Delhi-Dubai were two of the busiest international routes in India that year, something that is unlikely to have changed in 2016.
06/01/17 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India

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India to play hardball for equitable share of slots at foreign airports

India may make allocation of slots for its airlines an essential part of any bilateral treaty signed in future. This is after hectic lobbying and repeated complaints by airlines that they were being overlooked in terms of peak time slots.

According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, there has been a mutual consensus between the civil aviation and external affairs ministry that countries showing interest in increasing seat allocations will be pushed to give slots to Indian carriers of their choice. “We are a big market in terms of passengers; a lot of foreign airlines want to expand in India, there is no fault if we intend to play according to our position of strength,” says a senior civil aviation ministry official.

“There is a consensus in the ministry that we need to be more vocal about our carriers," added the official.

Indian carriers have long been complaining that not getting slots in foreign airports hampers their scheduling, hence curbing the viability of profitable overseas operations.
03/01/17 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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AirAsia PH wants flights to India

Budget airline Philippines AirAsia wants flights to India and has sought the Philippine government’s approval for the right to launch a route to New Delhi.
Philippines AirAsia, the domestic unit of Malaysian budget carrier giant AirAsia Berhad, filed an application with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) last month, a regulatory filing showed.
According to the filing, the airline was seeking an allocation of seven weekly flights to New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, via Bangkok, Thailand. This was in accordance with the existing air services agreement between the Philippines and India, it said.
04/01/17 Miguel R.Camus/Inquirer.Net

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Flight Diverted Over ‘Middle-Seat Rage’ After Angry Passenger’s Alleged Rant

A U.S.-bound flight from Australia was diverted to New Zealand on Sunday over a passenger who was allegedly unhappy about his middle seat.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the passenger, who was not identified, became angry when two travelers of either Indian or Pakistani descent seated on either side of him began speaking to each other.

Video posted on social media showed him arguing with a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 870, which was scheduled to travel from Sydney to San Francisco.

“If you guys treat people right on these things, you see two last names the same, don’t put someone else in the middle of them,” the passenger said in a clip posted by another traveler, Neil Kay.

Kay wrote that the irate passenger was a “misogynistic, homophobic bigot” who harassed passengers and threatened the cabin crew.

“I’m not yelling,” the man said at another point in the clip. “You want to hear me fucking yell?”

It was not clear what the flight attendant said in reply, but it appears she told him that the aircraft could be diverted to have him removed.

“Do you know how cool it would be to have the airplane turned around because of me? You are going to do that?” he said as she walked away. “You do that! I’m being so impolite aren’t I, fat ass.”

One clip posted by Kay showed the passenger cursing into a phone while another saw him being escorted off the flight in Auckland without further incident. Stuff.co.nz reported that the removed passenger was told to cooperate or face charges.
03/01/17 Ed Mazza/Huffington Post

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Request for boat to visit Air India crash site denied

A request by relatives of the Air India disaster victims for a naval vessel to take them to the crash site on the first anniversary of the tragedy was rejected, according to a file from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
A document on the 1986 file, now held at the National Archives, said there was no vessel available to make the trip.
Air India Flight 182 was at 30,000 feet off the southwest coast of Ireland on June 23rd, 1985 when it was destroyed by a bomb, killing 329 people including 280 Canadians, 27 British citizens and 22 Indians. Only 131 bodies were recovered and these were brought to Cork Regional Hospital where postmortems were carried out.
In a handwritten letter to Sean Murphy of the Irish Tourist Board in Toronto, dated February 20th, 1986, Dr Yogesh C Paliwal, spokesman for the Flight 182 Victims’ Families Alliance, said a “real pilgrimage” to the crash site would be “a ray of bright light” for them in their grief.
02/01/17 Fiona Gartland/Irish Times

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Ireland risked a PR disaster by billing for post mortems following the Air India 747 bombing

