Page 6 - Civil Aviation Sector

Aviation chaos: Fog pushes govt to hold midnight meet, set up war rooms

IndiGo, Mumbai airport slapped show-cause notices over security rule violations

Fog in North India causes flight delays, passengers express frustration

It always happens to other people. Or so I thought. Until my flight from balmy Kozhikode to fogged out Delhi was delayed thrice, took off at 12.35 am and then circled over the national capital for close to two hours before landing in almost zero visibility conditions. I reached home on Monday around 6 am, tired, cold, a little traumatised after the night-long ordeal and awake' to the realisation that I was one of the lucky ones. Hundreds of passengers, some old and ailing, others with babies and small children, were stuck at airports across the country with their flights delayed by up to 13 hours, diverted or simply cancelled. As a thick blanket of fog descends over much of north India, particularly Delhi, the very act of taking a flight is edged with uncertainty. It's an every-winter story and one that I featured in this year. Travelling with me on IndGo flight 6E 5912 that was delayed by three hours - the airline thankfully kept us in the loop with messages - were several ...

As passengers eat on airport tarmac, BCAS issues notice to IndiGo, MIAL

Aviation security watchdog BCAS has issued show cause notices to IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport tarmac on Sunday, according to official sources. Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday. Both IndiGo and MIAL were not proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport, as per the notices issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The sources said the aircraft was allotted a remote bay C-33 instead of a Contact Stand, an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate. This further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like rest rooms and refreshments

Fog delays: IndiGo passengers refuse to board coach, sit on tarmac

Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on Sunday. A short video clipping of the incident was shared on social media, following which Mumbai airport claimed that the airport operators in coordination with the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the CISF "cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone". An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline was looking into the incident and "sincerely apologised" to its customers. The flight that took off from Goa could not land at the Delhi airport due to dense fog, and was diverted to the Mumbai airport on Sunday. A significant number of flights were impacted at the Delhi airport on Sunday due to dense fog and low visibility conditions. "IndiGo flight 6E 2195 (Goa to Delhi) was diverted due to unfavourable weather conditions. As the flight was already significantly delayed in Goa, passengers

Public authorities can't claim relaxation in aviation safety: Bombay HC

Civil aviation safety norms cannot be relaxed even for a project by a public authority, the Bombay High Court held while dismissing the MHADA's petition against an order passed by the Union Ministry denying it permission to construct a 40-storey building near the airport here. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata on January 10 dismissed the petition filed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) against a decision taken by the appellate authority of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in December 2021 setting a height restriction for a residential building proposed near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The court, in its order, said the MHADA certainly cannot claim a legal, let alone constitutional, right to a taller building. "It cannot contend that civil aviation safety standards should not apply to it. It cannot contend that merely because this is an MHADA project, it exceeding a mandated height poses no danger to civi

'Hope airfares come to right sweet spot,' says Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan

Emphasising that airfare is a function of supply and demand, full-service carrier Vistara's chief Vinod Kannan has expressed hope that ticket prices will come to the "right sweet spot where customers will travel and airlines can make money". Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, currently, operates around 320 flights daily. To a query on concerns in certain quarters about air ticket prices going irrationally high, the airline CEO said the thing with airfares is that people complain when it goes high and no one compliments when it goes down. "There are times in the year due to seasonality...our fares in 2023 were even lower than 2022," he noted. During an interaction with PTI, Kannan said that certain measures are in place to ensure that airfares are not irrational, especially when there are natural calamities or when something unfortunate happens. In such situations, "we want to make sure that it is not a price-gouging opportunity," he said. "If you

India-Maldives row: Alliance Air starts additional flights to Lakshadweep

Amid the ongoing India-Maldives row, Alliance Air the only airline that operates to Lakshadweep has started additional flights

Civil aviation sector on upswing, 75 airports built in 10 years: Scindia

Earlier people only heard about airlines getting shut down in India, but now things have changed and new air carriers are being established to make flying accessible to citizens, Scindia said

UP to get 5 more airports: Scindia after flagging off Ayodhya-A'bad flight

Uttar Pradesh will have five more airports in the next one month that will take the total number of airports in the state to 19, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday as he flagged off direct flight from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad. The Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30. Scindia said that five new airports will be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh in one month. The airports will be at Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot and Shravasti, taking the total number of airports in the state to 19. IndiGo, which has started services between Ayodhya and Delhi from January 11, will operate flights between Ayodhya and Ahmedabad thrice a week. The carrier will commence operations on the Mumbai-Ayodhya route from January 15. Scindia flagged off the flight from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad virtually from the national capital. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state's Tourism and Culture

