SpiceJet operates India's first robotic truck to tow aircraft at IGIA

New Delhi: Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Monday operated India's first TaxiBot -- a pilot-controlled semi-robotic towing tractor -- at Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.

According to the airline, flight SG-8171, scheduled to fly on the Delhi-Goa route, was towed by the TaxiBot from the jet bridge to the runway before it departed from Terminal 2 at 12 noon.


The vehicle tows aircraft from jet bridge to close to the take-off point. Since the plane's own engines are not used, it saves up to 85 per cent of fuel consumed during taxiing besides substantial reduction in noise levels.
30/1/01/18 IANS/Business Standard

Read More

Tired of airport formalities? Soon, an 'assistant' will help you

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is all set to approve 'meet and greet' plan which will improve fliers' experience in airports across India, HT reports.

As part of this proposed policy, fliers can hire assistants who will aid in their check-in, security checks, immigration, and will also wait for them at airport lounges.

The facility can be availed by economy class fliers too.
29/10/18 Shalini Ojha/News Bytes

Read More

Robot trucks to help airlines save on ATF

New Delhi: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is set to be the first airport in the country to commence commercial use of TaxiBots — semi-robotic tow trucks — to help airlines reduce use of air turbine fuel during taxiing. SpiceJet and Jet Airways will carry out a live test with these tow trucks on Monday, following which the aviation regulator DGCA will grant approval for their use.
TaxiBot India introduced two semi-robotic tow trucks to IGI in September, which have since undergone several trials. Once the live performance evaluation with passengers onboard the aircraft is successful, the firm will sign commercial contracts with SpiceJet and Jet Airways, company spokesperson Sanjay Bahadur said.
The advanced tow trucks will be used for narrow-body planes of the two airlines and will initially be deployed only for flights departing from IGI.
The company is also in talks with Mumbai and Bengaluru airports for introducing similar operations.
Planes taxi from parking bay to runway or vice versa using their own engines to provide thrust. However, an aircraft can be steered with both its engines off with the help of a TaxiBot, which lifts and holds the aircraft’s nose wheel and transports it from the terminal to runway and back.
This can help airlines save jet fuel, one of the largest expenses for an airline, accounting for nearly 30% of total operational costs.
It is estimated that at the current ATF rates, cost of fuel burnt during taxiing is ₹1,600 per minute for a narrow-body plane and ₹3,500 per minute for a wide-body plane.
28/10/18 Jagriti Chandra/The Hindu

Read More

Govt to allow data service initially under in-flight connectivity

New Delhi: The telecom department is considering to allow only data services initially in flights and water vessels within Indian territorial boundaries, an official source said.
Under the proposed in-flight connectivity guidelines, both voice and data services would be provided to passengers on flights and maritime transport within the national boundaries.

"DoT will initially seek application for data services under IFC (in-flight connectivity) guidelines. There are some issues around gateway for voice so that will not start immediately," a Department of Telecom official told .

In-flight connectivity service is available in most of the developed markets.

While mobile phone use will still be restricted during takeoff and landing, the Telecom Commission has approved lifting the ban on the use of mobile phones and internet services at cruising altitudes.
19/10/18 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Internet in plane soon, but wait for voice call

New Delhi: Your wait to use mobile phones on airplanes may soon be over, but you may only get to surf the internet initially as the government has decided against allowing voice calls over security concerns.

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told TOI that her ministry has sent the final notification on allowing mobile services on aircrafts to the law ministry. “Once it is approved, we will issue the notification regarding its rollout.” However, she added that voice may be bared initially. “We will be inviting applications only for data now. On voice, the gateway issue is there. We need to have the mobile voice gateway within India.”

The issue stems from the government’s concerns around security and other procedural aspects. The committee of secretaries (CoS), led by the cabinet secretary, has made it clear that only Indian/local gateways and satellites should be used for providing voice services. CoS preferred the India-based gateways in view of possible security issues. However, it is understood that Trai had not objected to the use of international gateways for providing in-flight connectivity.
18/10/18 Pankaj Doval/Times of India

Read More

Forget SUVs, fly soon in Mahindra seaplanes! Here's Anand Mahindra's exciting announcement

Why drive when you can just fly? Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra may soon provide an answer to this problem of choice in style - by adding a fleet of seaplanes to its already exciting range of SUVs and other vehicles for Indian roads. Anand Mahindra, executive chairman Mahindra Group, on Tuesday said that seaplanes being developed by his company are on their way.

In response to a request by a Twitter user to develop water vehicles, small sea planes, Mahindra said, "On its way! The floats for our Airvan aircraft are under development.."

The user named 'voyager' had requested, "Sir, You have made small air crafts for India. Request also please make small sea planes which can fly in the air and move in sea or rivers. We need water vehicles can take people from UP to Kolkata - this will make Ganga cleaned."

Mahindra's statement was welcomed by Twitterati, who came up with several suggestions and requests.
16/10/18 Rajeev Kumar/ZeeBiz

Read More

Wifi on board on SpiceJet flights likely from next month

New Delhi: ndian passengers can expect to surf data and make calls on board from next month, as SpiceJetNSE 0.00 % today said that they will become the first airline to offer wifi on board, as their new Boeing 737 Max is fitted with systems to make it possible.

“We have also selected a service provider and as soon as government approvals come passengers will be able to use wifi on board, most probably from next month,” SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said.

SpiceJet’s aircraft are fitted with Satcom that will enable the airline to offer internet on board.

Singh added that the airline is also going to provide wifi ‘complimentary’ for their passengers.

“There are two models of charging wifi on board. One is to fund the cost of it internally and the other is to charge consumers. We are discussing to provide it complimentary and fund its cost through advertisement,” Singh further said.

