How 2020 played out for the pandemic-hit Indian aviation sector and what lies ahead

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the Indian aviation sector in 2020 and major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries. The government also had to extend the deadline for submitting bids for Air India five times during the year.

The effect of this disruption can be gauged by the loss figures of India's two largest airlines. IndiGo incurred net losses of Rs 2,884 crore and Rs 1,194 crore in Q1 and Q2 of this fiscal respectively. SpiceJet posted net losses of Rs 600 crore and Rs 112 crore in Q1 and Q2, respectively.

Global PE fund Blackstone-backed IBS Software expects a faster growth in its business on the back of increasing digitisation in aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors amid the coronavirus pandemic, its founder and Executive Chairman V K Mathews said. The clients include Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Korean Air and British Airways. It has also provided its flight operations and crew management service to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines and now-defunct Jet Airways in India. He said COVID-19 will accelerate growth as the companies are expected to invest more in technology in the wake of digital transformation.

The pandemic is likely to have a longer impact on international air travel as compared with domestic flights (which are operating at 80% capacity) due to the closure of international operations and airports. India now has air transport bubbles with 23 countries. The international sector, down by 80-90% from pre-Covid level, is expected to grow only marginally. Industry experts do not see profitability returning until the end of 2021.

“If not for any unforeseen geopolitical event, 2021 will be better than 2020, when we hit rock-bottom,” says CEO of aviation consultancy CAPA India, Kapil Kaul. “With an unprecedented impact across the aviation value chain, speed of recovery will be determined by the pace of events in the next 3-4 months.” Key factors that will determine the pace of recovery in the domestic market are development and availability of vaccines, people’s willingness to undertake leisure travel and recovery in macroeconomic growth. Indian aviation is expected to report losses of $4 billion in FY21. And with carriers continuing to bleed cash at least until the Q4 of FY21, next year will continue to be painful.

31/12/20 Economic Times

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Vaccine Passport May Soon Become A Reality, Know How This Will Aid Travel

Vaccine Passport: The new decade of 2021-2030 is upon us amid this pandemic, and with the nations proceeding with coronavirus vaccines, there are expectations that the world can return to normalcy next year. Covid-19 has already infected more than 80 million people worldwide and killed 1.76 million. It has changed the way we live, work and travel.

From donning masks to social distancing, a lot of things became new normal for us. And now the concept of vaccine passport application has come to the fore, and may become a reality soon. As the name suggests, the mobile app, with proof that the user has been tested negative for coronavirus, will be become the passport to concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries, as per the CNN report.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO), has said that these passports may not be helpful in reducing transmission as there was always a possibility of second infection.

- Companies and technology groups worldwide have started developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials.

- One of such examples is the CommonPass app, created by the Common Trust Network, which allows users to upload medical data such as a Covid-19 test result or proof of vaccination. A pass is generated in the form of a QR code which can be presented to authorities. Common Trust Network is an initiative by The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum. These organisations have partnered with airlines such as Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic for the same.

- IBM has also developed an app called Digital Health Pass. This app allows companies to scan for their requirements of entry, such as coronavirus tests and temperature checks.

-However, developers may now have to confront other challenges, ranging from privacy issues to representing the varied effectiveness of different vaccines.

31/12/20 ABP Live

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HAL chairman provides updates on key helicopter programs

HAL chairman and managing director R. Madhavan has provided key updates into ongoing Indian helicopter programs, including HAL’s participation in India’s Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) program

NUH is the first experiment in a strategic partnership (SP) program rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, with the aim of creating private sector capacity in major aerospace and defence manufacturing in India. HAL has offered the naval “Dhruv” Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) for the NUH program. Ship compatibility issues have thus far relegated the Dhruv to a largely shore-based role in the Navy, while the other two services reaped the benefits of newer variants.

In a recent interview with Livefist Defence, Madhavan confirmed HAL is “pushing the Dhruv in the NUH contract” with a couple of changes: blade folding and (tail) boom folding. “I can categorically say [the Dhruv] can meet all the [NUH] QRs,” Madhavan stated.