New airport for army, civilian aircraft in Lakshadweep's Minicoy on cards

From the military point of view, the airfield would give India a strong capability as it can be used as a base to keep an eye on the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region

Boeing CEO's 2024 comeback plan takes another blow with Alaska Air episode

The latest, most serious, mishap occurred on the evening of Jan. 5, when a door-shaped panel ripped out as an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 climbed out of Portland, Oregon

Full-service carrier Vistara confident of receiving Boeing 787 order by Apr

Indian full-service air carrier Vistara said on Monday it was confident of receiving its last 787 wide-body jet from Boeing by March or April

No adverse findings in Boeing 737 Max planes, says Akasa post-inspection

Akasa Air on Monday said it has completed a thorough inspection of its entire fleet of in-service Boeing 737 Max planes and that there are no adverse findings. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on January 5, directed domestic airlines to immediately carry out inspection of emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets as an "abundant precautionary measure" in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident. On January 4, an Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air and the aircraft involved was Boeing 737-9 Max. In a statement on Monday, Akasa Air said subsequent to the guideline issued by DGCA, it has completed a thorough inspection of its entire fleet of in-service Boeing 737 Max aircraft. "We can confirm that there are no adverse findings. We can also confirm that there was no disruption to our operations during this time," it said. Akasa Air has 22 Max planes in its fleet. Currently, there are more than 40 Boeing 737-

Runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport reopens a week after fatal collision

Tokyo's Haneda airport is almost back to its normal operation Monday as it reopened the runway a week after a fatal collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard aircraft seen to have been caused by human error. The collision occurred Tuesday evening when JAL Flight 516 carrying 379 passengers and flight crew landed right behind the coast guard aircraft preparing for a take off on the same runway, both engulfed in flames. All occupants of the JAL's Airbus A350-900 airliner safely evacuated in 18 minutes. The captain of the coast guard's much smaller Bombardier Dash-8 escaped with burns but his five crew members died. At the coast guard Haneda base, colleagues of the five flight crew lined up and saluted to mourn for their deaths as a black vehicle carrying their bodies drove past them. The victims' bodies were to return to their families Sunday after police autopsies as part of their separate investigation of possible professional negligence. Haneda reopened three ..

Alaska Air grounds Boeing 737 Max-9 fleet after window, fuselage blowout

The airline is taking the "precautionary step" to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until the completion of full maintenance and inspection, Chief Executive Officer Ben Minicucci said

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

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to go 'silent' from Jan 1

The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport here will be going 'silent' from January 1, 2024. In a 'silent airport', passengers will be provided a noise-free and peaceful travel experience, an airport statement here said on Wednesday. "The Silent Airport initiative is to ensure that passengers can enjoy a relaxed auditory experience while they utilise their wait time enjoying their favorite activities without disturbance," a TRV (Kerala) International Airport Limited (TIAL) spokesperson said. As part of the initiative, the airport will ensure that no vital information for passengers is missed and that TIAL will display flight information in all Flight Information Display Screens across Terminal-1 and Terminal-2, it said. Only announcements related to change in boarding gate as well as Inline Baggage Screening System will be made at the airport, it added. Emergency and security related announcements will continue on the public announcement systems as per the requirements. A campa

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

Grounding 200 aircraft to have minimal impact on passenger traffic: Report

The likely grounding of 200 aircraft by March next year will have minimal impact on air passenger traffic, according to a report. Air passenger traffic is expected to reach about 375 million passengers, 1.09 times of pre-pandemic levels, in the current fiscal, the report by credit ratings agency CareEdge said. Research and advisory firm CAPA India had late last month said Indian airlines fleet continues to be severely constrained and close to 200 aircraft may go out of operations by the end of FY24 due to supply chain issues and maintenance purposes. "Despite the projection of around 200 aircraft being grounded by March 2024, the impact on traffic is expected to be minimal, at 3-4 per cent," CareEdge Ratings Director Maulesh Desai said. This is attributed to the extension of wet leases and an increase in passenger load, he said. Noting that passenger traffic will reach new heights in the next fiscal, with a healthy Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent from FY23 to F