Page 8 - Civil Aviation Sector

Mumbai airport handled the highest-ever 4.46 mn passengers in November

On 25 November, the airport experienced peak activity, recording a footfall of 167,132 passengers. This figure comprises 120,000 domestic and more than 46,000 international passengers

Airlines advised to self-regulate on airfares: Scindia on price concerns

The Civil Aviation Ministry has discussions with airlines over the airfares and these were advised to self-regulate and keep passengers' interest in mind while fixing the fares, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday, asserting that the airfare is neither established nor regulated by the government. Scindia made the statement in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha about surge in airfares and steps taken by the government to address the issue. "As per prevailing regulations, airfare is neither established nor regulated by the government. The airline fare system runs in multiple levels (buckets or RBDs) which are in line with practice being followed globally. "The fares are fixed by airlines keeping in mind the market, demand, seasonality and other market forces. The airfare increases with increase in demand of seats as the lower fare buckets get sold out faster and move to higher fare buckets," he said. Scindia informed that the Ministry had consultation

Number of air passengers has gone up from 60 mn in 2014 to 145 mn now: Govt

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said the number of air passengers has gone up from six crore in 2014 to 14.5 crore at present and added that airfares are competitive with the railway AC first class fares. The minister was asked about rising airfares during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. Scindia said that the civil aviation sector is a deregulated sector and despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising jet fuel cost, airfares have not increased in the same proportion. "There were only six crore travellers in 2014. In the last nine years, this number has gone up to 14.5 crore," Scindia said. He said airfare today is competitive with the fare of the AC First Class of the Indian Railways. "We estimate, by 2030, there will be 42 crore air passengers and the sector will grow three times," he said. IUML MP E T Mohd Basheer asked the minister about the rise in fares during holiday and festival seasons and in case of natural calamities, and said tha

India set to become most exciting civil aviation market, says IATA director

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that airline revenues globally will rise in 2024 as the sector is witnessing continued growth in post-pandemic travel

Air India changes aircraft order with Airbus, cites 'business requirements'

Indian carrier had placed order for 250 planes with European manufacturer

Airline industry projected to record $25.7 billion net profit in 2024: IATA

The airline industry is projected to register a net profit of USD 25.7 billion in 2024 as more normal growth is expected in both passenger and cargo segments, global grouping IATA said on Wednesday. For 2023, the net profit is estimated at USD 23.3 billion, significantly higher than the USD 9.8 billion projected by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June this year. IATA has more than 300 airlines as members. The airline industry's operating profit is expected to touch USD 49.3 billion in 2024 from USD 40.7 billion this year. In 2024, the total revenue is estimated to grow 7.6 per cent to USD 964 billion compared to 2023. "Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, a historic high that exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 4.5 billion recorded in 2019," IATA said. Industry passenger load factor is nearing its 2019 level, which is supporting the financial recovery of the airlines, IATA Director Policy and Economics Andrew Matters said. "The airline indus

Parl panel advice to start process of approval of 2nd airport in Chennai

As per the report, the Tamil Nadu government has identified two locations Mamandur and Parandur for the development of a second airport in Chennai

With UDAN scheme, 130,000 passengers have travelled by air: Scindia

As many as 1.30 lakh passengers, including those who could never dream of travelling by air, have travelled due to the UDAN scheme and the aviation sector is set to be the 'backbone' of transportation in the country, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed Rajya Sabha on Monday. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, the minister said as of today 2.75 lakh flights have operated in India due to the viability gap funding that has been proposed and given by the central government under UDAN. The minister also told the House that the aviation sector has taken steps to ensure the safety and security of passengers, especially the elderly in case of any complain of ill-treatment. Responding to a question by independent member Kartikeya Sharma during Question Hour, the minister said 517 routes are in force under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik). He assured the member that safety and security of passengers is the priority and said the aviation regulator DGCA keeps a tr

AAI saving nearly Rs 515 cr annually from leasing out of six airports

Airports Authority of India (AAI) is saving around Rs 515 crore annually in terms of running cost of six airports that have been on lease under the public private partnership since 2018, according to the civil aviation ministry. Six airports -- Mangaluru, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati -- were leased out under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in 2018. At the present valuation, AAI has incurred an expenditure of around Rs 2,767 crore at these six airports prior to handing over them to the PPP concessionaire. The cost included capital work in progress and Regulated Asset Base (RAB) in aeronautical and non-aeronautical assets. "As per the concession agreement of 6 PPP airports, the concessionaire has paid this amount in the form of upfront fee. This amount is subject to the requisite reconciliation, true-up and final determination by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) of the quantum of such investment," Minister of State for Civil .

