Seven of 20 busiest international air travel routes from India in May were to Dubai

Seven of the 20 busiest international air travel routes from India in May were to Dubai, according to data provided by aviation analytics company Cirium.

In May 2019 -- before the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted the global aviation sector -- only two of the top 20 international air travel routes from India were to Dubai, according to the data, which has been accessed by PTI.

"International air travel is guided by bilateral rights. In case of Dubai, (the number of) Emirates flights are back (to the pre-pandemic level) but that is not the case with every other region. This made Dubai climb up the list faster than others," said Ameya Joshi, aviation analyst and founder of aviation blog "Network Thoughts".

Emirates was one of the first airlines to deploy full capacity on routes to India, taking a lot of traffic to the European Union, Russia and North America, he noted.

COVID-19 had significantly curtailed international travel since the beginning of 2020 to the beginning of this year.

Its impact is now receding and airlines across the world have largely resumed their international flights.

In May 2019, the busiest international air travel route from India was Kolkata-Dhaka with 301 flights, the data mentioned.

However, the busiest international route in India in May 2022 was Mumbai-Dubai with 406 flights.

Not just that, the second busiest international route in May 2022 was Delhi-Dubai with 332 flights.

There were 167, 152, 136, 133 and 131 flights on the Cochin-Dubai, Hyderabad-Dubai, Chennai-Dubai, Bengaluru-Dubai and Calicut-Dubai routes in May 2022 respectively, the data showed.

These seven routes to the city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among the top 20 international air travel routes connecting India in May 2022, it mentioned.

In comparison, there were just two Dubai routes -- Mumbai-Dubai (252 flights) and Delhi-Dubai (218 flights) -- among the top 20 routes in May 2019, it noted.

Meanwhile, according to Cirium's data, while there were four India-Kuala Lumpur routes among the top 20 routes in May 2019, there was none in May 2022.

"The India-Kuala Lumpur route was largely dominated by AirAsia Bhd, Malindo and Malaysia Airlines.

These three have not returned with full force yet and hence, the impact," Joshi explained.

31/07/22 PTI/New Indian Express

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Big cigarette haul at Hyderabad airport, conduits in Sharjah flight

Hyderabad: Customs officials apprehended 14 passengers in the last one week who were trying to smuggle in cigarettes and e-cigarettes worth Rs 50 lakh at the RGI Airport.

Apart from the traders in Hyderabad, members of gangs operating from Kerala and Maharashtra were among those who have been intercepted. Customs officials said that the offenders' profits have quadrupled due to the domestic sale of the smuggled e-cigarettes.

On Friday, Hyderabad customs officials apprehended six passengers who arrived by Indigo flight 6E1406 from Sharjah and confiscated 22,600 cigarettes and 940 e-cigarettes of different brands from them. The seized items were valued at Rs 11.66 lakh.

Prior to that on July 27, the customs team had intercepted three passengers who arrived from Sharjah by Indigo flight 6E1406, while they were trying to smuggle in 40,800 cigarettes and 1010 e-cigarettes, worth Rs 14 lakh.

On July 25, five passengers who arrived from Dubai by Emirates flight EK-526 and from Sharjah by flight 6E1406 were apprehended for trying to smuggle in cigarettes and e-cigarettes worth Rs 25 lakhs.

31/07/22 Times of India

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Air India flights to US may need radio filters to counter 5G interference

New Delhi: As 5G auctions pick up pace in India, airlines in the US are racing against time to retrofit their aircraft with devices that protect against interference from frequencies that may lead to equipment malfunction.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month asked all airlines in the US operating Boeing aircraft to install radio frequency filters before the end of this year on an “expedited basis” to prevent any disaster arising out of interference from 5G frequencies. The move is likely to impact Air India, the only Indian airline flying to the US from India. However, 5G interference-related issues are unlikely to affect domestic airlines and their operations since India is not auctioning the “problematic bandwidth” that has been red flagged by the US regulator.

It takes just a few hours to install these filters on planes. A response from the spokesperson of the Tata group, the owner of Air India, is awaited.

In January this year, Air India had cancelled eight flights to the US citing “deployment of 5G communications”. The cancelled flights included those connecting New York, Newark, San Francisco and Chicago with New Delhi.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier stated that it was closely working with US regulators to find a solution to the threat posed by 5G technologies to planes.

5G frequencies pose dangers to the functioning of radio altimeters on aircraft. These instruments are crucial to gauge the distance of the plane from the ground. Radio altimeters on commercial aircraft operate in the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band. This is perilously close to the 3.7 to 3.93 GHz band rolled out in the US as part of that country’s 5G auctions last year.

28/07/22 Sai Manish/Business Standard

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Canada Police Arrest 2 For Murder Of Ripudaman Malik, Acquitted In 1985 Air India Bombing

New Delhi: The Canadian police have arrested two persons for the targeted killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a 75-year-old Sikh man acquitted in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terrorist bombing case, local media reported.

Tanner Fox, 21, and Jose Lopez, 23, have been charged with first degree homicide, CBC news said.

Ripudaman Singh Malik, 75, was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia on June 15. Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.

Ripudaman Singh Malik's eldest son Jaspreet told reporters outside the family's $6.8-million South Surrey home after the killing that his father had no security concerns and was focused on his businesses and the volunteer work he did for his community.

"My dad never said anything to us about anybody ever threatening him or anything like that," he said. Jaspreet Malik was working at his law office when his wife called him with the news.

28/07/22 NDTV

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Angolan national apprehended at Mumbai airport with Rs 11 crore drug

Mumbai: Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs Department and the Bengaluru office of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) apprehended an Angolan national woman at Mumbai international airport and seized drugs worth over Rs 11 crore from her, officials said on Thursday.

The accused Angolan national was apprehended with cocaine weighing 1,466 grams worth around Rs 11 crore in the international market.

The action was taken based on inputs provided by the Bangalore DRI.

The Mumbai Police has registered a case under the NDPS Act.

The arrested accused was produced in court which sent her to judicial custody.

28/07/22 ANI/Print

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Alliance Air may resume Jaffna flights

Chennai: Alliance Air plans to resume flights between Chennai and Jaffna after the situation in Sri Lanka improves. The airline holds the slot for the route at Chennai airport. The route was popular in pre-Covid times among tourists, Lankan Tamils, traders and pilgrims.

Chennaiites will soon have a budget-friendly foreign destination to visit, as Alliance Air is planning to resume flights between Chennai and Jaffna. The service is likely to start after the situation improves in the island nation. The airline continues to hold the slot for the route at Chennai airport.

The only international route of the airline, which is managed by the government of India, was popular in the pre-Covid days among tourists, Sri Lankan Tamils, traders and pilgrims. "We will be resuming the services. Everything is ready. The date will be finalised soon," said a spokesperson of the airline.

The airline had started flights to Jaffna in November 2019 but had to discontinue after the pandemic struck. Travel and tour operators are upbeat about the plans. Sriharan Balan of Madura Travels said "Jaffna is much safer and peaceful than Colombo. There is good potential for tourists and pilgrims. It is a new and affordable destination for a foreign experience at a time when trips to Southeast Asia and the Middle East are expensive."

28/07/22 Times of India

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Batik Air expands Indian network coverage to Amritsar and Kolkata

Kuala Lumpur: With its recently announced flights to the Indian cities of Mumbai, Kochi and Bangalore receiving encouraging response, Batik Air is now expanding its network to Amritsar and Kolkata effective Sept 9 and Sept 30 respectively.

The airline today said the first four times weekly flight to Amritsar would operate every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

"Our flights to Kolkata will be five times a week, departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday," it said in a statement.

Batik Air is a subsidiary of the Lion Air Group. Other airlines under its stable include Super Jet, Wings Air, Batik Air Indonesia, Biz Jet, Thai Lion Air and Lion Air.

"Batik Air celebrates yet another milestone with the announcement of our new services between Kuala Lumpur and Amritsar; and Kuala Lumpur and Kolkata," the airline's chief executive officer Captain Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri said.

"We are also happy to announce that apart from having direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Perth, Australia, Batik Air will launch on Sept 15, additional flights to Perth via Denpasar, Indonesia."

26/07/22  Marina Emmanuel/New Straits Times

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Zambian woman carrying heroin worth Rs 30 crore held at KIA

Bengaluru: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bengaluru unit, on Monday intercepted and later arrested a Zambian national at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) after they recovered four-and-a-half kg of heroin, which was concealed in her baggage. The market value of the banned narcotic drug is more than Rs 30 crore in the international grey market, sources said.

According to sources, the Zambian woman, aged 40, had travelled from Addis Ababa to Bengaluru on Ethiopian Airlines and landed at  KIA at 8.30am on July 25. This was her first visit to India. Upon arrival, the DRI intercepted her and later arrested her after they recovered heroin from her baggage. “Her handler – also a Zambian had given her the consignment in Zambia. To conceal the origin of the contraband she travelled from there to Addis Ababa before boarding the Ethiopian Airlines to Bengaluru. He had instructed her to call him soon after landing in Bengaluru for further movement instruction,” sources added.

“On July 21, the DRI, Bengaluru unit, arrested a Ugandan national, 30, who had ingested 80 capsules of methamphetamine weighing 1 kg worth Rs 4  crore in the international grey market,” said sources.

“He was instructed to check in a hotel form his handler. The receivers of the contraband would have come to take the consignment after a week. In the meantime, he was told to excrete the capsules and keep them safely,” sources added.

27/07/22 Bala Chauhan/New Indian Express

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Keralite builds four-seater plane in the UK

Kottayam: A Keralite is going places with family in his home-built aircraft in the UK. Ashok Aliseril Thamarakshan, a native of Alappuzha, successfully built a four-seater aircraft to go on holidays with his family to places across the UK.

It took nearly 18 months for the London-settled mechanical engineer to build the aircraft model 'Sling TSI' named 'G-Diya', Diya being his younger daughter. Ashok is the son of former MLA A V Thamarakshan. He moved to the UK in 2006 for his masters degree after completing BTech from Palakkad Engineering College.

The idea of a private plane struck him during Covid-induced lockdown.