HAL’s joint venture partnership, Indo Russian Helicopters Limited (IRHL), has also offered the Russian light-twin Ka-226T for the light helicopter requirements of the Army and Air Force. Madhavan said that all technical evaluations of this project have been completed and they are now waiting for a final decision from the Indian defence ministry. HAL has earmarked land for setting up production facilities near Bengaluru, India for the Ka-226T. However, no orders are in sight.

HAL’s own 3-ton Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) achieved initial certification on Feb 7 this year. Three LUH prototypes have been built that have cumulatively completed over 550 flights. Madhavan pointed out that LUH certification for the Air Force is complete and another round of “hot and high” trials for the army is planned in August.

Success of LUH will not be without its impact on IRHL’s Ka-226T, given that both programs are competing in the same fleet replacement program for Alouettes and Lamas. The Navy’s future plans do not include any single-engine helicopters.

Price negotiations for indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) have been completed and orders are expected by year-end, Madhavan revealed. Over 150 LCH are planned to be inducted by the Air Force and Army. Indian defence ministry approved initial lot of 15 LCH in 2016 (10 for Air Force and 5 for Army). HAL has already started production of the first five LCH in anticipation of the order, Madhavan said.

HAL has started the preliminary design for the 10- to 12-ton Indian Multirole Helicopter (IMRH) with internal funding. 

31/12/20 Indian Derence News

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Blackstone-backed IBS Software expects faster biz growth on rising digitalisation amid pandemic

Global PE fund Blackstone-backed IBS Software expects a faster growth in its business on the back of increasing digitalisation in aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors amid the coronavirus pandemic, its founder and Executive Chairman V K Mathews said.

A provider of SaaS (software-as-a-service) solutions to aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors, IBS Software caters to around 200 clients across 25 countries, including the US, the UK, Dubai, Singapore, China and Japan.

The clients include Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Korean Air and British Airways. It has also provided its flight operations and crew management service to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines and now-defunct Jet Airways in India.

The company offers three solutions in the airline sector, one each for passenger reservation system, flight operations and cargo operations, besides one product for travel and another for the losgistics sector.

“We have been growing at roughly around 20 per cent year-on-year in the past three years. We expect to grow faster going forward,” Mathews told PTI in an interaction.

He said COVID-19 will accelerate growth as the companies are expected to invest more in technology in the wake of digital transformation.

30/12/20 PTI/Financial Express

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Madras flying club academy collaborates with BDU to offer aviation programmes

Trichy: Bharathidasan University (BDU) signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Madras Flying Club Aviation Academy (MFCAA) to offer collaborative programmes on aviation industry.

P Manisankar, BDU vice chancellor, exchanged the copy of MoU with Captain Jacob Selvaraj, secretary of the Madras Flying Club and CEO / authorised signatory of Madras Flying Club Aviation Academy.

There are five programmes that may be offered starting January, 2021. This includes a short-term and certificate programme each in customer service executive.

A diploma each in airport ground handling management, flight operation management and cabin crew and hospitality management will be offered at the MFCAA premises in Trichy International Airport.

MFCAA which is a unit of Madras Flying Club, Trichy International Airport will offer collaborative programmes on aviation industry along with Institute of Entrepreneurship and Career Development (IECD) of BDU.

28/12/20 K Sambath Kumar/Times of India

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Indian Aviation Sector Witnessed its Worst Year in 2020, Hopes for Quick Bounceback in 2021

Major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries, while Air India was unable to get a private owner in 2020.

See what Indian aviation scene was going through in 2020 >>

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'Suspension of inbound flights from the UK likely to have a minimal impact on tourist traffic in India'

The suspension of inbound flights from the UK due to the emergence of a new, highly infectious COVID-19 strain in the island nation is likely to have a minimal impact on tourist traffic in India, share industry sources. 

India had to temporarily suspend flights between India and UK until December 31 due to emergence of a new strain of Coronavirus. 