12/10/18 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Read More

Mumbai Airport Gets Country’s First Emergency Evacuation Vehicle

GVK run Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAPL) has inducted India's first emergency evacuation vehicle (EEV) at the airport. This evacuation vehicle can extend up to a height of 8.3metres with the escape stairs capable of holding 115 people at one time. This vehicle has a response time of just two minutes to move anywhere in the airport vicinity.
The Mumbai International Airport becomes the first in the country to get such an advanced evacuation vehicle to make access to an aircraft faster during emergencies. EEV can access even the largest of passenger aircraft including the Airbus A380, the largest civilian aircraft in operation at present.

This new emergency evacuation vehicle deployed at Mumbai airport offers better access to the aircraft and can speed up the evacuation process in an emergency, a spokesperson for MIAPL said, adding that the new EEV has already become functional and is being used for routine work. Mumbai airport already has six EEV but with lower capabilities compared with the new one.

The EEV is built on a MAN chassis by Austrian fire-service manufacturer “Rosenbauer”. The truck comes with extendable escape stairs that can reach up to a height of 8.3metres, equal to that of the Airbus A380. The evacuation staircase has been designed to withstand up to 40 knots of wind speed, while the extension time is just 55 seconds. It is also equipped with a high-pressure smoke ventilation system.
09/10/18 Raju Vernekar/MoneyLife

Read More

Bangalore airport to screen men & women together by year-end

Men and women passengers flying out from the city airport will soon no longer have to stand in separate queues during security screening.
In a first in the country, Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) Monday said it has signed an agreement with UK-based technology developer L3 Macdonald Humfrey to roll out a new security system by December, which will screen men and women together.
The new system is also expected to reduce the wait time for passengers drastically.
BIAL has signed an agreement with L3 Macdonald Humfrey (Automation) India to introduce a Smart Security Lane with Automated Tray Retrieval System (ATRS), the company said in a release.
Work on the security hall enhancements will begin with the first automated lanes being installed in the domestic and international check points by the end of 2018, it said.
Work on the security hall enhancements will begin with the first automated lanes being installed in the domestic and international check points by the end of 2018, it said.
08/10/18 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Your face will give you security clearance at these airports soon, no need of boarding passes anymore

You may not need boarding passes to check in on flights anymore. Soon, many airports will do away with the boarding pass and passengers can get security clearance by simply looking into a camera. The airports will have automated facial recognition system for passenger boarding process.

The process, under the Prime Minister Narendra's Digi Yatra initiative, will be carried out at the four PPP metro airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Earlier, the state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) chose three airports, including Varanasi, Vijayawada and Kolkata, to implement a biometric access system for passenger boarding process.

In June, it was reported that Varanasi airport will soon become the first airport to have an automated facial recognition system for passenger boarding process.
"Automated walkthrough security scanners equipped with facial recognition technology are being installed at the airport’s entry, security and boarding points," the airport director AK Rai was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times report.

The camera will scan the passenger's face and verify his or her credentials and will give security clearance. This process will save time as there will be no need for the passenger to wait in the line at the security gate waiting for the clearance.

The biometric access system project would be carried out on a pilot basis at the three airports.
03/10/18 DNA

Read More

Aviation set to take another passenger friendly step, flyers may get big food benefit

Indian aviation is soaring in every sense, especially in terms of demand for seats and airlines are looking to improve their service as much as possible and that too fast. Although airlines themselves are not really doing well, as far as revenue generation is concerned, but that has not stopped the industry from moving forward. Now, it has been revealed that flyers may get full information about the food they get on their tray - the information will include, the food's nutritional aspects like calories, list of contents.

According to a Times of India report, India’s food regulator started examining the food served on planes as the in-flight meal quality deteriorated and became a common concern for the flyers and regulators too. This includes the transportation of meals, storage on board and then how the same is served. It is now coming out with guidelines for the entire process of the in-flight catering.

FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal called a meeting this Thursday with airlines, flight caterers and airport operators to discuss these issues. “The public, at several fora, has expressed concerns about airline food, its quality and safety. Earlier we called meetings with airlinesairport operators, in-flight caterers separately who would say this is the other’s area. So we met everyone together to cover all aspects of safety, hygiene of in-flight food and are going to come out with standard operating procedure (SOPs) for each step involved to ensure what is served to passengers is perfectly safe to consumers. The process has begun and the aviation industry has been very welcoming towards this initiative,” Agarwal, a 1985 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre was quoted as saying by ToI.
01/10/18 ZeeBiz

Read More

Airlines may soon give nutritional facts, other details for in-flight meals

New Delhi: The meal tray you get on flights may soon have complete info on its nutritional aspects like calories, list of contents, a best by time (like the date on packaged food) and providing healthy options could become a must for airlines.

Air travellers’ common concern of deteriorating in-flight meal quality in most airlines has led to India’s food regulator examining the entire gamut of in-flight catering, including transportation of meals, storage on board and then how the same is served. It is now coming out with guidelines for the entire process of in-flight catering.

FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal called a meeting this Thursday with airlines, flight caterers and airport operators to discuss these issues. “The public, at several fora, has expressed concerns about airline food, its quality and safety. Earlier we called meetings with airlines, airport operators, in-flight caterers separately who would say this is the other’s area. So we met everyone together to cover all aspects of safety, hygiene of in-flight food and are going to come out with standard operating procedure (SOPs) for each step involved to ensure what is served to passengers is perfectly safe to consume. The process has begun and the aviation industry has been very welcoming towards this initiative,” Agarwal, a 1985 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, said.
01/10/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More