"Initially, I used to rent small two-seater aircraft for trips after acquiring my pilot license in 2018. But since my family comprises my wife and two daughters, I required four-seater aircraft. But they are rare and even if I could get one, they were very old. This made me explore options and learn about home-built aircraft," said Thamarakshan, who works for Ford Motor Company.

"I learned about a Johannesburg-based company Sling Aircraft launching a new aircraft named Sling TSI in 2018," he said.

Thamarakshan visited the company to learn more about the aircraft and ordered a kit. He set up a workshop in his house compound and began work. The construction was periodically overseen by the civil aviation authorities in the UK, he said.

"Home-built aircraft are not new in the UK as there are companies which provide assembly kits," said Thamarakshan.

Since assembling one takes a lot of time, only retired people try their hand at home-built aircraft, he said. The lockdown period gave him ample time to achieve his goal and he completed the plane in February and soon took his first flight.

The total cost of the aircraft was around 1.8 crores in Indian rupees. The small plane has a maximum speed of 200km/hr and needs 20 litres of fuel per hour. The fuel tank capacity is 180 litres.

26/07/22 Times of India

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Flight Attendant Claims Snake Head Found In Plane Meal, Airline Launches Investigation

A flight attendant from a Turkey-based airline company was recently left horrified after allegedly discovering a severed snake's head in an in-flight meal. 

Citing aviation blog, One Mile at a Time, the Independent reported that the shocking incident took place aboard a SunExpress flight from Ankara in Turkey to Dusseldorf in Germany on July 21. The cabin crew member claimed that they were eating their crew meal when they found a small snake's head camouflaged amongst the potato and vegetables. 

A video shared on Twitter shows the reptile's decapitated head lying in the middle of the food tray. 

Severed snake head found in a Sunexpress in-flight meal.
The flight was enroute to Düsseldorf from Ankara when a cabin crew member, who had eaten most of the meal, found it.
Dead snails have previously appeared in the airline’s flight meals.
A company providing catering suspended pic.twitter.com/nAgg2wSUIK

— Handy Joe (@DidThatHurt2) July 26, 2022

The horrifying discovery triggered an immediate response from the airline. As per the outlet, a representative for SunExpress told the Turkish press that the incident was “absolutely unacceptable”. The airline has since paused its contract with the food supplier in question and an investigation has also been launched, the representative added. 

“With more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry, it is our top priority that the services we provide to our guests on our aircraft are of the highest quality and that both our guests and employees have a comfortable and safe flight experience,” the airline said in a statement, according to the Independent. 

“We would like to inform you that the allegations and shares in the press regarding in-flight food service are absolutely unacceptable and a detailed investigation has been initiated on the subject,” it added. 

On the other hand, the catering company that supplied the meal has denied that the snake head could have originated from their facilities. Sancak Inflight Service reportedly stated that it “did not provide any of the foreign objects that were supposedly in the food when cooking”. The catering company also went on to claim that since its meals are cooked at 280 degrees Celsius, the relatively fresh-looking snake head must have been added after the fact. 

26/07/22 NDTV

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Azerbaijan Airlines to start flights to Baku from New Delhi in August

Pune: Azerbaijan Airlines has started ticket sales for flights to Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku from India. The first flight will take off from New Delhi on August 10, its officials said.

According to the schedule, the frequency of flights will be twice a week: Flights from Baku will operate on Tuesdays and Fridays, and from New Delhi - on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Azerbaijan has emerged as a popular Silk Road tourist destination for the world. Baku, the stunning capital of Azerbaijan, is one of the best stops on a trip to Europe. With a beautiful 20km (65,616 ft) long coastline, this unique city has so much to offer to travelers; from beaches and volcanoes to a cityscape where the ancient meets the new.

Flight tickets can be booked on the official website of the airline (www.azal.az) as well as at the air carrier's accredited agencies. The ticket price includes free baggage allowance (up to 23kg in economy class and up to 32kg in business class), as well as a full range of cold and hot meals.

24/07/22 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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No AC, no food: Kolkata airport rejects Biman’s claim of not letting onboard passengers disembark

The authorities at the Kolkata airport have rejected Biman's claim that they did not permit the deplaning of passengers from a Biman flight left stranded at the airport for four hours on July 18 due to a technical glitch.

The airport authorities said there was no provision that prevents or disallows boarded passengers to deplane.

"But it has to be requested and it has costs. The request was never made by the Biman pilot or their ground duty manager posted at the airport," said the Kolkata airport authorities.

Earlier, Biman alleged that the Kolkata airport authorities were responsible for the sufferings of its passengers on the Dhaka-bound flight.

Flight BG 396 remained stuck with around 150 onboard in Kolkata from 9:00pm local time on July 18 at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as the Boeing 737 aircraft suffered a technical glitch in its landing gear, said Biman sources.

Biman Managing Director and CEO Zahid Hossain earlier told this newspaper that the passengers were not allowed by the Kolkata airport authorities to disembark.

During the four hours, the passengers were left without food and air conditioning. The Biman MD said they couldn't serve food or turn the AC on as repair work was ongoing.

After the fix, the flight, however, landed in Dhaka at 1:42am on Tuesday.

"Food was stored in the aircraft as per our information. In the worst case scenario, if there is insufficient food or water, they can be delivered from local agencies like Taj Stats on short notice," said the Kolkata airport authorities.

Several passengers who went to India for medical purposes started feeling unwell as the air condition system of the aircraft was not working due to the unavailability of ground electricity.

The Kolkata airport authorities said Air India ground handling provides support to Biman at Kolkata. Ground-based power units can be connected to aircraft for the AC to be powered. Ground-based AC units are also available but the Biman pilot did not request any of them.

Asked about the claim made by the Kolkata airport authorities, the Biman MD said he is currently out of Dhaka and could not comment on this issue instantly. He also asked this correspondent to contact Biman's customer service department.

25/07/22 Rashidul Hasan/Daily Star

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Critically ill Indian woman flown from US to Chennai city over 26-hour flight for heart surgery

A 67-year-old Indian woman—who has a critical heart condition and needs emergency surgery—was airlifted from the US to India’s southern Chennai city over a 26-hour flight, making this one of the longest aero-medical evacuations in recent years in India.

She arrived in Chennai early Sunday and is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital.

According to reports, the flight stopped three times on the way—once in Iceland and twice in Turkey—before landing in the Chennai. The woman is a resident of Bengaluru city.

The flight cost $133,000. The family used a Bengaluru-based air ambulance flight service called ICATT which is equipped with an ICU. It involved two super-midsized private jets—one from Portland to Istanbul, Turkey, and another from Istanbul to Chennai.

The woman, whose name has not been revealed and is only identified as a resident of Indiranagar, had recently moved to Portland, Oregon, with her children. She was being treated there for her heart condition, but as soon as her health deteriorated, the family decided to seek treatment in India.

“The woman’s family felt the treatment in the US was not sufficient for her,” Dr Shalini Nalwad, co-founder and director of ICATT, the air ambulance services firm, told The Times of India newspaper.

As the woman recently moved to the US, she was facing issues to secure health insurance as she was an Indian passport holder.

“The treatment period there (in the US) was longer and costing much more than airlifting her to India,” Nalwad was quoted as saying. She added, “This was probably the longest-ever aeromedical retrieval in the country with the patient flown all the way from the US to India over two days' time.”

22/07/22 WION

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DGCA grounds plane, off-rosters crew, orders probe

Mumbai: After an Air India Dubai Kochi flight suffered loss of cabin pressurisation and was diverted to Mumbai where it landed safely, the DGCA initiated an inquiry into the episode. "The aircraft has been grounded and the crew has been off-rostered," Arun Kumar, director general, civil aviation, said. An Air India spokesperson said the flight, AI-934, was diverted to Mumbai due to a technical issue and another aircraft was being arranged to fly the passengers to Kochi.

In recent months, the country has witnessed a rise in air turnbacks and flight diversions over engineering issues.

Jet aircraft fly at high altitudes with a pressurised fuselage that maintains pressure and temperature at levels physiologically fit for humans. While most jets have cabin air pressure equivalent to that experienced at an altitude of 8000 feet, the Dreamliner, with its composite fuselage, can maintain a lower cabin pressure of about 6,000 feet.

22/07/22 Manju v/Times of India

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Zimbabwean Drugs Mule Arrested Indian Airport - Cocaine Concealed in Soles of Sandals

A Zimbabwean woman was Wednesday arrested after she was found in possession of a kilogram of cocaine by customs officers at the Indira Gandhi International airport.

The woman has not been named but is due to appear before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) for judicial custody according to Asian News Agencies (ANI).

Reports say the Zimbabwean national arrived at the airport from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Delhi Airport customs seized 1,015 grams of cocaine which was concealed in the soles of her sandals.

Current economic challenges in Zimbabwe have, to a large extent, created room for increased illegal drug trafficking.

Estimates are that nearly 85% of the employable population is unemployed, most of them being youths who are recent graduates from universities and other technical training colleges.

Many of the youths are turning to consumption of or trading in illegal drugs or substances to drown sorrows and frustrations over their unemployment, or as a source of income.

22/07/22 All Africa

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Air India Dubai-Kochi flight diverted to Mumbai after pilot reports cabin pressure loss, DGCA grounds crew

In yet again aviation incident, an Air India Dubai-Kochi flight was diverted to Mumbai on July 21 (today) for a reported loss in cabin pressure. Air India, now part of Tata Group was operating a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on the international route with 247 passengers and crew onboard when the pilot-in-command reported a loss in cabin pressure, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) later grounded the Boeing 787 and off-rostered the flight's crew. An Air India spokesperson said the matter has been reported to the DGCA as per the set procedures. DGCA, on the other hand has started investigating the incident, the officials said. 

Oxygen masks were deployed on the Air India plane so that the passengers do not face any discomfiture. The plane was allowed to divert to the nearest airport, which in this case was the one in Mumbai and it landed safely, said DGCA. An aircraft generally operates at an altitude of around 30,000 feet where the oxygen level is quite less. Therefore, all aircraft create pressure inside the cabin so that there is sufficient oxygen for passengers and crew members.