Penetration of international air travel remains low in India: CAPA

Even as India has become the third largest market in terms of domestic traffic, the penetration of international air travel remains low, CAPA India chief Kapi Kaul said on Friday. He also pitched for regulatory reforms, saying if corrective measures are not taken, the capacity pipeline will reduce further. "In terms of domestic traffic, we have reached number 3. But in terms of international (traffic), we are ranked at 18. In spite of being the third-largest domestic market, the penetration of (international) air travel remains lowest among the top 20 domestic markets," Kaul said. He was delivering the keynote address at a function organised here by Tata Memorial Trust to mark the 119th birth anniversary of JRD Tata. Kaul said India's seats per capita consumption stands at 0.13, whereas the same for a country like Australia is as much as 3.11. The long-term fundamentals for growth are very strong, he said, adding that "we have only searched the surface of international travel. We

Air India completes title transfer of fourth A350 aircraft, says CEO

Air India has completed the title transfer of its fourth A350 aircraft, and it is scheduled to arrive in February 2024. The Tata Group-owned carrier expects the first A350-900 aircraft to arrive in India this month. "On the aircraft front, we completed the title transfer of our fourth A350 aircraft last week, which is scheduled to arrive in February 2024 after livery changes and modifications. "We also took delivery of another two A320 neos that will commence service in December," Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said in his weekly message to the staff on Friday. He also said a brand new A350 of Air India and B737 Max of Air India Express in their new liveries will be featured at the Wings India conference in Hyderabad in January. The airline has ordered six A350-900 planes and five of them are scheduled for delivery through March 2024. Apart from these, the airline's firm orders for 470 new aircraft include 34 A350-1000s, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777Xs, 140 A320

India projected to see domestic air passenger traffic of 155 mn in FY24

India is projected to see a domestic air passenger traffic of around 155 million in the current financial year while the number of grounded aircraft of the domestic carriers is expected to be around 200, according to a report released on Monday. Aviation advisory firm CAPA India said the international air passenger traffic is anticipated to be about 70 million in the year ending March 2024. "Domestic air traffic in FY2024 has remained above FY2020 levels in every month to date, although the strength of recovery has eased in the last couple of months. "Since May 2023, international traffic has remained largely in line with FY2020 but is expected to move ahead in the remainder of the year," it said. In its March report, CAPA India had estimated domestic air passenger traffic at more than 160 million and international air passenger traffic at 72-75 million. As per the report, overall industry profitability is expected to be largely in line with our initial guidance of a loss of USD .

Global air passenger traffic hit highest number since pandemic on Nov 24

The international air passenger traffic touched 1,06,827 on Friday, the highest level post the coronavirus pandemic, according to union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. This also comes at a time when the country's domestic air passenger traffic scaled a new peak of 4,63,417 on Thursday. In a post on X, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said international air passenger traffic stood at 1,06,827 on November 24 and it was the "highest post Covid international air traffic". "A landmark day for Indian aviation sector! After reaching the milestone of carrying 4.63 lakh daily domestic passengers, the sector has achieved yet another feat of carrying more than 1 lakh daily international passengers," he said. Meanwhile, so far this month, the domestic air passenger traffic has touched new highs at least four times -- on November 23, 20, 19 and 20. "Post-Covid, India's domestic aviation's turnaround story has not just been overwhelming but inspiring as well. "Positive .

IndiGo to be first airline to start flights from Noida Int'l Airport

IndiGo will be the first airline to start flights from Noida International Airport, which is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2024, according to a statement. Noida International Airport (NIA) on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IndiGo -- the country's largest airline -- which has agreed to become the launch carrier for the airport, the statement said. Under the agreement, signed in Delhi, NIA and IndiGo will work together towards developing and strengthening air connectivity in Uttar Pradesh and beyond. The greenfield airport is located in Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, about 75 km from Delhi. Once operational, it will be the second international and overall third commercial airport in the National Capital Region (NCR). The partnership will explore new and innovative ideas, aimed at gaining operational efficiency and enhanced customer experience, as per the NIA statement. "We are excited to sign this MoU with Ind