"We are currently seeing a minimal impact on tourist traffic since most traffic was seen on India bound flights due to festive season and New year celebrations. We anyway have not been noticing much traffic due to air bubble arrangement and also due to covid scare across the globe," shared, Nishant Pitti from Ease my trip.

DGCA in a circular said, "In view of the emerging covid-19 situation in the UK, the competent authority has temporarily suspended flight to/from the UK with effect from 11.59 pm of December 22, 2020. Therefore, no flights from the UK will land in India after 11:59 pm on December 22, 2020. Airlines shall enforce this at the port of initial departure. Consequently, flights from India to the UK shall also remain suspended."

28/12/20 Karishma Asoodani/ETNowNews.com

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Aviation tries to regain lost heights but visibility still remains low

When 50% passengers book their air tickets over two weeks in advance, when one in every two booking involves a return flight, and when flights to metros like Chennai and Hyderabad regain their ranking among the top five domestic routes out of Mumbai, then it could be concluded that domestic air travel in India has regained its pre-COVID contours.

In the last week of May when domestic flights began post-lockdown, the top five most booked domestic destinations flights out of Mumbai weren’t the conventional ones like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Goa. Data from travel companies showed that the pandemic had petered down the demand for travel to all metros, except Delhi.

In June, the top booked destination out of Mumbai was Varanasi, followed by Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow and Patna.

“Delhi stayed in top five largely because of its role as domestic hub, allowing travellers to connect to their hometowns in the north. Kolkata did the same for northeastern travellers,’’ said an official with a low cost carrier.

Along with the debut of non-metros as popular destinations out of Mumbai, oneway flight bookings went up and advance bookings went down. “In May and June, Mumbai residents undertook travel only for emergency purposes, as evidenced by the 94% one-way trips. About 73% trips booked within two weeks of travel, and traditionally favoured destinations such as Bangalore and Goa lost their allure,’’ said a Cleartrip spokesperson. But recovery began from July onwards as the share of rounds trips and advance bookings increased.

28/12/20 Manju V/Times of India

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COVID-19 impact on Indian aviation sector: Lay-offs, leave without pay, or salary cuts

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the Indian aviation sector in 2020 and major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries. The government also had to extend the deadline for submitting bids for Air India five times during the year.

Read more on the impact >>

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Covid-19 had massive impact on Indian aviation sector in 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the Indian aviation sector in 2020 and major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries.

The government also had to extend the deadline for submitting bids for Air India five times during the year. When the pandemic started spreading across the country, all scheduled international flights and domestic passenger flights were suspended from March 23 and March 25, respectively. Scheduled domestic flights were restarted in a limited manner from May 25. 

The effect of this disruption can be gauged by the loss figures of India's two largest airlines. IndiGo incurred net losses of Rs 2,884 crore and Rs 1,194 crore in Q1 and Q2 of this fiscal respectively. SpiceJet posted net losses of Rs 600 crore and Rs 112 crore in Q1 and Q2, respectively. 

The government, meanwhile, permitted special international passenger flights under Vande Bharat Mission since May and air bubble arrangements were formed with around 24 countries since July. However, scheduled international flights remain suspended in India.

"The revival of overseas travel is expected to be slower and more challenging than domestic. This will hurt Air India in particular as around 60 per cent of its revenue was earlier generated from international operations," said aviation consultancy firm CAPA in October. It estimated that just 50-60 million passengers -- 40-50 million domestic and less than 10 million international -- would travel in 2020-21.

In 2019-20, approximately 205 million air passengers -- 140 million domestic and 65 million international -- travelled in India.

CAPA India projected in October that the Indian aviation industry will lose a combined USD 6-6.5 billion in FY21, of which airlines will account for USD 4-4.5 billion. As a result, the government's plan to sell Air India has been hit.

After its unsuccessful attempt to sell the national carrier in 2018, the government in January restarted the divestment process but the pandemic forced it to extend the date for submission of expression of interest (EOI) five times.

The last date of EOI submission was December 14. The government has received multiple EOIs and it will announce the name of qualified bidders by January 5.