"Flight AI 934, operating from Dubai to Cochin, was diverted to Mumbai today due to a technical issue. The B787 aircraft landed safely at Mumbai at 1912 hrs with 247 passengers and crew. An alternate aircraft is being arranged to carry passengers from Mumbai to Kochi," an Air India spokesperson said.

This is the third instance in the last three days when the aviation regulator grounded a plane after an incident. On Tuesday, Go First's Mumbai-Leh and Srinagar-Delhi flights faced engine snags and both the planes were grounded by the DGCA. Officials said that when the Air India flight was heading from Dubai to Kochi on Thursday, the pilot observed a loss in cabin pressure and immediately contacted the integrated operations control centre (IOCC) of the airline as well as the air traffic controller.

There have been multiple technical malfunction incidents in planes flown by Indian carriers in the last one month. Between Sunday and Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia held multiple meetings with airlines and officials from his ministry and DGCA to ensure safety oversight.

The DGCA had on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that an insufficient number of engineering personnel were certifying planes of various carriers before take-off.

Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on deployment of qualified AMEs and directed them to comply by July 28.

21/07/22 Zee News

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Ripudaman Singh's killing has hallmarks of professional 'hit': Canada's former minister

Toronto: The targeted killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, the Sikh man acquitted in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terrorist bombing case, has all the hallmarks of a professional murder-for-hire person and it could be a 'difficult investigation," according to British Columbia's former solicitor general.

On July 15, Malik was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia. Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.

Kash Heed made the comments during an interview with CTV News on Saturday while discussing the challenges he believes investigators will face in finding Malik’s killer -- or killers.

"These are the hallmarks of a hit person, or hit persons, doing this type of work, and it's quite common,” Kash Heed said, referencing the similarities to other shootings that have occurred.

"It's going to be a difficult investigation, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and other law enforcement agencies are really going to have to step up their game and try and find a confidential informant,” Heed said, adding that he believes police will have to find ways to guarantee the safety of anyone who assists with the investigation.

“There are people that will know what occurred to Malik a couple of days ago in Surrey, B.C.,” Heed said. “But they're not going to come forward if, in fact, they fear for their safety.”

Malik was acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges in the Kanishka bombing case in March 2005.

Homicide investigators have said they believe Malik was targeted but that the motive for the shooting is unclear, urging the public not to speculate on the matter.

On July 16, Canada's top homicide unit released a footage showing a white car that it says was linked to the targeted killing of Malik and urged the public not to jump to conclusions over the motive as it investigates the complex high-profile case.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) released an eerie video Friday of a white Honda CRV driving through the parking area of the complex where Papillon Eastern Imports, which Malik founded as a Gastown store in the early 1970s, is based, Toronto Sun newspaper reported.

There appears to be more than one person inside, it said.

20/07/22 India Today

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Singapore Airlines steadily restoring its India operations to pre-Covid levels

Chennai: Singapore Airlines (SIA) is steadily restoring its India operations back to pre-Covid levels even as it launched special fares from Indian cities to various destinations in Asia.

It has announced a special fare promotion for travel from Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kochi to destinations across Asia.

Customers planning travel from any of these four Indian gateways to destinations in Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and other Asian countries in the SIA network can avail themselves of promotional fares when they book tickets between now and August 5.

From Ahmedabad and Kochi, the fares are available for travel between August 2 and March 31, 2023, while from Chennai and Hyderabad, they are available for travel between September 2, 2022 and March 31, 2023, the airline said in a release.

Meanwhile, the airline plans to increase operations from Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kochi in the coming months. While five times weekly operation will continue from Ahmedabad, it will increase its services from Kochi from daily to twice daily, starting August 2, 2022.

From September 1, 2022, the airline will increase its Chennai operations from the current 10 times a week to 17 times weekly, and Hyderabad operations will increase from daily to 11 times a week.

All-inclusive fares per person from Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi to Bangkok will be ₹16,200 and to Kuala Lumpur it will be ₹17,400.

20/07/22 Business Line

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Supreme Court asks Credit Suisse to rethink decision to allow SpiceJet to withdraw $5-million bank guarantee

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Credit Suisse AG to rethink its decision to allow low-cost carrier SpiceJet to withdraw its $5-million bank guarantee, which is in custody of the Madras High Court.

The low-cost carrier had arrived at an “in-principle commercial settlement” with the Switzerland-based investment banking company in the $24-million dispute between the two parties.

While both SpiceJet and Credit Suisse asked a bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana to take on record the consent terms, which was executed on May 23, towards settlement of their disputes, the airline also sought a direction to the HC to release its bank guarantee, saying that the collateral given for the guarantee is required to pay the dues as per the settlement terms.

However, the CJI asked Credit Suisse counsel Liz Mathew to rethink its stand and said the apex court will not intervene later in case SpiceJet refused to pay up after withdrawal of the bank guarantee. It also posted the matter for further hearing next week.

The apex court had earlier asked SpiceJet to resolve its dispute with Credit Suisse AG and had stayed the HC’s order that allowed a winding up of the low-cost airline.

SpiceJet had challenged the HC order of January 11, allowing the winding-up petition filed by Credit Suisse against the company for default of about $24 million. The HC had also directed the official liquidator to take over the assets of SpiceJet.

The Swiss company had filed a winding-up case against the airline for failing to honour some invoices raised for over $24 million towards payment of maintenance, repairing, and overhauling of the aircraft engines and components in 2013. However, the apex court, on Spicejet’s appeal, had put the HC order on hold and asked the airline to settle the case with Credit Suisse.

The airline had in November 2011 entered into a 10-year contract for servicing of aircraft with Swiss engine maintenance services firm SRT Technics, which, in turn, sold its right to receive payments based on the contract to Credit Suisse in September 2012.

20/07/22 Indu Bhan/Financial Express

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Biman flight stranded for 3 hours in Kolkata, safely lands in Dhaka

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane has landed in Dhaka after being stranded at Kolkata airport for three hours, with 150 passengers.

During this period, the passengers were forced to suffer without electricity and food on the Dhaka-bound flight.

The passengers had to go through a traumatic experience as the plane was undergoing repair works.

The flight could not take off due to a problem with the landing gear, Managing Director and CEO of the national flag carrier Zahid Hossain told Dhaka Tribune.

He said: “Normally if flights are delayed anywhere by one or two hours, we disembark the passengers. But it was not possible this time, as the Kolkata Airport authority did not give us permission.”

However, immediately after the incident, the Biman authorities contacted Jet Airways engineers and made several attempts to fix the glitch, he added.

During that time the aircraft's power was off, and hence it was dark inside the plane.

Finally, at around 1:42am, the plane landed safely at Dhaka airport after technicians managed to repair the landing gears.

19/07/22 Dhaka Tribune

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Noida: Gang promised jobs in Kuwait airport, cheated many of lakhs

Greater Noida: Police have registered a case against three miscreants for allegedly duping people on the pretext of getting them a job at Kuwait airport, officers said on Monday. The miscreants had their office in the Shahberi area of Noida Extension and when the team raided the place, the office was found to be shut.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Sajid, Abdul Parvez and Israt Ali, all residents of Bisrakh in Noida Extension.

In the complaint filed by Ishtikhar Ahmed, a native of Amethi, he mentioned that a group of 45 people from Amethi, Barabanki and Faizabad were cheated. In the complaint filed on Saturday, the victims mentioned that each of them paid between Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000 to get their visas.

19/07/22 Aditya Bahi/Times of India

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Despite no aviation agreement, why Indian airlines are making emergency landing in Pakistan?

On July 17, a Sharjah-Hyderabad IndiGo flight made an emergency landing in Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. The pilot of the flight 6E-1406 observed a technical defect in the aircraft and as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan. An additional flight has been sent to Karachi to fly the passengers to Hyderabad. A few days earlier, a SpiceJet flight SG11 made an emergency landing at Karachi airport. The Delhi to Dubai international flight suffered a technical fault and made the landing at the Pakistan’s Karachi airport on July 5. A flight ferried the passengers to Dubai later in the day. More than 150 passengers were present onboard the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Two flight incidents in the past few days have raised questions on the safety of the Indian airlines and DGCA has already ordered a probe in the rising number of emergency landings. More than that, the question arises, why are Indian Airlines choosing to land in Pakistan despite India having no such agreement with the neighbouring country?

Read the answer here>>

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3 emergency landings of international airlines in India in last 48 hours

Three Aircraft of International airlines made emergency landings at various airports in the country in the last 48 hours, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines.

A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.

All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues.

The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay.

In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue.

In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of SriLankan airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a Hydraulic issue.

"We had two emergency landings of foreign operators on Saturday. Air Arabia at Cochin due to hydraulic issues and Ethiopian at Kolkata due to pressurisation issue," said an official.

He added that on Friday, we also had SriLankan Airlines emergency landing in Chennai due to Hydraulic issues.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a detailed probe into all of the incidents.

17/07/22 ANI/Business Standard

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Bird found mid-air in cockpit of Air India Express' flight on July 15

New Delhi: An alive bird was found in the cockpit of Air India Express' Bahrain-Kochi flight on July 15, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said on Sunday.

The bird was found in the glove compartment on co-pilot's side when the plane was at 37,000 feet altitude, the officials noted.

The plane landed safely in Kochi, they said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the incident, they mentioned.

Prima facie, it looks like there was a ground handling lapse at a foreign station, the officials said while talking about the incident.

In another incident, Air India Express's Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted on July 16 to Muscat after a burning smell was observed in cabin mid-air.

17/07/22 PTI/Business Standard

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Air India Dubai flight diverted to Muscat after burning smell from faulty oven

An Air India Express flight from Calicut scheduled to land in Dubai was diverted to Muscat on Sunday after the crew detected a burning smell in the galley.

A faulty oven on Air India Express flight IX355 was thought to have caused the strong odour to spread. The oven was disconnected in Oman and 127 passengers and two infants were brought to Dubai after a six-hour delay.

“AI Express flight had a technical diversion to Muscat at 01.47am as the cabin crew felt there was a smell in the forward galley,” PP Singh, Air India’s regional manager, told The National.

“As a precautionary measure, the pilot decided to land in Muscat for further checks.

“The engineering team carried out checks and found there was an issue with an oven in the forward galley. Stringent checks were carried out.

