Page 2 - Air Travel In India

New FDTL norms will not affect Akasa Air's flight schedule: CEO Vinay Dube

The new mandate has increased weekly rest periods for flight crew to 48 hours in a week from the previous 36 hours

Delhi Airport chaos continues as dense fog delays 30 flights, cancels 17

Freezing temperatures and low visibility due to dense fogs in Indira Gandhi International Airport disrupt travel plans in north India for a second day; DGCA calls for real-time flight updates

DGCA to enhance regulatory capacity to induct more planes this year

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday said there are a total of 16 airlines in the country that are operating with 771 aircraft.The DGCA informed through an official statement on Thursday that in line with the anticipated increase in aircraft inductions in 2024, it was suitably enhancing its regulatory capacity to further speed up the regulatory approvals related to the induction of aircraft.It informed further that the DGCA grants Air Operator Certificates (AOC) to Airline Operators for undertaking Scheduled and Scheduled Commuter Air transport Services. As of December 31, 2023, there are a total of 16 AOC holders endorsed with a total of 771 aircraft, the topmost regulatory authority for flight operations informed.In addition, DGCA has permitted airline operators to induct 21 aircraft on a wet/damp lease basis in 2023 to cater for capacity shortfall due to the grounding of aircraft.Last year, the scheduled operators inducted a total of 112 aircraft in their fleet ...

Time-consuming training, pilot shortages causing fog-related flight delays

During the pandemic, only a few pilots could train on these simulators as these enclosed spaces carried a high risk of transmission, exacerbating the challenge with simulator availability today

Air travel favourable option during new year, no festival surge in fare

This adjustment in airfares can be attributed to airlines' efforts to rectify the missteps observed prior to Diwali, according to aviation industry officials

Eight out of ten fliers faced issues with Indian airlines, says survey

Major challenges identified include issues with in-flight services, boarding, check-in, baggage procedures, and poor aircraft interiors, including seats

Domestic air passenger traffic rose by 9% in November; crosses 1.27 cr

Domestic air passenger traffic rose 9 per cent to more than 1.27 crore in November, according to official data released on Friday. Last month also saw daily air traffic touching new highs multiple times. IndiGo remained the country's largest domestic carrier but its market share declined to 61.8 per cent in November from 62.6 per cent in October. However, none of the scheduled carriers had an On-Time Performance (OTP) score of more than 80 per cent in November. Official data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday showed that airlines flew 1.27 crore passengers in November compared to 1.17 crore in the year-ago period. This marks a growth of 9.06 per cent on an annual basis. "Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-November 2023 were 1,382.34 lakhs as against 1,105.10 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering annual growth of 25.09 per cent and monthly growth of 9.06 per cent," DGCA said. The domestic

Delhi-Bangkok flights cheaper than air travel to Northeast: Tour operators

Expressing regret that the cost of domestic airfares to pristine destinations in the northeast is costlier than airfares to Thailand, travel agencies and hotel operators urged the government to intervene in the matter. The airfare from Delhi to Bangkok as on December 1 (one-way) is Rs 11,470 whereas flights from Delhi to Shillong cost around Rs 14,974, travel agents claimed. This was discussed at length at the B2B meet at the International Tourism Mart here on Wednesday. Entrepreneurs from the tourism industry from all the NE states agreed that airfares from Delhi/Mumbai to Bangkok is cheaper than those to Shillong or Agartala or any of the state capitals of the region. "We understand this is due to number of travellers going to Bangkok. We want the government of India to intervene and put a cap on this because it is unfair that domestic fares are costlier than international destinations," a Guwahati-based tour operator said. Meanwhile, the Union tourism ministry has sanctioned ov

Latest LTC rules that govt employees should know before booking air tickets

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued modified instructions for booking air ticket for central government employees to help settle claims and avoid misuse of LTC

Airfares will go up by mid-high single digits, says Yatra Online CEO

Dhruv Shringi speaks about their plans of driving revenue and the travel boom in the country

Easy hacks: 47% Indians willing to alter travel plans for bargain deals

Over half of Indians (55%) are planning purpose-related travel in India to engage in activities such as scuba diving, golf, yoga, or wellness retreats.

Manufacturing, rise in air travel to take India oil demand to 5.4 mb/d

A better-than-expected rebound in Chinese economic activity may further empower oil demand in Asia which should be complemented by the rise in domestic demand for air travel

With Go First gone, rivals Air India, IndiGo, others ramp up flights

The government of India has also allotted cash-strapped Go First slots after representations that airports will lose money if they are not utilised

Domestic airlines carry 2.46 cr passenger in Jan-Feb, log 74% annual growth

During January-February of this year, domestic airlines carried 2.46 crore passengers as against 1.41 crore in the corresponding period of 2022, thereby registering an annual growth of 74.50 per cent

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Labour pain for travel sector: Agencies poaching staff to beat shortage

Smaller outfits losing customers, many firms outsourcing to larger players to stay afloat

Domestic airlines flew 409,831 passengers on Sunday, highest since May 2020

Air traffic touches nearly 96 per cent of pre-Covid level

Clipped wings: Post-Covid pandemic recovery in air travel stalls

The biggest decline has been in foreign tourist arrivals

Masks no more compulsory during air travel, says civil aviation ministry

The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday said the use of masks is not compulsory during air travel but passengers should preferably use them amid the declining number of coronavirus cases. Till now, the use of masks or face covers while travelling on flights was mandatory. In a communication to the scheduled airlines, the ministry said the latest decision has been taken in line with the government's policy of a graded approach to COVID-19 management response. "... the in-flight announcements henceforth may only mention that in view of the threat posed by COVID-19, all passengers should preferably use mask/face covers," the communication said. It also said that any specific reference to fine/penal action need not be announced as part of the in-flight announcements. The total number of active coronavirus cases in the country accounted was only 0.02 per cent of the total infections and the recovery rate increased to 98.79 per cent, according to the latest official data. The number o