Airline Sector

Domestic carrier IndiGo on Monday said it will start offering business class seats on select flights to customers on the Delhi-Bengaluru route, starting January 10. Named as Indigo Stretch, the Gurugram-based airline's tailor-made business class product made its debut on the Delhi-Mumbai route last month. All 15 daily flights between Delhi and Bengaluru will be operated with aircraft configured with these business class seats by March next year while by early January 2025, all 20 daily flights between Delhi and Mumbai will have these business class seats, IndiGo said. "In line with our announcement to serve 12 Indian routes with our business class product, IndiGoStretch, we have added Delhi-Bengaluru as our second route. Soon, we will announce IndiGoStretch on flights between Delhi and Chennai," said Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer at IndiGo. Customers booking business class seats on IndiGo can avail of complimentary benefits such as priority check-in, anytime boarding, adva

The global airline industry is projected to report a net profit of USD 36.6 billion in 2025, slightly higher than expected this year, helped by lower oil prices and cost control, IATA said on Tuesday. Passenger numbers are expected to rise 6.7 per cent to 5.2 billion next year compared to 2024. In 2025, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the industry's revenue to cross the USD 1 trillion mark for the first time to USD 1.007 trillion, which will be an increase of 4.4 per cent compared to 2024. While the operating profit is estimated at USD 67.5 billion, expenses are anticipated to reach USD 940 billion next year. At a briefing here, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said India is witnessing significant growth and that there is a clear recognition that growth is also dependent on air connectivity. China and India are among the fastest-growing domestic aviation markets, he added. "Net profit is expected to be USD 36.6 billion in 2025 for a 3.6 per cent net pr

Airlines in India have reported 809 hoax bomb threats in the last five years, with 719 in 2024 alone, as per data tabled in Parliament. "Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has information of a total of 809 hoax bomb threats received by airlines since 2020," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday. According to the data shared by the minister, four hoax bomb threat messages were reported by the airlines in 2020 and two in 2021. In 2022, airlines in India reported 13 hoax bomb threat messages, which rose to 71 in 2023, as per the data. In 2024, 719 hoax bomb threat messages have been reported by the airlines, according to the data. Aviation security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has mandated robust protocols for handling such threats, the minister said. Moreover, a detailed contingency plan -- Bomb Threat Contingency Plan (BTCP) -- is in place to handle such threats. As a part of BTCP, every airport has

SpiceJet will hold its annual general meeting for the 2023-24 financial year on December 30. At the meeting, the airline will seek shareholders' approval for increasing the authorised share capital to infuse fresh share capital, according to a regulatory filing on Saturday. Approvals will also be sought for the re-appointment of Ajay Singh as a director, appointment of Sonum Gayatri Malhotra as an independent director and for adopting audited financial statements for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The meeting will be held on December 30. Currently, the company's authorised share capital is Rs 15,000,000,000. The filing said in order to facilitate the infusion of fresh share capital in the company, it is necessary to increase the authorised share capital to Rs 20,000,000,000.

Air India on Thursday said it has taken various steps, including adjusting flight schedules, and increasing the number of CAT-III trained pilots, among others, to deal with the issues of fog and poor visibility this winter season. Fog and poor visibility conditions impact a large number of flights every year, particularly those originating from Northern India. The Tata Group-owned Air India faced a Rs 30 lakh fine from the DGCA in January this year for not having enough pilots trained to fly in low visibility conditions ahead of the fog season. "Air India has adjusted flight schedules to minimise disruptions to long haul and metro-to-metro flights with onward connectivity during the fog window. It has also increased the number of CAT-III trained pilots who are certified to land in low visibility operations and CAT-III instrument landing system," Air India said without giving the number of such pilots. CAT III is an instrument landing system, which enables an aircraft to land in low

Parliament on Thursday passed a bill to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act to further improve the ease of doing business in the fast-growing aviation sector. The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024 was passed in the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote. It was earlier cleared by the Lok Sabha on August 9. The bill seeks to remove redundancies and replace the Aircraft Act, 1934, which has been amended 21 times. Replying to the debate on the bill in the Upper House, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the change in title of the bill from English to Hindi, to which many members raised objections, was done to "showcase the India's heritage and culture", and "there was no violation of Constitutional rule". It will be difficult to pronounce the name of the bill in Hindi initially but one will get used to it, he added. The bill focuses on enhancing safety, regulatory oversight, and consumer protection while aligning with international standards. The bill also promotes self-reliance in ...

Aviation watchdog DGCA will soon come out with streamlined regulations for wet-leasing of planes by Indian airlines that will also entail enhanced oversight of the aircraft, amid airlines looking to operate more planes to meet rising travel demand. With persisting supply chain woes, there is a delay in aircraft deliveries and to meet the near-term needs, carriers are opting for planes on dry and wet leases. A senior official in the know told PTI that the efforts are on to streamline the regulations for wet-leasing of planes to assist in the growth of the aviation. "Realities of the engine problems cannot be wished away suddenly and on the other side, the possible routes are also increasing all the time," the official said. Many planes of IndiGo are on the ground due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues and the number of such aircraft is slowly coming down. Generally, wet-leasing of an aircraft involves the leasing of foreign aircraft, along with crew, maintenance and insurance. The ..