“After disconnection of the oven, the flight continued to Dubai and arrived at 7.46am.”

The plane then flew from Dubai to Muscat with 156 passengers and one infant on board at 9.11am on Sunday.

Indian news media first reported the flight was diverted to Muscat following a burning odour from a vent in the cabin.

Ovens to heat pre-cooked meals are a feature of most aircraft galleys.

The cause of the oven malfunction has yet to be determined and repairs will take place once the plane is back in India.

17/07/22 The National

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Canada Cops Seek Public's Help In 1987 Air India Bombing Suspect Murder Case

Toronto: Canada's top homicide unit has released a footage showing a white car that it says was linked to the targeted killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, the Sikh man acquitted in the tragic 1985 Air India Kanishka terrorist bombing case.

They urged the public not to jump to conclusions over the motive as it investigates the complex high-profile case.

Ripudaman Singh Malik, 75, was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia on Thursday. Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the two bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.

Homicide investigators are now trying to figure out who killed the controversial community leader, one-time terror suspect, wealthy businessman and founder of both the Khalsa Credit Union and Khalsa Schools.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) released a video Friday of a white Honda CRV driving through the parking area of the complex where Papillon Eastern Imports, which Ripudaman Singh Malik founded as a Gastown store in the early 1970s, is based, Toronto Sun newspaper reported.

There appears to be more than one person inside, it said.

The IHIT's Sergeant David Lee said the Compact Recreational Vehicle (CRV), which was later found burning at 122A Street and 82nd Avenue, was linked to Malik's targeted slaying.

"A review of CCTV determined that this CRV arrived...a short time before the shooting and waited for Mr Malik," Mr Lee said.

Anyone nearby who witnessed anything or has dash-cam footage taken between 7 am and 9 am is asked to contact investigators, he said.

Police have not yet determined a motive in the case and Lee urged the public not to jump to conclusions, saying IHIT has "a number of investigative avenues available to us."

"We understand this is a high-profile international story. However, we urge (people) not to speculate as to the motive as our homicide investigators will be following the evidence," Mr Lee said.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges in the Kanishka bombing case in March 2005.

16/07/22 NDTV

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Western Australia asks Air India, Vistara, IndiGo to start direct flights to Perth

The government of Western Australia, the largest state of Australia, has held talks with the top management of Air India, Vistara and IndiGo requesting them to operate direct flights from India to Perth, a city that is getting ready to host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year.

The Indian airlines have been approached to connect to Western Australia to boost tourism from India.  

Western Australia’s Deputy Premier Roger Cook, during his visit to New Delhi and Mumbai, met airline top executives and Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia apprising them about the potential of Perth as a sector.

“I met Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran and requested him to consider Perth as a route for Air India or Vistara which are part of the Tata Group. Our officials had also met with top executives of IndiGo.” said Mr. Cook in an interview.

He said he has got positive feedback from these airlines but the common concern is adequate load factor. He said once direct air connectivity is established, the number of travellers will rise sharply. Currently Indian tourists travel via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.  

“India remains a priority market for us. Following the return of international visitors to Western Australia, we have seen an influx of visitors from India with arrivals in May reaching more than 90% of pre-COVID levels, and forward bookings for July and August are even higher than before the pandemic,” he said adding tourist number from India had exceeded 30,000 a year in pre-COVID time. 

16/07/22 Lalatendu Mishra/The Hindu

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In Life, Canadian Sikh Ripudaman Malik Was an Enigma; His Killing Has Only Added to the Mystery

Jalandhar: Ripudaman Singh Malik, the Sikh activist who was shot dead in Canada on July 14, was always embroiled in controversies and the Sikh diaspora in North America is deeply divided over his legacy.

The 75-year-old was accused of involvement in the terrorist bombing of  flight AI182 on June 23, 1985, which took the lives of 329 passengers and crew who were on board. However, he was acquitted by a Canadian court in 2005.

One of the deadliest attacks in the history of Canada, the Air India bombing took the lives of 268 Canadians, many of whom were of Indian origin, 24 Indian citizens and 27 British nationals. The flight was a Boeing 747 wide-bodied jumbo jet, christened Emperor Kanishka.

Malik and two others – Inderjit Singh Reyat and Ajaib Singh Bagri – were the main accused in the case. While Reyat was convicted – and released from jail in 2016 – Bagri was acquitted. All three were Canadian citizens.

A wealthy businessman, Ripudaman recently came to the limelight after he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 17, 2022, a month before the Punjab assembly elections, praising him for taking initiatives to redress pending demands of the Sikh.

In the letter, he thanked Modi for removing the names of some Sikhs from the blacklist which prevented them from visiting India. He also accused certain “anti-India members” of the Sikh community of running an “orchestrated campaign” against Modi.

Back in Surrey in British Columbia, his praise for Modi prompted a section of Sikhs to accuse Ripudaman of treachery towards the Sikh ‘qaum‘.

On June 23, 1985, a bomb exploded aboard Air India 182 operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay route. The bomb was placed in a suitcase – checked in by an unidentified man at Vancouver airport – and loaded on a Canadian Pacific flight to Toronto for transfer to AI 181, destined for Montreal. From there, it stayed on the aircraft, which was renumbered AI 182 for the flight to India.

Another bomb was checked in at Vancouver on a Canadian Pacific flight to Narita, Tokyo, which was meant to be transferred to Air India flight AI 310, destined for Bangkok and then India. This bomb exploded prematurely in the baggage handling room of Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers. Since the two bombings were related, they were known as the Kanishka bombings.

The bombings were carried out by the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa in retaliation for Operation Blue Star, during which the Indian Army had stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to flush out militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was closely associated with Talwinder Singh Parmar, who was the alleged mastermind of the Kanishka bombings. Parmar was killed by the Punjab Police in an encounter in 1992.

Surrey-based journalist Gurpreet Singh said that when he questioned Malik during an interview about giving funds to the Babbar Khalsa, he had said, “It wasn’t a banned organisation back then.”

Malik and Bagri were arrested in Vancouver in 2000. Reyat, who was a dual British-Canadian national, was arrested from Coventry in the UK. Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in jail for assembling the bombs which exploded on board AI 182 and at Narita airport.

On July 14, 2022 at 9:26 am (local time), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) responded to a report of a shooting in Surrey, British Columbia. By the time first responders attended the location, Malik was dead.

In its July 14 statement, Sergeant David Lee of the Surrey RCMP said the police are aware of Malik’s background and are working to determine the motive. “We can confirm that the shooting appears to be targeted and there is not believed to be any further risk to the public. Having occurred in a residential area, we are confident that witnesses exist who could help us further this investigation. We urge them to come forward immediately and without delay,” the statement said.

A burned vehicle was also located nearby, which is believed by investigators to be associated with the killing, the statement read.

Soon after the killing, Malik’s son, Jaspreet Singh Malik, said that although the media will always refer to him as someone charged with the Air India bombing, he was “wrongly charged and the court concluded there was no evidence against him”.

Born in Pakistan and raised in the Ferozepur district of Punjab, Malik initially went to the UK but soon moved to Canada. While his financial clout and social standing in the Sikh community grew, he remained embroiled in various controversies.

Ex-British Columbia premier Ujjal Dosanjh, who hails from Dosanjh Kalan village in Jalandhar district, first met Ripudaman Singh Malik in the 1970s, when the local South Asian community in Vancouver was very small.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Dosanjh also did the legal work pro bono to help Ripudaman set up his first two charities, the Satnam Trust and the Satnam Education Society.

“He was a ganja-smoking hippie who had a ponytail and then he turned into an extremist warrior. It’s hard to explain”, Dosanjh said. “Something happened to him.”

The newspaper said Dosanjh believes Malik’s recent support of the Indian government which “he once reviled” could be the motive for the murder.

17/07/22 Kusum Arora/Wire

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Burning smell in cabin: AI Express Calicut-Dubai flight safely diverts to Muscat

New Delhi: Air India Express Calicut-Dubai flight on Saturday diverted safely to Muscat after burning smell came from a vent in the forward galley. The Boeing 737 (VT-AXX) was operating as IX-355. The crew carried out the SOP for smoke, fire and fumes and then diverted to Muscat where it safely landed.

“No fume or smoke was observed from either engine or APU. There was no smell of fuel or oil. Oven in forward galley was released under MEL (minimum equipment list), meaning a certain part will be repaired within a given time frame and during which the aircraft is safe to fly,” said sources.

Post landing, engineering inspections were carried on the aircraft and the engines.

Comments have been sought from AI Express and are awaited.

17/07/22 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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101 Lankan flights refuel at Thiruvananthapuram, pay Rs 75 lakh to land

Two more flights from Sri Lanka touched down at Thiruvananthapuram airport for refuelling on Friday, taking the number of such technical landings from the crisis-hit island nation to 101 since May.The stopovers, most of them by the country’s official carrier Sri Lankan Airlines, started after fuel shortage induced by the economic crisis hit refuelling at Colombo airport. The temporary halts have helped Thiruvananthapuram airport earn at least Rs 75 lakh in landing charges. This excludes refuelling charges.

Since May 27, 65 SriLankan Airlines flights have proceeded to destinations such as Melbourne, Sydney, Paris and Frankfurt after refuelling at Thiruvananthapuram airport. This apart, 11 flydubai flights headed to Dubai, 10 Air Arabia aircraft proceeding to Sharjah, nine Oman Air flights bound to Muscat and six Gulf Air flights flying to Bahrain have also made technical landing here in that period.

A source with the Thiruvananthapuram airport said all these flights were served a total ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) of 5,000 kilolitres. The 100th flight was SriLankan Airlines flight to Melbourne that arrived around 1am on Friday. It was closely followed by the same airlines’ flight to Sydney, the 101st.The source said the airport is considering this an opportunity to facilitate and help the struggling neighbouring country.

“Most of the flights for refuelling are coming during peak hours, between midnight and 6am. So we are providing assistance to them despite our tight schedule. They had approached us for this. So, we are acting as a facilitator rather than considering this a business opportunity,” said a source.

