Airline Industry

Global airline industry to record net profit of $36.6 bn in 2025: IATA

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

Boeing likely to restart 737 MAX production a month after strike ended

Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is essential to the heavily debt-burdened planemaker's recovery, and Boeing has about 4,200 orders for the jetliner from airlines

Expressing regret, IndiGo refunds ticket to passenger who fell on ramp

IndiGo on Thursday expressed deep regret to a passenger who complained that he was hurt after falling on the ramp while getting down from an aircraft at the Delhi airport in August. Full refund of the ticket has also been given to the passenger. The passenger, in a series of posts on X, said on August 14, half way down the ramp, his right foot suddenly slipped on a moist patch and he fell down. Later, he was taken to hospital. Post the incident, the passenger, who came to Delhi from Chennai, said, "I have been unable to walk since mid Aug, with potential full recovery at least a year away." IndiGo said the airline deeply regrets the inconvenience experienced by the passenger during his travel last August. "Our ground staff offered immediate support and helped the customer with medical attention. Both the airport and the IndiGo teams checked right away the equipment and found the ramp dry and in perfect working condition, being used by numerous other passengers without any issue ..

Consistently scored high on punctuality, says IndiGo; refutes survey result

IndiGo on Wednesday said it has consistently scored high on punctuality, and refuted a survey that claimed the airline is among the worst on the basis of certain parameters, including punctuality. The survey was done by by AirHelp, an EU claim processing agency. It compared the world's biggest and most popular airlines and rated them according to their punctuality, quality of service, and how well they handle claims for compensation. In a statement, IndiGo said the data published in the survey does not report the sample size from India, and neither takes into account the methodology or compensation guidelines used by the global aviation industry "casting a doubt on its credibility". According to the statement, the airline has consistently scored high on punctuality and has the lowest customer complaint ratio for an airline of its size and scale of operations. "As India's most preferred airline, IndiGo refutes the findings of this survey and reiterates its promise of on-time, ...

Most airlines not switching quickly enough to sustainable jet fuel: Study

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

Aviation minister Naidu bats for more women pilots into helicopter industry

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Monday said more women pilots should come into the helicopter industry as helicopters are critical in connecting unserved areas where building an airport or operating an aircraft is difficult. Highlighting that 15 per cent of pilots in India are women compared to the global average of 5 per cent, the minister said efforts are continuing to empower women in the aviation sector. "I would encourage more people, especially women, to become not only commercial aviation pilots but also helicopter pilots... More women pilots should come into the helicopter industry," he said at an event in the national capital. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and the civil aviation ministry is taking various initiatives to boost the helicopter industry also. Naidu said the helicopter industry has a critical role in expanding air connectivity network to unserved areas where building an airport or taking a commercial plane is ver

Singapore Airlines' A380 plane rolls back after parking at Delhi airport

Singapore Airlines' jumbo A380 aircraft rolled back at the Delhi airport after parking on Monday, an incident in which a cabin crew suffered a minor bruise, and later, the plane was towed back safely to its designated parking bay. The aircraft was operating flight SQ406 from Singapore to the national capital on November 25. In a statement on Wednesday, an airline spokesperson said the plane "experienced a rollback after parking" at the airport, and the pilot immediately applied the brakes to halt the aircraft. Generally, after a plane lands and reaches the parking bay, the pilot first applies the toe brakes and then the parking brakes before switching off the engine. Later, the ground staff keep chocks on the front and back sides of the aircraft wheels. Once that process is complete, it is communicated to the pilot, who then releases the parking brakes. Chocks are broadly wedges that are used to ensure there is no movement of wheels. Also, some parking bays might have a slight slo

994 hoax bomb threats to airlines till Nov 13 this year, says govt in RS

Airlines received 994 hoax bomb threats this year till November 13 and robust protocols are in place to handle such threats, the government has said. To deal with the menace of hoax calls in a comprehensive manner, the civil aviation ministry plans to amend the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, and Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023. A total of 1,143 hoax bomb threat messages/calls were received from August 2022 till November 13, 2024, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohol informed Rajya Sabha on November 25. During the period from August 2022 to December 2022, there were 27 threats and the number rose to 122 last year. From January to November 13, 2024, the total threats received stood at 994, as per the data shared by the minister in a written reply to the Upper House. "The recent threats were hoax and no actual threat was detected at any of the airports/aircraft in India. As per assessment of BTAC, operations of some of the ..

