Page 13 - Aviation

NCLT approves appointment of Ajmera as Resolution Professional of Go First

The Insolvency Tribunal NCLT on Thursday approved the decision of lenders of Go First to appoint Shailendra Ajmera as the Resolution Professional of the company. The tribunal also directed him to file a reply within a week over the lessors' plea seeking their aircraft and engine back in their possession from crisis hit air carrier. Earlier, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had appointed Abhilash Lal as the Interim Resolution Professional on May 10, 2023, while admitting the plea of Go First to initiate voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings after suspending the board of the company. The NCLT direction came over a plea moved by the Central Bank of India, which was also approved by other members of the Committee of Creditors of Go First. "We approve the appointment of Shailendra Ajmera as RP of the Corporate Debtor," said a two-member NCLT bench. It also directed the RP to file a reply within a week over the lessors seeking possession of their aircraft and engines back

Go First hopes to resume ops by month-end and restore 94% of daily flights

The carrier is also waiting for creditors to approve additional funding, the person said, declining to specify the amount of investment needed

NCLT issues notice to Go First resolution professional on Delhivery plea

Insolvency tribunal NCLT on Thursday issued a notice to the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) of crisis-hit airlines Go First over a plea filed by supply chain company Delhivery. In its plea, Delhivery had alleged Go First's insolvency process as a sham and said the airline took payments of Rs 57 lakh from Delhivery on May 2, the day it filed for insolvency. The airline took payments despite knowing that it was filing for voluntary insolvency before NCLT, Delhivery said. A two-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) directed the IRP to file a reply within two weeks and listed the matter on July 24 for the next hearing. Go First is presently going through Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). The NCLT on May 10 admitted the plea of Go First to initiate voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings and appointed Abhilash Lal of Alvarez & Marsal as IRP of the airline. Delhivery has requested the tribunal to allow it as an intervener in the company ...

India to have 200-220 more airports, heliports in next 5 years: Scindia

He added that eight airports have been built in the northeast part of the country

India has one of the best airfare, no need for 'gouging': Akasa Air CEO

India has one of the best airfare regimes in the world, but there should not be "gouging" in terms of ticket prices to take advantage of a particular situation, according to Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube. His comments come against the backdrop of concerns about a steep rise in airfares in certain routes amid capacity reduction due to the Go First crisis and higher travel demand, and the government asking airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure a reasonable ticket pricing system. India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, and domestic air traffic is recovering strongly after the coronavirus pandemic. Dube, also the founder of Akasa Air, said the civil aviation ministry has an excellent point in terms of gouging and is not talking about average fares in India, like equivalent to USD 45 or 50, which is too high. "Gouging is what the government is worried about... as an airline fraternity, we should ensure that there is no gouging," Dube told PTI in an interview in ...

India is a fantastic potential market but taxation higher: IATA chief

India is a fantastic potential market for aviation but not a cheap market to operate as taxation is higher in the country than in many other places, international airlines' grouping IATA's chief Willie Walsh said on Tuesday. During a media briefing here, Walsh also highlighted the scale of the economy and investments going into airports in India. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a grouping of more than 300 airlines, including Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet. While responding to a query about a possible duopoly in the Indian airline market, Walsh said there is "plenty of scope for others (airlines) to compete in the market". "What you have in India is a fantastic potential market. You look at the scale of the economy, investments going into airports... (but) India is not a cheap market to operate. "Taxation in India is higher than most places in the world. I think there is a lot of potential in India," he said. India is one of the fastest-growing aviation marke

US-bound Air India flight diverted to Magadan in Russia after engine glitch

The airplane faced the problem mid-flight, making the pilot to take immediate action to ensure the safety of all onboard