The arrivals have provided TIAL with an additional revenue stream though. “A wide-bodied aircraft has to pay Rs 1 lakh while smaller ones are charged Rs 30,000 as landing fee. At least Rs 75 lakh has been paid by all the airlines as landing fee,” said a source.

16/07/22 Krishnachand K/New Indian Express

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Full emergency declared at Cochin airport as Air Arabia flight with hydraulic failure lands

A full emergency was declared at Kochi airport on Friday after an incident of hydraulic failure was reported from an inbound Air Arabia flight from Sharjah, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said. All passengers and crew were safe.

CIAL, in a communication sent to the media, said Air Arabia G9- 426 which was supposed to land at 19:13 hrs here reported a hydraulic failure following which a full emergency was declared at the airport.

“Aircraft landed safely at runway 09 at 19:29 hrs,” CIAL said, adding that only towing was required. The full emergency was withdrawn at 2022 hrs.

Meanwhile, CIAL MD, S Suhas, said a concerted effort and timely coordination helped CIAL to see through the airport emergency situation.

“Though such a situation occurred after a long period, it was proved that the safety systems worked effectively. We could resume the operations in 45 minutes,” Suhas said.

CIAL said two flights were diverted during the incident.

“GO FIRST G8 336 was diverted to Kannur at 1940 hrs and Air Arabia 3L125 was diverted to Coimbatore at 1950 hrs,” airport authorities said.

CIAL said that all, including 222 passengers and seven crew members, were safe. However, there was no immediate response from the airline.

16/07/22 PTI/Indian Express

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IndiGo Sharjah flight diverted; second Indian airline in 2 weeks to make emergency landing in Karachi

An IndiGo Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Pakistan’s Karachi due to a "technical defect", news agency ANI reported on Sunday. This is the second Indian airline to make an emergency landing in Karachi in two weeks.

"After the pilot of the Sharjah-Hyderabad flight observed a technical defect in the aircraft, as a precaution the aircraft was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan," ANI said in a tweet, quoting the airline.

IndiGo was dispatching an additional flight to Karachi to bring passengers back to Hyderabad, ANI said. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On July 5, SpiceJet’s Boeing 737 aircraft from New Delhi to Dubai made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, after a fuel indicator fault. The airline was issued a warning notice by DGCA following the incident.

Recently, the airline watchdog also ordered a probe on IndiGo’s Delhi-Vadodara flight which was diverted to Jaipur as vibrations were observed in the engines of the aircraft.

16/07/22 CNBCTV18.com

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Heathrow restrictions hit Virgin’s India-London flight, more could follow

Virgin Atlantic cancelled its Delhi-London flight on Thursday and other carriers could also pull out India-London flights from their summer schedule following Heathrow airport’s decision to limit the number of passengers to one lakh a day.

The limits on passenger numbers imposed by Heathrow airport to cope with a staff crunch has been in force from July 12 to September 11.

There are 102 direct flights a week between India and Heathrow airport — British Airways (41), Virgin Atlantic (21), Air India (33) and Vistara (seven). Heathrow airport in London is one of the busiest airports in the world.

“Due to mandatory flight capacity restrictions being implemented by Heathrow Airport on all airlines on Thursday 14 July, we’ve regrettably had to cancel one of our London Heathrow - New York (JFK) return services, operating as flight numbers VS45 and VS4 and our morning departure to Delhi, flight VS302,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.

It added that it is contacting affected customers and will rebook them on an alternative flight on the same day wherever possible with the option to rebook on a later date or request a refund.

British Airways said in a statement, “This is incredibly disappointing news for our customers, coming at a time when we’ve already taken responsible action to reduce our summer schedule to slim our programme further, utilising slot alleviation to minimise disruption, provide certainty for travellers and help airports manage their resource.” As a result of Heathrow’s request, the airline said it will now need to take a small number of additional flights out of its schedule and the carrier will be contacting customers to apologise, advise them of their customer rights and offer options including rebooking or refund.

“We also know that some customers may want to review their travel plans in light of the current travel challenges and have introduced a policy that will allow customers to easily change travel dates so that they have additional flexibility,” it said.

16/07/22 PTI/The Hindu

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Sri Lankan flight makes emergency landing in Chennai airport

Chennai: A Sri Lankan Airlines flight made an emergency landing at the Chennai airport on Friday morning after the pilot detected a snag in the aircraft’s hydraulic system. The aircraft landed safely at 9.10am.

The Colombo-Chennai flight (UL121) developed the snag as it neared the city. A full emergency was declared, and crash tenders were positioned by the side of the runway as per protocol. The flight was given priority for landing.

As the landing gear was working, foam or other chemicals used to prevent fire was not sprayed on the runway.

An airport official said the landing was safe and it did not affect other services.

16/07/22 Times of India

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41 flights from Colombo made technical landings in Kochi last fortnight

New Delhi: During the course of a fortnight, 41 flights from Colombo made technical landings in Kochi.

"From June 29th to July 13th as many as 41 flights from Colombo made technical landings (mostly in Kochi). If we take a count of flights that landed since May 27 the number is 94,’’ say sources. 

These were basically for refuelling as Sri Lanka is undergoing an immense shortage of fuel. The airlines that came in for refuelling included mostly Sri Lankan Airways, and the remaining were Air Arabia, Air Asia, Fly Dubai, Gulf Air, Oman Air and Jazeera.

"We continue to stand with Sri Lanka in multiple ways. Airports in India like Kochi and Trivandrum allowed technical landings,’’ stated the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

The Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, also lauded the efforts made by India to support Sri Lanka.

"The airports have gone beyond their call of duty by allowing technical landings from Sri Lanka, The gesture will go a long way in furthering our ties with our neighbour,’’ said Scindia. The number of military aircraft from Sri Lanka that may have come for refuelling is not known.

14/07/22 Yeshi Seli/New Indian Express

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Air Arabia flight develops hydraulic failure, lands safely at Cochin airport

A full emergency was declared at Kochi airport on Friday after an incident of hydraulic failure was reported from an inbound Air Arabia flight from Sharjah, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said. All passengers and crew were safe.

CIAL, in a communication sent to the media, said Air Arabia G9- 426 which was supposed to land at 19:13 hrs here reported a hydraulic failure following which a full emergency was declared at the airport.

"Aircraft landed safely at runway 09 at 19:29 hrs," CIAL said, adding that only towing was required. The full emergency was withdrawn at 2022 hrs.

CIAL said that all, including 222 passengers and seven crew members were safe.

However, there was no immediate response from the airline.

15/07/22 PTI/Mid Day

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Vietjet to start direct flights between Bengaluru and THESE cities in Vietnam

Vietjet, a Vietnamese airline, has announced that it will offer service between Bengaluru and Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Vietjet stated that the new routes are anticipated to be operational by the end of the year and that new direct flights will also be launched to other significant Indian cities at that time. The news follows the Southeast Asian airline's recent introduction of direct services between New Delhi, Mumbai, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Besides, the airline has already announced its plans to start flight services connecting Mumbai and New Delhi with Southeast Asia's favoured beach destination Phu Quoc islands from early September.

Following its new international routes connecting key Indian cities to Vietnam, Vietjet has bigger network growth and implementation plans for the India market, the airline said.

Vietnam has been a rising destination in recent years, drawing more and more world travellers, Vietjet said, adding, the new direct flights from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru will make it easier and more affordable for Indian visitors to travel not only to Vietnam but also connect to other Southeast Asia's destinations.

These destinations include Bali, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore or further to Northeast Asian cities of Seoul, Busan, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Taipei, among others, the airline said.

14/07/22 Zee News

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Man acquitted in Air India bombing was ambushed at site of fatal shooting, RCMP say

 A car was waiting in front of the business of former Air India bombing accused Ripudaman Singh Malik before he was fatally shot, police said Friday.

The car was found ablaze blocks from the Surrey, B.C., business park where Malik was shot Thursday. It had pulled up in front of Malik’s business that morning and waited for him to arrive, said Sgt. David Lee of the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Lee confirmed Malik was “shot several times” in what police believe was a “targeted attack.”

Police said they have CCTV footage of the suspect vehicle, identified as a Honda CRV, arriving at the scene “a short time” before the shooting.

Malik was acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges in the bombing of Air India Flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland in 1985, killing 329 people. At the same time, another bomb exploded at a Tokyo airport, killing two baggage handlers. Two hundred and eighty Canadians were among the victims, making it the worst mass murder in Canadian history.

RCMP received reports of shots fired on 128 Street in Surrey around 9:30 a.m. local time Thursday. “When first responders arrived, they found (Malik) suffering from fatal injuries,” Lee said.

Whether or not Malik’s killing was connected to the bombings is not yet clear, according to police.

“We understand this is a high-profile international story,” Lee said. “However, we urge not to speculate as to the motive as our homicide investigators will be following the evidence.”

During Malik’s trial, the Crown argued the Air India bombing was a terrorist attack by Sikh extremists against the Indian government, which the year before had ordered the army to invade the Golden Temple, a sacred place for Sikhs.

But Justice Ian Josephson found the Crown’s main witnesses unreliable, and both Malik and another man, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted.

15/07/22 Lex Harvey/The Star

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SpiceJet's Dubai-Amritsar flight delayed; over 50 passengers lose luggage

Amritsar: SpiceJet's Dubai-Amritsar flight was delayed by two hours on Thursday.

However, the misery of the passengers did not end here as the passengers of SpiceJet's flight no. SG56 lost their luggage after arriving at the airport. According to sources, the bags of at least 50 passengers were missing which led to a ruckus at Amritsar airport.

The SG56 flight from Dubai to Amritsar took off late. Usually, this flight takes off at 10.45 p.m. Dubai time, however on Wednesday night, it departed at 12.41 p.m. Due to this, the flight arrived two hours later than scheduled.

The SpiceJet flight reached Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar at 5.07 am instead of 3.20 am.

Manav Bansal, a passenger who arrived in Amritsar from Dubai, stated that the "flight was delayed to luggage issues." However, when they reached Amritsar, half of the passengers' luggage was missing.

Meanwhile, sources say that the flight was delayed due to a technical issue and took off late as authorities conducted an inspection before the departure.