In order to make debt-laden Air India more attractive, the government changed the bidding parameter in October - bidders will now quote enterprise value instead of equity value. This means that the bidder will be able to quote how much cash it would give and how much debt of the airline it would be able to carry. However, the government made it clear that minimum 15 per cent of the bid amount has to be in cash while the remaining would be the debt component.

Air India's debt was Rs 58,255 crore as on March 31, 2019. Later in 2019, Rs 29,464 crore of this debt was transferred from Air India to a government-owned special purpose vehicle called Air India Assets Holding Company Limited (AIAHL).

While Air India was unable to get a private owner in 2020, bankrupt airline Jet Airways was able to find one.

A consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and London's Kalrock Capital won the bid on October 17 to revive Jet Airways. It expects to start operating the airline by the summer of 2021.

Slots -- which is the time zone at which a flight can land at the airport -- as well as bilateral traffic rights -- the number of flights an airline can fly to another country's city -- are precious commodities in the aviation sector.

26/12/20 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Global aviation revenues may reach 70% of pre-COVID levels in 2021, says founder of leading SaaS provider to travel industry

The struggling global aviation industry's revenues may reach  70 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021, but complete recovery may take a bit longer as airlines across the world downsize operations to pare costs, said VK Mathews, Founder and Executive Chairman of IBS Software Services, a leading provider of SaaS solutions to the travel industry.

"Most of the airlines will look to lower their costs. This will include removing from their fleet four-engine aircraft like the Boeing 747, as these need a load factor of over 80 percent through the year to be viable," said Mathews, who founded IBS in 1997 after a 17-year stint in the aviation sector, including in Air India and Emirates. The industry veteran said a full recovery in revenues may happen by 2024.

The aviation has been among the most impacted industries globally since the pandemic brought economic activity to a halt. Even though much of the lockdown has been removed, recovery, especially in international travel, has been slow.

For instance, in India, the government now allows airlines to operate at 80 percent of their capacity on domestic routes. But international travel remains restricted.

At the same time,  people are looking for a break, says Mathews, who recounted a recent meeting at a five-star resort hotel in Kerala that was booked through December. "People are keen to get out of their homes and get a break. So if you create the excitement of travel, and reassure them of safety, they will," he said.

Much of that onus will fall on governments and other stakeholders, including the airlines. And it depends on how fast airlines adopt the technology.

That will be central to the recovery, says Mathews. "Already, COVID-19 has brought in two years worth of digitisation in the travel industry, in two months. Airlines are increasingly becoming digital," Mathews told Moneycontrol.

IBS provides services to over 30 aviation companies, including American Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, Heathrow Airport and Lufthansa.

"All airlines are thinking of replacing their age-old systems. They are all thinking digital. The airline connects, engages, converses and serves customers digitally. This is easily said, but quite a bit of work happening there," said Mathews.

25/12/20 Prince Mathews Thomas/Moneycontrol

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Reliance Jio In-Flight Connectivity plans available starting at Rs 499, here is how to activate them

New Delhi: Telecom giant Reliance Jio introduced Inflight Connectivity (IFC) in September this year. Jio is the only telecom company to provide IFC plans that are available for postpaid and prepaid users. The IFC plans are available at Rs 499, Rs 699 and Rs 999. All three plans have one-day validity and can be used in 22 airlines Jio has partnered with. Jio's website noted that data and SMS services are available in all Airlines. However, voice services are available in select Airlines. Incoming calls are not allowed on these packs. Customers with active IFC packs will be able to use data, outgoing voice calls and SMS, where applicable, as per the pack entitlement quota available. Users will need to disable Wi-Fi connectivity to use mobile data.

The Mukesh-Ambani-led Telecom company in one of its FAQ notes that Jio inflight service allows users to stay connected in the covered flight at above 20000 feet. Jio emphasises on users recharging the in-flight communication packs before onboarding the flight when connected to the Jio network. As of now, IFC services are currently not available while users are in Indian Air Space per the regulation.