India hugely growing aviation market but underserved: Air India CEO

India is a hugely growing aviation market but also underserved, especially on international routes, Air India chief Campbell Wilson said on Monday. The Air India CEO and Managing Director was speaking at a session at the IATA World Air Transport Summit. While India is a "hugely growing market", it is also an underserved market, as there are less than 50 wide-body aircraft (with domestic carriers), he said. Earlier this year, Air India placed an order for 470 planes with Boeing and Airbus. In the context of the aircraft order, Wilson said there is a significant imbalance that the airline is trying to address. He was referring to the shortage of wide-body planes in India. Wilson also said that a few years ago, 13 Boeing 787 planes were grounded as Air India did not have funds and there was also a requirement for "30,000 spare parts". He was responding to a query related to supply-chain issues. The Tata Group took over the loss-making Air India from the government in January last

Airlines must devise mechanism for reasonable pricing of air tickets: Govt

The government on Monday asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by Go First. During an hour-long meeting of the airlines advisory group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared his concerns about the steep rise in airfares on certain routes. Airlines have been asked to self-monitor airfares on routes that have seen considerable rise in ticket prices, particularly those that were served by Go First earlier. Go First stopped flying from May 3 and the reduction of capacity due to the crisis at the budget airline has come at a time when peak domestic air travel period is round the corner. A mechanism should be devised by airlines to ensure reasonable pricing within the high RBDs (Reservation Booking Designator) and the same would be monitored by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the ministry said in a statement. Airfares are deregulated und

Lufthansa seeks deeper partnership with Air India, plans to expand flights

Lufthansa's CEO, Carsten Spohr speaks about the expansion plans of the airline and partnership with Air India that could make it the largest airline group connecting India and Europe

Unruly passenger behaviour on rise; 1 incident in every 568 flights: IATA

One unruly passenger incident was reported for every 568 flights last year compared to one such incident per 835 flights in 2021, according to international airlines' grouping IATA. In recent times, there has been a steep rise in unruly passenger behaviour incidents, including in India. As it released an analysis of such incidents on Sunday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) also urged more states to take the necessary authority to prosecute passengers under Montreal Protocol 2014 (MP14). "Latest figures show that there was one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, up from one per 835 flights in 2021. The most common categorisations of incidents in 2022 were non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication. "Physical abuse incidents remain very rare, but these had an alarming increase of 61 per cent over 2021, occurring once every 17,200 flights," IATA said in a release. Although non-compliance incidents initially fell after the mask mandates were .

India is an opportunity, looking to expand operations: Lufthansa CEO

Bullish on the Indian market, Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr on Sunday said the airline group is working closer with Air India as well as expanding its own operations into the country. "We have strengthened our position in the Indian market. We think we can do more... flying more, new partnership with Air India which is a different company than it was before to grow our market share," he said. The group has a two-fold strategy for India and one pillar is to expand the operations to the country, he said during a media briefing on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit here. "We have just announced reopening Frankfurt-Hyderabad (service) which we had to close a few years ago. We will also be for the first time serving Bangalore from Munich... "We are using our own aeroplanes, operations to expand into India," he said. The second pillar is working closer with Air India, he said, adding that no

AI sends out questionnaires to assess customer satisfaction levels: CEO

As it works on improving services, Air India on Friday said it is sending out questionnaires to customers to every day and has received good response through its digitalised customer feedback mechanism. Air India, which was taken over by Tata Group in January last year, started sending questionnaires to travellers to identify areas for improvement to meet customer expectations in March. The Net Promoter Score (NPS)-based customer feedback mechanism has received more than 1,40,000 responses in three months, the airline said in a release. In his message to staff on Friday, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said that over the last three months, the airline has expanded NPS to cover the entire physical customer journey, from check-in, through to lounges, in-flight experience and the arrival process, and will be extended to the online and call centre experiences. "Questionnaires are sent every single day, and so far we've had more than 1,40,000 responses. "Pleasingly,

India conducts Asia's 1st performance-based helicopter navigation: Scindia

India conducted Asia's first demonstration of performance-based navigation for helicopters for a flight from Juhu to Pune using GAGAN satellite technology. In a tweet on Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said it is a fine example of the "Indian aviation sector blazing a trail in innovation!". "India conducts Asia's first demonstration for Performance-Based Navigation for helicopters. "The flight from Juhu to Pune made use of the #GAGAN satellite technology that enhances accuracy, allowing for high quality air traffic management. Congratulations @AAI_Official," the minister said. GAGAN refers to GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation. It is a space-based augmentation system for providing the best possible navigational services over the Indian FIR (Flight Information Region) with the capability of expanding to neighbouring FIRs. It was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

