Two flyers stopped from boarding plane

Jaipur: Two passengers were stopped at Jaipur International Airport on Friday night following a lookout circular issued against them.

The immigration officials stopped two passengers, including a woman, from leaving India as police cases were registered against them.

“Passenger Ashok Sharma was about to board a Spice Jet flight for Dubai but was stopped by officials. Similarly, air passenger, Bhagwati Devi was about to board an Air India Express flight when she was stopped from leaving the country,” informed a source.

25/09/22 Kashiram Choudhary/First India

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Andhra Pradesh: Vijayawada-Sharjah flight service from October 31

Air India's wholly owned subsidiary and low-cost arm, Air India Express, is set to operate flights on the Sharjah-Vijayawada-Sharjah route twice a week from October 31.

The airline has also made tickets available for booking on its website for the four-hour journey between Sharjah-Vijayawada and Vijayawada-Sharjah every Monday and Saturday.

As per the tentative schedule, the aircraft will leave Sharjah International Airport at 11 a.m. and reach Vijayawada by 4.25 p.m. In the return direction, it will leave for Sharjah at 6.35 p.m. The price starts from ₹12,000.

Vijayawada International Airport Director M. Lakshmikanth Reddy said that Air India Express was already operating one service per week to Muscat of Oman. Two more services to Sharjah would be added soon.

He said the airport would be handling a total of three international services per week. Direct flights between Muscat and Vijayawada were being operated every Tuesday.

Having direct flight to the two destinations will help many from Prakasam, Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Krishna, NTR, Eluru, West Godavari, Kakinada, East Godavari and Konaseema districts who work in the Gulf countries.

Several direct flights were operated between the city and other destinations in Gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Earlier, Indigo had operated direct flights to Singapore from Vijayawada in collaboration with the State government for more than six months. It was the first international service from the city airport that was accorded international status in August 2017.

25/09/22 Tharun Boda/The Hindu

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Air India Express incurs net loss for the first time in seven years

New Delhi: Air India Express, which operates flights mainly between India and the Gulf countries, posted a net loss for the first time in seven years, because of the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted scheduled international services. The airline posted a net loss of Rs 72.33 crore in FY22, against a net profit of Rs 98.21 crore in FY21, according to the documents it submitted to the Registrar of Companies (ROC).

The Tata group took control of Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express on January 27 this year. Air India is in the process of being merged with another Tata group-owned airline AirAsia India.

Before FY22, Air India Express was in the red in FY15, when it posted a net loss of Rs 61 crore.

“Going forward, as market recovery picks up pace, the airline’s immediate efforts will be to focus on operational and financial stability, and a return to normalcy. This will include building up resources for increasing flying (hours), increasing average aircraft utilisation to pre-pandemic levels, and evaluating a moderate capacity increase,” the airline stated. Explaining the FY22 results in its documents submitted to the RoC, the airline said the second and the third wave of the pandemic impeded market recovery, particularly in the regional international markets, which are the mainstay of Air India Express.

Air India Express has 24 Boeing 737 planes in its fleet. Its total income and total expenses were Rs 3,522 crore and Rs 3,251 crore, respectively, in FY22.

During FY22, countries continued with varying degrees of travel restrictions, and international flight operations were maintained under the VBM (Vande Bharat Mission) and air bubble arrangements, the budget carrier mentioned.

India had suspended scheduled international flights from March 2020 to March 2022 because of the pandemic. During this two-year period, it formed bilateral air bubble arrangements with several countries, so that special limited flights could be operated between two nations amid Covid-related restrictions.

“The airline, as such, continued with its business continuity measures, by shifting capacity in alignment with demand patterns, keeping a close watch on route profitability, continuing with cutbacks in employee salaries, and focusing on cargo,” Air India Express explained.

As a result of these measures, the company was able to contain its net loss at Rs 72.33 crore in FY22, the carrier mentioned. Its parent company Air India -- which has been making losses for many years -- reported a net loss of Rs 9,556 crore in FY21.

20/09/22 Deepak Patel/Business Standard

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Air India Express fire was doused in just 90 seconds: Oman Airports

Muscat: The Fire and Rescue team at Muscat International Airport managed to extinguish a fire that broke out in the Air India Express aircraft last week, within 90 seconds.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Oman Airports said: “A proud morning salute to the Muscat International Airport’s Fire and Rescue team for their outstanding performance in responding, in only 90 seconds, and extinguishing an engine fire on an aircraft last week.”

Some passengers suffered minor injuries during an evacuation operation after smoke started billowing out of an Air India Express flight at Muscat International Airport on Wednesday morning.

The aircraft was taxiing towards the runway for take-off to Kochi at 11.20 am on Wednesday when officials noticed smoke coming out from the aircraft.

Airport officials said the passengers were immediately evacuated from the Air India Express flight on slides and the fire was brought under control.

17/09/22 Times of Oman

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Air India’s Kochi Bound Plane Catches Fire At Muscat Airport, Passengers Evacuated

As many as 151 people were evacuated from an Air India Express plane at the Muscat airport on Wednesday after fire and smoke were noticed in one of the engines and aviation regulator DGCA is probing the incident, according to officials.

The incident happened when the Kochi-bound Boeing 737-800 aircraft was taxiing at the airport. Some passengers suffered minor bruises at the time of evacuation, the officials said.

There were a total of 141 passengers, 4 infants and 6 crew members onboard the aircraft, the officials said.

Videos and images on social media showed smoke emanating from the plane parked at the Muscat airport.

In a statement, an Air India Express spokesperson said there were 141 passengers onboard the plane, which was to depart Muscat at 1120 hours (local time).

"While it was on the taxiway, another aircraft reported observing fumes from one of the engines. However, there was no fire warning indication in the cockpit. As a matter of abundant precaution, and following the prescribed SOPs, the crew stopped on the taxiway and activated the onboard engine fire extinguishers," the statement said.

Air India Express also said the matter is being investigated by the regulatory authorities as well as the airline's flight safety department.

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the regulator is probing the incident and appropriate action will be taken after the investigation is completed.

Air India Express has arranged a relief flight to bring back the guests from Muscat.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Oman said there was fire in one of the engines of the aircraft.

"Before the aircraft take off, the aircraft was hit by a failure and a fire in one of its engines, which required an immediate evacuation of passengers," the authority said in a tweet.

As per preliminary information, the aircraft VT-AXZ was scheduled to operate flight IX442 from Muscat to Kochi. During taxiing, one of the engines had fire and smoke and subsequently, all the passengers and crew were evacuated on taxiway. Slides were deployed to evacuate the people, the DGCA official said.

According to another input, an observer reported that during taxiing, one of the plane's engines was on fire, the official added.

14/09/22 Outlook

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