However, according to Telecom Talk, airlines like Vistara and Indigo will implement in-flight connectivity in India. The union civil aviation ministry lifted the restrictions earlier this year. Once the IFC service goes official in India, the Jio IFC packs will also be applicable in local airspace.

Users can activate their IFC pack once they are in the flight and the flight has reached 20,000 feet and above, by following these steps:

-- To use IFC Packs providing inflight data, outgoing voice calls, and SMS, users have to recharge with the IFC Packs which is applicable for both prepaid and postpaid customers before boarding the flight.

-- Switch on phone with Airplane Mode off.

--Your phone will automatically connect to the AeroMobile network. The network name may differ depending on the handset. According to Jio, the network speed of In-Flight connectivity is dependent on the in-flight network operators -- OnAir or AeroMobile and the regulations governing air travel.

-- If your phone does not connect to the AeroMobile network automatically you will need to go to the 'Carrier' option in your phone settings and manually select AeroMobile.

-- Ensure Data Roaming is on to use data services

-- Once connected, you will receive a welcome text and pricing information

-- Users can make use of their mobile phone to call, text, email and surf the internet

To make an in-flight call, dial '+' followed by the country code, then key in the phone number. For example, if you had to make a call from Singapore to India, dial +917018899999.

25/12/20 Yasmin Ahmed/India Today

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2021 vision: What will change for Indian aviation?

There probably has never been a year as turbulent as 2020 for aviation. Last December, as the industry headed into 2020, the hot topics being discussed were the promoters tussle, pilot shortage and neo engines. The year shaped up in such a way that the tussles took a back seat (at least publicly), pilots were available in abundance — with many in West Asia losing their jobs — and the neo engines stabilised — even if they hadn’t, airlines weren’t using the full fleet anyways. While 2020 was all about the raging pandemic and a new normal, 2021 may be all about vaccines and their success, for Indian aviation.

See how >>

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12-year-old Indian in Guinness World Record for identifying most aeroplane tails in UAE

Dubai: A 12-year-old Indian boy in the UAE has entered into the Guinness Book of World Records by identifying the most aeroplane tails in a minute, media reports said on Thursday. Siddhant Gumber, an Abu Dhabi-based homeschooled boy who identified 39 aeroplane tails in 60 seconds, is also the youngest Indian to identify top 100 tallest buildings, Gulf News reported.

Gumber, who hails from Haryana, was earlier recognised by the ‘India Book of World Records’. He achieved the Guinness world record last month, the report said.

His name also features in the ‘India Book’ for being the youngest to identify the top 100 tallest buildings of the world with their respective heights and locations, it said.

“I have been a Lego buff since I was a toddler, and my father and I spent a lot of time creating a variety of models — rockets, air planes, buildings and vehicles. I was able to recognise a lot of the air plane tails, and my mother helped me compile them in PowerPoint slides so I could identify them (very quickly),” Gumber told Gulf News.

His mother Monisha said that her son has always been interested in signs, symbols and logos.

“He has an exceptional picture memory and usually never forgets an image once he has seen it. He does have a variety of interests and likes to know about things into detail, just like air planes. Although he loves country flags, we focused on aeroplane tails for the Guinness record because they too are unique,” she said.

24/12/20 PTI/India TV

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How Blade India finds a niche between private jets and commercial airlines

The pandemic has opened up some opportunities for the aviation sector. Even as a large chunk of scheduled airline business has been hit by the COVID-related travel restrictions, the airlines and charter companies are witnessing surge in the private flying demand. Blade India, a ride-sharing helicopter service, is catching the trend as it expects a long-term shift in the consumer mindset.

Blade India, which is a joint venture between Blade (in the US) and Hunch Ventures, started with Mumbai-Pune-Shirdi service last year, and is about to enter Karnataka with intra-city flights in Bengaluru to reduce daily friction from traffic. "We are seeing huge change in personal mobility among the affluent. Because of the concerns on safety, there's a huge demand for private flying. People who are going for weddings and holidays are chartering small aircraft," says Amit Dutta, Managing Director, Blade India.