SriLankan Airlines eyes more Indian tourists with Ramayana Trail package

Seeing India as a place that offers "enormous growth" opportunities, SriLankan Airlines aims to increase flights to the country as well as attract more tourists, including with the Ramayana Trail package, according to a top airline official. The Ramayana Trail will help people connect with 20 significant locations in Sri Lanka that are linked to the Ramayana story. SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall said growth in the number of tourists from India has been stellar this year but still below the pre-Covid numbers. He was speaking at a function in the national capital for the launch of the Ramayana Trail package on Saturday evening. High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Kshenuka Senewiratne was also present. Till the end of October this year, around 20 per cent of the tourists who came to Sri Lanka were from India. "We have been looking at how to lift and rejuvenate tourism from India to Sri Lanka to the next level," he said while mentioning the Ramayana Trail and added that it

Air India Express to reconfigure planes with biz class seats from Apr 2025

Air India Express plans to start reconfiguration of planes having business class seats from April 2025, as the airline focuses on operating narrow-body planes with only economy class seats, according to a senior official. The Tata Group-owned airline that merged AIX Connect with itself on October 1 has rationalised its network and currently has an operational fleet of 90 planes, including over 30 aircraft with dual-class seats. Amid supply chain woes impacting fresh aircraft deliveries, the airline has, so far, inducted 35 white-tail Boeing 737-8 planes. Their count will rise to 50 in the coming months. Many of these white-tail aircraft have varying numbers of business-class seats. Generally, white-tail planes are those that were originally manufactured for a particular airline and later taken by another airline. The senior airline official said it will start reconfiguration of the aircraft having business class from April onwards. The carrier wants to offer only economy class se

IndiGo announces new flights to bolster accessibility across East, NE India

IndiGo airline on Friday announced a number of new flights and resumption of operations in its winter schedule to bolster connectivity to eastern and northeastern India. The airline announced additional frequencies on the Kolkata-Bangkok route. The new frequencies will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, starting from November 24, the airline said in a statement. With the new frequencies, the airline will have 11 weekly flights to Bangkok, sources in the airline said. The airline also announced new direct flights between Guwahati and Dimapur, and resumption of operations between Guwahati and Ahmedabad, operating daily from December 10. An IndiGo statement also said that from October 29, the airline has begun maiden direct flights connecting Agartala and Dibrugarh. The tri-weekly flights operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. According to the statement, these operations will bolster domestic connectivity and provide business and leisure travellers with ..

Crisis-hit SpiceJet's AGM for 2023-24 to be held on or before Dec 31

SpiceJet on Wednesday said the annual general meeting for 2023-24 will be held on or before December 31 as the company has been given up to three more months to conduct the meeting. The crisis-hit carrier, which had recently raised Rs 3,000 crore, said it had received emails from the BSE regarding the non-submission of the annual report for the financial year ended March 31, 2024. "In this regard, we wish to inform you that the company has obtained an extension of up to three (3) months from the Registrar of Companies under Section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013, for conducting the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company for the financial year ended March 31, 2024," it said in a filing. Further, the airline said the AGM will be held on or before December 31, 2024, and the annual report for the 2023-24 fiscal will be sent to all stakeholders in terms of the Companies Act, 2013, read with Regulation 34 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015

Akasa posts Rs 1,670 cr loss in FY24; CFO says performance will be better

Akasa Air saw its loss widen to Rs 1,670.06 crore in the financial year ended March 2024 even as the airline's total income jumped to Rs 3,144.38 crore during the same period. The airline, which has been flying for over two years, had a loss after tax of Rs 744.53 crore in 2022-23, according to data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. At the end of March 2024, the carrier had a fleet of 24 planes and operated more than 110 flights daily. "On a standalone basis, the company achieved a total income of Rs 31,443.83 million for FY 2024 against previous year's total income of Rs 7,778.48 million. "The company reported a net loss of Rs 16,700.66 million for FY 2024 against a net loss of Rs 7,444.27 million for the previous year," SNV Aviation Pvt Ltd said in a filing to the corporate affairs ministry. SNV Aviation is the parent of Akasa Air. During 2023-24, the carrier's total expenditure climbed to Rs 4,814.44 crore as against Rs 1,522.27 crore in the same period a year

