Page 7 - Civil Aviation Ministry

Govt bailout of Go First unlikely unless engine issue resolved: Dy Minister

Deputy Aviation Minister VK Singh said the government has offered help to US-based Pratt & Whitney

Parliamentary panel to hear Civil Aviation Ministry on 'fixing of airfares'

The meeting comes amid reports of "steep hike" in fares on flights from violence-hit Manipur even as some airlines have temporarily waived off some charges including for rescheduling flights

Prudent to wait for judiciary to run its course on Go First, says Scindia

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said it was unfortunate that the operational bottleneck related to engine supplies has dealt a blow to the airline's financial position. Against the backdrop of the airline filing an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings, the minister said, "It is prudent to wait for the judicial process to run its course". Faced with a severe financial crunch, the budget carrier has also decided to cancel flights for May 3 and 4. "Go First has been faced with critical supply chain issues with regard to their engines. The Government of India has been assisting the airline in every possible manner. The issue has also been taken up with the stakeholders involved," Scindia said in a statement. He noted that it is unfortunate that this operational bottleneck has dealt a blow to the airline's financial position. "It has come to our knowledge that the airline has applied to the NCLT. It is prudent to wait for the judicial proc

Civil aviation ministry tracking Go First developments closely: Official

The civil aviation ministry is keeping a close watch on the developments at crisis-hit Go First and the proceedings that are expected at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) this week, a senior official has said. Faced with a severe financial crunch as more than half of its fleet is grounded due to the non-availability of Pratt & Whitney engines, Go First on Tuesday filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the NCLT and has also decided to cancel all flights for May 3 and 4. Against this backdrop, the senior government official said the ministry is keeping a close watch on the developments related to Go First, including the admission of the airline's application by the NCLT. The country's civil aviation sector is strong and growing but the external issue of global supply chain disruptions is a primary reason for the Go First situation, the official added. Domestic air traffic touched an "all-time high" of 4,56,082 passengers in a single day on April 30. Go .

Boeing faces production issues; Air India, Akasa expansion may get delayed

Boeing has clarified that the planes already in service will not have an impact since this is not an immediate flight safety issue

Govt launches fifth round of regional air connectivity scheme 'UDAN 5.0'

The government on Friday launched the fifth round of the regional air connectivity scheme to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas. Under UDAN 5.0, viability gap funding (VGF) will be capped at 600 kilometres stage length for both priority and non-priority areas, which was earlier capped at 500 km. Besides, no pre-determined routes would be offered. Only network and individual route proposals by airlines will be considered, the civil aviation ministry said in a release. Under the fifth round of Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) or Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the focus will be on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (more than 80 seats). The release said the earlier stage length cap of 600 kilometres is waived and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said this new and stronger version of the scheme will raise the momentum, connecting new routes and bring

Thumbs up to safety: US aviation agency rewards top safety rating to India

Category 1 status means that airlines of the country concerned can operate and expand their services to destinations in the US and can codeshare with US carriers

Akasa Air had worst load factor in March 2023, SpiceJet topped the charts

The two carriers' load factors are in direct contrast to their on-time performance. Akasa Air was at the top, SpiceJet was at the bottom in March OTP chart, shows data from aviation Ministry

Aviation ministry to commence flights to Vellore under UDAN scheme: Scindia

The Centre would soon commence a new route connecting Vellore under its flagship UDAN scheme, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said here on Saturday. As many as 473 new routes have been operationalised under the UDAN scheme launched by the Centre to boost air connectivity in Tier-II and -III cities, he said at an event here. "In terms of airport, Salem airport has been operationalised (in Tamil Nadu). Vellore will be operational in the next couple of months. Fourteen routes of UDAN will be coming in Tamil Nadu," he said soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the new integrated terminal building at the Chennai airport here set up at a cost of Rs 1,260 crore. Scindia said under the UDAN Yojana 1.20 crore people have benefited who could never have dreamt of travelling in an aeroplane. The Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme was launched as a programme to offer air connectivity in Tier-II and -III cities by the Union government. Scindia said the new integrate