A lack of investment by major oil players, who have the capital to build SAF processing facilities, is hampering the market's growth, the study says

The detection of an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal, which points to a downed aircraft or people in distress after a plane crash, near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport caused panic for three hours in Nagpur in Maharashtra, officials said on Saturday. An ELT is a battery operated transmitter that emits signals and is designed to get activated automatically when an aircraft experiences strong impact. It can also be manually activated by the pilot using a switch in the cockpit. The ELT signal was detected by Air Traffic Control near Mohgaon Zilpi under Hingna police station limits in the north east airspace near the international airport on Friday, an official said. "Police was alerted at 7:30pm and teams were dispatched for a search operation. Despite a thorough search over a vast area, no sign of any aircraft crash was found. The search was called off at 10:30pm after verification that it was a false alarm," he said. A probe is underway to determine whether the

According to a press release issued by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, a total of 20 flights were affected, including cancellations and diversions

The enforcement of a rule by Air India that restricts carrying large musical instruments as cabin luggage has Indian artistes concerned who flagged the larger issue of baggage mishandling that allegedly ails all airlines across the board. Days after Zubin Balaporia, keyboardist of Indus Creed band, took to Facebook against Air India's extremely discriminating policy. Other musicians have also shared their concerns about the way musical instruments are handled by airlines, resulting in damaged or lost luggage at times. Earlier we were allowed to carry a guitar on board. Now they have stopped this and are asking musicians to pay for an extra seat for the guitar. This is ridiculous. Vistara used to allow guitars on board and IndiGo still does. Come on Air India - TATA Group. Why have such a mercenary attitude. Surely you help in promoting the arts. Have a heart and regain your soul," Balaporia wrote on the social media platform. Meanwhile, a statement by Air India to PTI clarified that

Pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle, analysis of the geopolitical situation and presence of VIPs onboard are some of the new criteria that agencies will keep in mind while considering the seriousness of a bomb threat made to Indian airlines. The new set of guidelines for civil aviation security and intelligence agencies have been issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS) in view of the "evolving security challenges", especially the "emerging trend" of issuing hoax bomb threats through various social media platforms. In the past two weeks, more than 510 domestic and international flights have received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes. The threats were issued mostly through anonymous handles on social media platform X. This has caused "major" operational and financial distress for the airlines. As per the current practice, a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) is convened at a designated airport to analyse a bomb or security threat issued

Aircraft groundings peaked to 'mid-70s' but situation is easing

Vistara will be merged into Air India on November 11. However, the duty rosters of cabin crew members of Air India and Vistara will continue to remain different for some time

Airbus expects to have more than 5,000 people as direct employees in India and also aims to source services and components worth USD 2 billion from the country in the next couple of years, a top company official said on Thursday. President of Airbus India and Managing Director South Asia Remi Maillard also said the company's engagement with the country is gaining new momentum. Currently, the aircraft maker employs around 3,500 people directly in India and sources services and components worth 1 billion euros from the country. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Airbus India and South Asia Headquarters - Training Centre in the national capital, he said it will further grow the sourcing footprint and that is expected to touch USD 2 billion in the next couple of years. Also, Airbus' direct employment number in India will cross 5,000 in the next couple of years, he added. Among others, Airbus will be setting up a second pilot training centre through a joint venture with Air Indi

The S&P Supercomposite Airlines Index is hovering around highs unseen since May 2022, poised to close Friday with its largest weekly gain since January of last year

Seeking to provide an enhanced in-flight experience to its fliers, global airline Cathay Pacific will shortly launch retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which will include a new Business class -- Aria Suite, improved Premium Economy, and refreshed Economy class cabin. Unveiled at a recent function here, the retrofitted Boeing aircraft is configured in a three-class layout with a total of 361 seats, comprising 45 flat-bed Business, 48 Premium Economy, and 268 Economy seats. The new facility will be available on select routes of airlines from October itself and will be gradually expanded. "The customer experience is at the heart of the design and conception of the all-new Aria Suite. In addition to retaining some of the customers' favourite features of Cathay Pacific's existing Business class seats -- such as the reverse herringbone arrangement, a generous bed and ample storage -- Aria Suite features a range of innovations and enhancements to take the Business class experience to t

Domestic carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday said it will enhance its fleet by another 10 aircraft by next month with the first plane set to be inducted on October 10. Seven of these aircraft will be acquired on lease, while three previously grounded ones are being reintroduced, SpiceJet said in a release. The Gurugram-headquartered airline has only 19 aircraft in operations while as many as 36 planes were on grounded as of October 8 according to the live aircraft fleet tracking website, Planespotter.net. The announcement comes on the back of SpiceJet securing Rs 3,000 crore fresh capital infusion through QIP late last month. The airline will receive an additional Rs 736 crore from a previous funding round, further bolstering its financial stability and growth trajectory. SpiceJet said it has already signed agreements for the leased aircraft, with the full induction of all seven planes expected by November 15. Two of these leased aircraft have already arrived in India and are scheduled f

The airline has already signed agreements for the leased aircraft, with the full induction of all the seven planes expected by November 15.

Airlines said they would avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace amid rise in escalation