Page 14 - Civil Aviation Sector

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

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

Indian carriers to operate 22,907 weekly domestic flights in summer

Indian carriers will operate a total of 22,907 weekly domestic flights during the summer schedule starting from March 26. The number of flights to be operated is 4.4 per cent higher compared to 21,941 weekly flights operated in the winter schedule, according to aviation regulator DGCA. The summer schedule is from March 26 till October 28. As many as 11 airlines will be operating domestic services, with maximum weekly flights by IndiGo at 11,465. In the 2022 summer schedule, the airline's number of flights is 10,085 flights. Among the 11 airlines, Alliance Air, Air Asia, SpiceJet and Vistara will be operating fewer flights in the upcoming summer schedule compared to the 2022 winter schedule, which is from October 28, 2022 to March 25, 2023. SpiceJet will be flying only 2,240 weekly flights in the summer schedule. This is nearly 30 per cent lower than 3,193 weekly flights in the winter schedule. In a release on Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said 22,907 .

Ensure airlines do not practice predatory pricing: Parl panel tells govt

A Parliamentary panel on Monday asked the civil aviation ministry to cap the upper and lower levels of airfares, and ensure that predatory pricing mechanism is not adopted by the airlines under the cloak of free market economy. "A perfect balance has to be maintained between the commercial interest of the private airlines and the interest of the passengers so as to enable the private airlines to grow and at the same time the interest of passengers should also be kept in mind, so that they are not fleeced in the garb of commercialisation," the panel said. The recommendations have been made by the Department -related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report on the ministry's demand for grants for 2023-24. Among others, there have been complaints about sudden surge in air ticket prices during peak travel seasons. The committee also observed that presently the surge in airfares does not reflect any sort of mechanism on part of the ministry to ...

Jalan-Kalrock in discussions to order 200 aircraft for Jet Airways

The airline wants to maintain a fleet that allows them to tap the market opportunity in India

Aviation sector seen returning to profit in FY24 on higher traffic, pricing

Although competition from Tatas and Akasa could increase, analysts see 25% upside in IndiGo

Days of Made-in-India passenger aircraft not far: PM Narendra Modi

This is Modi's fifth visit this year to the State, where Assembly elections are due by May

Fixing Air India

The Tatas have their hands full trying to turn around India's flag carrier. Here's why

Air India's rise to affect Emirates but we will adapt: Country head

Airline has approached govt for allocation of more flights to India

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

SpiceJet board to consider fundraising to cover outstanding liabilities

SpiceJet on Tuesday said its board will meet on Friday to consider options to raise funds as well as to convert certain outstanding liabilities into equity shares of the company. The no-frills airline, which has been grappling with multiple headwinds, including legal woes, is looking to raise fresh capital through issuance of eligible securities to qualified institutional buyers. Besides, the carrier plans to issue equity shares on preferential basis consequent upon conversion of outstanding liabilities into equity shares of the company, subject to applicable regulatory approvals, according to a filing to the BSE. Both plans will be taken up by the board of directors during its meeting scheduled for February 24. Specific details about the proposals could not be immediately ascertained. In December last year, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh told shareholders that the company is engaged with investment bankers to raise up to USD 200 million in order to achieve its

Domestic aviation traffic continues growth, Jan records 12.5 mn passengers

SpiceJet recorded the highest occupancy of 91 per cent, while Indigo witnessed 82 per cent. Air India and Go First followed with 87.5 per cent and 90.9 per cent of occupancy, respectively

Vistara hikes salaries of pilots, cabin crew by 8% as part of appraisal

Full service carrier Vistara will hike salaries of its pilots and cabin crew by up to 8 per cent from April amid deployment of higher capacities to meet rising travel demand, according to a source. The source also claimed that some 30 pilots have quit the airline in the last six months and are serving notice period after getting job offers mainly from the Gulf carriers. On Thursday, a senior Vistara official confirmed the salary hike for the pilots and cabin crew but denied that 30 pilots have left the airline. The official also said the salary hike decision is part of the annual appraisal exercise and not triggered by any other development, adding that some pilots changed their decision to quit in view of the long-term opportunities at the airline, which is to be merged with Air India. The official did not provide any specific details about the number of pilots who quit or are serving the mandatory six-month notice period. Queries sent to Vistara remained unanswered. "Vistara

Air India may find it cheaper to buy jets, thanks to Tata's credit profile

On the strength of its excellent financial track record, Tata Group was able to secure Power-By-Hour (PBH) agreements with engine manufacturers GE and Rolls Royce

Airlines faced 546 technical snags during aircraft operations in 2022: Govt

The government on Thursday said domestic airlines faced a total of 546 technical snags during operation of planes last year. Out of them, the country's largest airline IndiGo faced 215 snags while SpiceJet saw 143 snags and Vistara had 97 snags. Air India faced 64 snags while those reported by Go First and Akasa Air stood at 7 and 6, respectively, according to data provided by the civil aviation ministry in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2022, Air Asia (India) witnessed 8 snags, Alliance Air reported 3 snags, Fly Big (1), TrueJet (1) and BlueDart Aviation (1). A total of 1,090 snags were faced by airlines in the last two years. Last year, the number of snags was slightly higher at 546 compared to 544 in 2021. To a query on whether more technical snags are reported in the country due to low cost airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh replied in the negative. "No Sir, Technical snags are experienced during operation of aircraft. These may be due to improper

Indian aviation industry suffers over Rs 24,000 cr loss in 2020-22

India's aviation industry suffered a loss of over Rs 24,000 crore in the last two financial years during 2020-22

DGCA imposes Rs 10-lakh penalty on Go First for 9 January incident

This is the third case of an airline getting penalised for lapses

This CEO raises 'long-standing issue' after passengers miss S'gapore flight

On Wednesday, 32 passengers could not board a Singapore-bound flight operated by budget carrier Scoot

Aviation watchdog to seek report from SpiceJet on incident at Delhi airport

Aviation watchdog DGCA will seek a report from SpiceJet on an incident at Delhi airport this week where passengers of a Bengaluru-bound flight had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge. A passenger had shared on social media a video and his experience about co-passengers having had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge on Tuesday at the Delhi airport. It happened with passengers of SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi-Bengaluru. On Wednesday late evening, SpiceJet said the flight was delayed due to weather disruption that led to incoming crew exceeding their duty time limit. A senior DGCA official on Thursday told PTI that the regulator is looking into the incident and "will seek a report from the airline". In its statement on Wednesday, SpiceJet said the flight was delayed on account of weather disruption in the network and the aircraft's previous rotation. "As a result of this, the incoming crew was not legal to operate the subsequent flight to Bengaluru and crew was arran

Recovery, expansion, Covid air pockets await Indian aviation sector in 2023

With tailwinds of high domestic air passenger traffic and airlines' ambitious expansion plans, the country's civil aviation sector is firmly on a V-shaped recovery trajectory but the gathering Covid clouds and geopolitical headwinds could cause turbulence in 2023. Air India's plans for expansion and consolidation of operations, IndiGo's focus on wide-body planes, Jet Airways' future flight path and airlines' overall profitability will be key factors for the aviation sector, which has been witnessing more than four lakh domestic passengers daily for the past few weeks. All said, global supply chain disruptions that have caused shortage of aircraft components and delay in plane deliveries, as well as spurt in coronavirus cases globally are concerns. From Tata group taking control of loss-making Air India to Akasa Air commencing operations to Jet Airways' future remaining uncertain, 2022 leaves the domestic airlines' industry with many key developments. Also, the government's ECLGS ...