But Blade India is not a conventional charter company. It wants to focus on 4-5 million top households in the country which are willing to spend more than an economy class airline ticket but don't mind sharing the ride with a few others. "These customers are willing to pay a little premium for personal safety matters. Airports are a big source of potential infection. If they are coming to my lounges, they can escape the density at airports. That's a big draw in case of helicopter charters," says Dutta.

The other big draw is time saving. For instance, Mumbai-to-Pune drive takes five-six hours as compared to about 40 minutes in the chopper. Indian aviation market has two ends when it comes to consumers. On one end, there are ultra HNIs, industrialists and politicians who either own small aircraft or hire them for personal use. The rest of the consumers fly in commercial planes. Earlier, the market had these two spectrums, but Blade's model is between the two ends. Its model is not about one person taking the aircraft because that restricts it to catering a small section of HNIs. At the same time, it doesn't want to be likened to Uber for having a similar business model. Why?

Dutta says that he just doesn't do simple point-to-point service like Uber. "We are not an Uber journey. We are adding a lot of hospitality elements. We have swanky lounges and best services there. We are offering complementary pick-up options (in BMWs and Audis) from home to lounges. Our customers expect themselves to be pampered," he says.

24/12/20 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Asymptomatic COVID-positive air crew would undergo home isolation for 10 days, DGCA says

New Delhi: Flight crew members who are asymptomatic but test positive for COVID-19 need to undergo home isolation for 10 days and once it is over, they can be declared fit for flying again by their medical supervisor, according to aviation regulator DGCA.

If COVID-positive crew members have 'mild symptoms', they will "continue home isolation and will stand discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for three days", the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular, adding there is no need for "testing after the home isolation period is over".

However, if the isolation period for mildly symptomatic crew members is more than 14 days, they have to be examined by DGCA empanelled Class-1 examiner and crew is fit to fly if the examiner declares so, stated the circular that has been accessed by PTI.

The circular dated December 18, 2020, stated that COVID-positive flight crew members who are moderately and severely symptomatic need to undergo special medical examination -- after their complete clinical recovery -- at one of the Indian Air Force boarding centres to get the "cure certificate".

"Once declared 'fit for flying' at the IAF boarding centre, the air crew can commence flying only after DGCA medical assessment is issued," the circular added.

The regulator said the December 18 circular supersedes the June 22 circular which mentioned that only those cabin crew members who come in direct contact with a COVID-positive person onboard a flight will be sent for mandatory 14-day home quarantine.

The June 22 circular superseded a March 23 circular of the DGCA that had made it mandatory for the airlines to put the entire crew of a flight under home quarantine for 14 days in case anyone aboard was found to be COVID-positive.

20/12/20 PTI/WION

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P&W-made GTF engines complete 2 million flight hours in India

Mumbai: Pratt & Whitney-manufactured Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines, which power Airbus A320 NEO family planes being operated by budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir have crossed two million flight hours in India, the US engine maker said on Friday.

The two Indian carriers were the early adopters of these fuel-efficient engines with IndiGo inducting its first A320NEO plane in the fleet in March 2016 and GoAir in the same year, in June. There are over 180 Airbus planes with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) GTF engines in India.

"Our customers IndiGo and GoAir were early adopters of the revolutionary GTF engine, and we are happy to say that these engines have crossed two million flight hours in India," Pratt & Whitney President and Country Head for India Ashmita Sethi said in a release.

While GoAir has only A320NEO planes in its fleet powered by these engines, IndiGo has A321NEO as well along with A320NEO planes.

"With more than 180 GTF-powered aircraft in India and an extraordinary engine dispatch reliability rate of 99.98 per cent, our customers are recognising the superior fuel efficiency that GTF engines deliver.

"Since cost savings are especially important in the current environment, we've seen airlines prioritise operating their GTF-powered aircraft before any others," she added.

Globally, GTF engine powers more than 900 aircraft across nearly 50 airlines and three aircraft families: Airbus A320neo, Airbus A220 and Embraer E-Jets E2, Pratt & Whitney said in the release.