SpiceJet had worst on-time performance in March; Akasa was best: Govt data

AirAsia India and Air India had the -lowest and third-lowest OTPs among 7 major carriers

With 59 mn travellers, Delhi's airport was 9th busiest in the world in 2022

Dubai was the only other Asian airport in the list with Chinese airports missing completely, given the Covid restrictions in China in 2022

Amid staff shortage, peak demand, Air India to cancel long-haul flights

As of now, six weekly flights to the US, three to Newark and three to San Francisco, will be trimmed due to a crew shortage for the coming 2-3 months, said CEO & MD of Air India, Campbell Wilson

10 passengers put on 'No Fly List' this year till March 15: Government

A total of 10 passengers have been put on the 'No Fly List' this year till March 15, the government said on Monday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that a total of 66 and 63 passengers have been placed in the 'No Fly List' in 2021 and 2022, respectively, for the period as recommended by the airline's Internal Committee constituted in accordance with Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on unruly passengers. "In 2023, 10 passengers have been placed in 'No Fly List' up to 15.03.2023. The majority of the passengers placed in 'No Fly List' were for violation related to not wearing masks or not obeying the instructions of the crew members," he said. To deal with unruly behaviour onboard flights, aviation regulator DGCA has issued a CAR titled 'Handling of unruly/ disruptive passengers'. As per the CAR, airlines are required to follow a prescribed procedure for holding passengers accountable before they are placed in the 'No Fly List

Staff still in possession of accommodation at Air India colonies: Ministry

The mechanism envisages imposition of penal rent and damage charges on the unauthorised occupants

DGCA approves 22,907 departures per week for summer schedule 2023

The Centre on Friday approved the airline's domestic summer schedule for 2023, with 4.4 per cent more flights than the winter scheduled in the last year

Go First may sue Pratt and Whitney over reliability issues in their engines

Go First asked for compensation for the malfunctioning engines that resulted in business losses, PW refused to pay the money, which resulted in a violation of the contractual agreement

Airlines considering special discounts for travellers with only cabin bag

The latest move may pivot frequent travelers from staying in hotels to flying even more

Civil aviation ministry organises chintan shivir for official, stakeholders

The civil aviation ministry on Monday organised a chintan shivir with the participation of ministry officials and other stakeholders. Addressing the participants, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasised on the government as a whole approach as well as the need for developing soft skills. The leadership has to be earned for which teamwork, compassion and empathy are very important for motivating the team. This can help in translating and focusing onto the larger aim, and also stressed on flat egalitarian structure. "During the second chintan shivir, brainstorming sessions were organised on subjects of self and team motivation, India as a drone hub, and coordination and collaboration amongst various offices/officials and the agencies involved in the sector," an official release said. Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that inter-personal skills are not only important for understanding each other but one also has to be open-minded as that will help in

IndiGo gets aviation ministry's nod to wet lease planes for US, Canada ops

The country's largest airline IndiGo, which is focusing on internationalisation, has received approval from the civil aviation ministry to wet lease up to two planes for operating flights to the United States and Canada, according to a senior official. For the first time, IndiGo started operating wide-body Boeing 777 on Delhi-Istanbul route in February. The plane has been taken on wet lease from Turkish Airlines. The airline has received nod from the ministry to wet lease two aircraft that can be utilised on this route. The official, on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday the ministry has also given approval for IndiGo to wet lease up to two wide-body aircraft which can be used for flying to the US and Canada. Queries sent to IndiGo on this issue remained unanswered. It could not be immediately ascertained whether IndiGo has firmed up plans on operating flights to the US and Canada. Indian carriers require approval from the ministry to wet lease aircraft. Under the wet le

Delhi-bound IndiGo flight diverted to Ahmedabad due to bird hit: DGCA

A Delhi-bound IndiGo aircraft originating from Surat was diverted to Ahmedabad after a bird hit during a climb at Surat, said DGCA in an official statement on Sunday