Ryanair H1 profit falls 18% on weaker fares, says price weakness moderating

Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told Reuters that fare declines in the current quarter ending in December would likely be below 5 per cent

Police arrests Kerala man for hoax bomb threat to Air Arabia flight

A man was arrested for allegedly issuing a fake bomb threat to an Abu Dhabi-bound Air Arabia flight from Karipur international airport in this district, police said on Wednesday. The accused was identified as Mohammed Ijas (26) from neighbouring Palakkad district. According to Karipur police, the airport director, on Tuesday evening, received an email from Ijas claiming that a bomb was planted on the Air Arabia flight flying from Kozhikode to Abu Dhabi. Based on the complaint from airport authorities, the police launched an immediate investigation to identify the source of the threat and finally zeroed in on Ijas with the support of cyber police. "We immediately took him into custody from the airport. Actually, he was about to fly in the same flight to Dubai. He confessed to the crime and said his only intention was to cancel the flight," a police officer said. Ijas has some financial issues and he does not want to go to Dubai, he said. "He had to book the flight tickets under th

Mumbai airport to operate 3,372 flights per week in winter season

Mumbai Airport will see a marginal 2 per cent year-on-year increase at 3,372 flights per week flight movements this winter despite rising travel demand. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is all set to provide an extensive network of travel options for its passengers with 3,372 weekly flights--2,361 weekly domestic and 1,011 weekly international flights-- for the winter schedule 2024, the private airport operator said. Significantly, as per the winter schedule for the Indian Airlines announced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) earlier this month, the Indian airlines will operate 25,007 flights every week to and from 124 airports, which is 5.37 per cent more compared to the winter schedule of 2023. The winter schedule this year started from October 27, 2024 and will continue till March 29, 2025. With increased travel on both domestic and international routes, Mumbai Airport said it is expected to see around 4 per cent increase vis- -vis summe

Ahead of Vistara merger, Air India finalises revised policy for cabin crew

Ahead of the Vistara merger, Air India has finalised a revised policy for cabin crew members wherein layover allowances have been hiked and members will have to share rooms during layovers except for cabin executives, and those operating ultra-long haul flights. The revised policy has been prepared after taking into consideration the feedback of cabin crew members. Earlier, the policy had proposed room sharing for cabin crew members irrespective of whether the flight is normal, long haul or ultra long haul. The allowance for international layovers will be increased from USD 85-135 per layover night from USD 75-100, according to an internal communication of the airline. Under the new policy, cabin crew members will have to share rooms during layovers. However, cabin crew members of ultra-long haul flights will get single rooms during layovers as well as during unscheduled layovers in the event of a flight diversion, as per the internal communication. Generally, ultra-long haul flig

BTAC protocols tweaked to tackle hoax bomb calls to airlines: Report

Protocols for the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC), convened in the event of a bomb threat call to an aircraft or airport, have been tweaked to better tackle the spate of the ongoing "random" Internet-based threats being made to various Indian airlines, official sources said Tuesday. On Monday night, the BTAC that assembled at seven airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Mangalore, Bengaluru and Kozhikode declared as "hoax or non-specific" bomb threat messages sent to 30 flights belonging to three carriers -- Air India, Vistara and Indigo. The threat was assessed as "non specific" as it was found that one X handle posted these "bombs onboard" messages for 10 flights each of these three carriers between 10:46 and 11:42 PM. The protocol undertaken by the BTAC has been tweaked and a fine assessment, acting on a set of new 'red flags', is being undertaken now, the sources told PTI. The CISF and the respective airline security have also been asked to ensure "focussed" security .

Air India aims to double direct sales earnings in 2-3 years: CDTO

Air India is already investing heavily in digital marketing to boost direct sales and is working on enhancing its website

Bomb threat on 54 more flights; tally reaches 140 in just over a week

In just over a week, more than 140 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers have received bomb threats