14/05/22 Shgun S/PTC News

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Indian Couple With 45 Pistols Arrested At Delhi Airport

 New Delhi: Two Indian nationals carrying 45 pistols were arrested by customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday.

An investigation is underway to determine if the guns are real or not. The counter-terrorism unit National Security Guard (NSG) that is investigating the case report that the guns look 'completely real'.

"But in a preliminary report, National Security Guard (NSG) has confirmed that the guns are fully functional," a customs official said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

The two arrested have been identified as Jagjit Singh and Jaswinder Kaur who happen to be husband and wife.

The couple had returned to India from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on July 10 and had been kept under surveillance. Jagjit Singh was caught with the pistols in two trolley bags, given to him by his brother Manjit Singh.

Manjit Singh reportedly gave the bags to 

Jagjit Singh in Vietnam after landing in the country from Paris, France. After handing the bags, Manjit Singh "slipped out of the airport", a statement from customs officials stated.

According to customs officials, the female passenger helped her husband remove and destroy the tags of the trolley bag that contained the guns.

"Further, examination of these two trolley bags carried by passenger -1 (male passenger) resulted in the recovery of 45 pieces of assorted brand guns having approximate value of ₹ 22.5 lakh," the statement added.

14/07/22 Mukesh Singh Sengar/NDTV

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India Denies Any Role In Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa's Escape To Maldives

India on Wednesday categorically denied "baseless and speculative" media reports that it facilitated the travel of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the country's economy.

The 73-year-old Sri Lankan President fled the country along with his wife and two security officers on a military jet on Wednesday.

"The High Commission categorically denies baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of @gotabayar @Realbrajapaksa out of Sri Lanka," the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka tweeted.

"It is reiterated that India will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and constitutional framework,” it added.

In a brief statement, the Sri Lankan Air Force said that under the Constitution granted to an Executive President, Rajapaksa was flown to the Maldives onboard an Air Force plane Wednesday morning.

"On government request and in terms of powers available to a President under the Constitution, with complete approval from the ministry of defence, the President, his wife and two security officials were provided a Sri Lanka Air Force plane to depart from the Katunayake international airport for the Maldives in the early hours of July 13," the statement said.

Rajapaksa, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, is believed to have wanted to flee abroad before resigning to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new government.

13/07/22 AP/Outlook

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Many Air France travellers say bags still missing

Bengaluru: Numerous passengers who landed at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) via Air France flights in the past two weeks have a common grouse — their checked-in bags are yet to reach them. They have been visiting the airport to know their luggage status but are getting a response in the negative from the airline’s local representatives.

Sources in the know said an airport employees’ strike in Paris over wages caused the heavy backlog and it could take days for passengers to receive their bags. Loss of luggage can’t be ruled out.

Air France’s spokesperson in India couldn’t be reached for a comment despite seeveral attempts.

Ramesh Iyer, a mechanical engineer with a Swedish company in Bengaluru, had flown to Europe on a work trip towards the end of June. He returned from Paris to Bengaluru on July 1 on Air France flight AF 194. “I landed at KIA and realised that the bag I had checked in was missing. I approached Air France representatives to lodge a complaint and was stunned to realise that over 50 more passengers standing ahead of me had a similar complaint. It has been 11 days since I landed but there is no sign of my bag,” Iyer said on Monday evening.

The engineer is among those visiting KIA regularly to enquire about the status, but in vain. “Air France helpline numbers we were given by the staff after we lodged complaints are of no use as no one picks up the calls. Meanwhile, the customer care directs us to an online link of the airline to track the luggage, which is generic,” said Kedar Sastry, a passenger who arrived in Bengaluru on Air France flight AF 194 from Paris on July 4. A sports and fitness coach, Sastry had visited Dublin, Ireland, on June 23 for a frisbee tournament and returned to Bengaluru, but he’s yet to get his bag.

Airport sources say several passengers who took Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and landed at KIA in the past two weeks are facing a similar problem as the whereabouts of their checked-in bags remain a mystery. A man identified as Sharma, who was Iyer’s fellow passenger on AF 194, is frantically tracking six bags belonging to his family which were checked in before the trip.

13/07/22 Petlee Peter/Times of India

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ICRA says Indian airlines surpass pre-COVID level in international traffic

The domestic airlines have surpassed pre-COVID level of international air traffic in the month of June, rating agency ICRA has said.

"With the resumption of scheduled international operations since March 27, 2022, and reversion to bilaterally-agreed capacity entitlements, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers is on a growth trajectory and surged to around 2.1 million in June 2022, which has notably surpassed the international passenger traffic of around 1.8 million witnessed in June 2019 (pre-Covid level) by around 18 percent," ICRA said in a statement today.

In the domestic market, the air passenger traffic dipped marginally in June as compared to the previous month.

For June 2022, the average daily departures were at around 2,771, notably higher than the average daily departures of around 1,056 in June 2021.

As business travel returns to normalcy, the domestic passenger traffic grew to around 10.5 million in June 2022 from 3.1 million in June 2021 and was only 12 percent lower compared to pre-covid level of 12.0 million seen in June 2019,

On a sequential basis, the domestic air passenger traffic in June 2022 was around 13 percent lower than May 2022, primarily due to the seasonality impact related to the re-opening of schools, ICRA added.

The airlines’ capacity deployment for June 2022 was 1.6 times higher than in June 2021 but on a sequential basis, the number of departures in June 2022 was lower by around 4 percent compared to May 2022.

13/07/22 Anu Sharma/CNBCTV18

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SpiceJet aircraft has nose wheel snag in Dubai; flies back after repairs

New Delhi:A SpiceJet Boeing 737 could not operate a return flight from Dubai to India on Monday as an engineer grounded it there due to a reported nose wheel snag. Sources say the B737 (VT-SZK) had safely operated from Mangalore to Dubai on Monday (July 11) and was to fly back to Madurai.

“After landing during walk around inspection, the engineer observed that the nose wheel strut is compressed more than normal and grounded the aircraft. The airline has ferried another aircraft (flow without passengers) from Mumbai to Dubai,” said sources. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is examining this issue.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said: “On July 11, 2022, SpiceJet flight SG23 operating from Dubai to Madurai was delayed due to a last minute technical issue. Alternate aircraft was arranged immediately which brought passengers back to India. Flight delays can happen with any airline. There has been no incident or a safety scare on this flight. After the minor technical issue was resolved, the first aircraft flew back to India as a commercial flight.”

12/07/22 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Sri Lankan crisis: Over 120 aircraft made technical landing in Kerala airports

Kerala airports lent a helping hand to crisis-ridden Sri Lanka by providing technical landing facilities for the airlines bound for Colombo and flying out to West Asian and European destinations from Colombo, for refuelling and crew exchange.

Over 120 aircraft have made technical landings in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports since the political turmoil and shortage of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) gripped the country. Apart from Kerala airports, a good number of flights are also opting for Chennai airport for refuelling according to their convenience.

Since the last week of May, 91 aircraft made technical landings at the Adani group-run Thiruvananthapuram airport, which is closer to Sri Lanka in terms of aerial distance compared to other airports, to fuel up, while the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) facilitated the technical landing of 30 aircraft so far. Further, these two airports together have around 120 requests for technical landings till July 31 in view of the crisis in the island nation.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior official close to Thiruvananthapuram airport said: “though the crisis is a blessing in disguise for the south Indian airports, we have been providing landing facility here more on a humanitarian ground as the majority of the technical landings are made here during the peak hours of the airport. However, we are doing our level best to offer the facility for all the aircraft bound for or from Lanka without upsetting our peak-hour traffic” .

The spokesperson of CIAL said a discount of 25% in landing fee is offered for flights in international routes for refuelling at the Cochin airport, which has an in-built hydrant fuelling system to meet the quick turnaround requirement of international carriers.

In a facebook post, Bharat Petroleum said “We are pleased to support Sri Lankan Airlines with refuelling of their long-haul flights at Indian airports. To overcome the jet fuel shortage there, more than 100 flights have been refuelled at Thiruvanathapuram, Chennai and Kochi airports, over the last fortnight by mobilising the assets and manpower for the on-time service, at a very short notice,” it said.

12/07/22 Dhinesh Kallungal/The Hindu

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Indian couple nabbed at Delhi airport for taking asylum in France by claiming to be Bangladeshi nationals

New Delhi: An Indian couple managed to get asylum in France by procuring forged Bangladeshi citizenship documents but they got caught at Delhi airport when they arrived in India to attend the last rites of their relative after five years.

The couple identified as Biswajit Das, his wife Rinku Das and their minor daughter, all natives of Nadia district in West Bengal was held at Indira Gandhi International Airport for procuring passports of India and France.

Police informed that the couple has been booked under sections of Forgery, Passport Act and other relevant sections. The arrested man is presently in police custody and his wife is in judicial custody. The custody of the minor child has been handed over to their family members.

"We got a complaint from immigration officials regarding the couple for having dual passports i.e. French Passport and Indian Passport. It was alleged that these three passengers were holding French travel documents and they approached for departure immigration clearance to French capital Paris by Air India flight," said a senior police officer.

The officer added that these passengers were holding French travel documents with them. During scrutiny of their travel documents and questioning, it was revealed that passengers obtained French travel documents from France by declaring their previous nationality as Bangladeshi.

However, these passengers were also having Indian Passports along with them. The details of their Indian Passports were obtained. As the passengers were having dual passports the case was registered and an investigation was taken up.

During, the course of the investigation, Biswajit Das and his wife Rinku Das were interrogated and arrested.

"They disclosed that they are permanent residents of West Bengal and their parents are also residing at the address mentioned in their Indian Passports. The passengers departed from India in 2018 from Kolkata to Qatar where they met one agent namely Sandeep, who arranged fake Bangladeshi nationality documents for them," the officer added.

The officer added that they disclosed themselves as Bangladeshi nationals and procured French passports.

In return, they paid a sum total of Rs 9 lakh to the agent. In France, they took asylum and started working there.

11/07/22 ANI/Times of India

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Mighty Airbus Beluga 'Whale' cargo plane lands at Chennai Airport for the first time

The mighty Airbus Beluga cargo plane, also fondly called 'the whale' recently landed at the Chennai International Airport for the first time. The Beluga No.2 (A300-608ST) landed at Chennai Airport on July 11, Monday. The cargo transporter is a rare visitor in this part of the world and a marvel to behold, thanks to its unique design, that makes it stand out of regular cargo planes. 