On 23 June 1985,  an Air India Boeing 747 bound for Delhi from Toronto exploded some 120 miles off the coast of Cork killing all 329 people on board (mostly Canadian and Indian citizens).
The explosion was the result of a radio bomb installed in a piece of onboard luggage. It was the deadliest terrorist attack involving an airliner prior to the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York City, and (occurring as it did in Irish airspace) it dropped Ireland right into the middle of a humanitarian recovery effort.
That recovery would take some weeks, and Cork was the designated base of operations.
The Irish Navy and Defence Forces, emergency services and gardaí were naturally enough drafted in to help with the effort.
This need for manpower came at a time Ireland was strapped firmly within a recession.
And according to papers released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule, it led to some difficult decisions for Ireland’s diplomatic officials.
03/01/17 The Journal

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Garuda to fly daily to India, add route to Bali

Indonesian national carrier Garuda, which started services connecting Jakarta with Mumbai last month, hopes to increase the frequency on this sector in near future apart from adding a new route to Bali.

The airline is also in talks with India's Jet Airways for expanding their code-share agreement to the new sectors which will help them in offering better connectivity.

The possible reason for Garuda for starting the Mumbai-Jakarta sector could be the fact that of the total around 3.5 lakh passengers which flew to/from Indonesia last year, around one-third came from India's financial capital, a figure which is hard to ignore, claim the industry insiders.

In the absence of a non-stop flight so far, Indian passengers had no option but to use Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore as transit for reaching Indonesia.

"Based on the response, we have plans to make the flight daily in future. Also, we want to expand our code-sharing partnership with Jet Airways on other routes. Talks are on in that regard" said M Arif Wibowo, president and CEO of Garuda Indonesia, during an interaction with DNA Money on the sides of an inaugural launch of the Jakarta-Mumbai flight last month.
02/01/17 Shahkar Abidi/DNA

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More Dubai flights delayed, cancelled as fog continues

Early morning foggy weather conditions continued to disrupt airport operations in the UAE on Monday, with dozens of flights to and from Dubai reported to be delayed or cancelled on the second day of the New Year.
As of 8am, at least 28 incoming flights bound for Dubai International from India, New York, United Kingdom, Oman, Sri Lanka and Kuwait were expected to be delayed, according to Dubai Airports’ arrivals and departures tracker.
Flydubai also cancelled nine outgoing flights as of Monday, January 2. The airline had earlier cancelled 21 trips on New Year’s Eve. Today also happens to be one of the busiest times to travel back to Dubai, with the biggest volume of travelers returning to the UAE from the holidays expected to show up on January 2.
02/01/17 Cleofe Maceda

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Scoot, Tigerair announce special New Year airfares

Chennai: Scoot and Tigerair have announced special promotional fares to Singapore and Australia from Chennai, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Jaipur for travel between January 11 and May 15.

The fares to Singapore starts at Rs 5,099 while fares to Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne start at Rs 11,499 and to Bali at Rs 7,799.
Scoot's India chief Bharath Mahadevan said, "We are behind the demonetisation exercise now, and it's time for us to ring in the New Year with celebratory offers across our destinations. We believe that there is pent up demand after the demonetization, and that will take effect in these few months."
02/01/17 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Alberta man charged after flight attendant allegedly injured

An Alberta man was charged Wednesday after a flight attendant was injured aboard an Air Canada flight en route to India, forcing the plane to return to Toronto.
The airline said the Boeing 787-8 was carrying 232 passengers when it took off from Toronto for Delhi on Tuesday evening.
The plane had to turn around about two-and-a-half hours into the flight due to an “incident involving a disruptive passenger,” a spokesman said.
“A flight attendant sustained injuries requiring medical treatment,” said Peter Fitzpatrick. “Police met the aircraft after it landed about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.”
Peel Regional Police said a man had allegedly assaulted the flight attendant around 12:42 a.m. when the flight was over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the East Coast.
They say the 47-year-old was “belligerent” at the time, but was arrested without incident when the plane landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Jaskaran Sidhu was charged with assault causing bodily harm, endangering the safety of an aircraft and two counts of mischief.
He was set to appear in a Brampton, Ont., court on Wednesday.
01/01/17 Canadian Press/metro

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