'Common but differentiated responsibility' must guide ICAO towards net zero

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) should continue to be guided by "common but differentiated responsibilities" in the efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions for the aviation sector, India said on Wednesday. India is one of the fastest-growing and the third largest civil aviation market in the world. At an ICAO symposium in Seoul on Wednesday, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said that based on "realities and infrastructure constraints", India has set a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2070. "In achieving the net zero goal, ICAO should continue to be guided by common but differentiated responsibilities," Bansal said. In an official statement issued at the Global Implementation Support Symposium 2023, the secretary said the transition towards a lower carbon and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) will be fundamental to achieving the net zero target by 2050. "The process of SAF legislation, regulation, production, and deployment is external to civi

Angshumali Rastogi India's representative to global civil aviation org

Senior bureaucrat Angshumali Rastogi was on Tuesday appointed India's representative to the council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, according to a Personnel Ministry order. Rastogi, a 1995 batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), has been appointed in place of Shefali Juneja for three years, it said. Hemang Jani, Secretary of the Capacity Building Commission, has been named Senior Adviser to the Executive Director, World Bank, Washington DC, for three years. Jani, who has earlier worked as a senior private sector specialist at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, has been appointed in place of Ritesh Kumar Singh, according to the order. Sai Venkata Ramana Anil Das will be an adviser to the Executive Director, World Bank, Washington DC, in place of Suresh Yadav, for three years, it said. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved 12 appointmen

Aviation regulator DGCA simplifies application process for heliport license

Aviation regulator DGCA has simplified the application process for heliport licenses, and applicants can now seek clearances through a single window on the regulator's portal. Earlier, applicants had to seek NOC (No Objection Certificate)/ clearance from five entities before submitting online applications for heliport licenses. The entities are the home ministry, defence ministry, environment and forest ministry, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the local administration concerned. Now, the applications for NOC/ clearance can be routed to the five entities through a single window provided on the eGCA portal, an official release said on Tuesday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grants heliport license/ operational authorisation to the heliports at the surface level as well as at elevated/rooftop of buildings. Applicants are required to submit an online application through the regulator's eGCA portal.

Unruly passenger behaviour incidents not helpful, says Air India CEO

Air India needed to and has taken a firm line on unruly passenger behaviour onboard aircraft, which is also an international airline industry problem, and it is clearly not helpful when such incidents happen, according to Air India chief Campbell Wilson. There have been multiple incidents of unruly passenger behaviour, including abusing and assaulting of cabin crew, onboard planes in recent months. In various cases, the aviation regulator DGCA has also taken action against airlines for certain lapses in reporting and not taking appropriate measures with respect to such incidents. In an incident of unruly passenger behaviour, a male passenger onboard an Air India flight from Goa to Delhi on Monday physically assaulted a crew member. Wilson, who is the CEO and Managing Director of Air India, said that unruly passengers are an international industry problem and that such incidents continue to happen. "As an airline, we needed to and have taken a firm line on unruly behaviour onboard .

Air India passenger abuses, assaults crew member on flight on May 29

In a statement issued by Air India, the airline said that a passenger on their flight AI882 on May 29 behaved in an unruly manner

China's first domestically built plane successfully makes commercial flight

China's first indigenously built passenger aircraft C919 on Sunday successfully completed its first commercial flight, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market as part of the country's effort to compete with Western rivals like Boeing and Airbus. The first commercial flight of C919 from Shanghai to Beijing is carried out by the state-run China Eastern Airlines. The plane carried 128 passengers on board. The flight time between Shanghai and Beijing was about two hours and twenty-five minutes, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The plane was greeted with a water salute after touching down at Beijing Capital International Airport at 12:31 pm on Sunday, the report said. The water salute ceremony is performed as a symbol of respect and honour for the aircraft, its crew, and passengers. The C919 is China's first self-developed trunk jetliner in accordance with international airworthiness standards and owns independent intellectual property rights. The C919 is .