One of the world's largest aircraft, only 5 units of the Airbus Beluga are ever built and the unit number 2 visited the Chennai Airport. The Airbus A300-600ST Beluga registered as F-GSTB flew in from Ahmedabad to Chennai.

A giant Airbus Beluga cargo plane made a stopover at Chennai Airport for refuelling and departed at 1.25 AM on Tuesday, July 12.

The Airbus Beluga aircraft is the cargo version of the Airbus 300-600 and has a maximum take off weight capacity of 1,55,000 kg, with a shape inspired from Whale to carry large cargo and heavy machinery across the world. 

12/07/22 Zee News

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Drunk passenger assaults flight attendant on an Air India Delhi-London flight

Mumbai: An inebriated passenger aboard a recent Air India flight from Delhi to London assaulted a male flight attendant, leaving him with a bloodied ear and forehead for interrupting his group's drinking session.

The incident occured on board Air India Delhi-London flight 111 on July 7. "A group of passengers, travelling together, in economy class were filling their glasses from the bottle of gin one of them brought on board," said the source.

Bringing your own bottle of alcohol to drink onboard flight is an absolute no-no as far as flight safety and security norms go.

"The said flight attendant, very politely, told the passenger who had the bottle that bringing your alcohol to drink on board flight isn't permitted," the source said, adding that the said flight attendant is soft-spoken and mild-mannered. "On being confronted, the passenger got up, pinned the crew to a door and began thrashing him. The unruly passenger then kicked him repeatedly, six to seven, hitting his chest. The flight attendant began bleeding from his ears," the source said. "The passenger and those in the group also did not wear their masks even early on during the flight, despite several repeated reminders by the crew," the source said.

The cabin crew member, in his early thirties, was administered first aid at a local London hospital and discharged.

An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident. "After the flight landed, the passenger in question has been arrested by the London police," said the spokesperson.

While passengers can bring their own food and medicines to consume on board a flight, BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) for on board consumption is prohibited. For security and safety of aircraft, cabin crew members decide the amount of alcohol consumed by each passenger. Said a source: "If a passenger is drunk, the crew obviously won't pour him/her another drink. They don't want an unruly passenger, jeopardising flight safety and other passengers' security. Also, you don't know what's in that drink they got, if something happens they will blame the airline and so getting your own booze to drink on board a flight is prohibited. This is also why we don't encourage passengers to bring their own food on international flights, because it could have gone stale by the time they eat it" .

11/07/22 Manju V/Times of India

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Mangaluru: Tech snag in Spice Jet flight – City Passengers from Dubai spend night in Kochi airport

Mangaluru: The passengers of Spice Jet flight from Dubai to Mangaluru that took off from Dubai on the night of July 8 faced long ordeal of holding up at Kochi airport. The flight had technical snag and could not land in Mangaluru and flew to Kochi with 189 passengers on board.

The flight took off from Dubai at 5 pm on July 8. As per schedule it had to land at Mangaluru international airport at around 8 pm. Just before landing, the pilot took off again and it was announced that the flight is being taken to Coimbatore for fuel fill up and later to Kochi.

The flight landed at Kochi in the night. Passengers were told that the pilot of the aircraft has finished his duty and another pilot will arrive to take the aircraft. The passengers were asked to rest till then. Though it was said that the flight will take off at 3 am on July 9 but it did not happen.

Finally, the passengers were made to board the aircraft at 8.30 am. However, their ordeal was not over yet. The flight did not take off till 10 am. It was said that the Mangaluru airport has not given clearance. Then the flight landed at Mangaluru international airport at 10.50 am.

Abdul Rehman Jokatte, one of the passengers said, “The reason given was bad weather. However, due to some other technical reasons, the aircraft was taken to Cochin. They did not provide us any facilities or accommodation. We were made to wait at the airport and had to have food at our own cost. Officials of Spice Jet were totally negligent towards the plight of the passengers.”

11/07/22 Daijiworld

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Vistara ramps up Thailand flights

New Delhi: Vistara, India’s full-service carrier, will add a new route to its international network to link Mumbai and Bangkok, starting 5 August 2022.

In a media statement released on 9 July, the airline said it would offer five weekly flights from Mumbai to the Thai capital using an Airbus A320neo aircraft with a three-class cabin configuration.

Vistara UK0123 departs Mumbai at 0745 and arrives in Bangkok at 1335 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. UK 0124 departs Bangkok on the same day at 1450, arriving in Mumbai at 1740.

It will bolster its existing connectivity between India and Thailand to meet the growing demand for Thailand holiday bookings in the Indian travel market. The airline boosted seat capacity on the Delhi to Bangkok route, increasing frequencies to daily flights.

Vistara chief executive officer Vinod Kannan said: “Thailand remains one of the most preferred tourist destinations for Indians, and we are excited to commence flights between Mumbai and Bangkok, in addition to the existing daily connectivity to the city from Delhi. There is huge potential for a full-service carrier like Vistara on this route, and we are confident that travellers will thoroughly appreciate our world-class product and services along with easy and direct access to their favourite destination.”

11/07/22 TTR Weekly

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The elegant whale is here! Airbus Beluga cargo plane lands at Chennai airport for first time

Chennai: A giant Airbus Beluga cargo plane (A300-608ST) made a brief stopover at Chennai airport on Monday for refuelling. This is the first time that the aircraft is touching down at the airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) tweeted that "The elegant whale is here and with such awesomeness! The mighty #Beluga No.2 (A300-608ST) landed at Chennai airport for the first time, today. The cargo transporter is a rare visitor in this part of the world and a marvel to behold."

The aircraft, which is not carrying cargo, is on its way to Thailand, said an AAI official. Known as super transporter, the aircraft is a version of wide body A300-600 aircraft of the Airbus and is usually used to carry aircraft or machine parts and huge cargo.

11/07/22 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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ATF crisis in Sri Lanka turns opportunity for South India airports

The ongoing turmoil and fuel shortage in Sri Lanka have boosted aviation turbine fuel (ATF) sales in South Indian airports like Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Chennai.

Several flights of Sri Lankan Airlines, Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, Gulf Air, and Air AirAsia Malaysia are halting at Indian airports for ATF since May. This is giving additional revenue to oil marketing companies (OMCs), airport operators and respective state governments.

With the crisis intensifying in the island nation, more players have informed OMCs that they will start landing in Indian airports. Etihad Airways plans to start landing in Cochin from July 15.

According to a source from Bharat Petroleum Corporation, SriLankan Airlines itself operated 110 additional flights and lifted 9,300 kilo litres (kl) of additional jet fuel from Indian airports.

The number of flights diverting to India for refuelling has increased from June 29 after the Lankan authorities informed airlines that no ATF will be available.

In addition, flights from other countries are also opting for technical landing and refuelling from South Indian’s airports.

Sources said Air Arabia and Gulf Air have started technical landing at Thiruvananthapuram and are operating one flight a day, lifting up to 30-40 kl of ATF a day.

According to media reports, technical landing for refuelling is expected to bring additional revenue of around Rs 1 lakh per flight for the airport operators. The state governments also get revenue from taxes on ATF. Mainly aircraft from West Asia and those en-route to Europe are depending on Indian airports for refuelling.

The Adani group-run Thiruvananthapuram airport has been serving as a refuelling hub for Sri Lankan and West Asian Airlines since May-end. Until now, the airport handled 90 flights, which included 55 flights of SriLankan Airlines bound for Sydney, Melbourne, and Paris. In Sri Lanka, ATF was available only for air ambulances and flights making emergency diversions. This restriction would be in place till July 13. Kochi airport handled 28 flights since June 29, including those operated by SriLankan Airlines, Air Arabia, Jaze¬era Airways and Air AirAsia Malaysia.

10/07/22 Shine Jacob & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Aircraft Orders from India Set to Drive Global Jet Sales

India’s aviation market has been buzzing with activity ever since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic waned. The entry of new players, new deals and recovering air traffic are harbingers of the dogfight waiting to take over the Indian skies. Now, it has been reported that Air India and Jet Airways—two major Indian carriers—are looking to place aircraft purchase orders worth more than $45 billion at list prices.

Air India is considering buying 300 narrow-body jets—which would be one of the largest orders in India’s commercial aviation history, say reports. “The order will provide a significant opportunity for Air India to revamp its fleet, and negotiate much better rates with the manufacturers,” says Rohit Tomar, Partner at aviation advisory Caladrius Aero. As the order is big, “it will be delivered over a long period. Maybe seven years from the time of order.”

Some in the industry say that the Air India order could to be a mix of both narrow-body and wide-body jets. On the other hand, Jet Airways, which is yet to decide on the type of aircraft, is in talks with Boeing and Embraer, other than Airbus. “We are in final negotiations with lessors and OEMs for aircraft, and we will announce our fleet plan once we have made a decision,” says a Jet Airways spokesperson. Jet is preparing for its re-launch later this year.

As per data compiled by BT, since 2011 the order book at major Indian scheduled carriers today stands at more than 1,100 aircraft, with deliveries currently underway. These fresh aircraft orders give credence to forecasts by leading aviation advisors that together with China and Southeast Asia, India would be driving passenger jet sales over the next several years.

Such large orders facilitate volume discounts for carriers and help lock in slots at production lines; they also ensure the availability of the right aircraft for deployment. Aircraft orders are also a matter of national importance, as assembly lines at manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing support thousands of jobs. Therefore, the EU and the US are known to buttress sales pitches by these two firms with government-to-government lobbying.

Sustaining a production line for narrow-body or wide-body jets necessitates bulk purchases. For instance IndiGo’s $6-billion order for 100 Airbus narrow-body jets at the 2005 Paris Air Show not only helped provide a new lease of life to the European manufacturer’s A320 assembly line, but also marked the beginning of the end of Boeing’s leadership position in the Indian market. “Boeing may be looking at making an aggressive comeback,” says the CEO of an Indian carrier who declined to be named.