Always evaluating options: IndiGo amid reports of inducting premium flights

IndiGo on Thursday said it always evaluates available options amid reports that the budget carrier is likely to have a premium class in its flights. The airline, which has a domestic market share of more than 62 per cent, is expanding its operations. It has a fleet of more than 330 aircraft, and 970 planes are on order. "We are always in the process of evaluating options available. As a policy, we do not comment on speculations and will share any information if and when we have anything to share," IndiGo said in a statement. The statement came in the backdrop of reports that the airline plans to have a premium class in its A321 XLR aircraft and also launch a loyalty programme. IndiGo expects delivery of A321 XLR planes in late 2024 or early 2025. "XLR will help us expand our range... when XLRs come in, that can bring us further into Europe to places like Athens... it can bring further into Asia to places like Seoul...," IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said on November 6.

DGCA suspends RedBird's authorisation to carry out maintenance of planes

Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday said it has suspended the authorisation of RedBird Flight Training Academy for carrying out maintenance of its aircraft after finding deficiencies in an audit carried out in the wake of two incidents of crash landing last month. After the two incidents of aircraft crash landing within a span of one week in October, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended the operations of Redbird Flight Training Academy at all its bases. A special maintenance audit was carried out at the training academy's main base in Baramati, Maharashtra and at four sub-bases in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh; Kalburgi and Belgavi in Karnataka; and Lilabari, Assam. "The findings from the special maintenance audit revealed deficiencies in personnel training, maintenance schedules and records, internal audit practices, tool and store management and fuel storage and handling," DGCA said in a release. Subsequently, the regulator initiated enforcement action against

Delhi-Bangkok flights cheaper than air travel to Northeast: Tour operators

Expressing regret that the cost of domestic airfares to pristine destinations in the northeast is costlier than airfares to Thailand, travel agencies and hotel operators urged the government to intervene in the matter. The airfare from Delhi to Bangkok as on December 1 (one-way) is Rs 11,470 whereas flights from Delhi to Shillong cost around Rs 14,974, travel agents claimed. This was discussed at length at the B2B meet at the International Tourism Mart here on Wednesday. Entrepreneurs from the tourism industry from all the NE states agreed that airfares from Delhi/Mumbai to Bangkok is cheaper than those to Shillong or Agartala or any of the state capitals of the region. "We understand this is due to number of travellers going to Bangkok. We want the government of India to intervene and put a cap on this because it is unfair that domestic fares are costlier than international destinations," a Guwahati-based tour operator said. Meanwhile, the Union tourism ministry has sanctioned ov

A-I Express cabin crew raise concerns about room sharing during layovers

Scores of cabin crew members of Air India Express have expressed concerns about the decision on room sharing during layovers, claiming that such a move poses various difficulties in getting uninterrupted rest before flight duty while the airline has said that room sharing is consistent with the market practice followed by many other carriers. Besides, cabin crew members have expressed concerns about curtailment of service contracts of some members as well as about assessment process at the airline, according to sources. Earlier, at profit-making Air India Express, which is in the process of merging loss-making AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) with itself, a cabin crew was given a room at a five-star or a four-star hotel at outstations. Now, one room is shared by two cabin crew members. Currently, Air India Express and AIX Connect together have more than 5,500 employees and around 1,800 cabin crew members. The sources said that scores of cabin crew members have written to the ..

Cricket WC final drives highest-ever single-day air traffic at 460,000

The rise in air traffic comes after the initial days of November registered muted domestic air traffic, which is uncommon for a festive period

DGCA transfers some officials to different centres amid graft allegations

Amid allegations of graft involving some of its officials, aviation watchdog DGCA is carrying out a reshuffle of duties of various officials, and transferring them to different centres, according to sources. A preliminary enquiry against a senior DGCA official for alleged corruption has been completed, and the report has been submitted to the civil aviation ministry, sources added. As part of the reshuffle, some officials have been transferred from Mumbai and Chennai, while some others have been shifted to other departments within the DGCA. There have been complaints of graft, the sources said. There was no comment from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the transfer of officials amid graft allegations. The preliminary enquiry was conducted as per the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) norms against the official concerned. Depending on the initial findings, authorities will decide on whether to have a detailed investigation into the matter. As per reports, the ..