With a 99.98 per cent dispatch reliability rate, these engines have saved more than 400 million gallons of fuel and over 3.8 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions since they entered service in 2016, the company said.

19/12/20 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

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Domestic air passenger traffic grows 20.5% MoM in Nov, still down 51% from 2019 level

India's domestic air passenger traffic continued to improve on a monthly basis in November, but declined by more than half on a yearly basis. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 63.54 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in November, which was 20.54 per cent higher than the air passenger traffic recorded last month. Domestic airlines flew 52.71 lakh and 39.43 lakh passengers in October and September, respectively. The domestic air traffic, however, dropped 50.93 per cent as compared to corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, total number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-November 2020 was 556.84 lakh, 57.54 per cent lower than 1,311.54 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, the DGCA data showed.

As per the data, IndiGo carried 34.23 lakh passengers in November, constituting 53.9 per cent share of the total domestic market, while SpiceJet flew 8.4 lakh passengers (13.2 per cent of market share).

Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara carried 6.56 lakh, 5.77 lakh, 4.21 lakh and 3.97 lakh passengers, respectively, in November.

The DGCA data indicated that the occupancy rate or passenger load factor showed some recovery during the month under review due to increased demand after opening of lockdown and onset of festive season. The load factor of six major Indian airlines was between 66.3 and 77.7 per cent in November. The occupancy rate at SpiceJet was 77.7 per cent, while other major airlines IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir, Air India and AirAsia India had passenger load factor of 74 per cent, 70.8 per cent, 70.8 per cent, 69.6 per cent and 66.3 per cent, respectively.

As per the DGCA data, IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 97.5 per cent at four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. AirAsia India and Vistara were at second and third spot at these four airports in November with 95.6 per cent and 94.8 per cent on-time performance, respectively.

18/12/20 BusinessToday.In

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LPG price up bAviation turbine fuel rises by 6.3%

New Delhi: Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was increased by Rs 50 per cylinder, the second hike in rate this month following firming of international prices.

Also, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was raised by a steep 6.3 per cent.

The price of jet fuel was hiked by Rs 2,941.5 per kilolitre, or 6.3 per cent, in Delhi to Rs 49,161.16 per kl.

This is the second increase in ATF price this month. Rates had gone up by 7.6 per cent (Rs 3288.38 per kl) on December 1.

Like LPG, ATF prices too are revised on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average rate of benchmark international fuel and foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight.

16/12/20 PTI/Times of India

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6 New "Eyes In The Sky" For Air Force, With Air India Planes: Report

New Delhi: In a major boost for the indigenous defence industry, India is going to make six new Airborne Early Warning and Control planes to be developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on aircraft from Air India to further improve Air Force's surveillance capabilities along borders with China and Pakistan.

Government sources said that as per the discussions on the AEW&C Block 2 aircraft to be developed by the DRDO under a ₹ 10,500 crore project, the six aircraft would be acquired from the Air India fleet and modified to fly with a radar that will give 360-degree surveillance capability to the defence forces.

"The six AEW&C block two planes would be highly capable than their predecessor NETRA plane and provide 360-degree coverage deep inside the enemy territory during missions. The government is expected to clear the project soon," government sources told ANI.

The project to build the AEW&C system on existing aircraft from the Air India fleet may also mean that India may not buy the six Airbus 330 transport aircraft planned to be acquired earlier from the European firm, the sources said.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation had earlier planned to build six Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) on the Airbus 330 aircraft for which some facilities were planned to be created in Bengaluru.

As per plans, the six new aircraft would be sent to a European destination to the original equipment manufacturer for modification of the planes for installing the radar, the sources said.

Sources said the project has been planned in a way to promote Make in India in defense and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Block-I of the project was delayed beyond the scheduled timelines but with the prior experience under its belt, the Centre for Airborne Studies lab of DRDO is planning to complete it in a shorter timeframe.

The IAF has three PHALCON AWACS systems bought by it from Israel and Russia under which the radar is provided by the Israelis whereas the platform used is the Russian Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft.

17/12/20 ANI/NDTV

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