09/07/22 Manish Pant/Business Today

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Government rolls back excise on aviation fuel for international flights

In a welcoming step for the aviation sector, the government has rolled back 11 per cent excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) used for international operations. The Finance Ministry has said ATF supplied as fuel to domestic carriers on international routes would continue to be exempted from basic excise duty from July 1.

The rollback comes after confusion arose regarding the excise duty on domestic airlines for their foreign flights after the government on July 1 slapped a `6 per litre special additional excise duty (SAED) or duty on the export of ATF or jet fuel.  Oil companies were of the view that with the levy of export duty, domestic carriers would be liable to pay 11 per cent basic excise duty for the  ATF they purchase for running overseas flights.

This issue was raised in a meeting chaired by India’s aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday as the levy would favour international carriers who are exempt from such duties as per the Chicago convention. Abhishek Jain, partner - indirect tax at KPMG India, says: “This alignment to the taxability as existent pre-imposition of excise duty on exports is a much welcome move for the airline industry, specifically in the backdrop of increasing ATF costs.”

The rollout also comes at a time when airlines’ operating cost has surged due to a record rise in ATF prices. ATF accounts for nearly 40 per cent of an airline’s operating expenses and this calendar year alone the fuel prices have gone up by a whopping 78 per cent . This has also made airfares at the movement much more expensive than in pre-covid times.

09/07/22 New Indian Express

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Dubai flight to Mangaluru diverted to Cochin

Mangaluru: Though the entire day had almost normal operations at Mangaluru International Airport on Friday despite the incessant rains, the late-night flight from Dubai, which was scheduled to land at the airport at 9.15pm, has been diverted to Cochin.

Airport sources said that low visibility due to rain forced the flight to divert to Cochin.

Airline sources said the flight may land at MIA in another three hours, depending on weather conditions.

Consequently, the same flight had a departure time back to Dubai at 11.30pm, which now will be delayed by at least five hours, in case the flight makes its way back to the airport in another three hours.

08/07/22 Stanley Pinto/Times of India

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After Delhi and Hyderabad, India's GMR Group starts operating Indonesia's Medan Airport

GMR Group has announced that the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia has begun to be run by its joint venture, Angkasa Pura Aviasi. PT Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned airport operator in Indonesia, and GMR Airports Ltd. have partnered to become Angkasa Pura Aviasi (APA). The project will span a 25-year term of cooperation, and with it, GMR Airports, a division of GMR Infrastructure, will enter the expanding Indonesian aviation sector.

The joint venture formally took over the operations of Medan airport in the presence of Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation; Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises; Edy Rachmayadi, Governor of North Sumatra, and Muhammad Awaluddin - President Director, Angkasa Pura II, the release said.

Currently, GMR Group is operating Delhi and Hyderabad airports as well as the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the Philippines. It also recently finished the construction of Clark Airport in the Philippines and is also coming up with a new airport at Crete in Greece.

GMR Airports had bid for the development and operation of Medan airport, and the international selection process was conducted by PT Angkasa Pura II to select a strategic partner.

In November 2021, GMR Airports was announced as the winning bidder. The Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with PT Angkasa Pura II was signed in December 2021. For the project, GMR had entered into a 49:51 partnership with PT Angkasa Pura II.

08/07/22 Zee News

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Nigerian national, staying illegally in India, arrested for duping people on pretext of jobs in airlines

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Thursday arrested a Nigerian national for duping people on the pretext of providing jobs in international airlines.

The accused has been identified as Okorie Stephen (32). Stephen had been living in India illegally since May 2014 after the expiry of his visa and passport.

Six mobile phones, a laptop, a wifi router and an expired passport have been recovered from his possession.

On June 4, police received a complaint from Ashish Kumar where he alleged that he had received an email in April this year regarding a job opportunity. The complainant, who was unemployed, had sent his resume to the concerned email id.

The complainant stated that he had received an offer letter for the post of an aircraft technician in Malaysia Airlines and was promised a salary of Rs 1.5 lakh per month.

He had alleged in his complaint that he had transferred Rs. 1,09,383/- to an IDFC First bank account in the name of Loli Florence, allegedly for registration and processing charges.

During the course of the investigation, details regarding bank accounts and e-mails were obtained and, as per the details, broadband was used for the creation of fake email-ids, police said.

08/07/22 Tanseem Haider/India Today

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Safran to set up its largest aircraft engine MRO in India

Safran Engineering, whose engines will power the largest number of Indian airliners in the next few years, is setting up its biggest maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Hyderabad, its CEO said Thursday.

The facility, which will be able to handle up to 300 engine shop visits annually, will also be the biggest in India to be set up by a major global engine manufacturer.

The facility, which will be able to handle up to 300 engine shop visits annually, will also be the biggest in India to be set up by a major global engine manufacturer.

The French engine-maker will invest up to $200 million in the MRO facility, Olivier Andriès told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Construction will start in 2023 and the company hopes to receive its first customer in 2025. Currently, Safran’s largest MRO facilities are in its headquarters in France and in Mexico.

CFM Engineering, a joint venture between Safran and Americian engineering giant GE, makes the CFM56, Leap-1A and Leap-1B that power most of the Airbus A320s and the Boeing 737s in India.

There are currently 600 CFM engines powering 330 passenger aircraft flown by six airlines in India, said Jean-Paul Alary, chief of Safran aircraft engines. That number will go up to 1,500 in the next few decades, making it the biggest engine orderbook from Indian carriers, including the soon-to-fly Akasa.

The MRO facility will service the Leap-1A and Leap-1B engines, that comprise the largest chunk of Indian airlines’ orderbook.

Global aircraft and engine makers have been reluctant to set up repair shops in India because of high taxes which would make the services unattractive for customers. India’s airlines have typically had aircraft and engines serviced in markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and even Colombo.

“We have clearly explained to the central government in New Delhi that the tax regime was a problem. We couldn’t establish any MRO activity in India because in the previous tax regime, we were taxed twice. We told the government if you change this tax regime, then we will come. And that’s what happened,” said Andriès.

In March, the government reduced GST on domestic MRO services to 5% from 18%.

07/07/22 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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How the Ukraine war may give wings to Jet airways' international plans

New Delhi: Jet Airways is looking to lease around 20 Airbus A320 aircraft from lessors by 2024 as it aims to restart operations and fly international routes in the next one-and-a-half years.

Jet's A320 aircraft fleet, according to sources, will be a mix of the Ceo and the more fuel-efficient Neo variants. These planes were originally intended for Russian airlines but could not be delivered following western sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

As many as 8-10 aircraft are likely to be delivered by December 2022, the sources said.

In its previous avatar, Jet Airways primarily flew the Boeing 737 variant.

Jet Airways shut operations in April 2019 after getting under a pile of debt and refusal from bankers for any fresh funding.

The availability of the A320 family aircraft in multiple variants, including the 321 and 321 XLR, is one reason why the airline is opting for Airbus’ popular single-aisle variant over the Boeing 737 Max.

“Due to certain global conditions, there are some aircraft which have become available with lessors,” said Sanjiv Kapoor, CEO of Jet Airways, without commenting on the aircraft type. “We are yet to make a decision on our fleet plan but intend to ramp up operations fast and want to fly international routes by 2024 which means we will have at least 21 aircraft by then.”

Bloomberg reported that the airline is close to signing an order with Airbus for aircraft but Kapoor said that delivery slots for the new order book will not be available before 2024. “Whatever scaling up we have to do in the first two years will be from leased aircraft,” he said, adding the airline was yet to finalise the order.

Kapoor was the chief strategy and commercial officer at Vistara, and oversaw strategy, marketing, and network planning and expects that the airline will have its first flight during September. If that happens, Jet Airways will be the first bankrupt airline that will be revived following the Insolvency process.

Last June, the NCLT cleared the consortium's plan to revive Jet Airways by the UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan.

However, several appeals were filed before the NCLAT challenging the order by employees and workmen of Jet Airways, Punjab National Bank, TLD MEAI FZE, and Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association. The tribunal is slated to hear the case on July 5.

A few lessors with whom Business Standard spoke said that they were unsure of starting a business with Jet Airways due to confusion over the applicability of the NCLT ruling that the airline's previous dues getting waived off under India's bankruptcy laws in territories outside India.

Kapoor said that while there have been questions raised, lessors and aircraft manufacturers are comfortable doing business with the airline “In every discussion, we have explained to lessors and vendors that it is new management. This is not the management responsible for the past and we should be viewed as a new entity,” he said.

Airline executives are also now showing interest to work with Jet Airways as there is a certainty now over the resumption of operations, with many from rival airlines joining the team.

06/07/22 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

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Delhi-Dubai flight diverted to Karachi due to fuel indicator malfunction: SpiceJet

SpiceJet's Delhi-Dubai flight was on Tuesday diverted to Karachi as the fuel indicator started malfunctioning, officials of the aviation regulator DGCA said.

This is at least the sixth incident of technical malfunction happening on SpiceJet aircraft in the last 17 days. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the Tuesday's incident, along with the previous five incidents, the officials noted.

The Boeing 737 Max aircraft -- which was heading from Delhi to Dubai -- started showing unusual fuel quantity reduction from its left tank when it was mid-air, they said.

Therefore, the plane was diverted to Karachi, they noted.

When an inspection was done at the Karachi airport, no visual leak was observed from the left tank, they added.

An official of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA) confirmed that the SpiceJet aircraft has made an emergency landing at the Karachi airport after developing a technical fault after it left New Delhi for Dubai.

“The pilot of flight no SG 11 contacted the control tower while flying over Pakistan airspace and said the aircraft had developed some technical fault. He requested an emergency landing. He was given permission to land on humanitarian grounds,” the PCAA official confirmed.

He said there were around 100 passengers on the flight.

In a statement on Tuesday, SpiceJet earlier said, “On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi-Dubai) was In a statement on Tuesday, SpiceJet earlier said, “On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi-Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked." "No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft," it mentioned.

Passengers have been served refreshments, it said, adding that a replacement aircraft is being sent to Karachi that will take the passengers to Dubai.

In March 2021, a Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight from Sharjah was also diverted to Karachi airport due to a medical emergency on board.

05/07/22 PTI/Business Standard

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