Page 3 - India Aviation

After a string of tail strike incidents, IndiGo modifies procedures

IndiGo saw four incidents from January to June when the tail of an aircraft hit the ground during the landing or take-off

Reduce commercial area at airports to boost security checkpoints: BCAS

The BCAS earlier this month extended the deadline for using full-body scanners at major Indian airports from March 31 to December 31, 2023

AAI revamping 23 airports across the country to boost traffic handling

Indian airlines are expected to add 132 aircraft in 2023-24 (FY24) to tap into the surging passenger demand, according to CAPA India

Largest Indian order: Indigo likely to place an order for 500 planes today

The value of IndiGo's order, at the list price of the A320Neo family aircraft, will be around $500 billion

Our aircraft fleet doubled in past nine years, says Aviation Minister

He also highlighted the positive transformations observed in Air India following its acquisition by the Tata Group, signifying a positive shift in the airline's performance and operations

Go First lessors' plea for plane delisting shown as rejected due to glitch

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Wednesday told the Delhi High Court it was due to a technical glitch on its portal that the applications of several aircraft lessors of Go First for deregistration of their planes were shown as rejected'. The aviation regulator said it was not processing such requests following a moratorium on financial obligations and transfer of assets of the crisis-hit airline in the wake of insolvency resolution proceedings. The lessors are unable to deregister and take back the aircraft leased to the carrier because of the moratorium. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju asked the counsel for DGCA as to why different responses were sent to different lessors on repossession requests. Why is there a distinction? There are 7-8 petitions and each one of them has a different response. Why so? the court asked. The court asked the DGCA counsel to produce the documents in relation to each petitioner lessor on Thursday when it will hear further arguments on beha

Government has massive game plan for civil aviation sector: Scindia

The government has a "massive game plan" and a three-pronged strategy for the country's fast-growing aviation market, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. Mentioning the aviation market's potential, he said domestic passenger numbers rose to 144 million in 2019 from 60 million in 2014, a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of about 14.5 per cent. He was speaking at the curtain raiser event here for the 'Wing India 2024' conference to be held next year in Hyderabad. According to the minister, under the three-pronged strategy, the focus is to create capacity, ensure there are no bottlenecks for aviation industry players and have simplified processes and procedures. The efforts are to increase the number of airports, heliports and waterdromes from 148 currently to more than 200 in the next three to four years, he said. Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said there is huge potential to increase international air connectivity for India.

Industry hopes govt to align domestic laws with int'l: Airbus India chief

Amid concerns of lessors in the wake of Go First insolvency proceedings, aircraft maker Airbus on Thursday said the industry hopes the government will expedite the alignment of domestic laws with international conventions and treaties. With the initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings for Go First following the crisis-hit airline's plea and subsequent moratorium, lessors are unable to take back their aircraft leased to the carrier. Against this backdrop, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia Remi Maillard mentioned the alignment of domestic laws with international conventions. "The industry hopes the government will expedite the alignment of domestic laws with international conventions and treaties...," Maillard said. He is also the Chairman of industry body Ficci's civil aviation committee. So far this month, lessors have approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the deregistration of 45 Go First planes and five SpiceJet plane

Go First: Aircraft lessor moves Delhi HC to take back its leased plane

As Go First undergoes insolvency resolution proceedings, an aircraft lessor moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the authorities to release the plane leased to the crisis-hit airline. Besides, two more aircraft lessors have moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) opposing the airline's insolvency proceedings. Accipiter Invesments Aircraft 2 Ltd has filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court against the Union government and others, according to a lawyer. It has requested the high court to direct DGCA to deregister its aircraft which is currently on lease with Go First. Besides, Accipiter Invesments Aircraft has moved the NCLAT. Another aircraft lessor Eos Aviation 12 (Ireland) Ltd has also filed a petition before the NCLAT against Go First. Both the petitions are listed before the appellate tribunal for Wednesday. With moratorium on financial obligations and transfer of assets of Go First in the wake of the insolvency resolution proceedings, les

Engine Leasing Finance moves to NCLAT against Go First's insolvency

After three aircraft lessors, Engine Leasing Finance BV has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), opposing the insolvency resolution proceedings initiated against Go First. Ireland-based Engine Leasing Finance is a leading engine financing and leasing company. It is a group entity of Japan-based Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. A two-member NCLAT bench on Tuesday heard the plea of Engine Leasing Finance and reserved its order. The appellate tribunal said it will pass the order on May 22 along with the other three petitions. "Orders on 22.05.2023. Short written notes may be filed within two days by both the parties," it said. Three aircraft lessors -- SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, GY Aviation and SFV Aircraft Holdings -- have moved the NCLAT against Go First's insolvency resolution proceedings. These lessors have leased out around 21 aircraft to Go First. On May 10, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowed the voluntary insolvency resolution plea by Go First.

Termination of aircraft leases would have no consequence: Go First

Termination of leases for aircraft by their lessors would not have any consequence as the moratorium has been imposed under insolvency resolution proceedings, Wadia group air carrier Go First on Friday argued before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). While aircraft lessors on the other side raised doubts over the revival of Go First through the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), citing the amount required to make it fly again. Senior advocate Arun Kathpalia representing SMBC Aviation said the average lease rent of per aircraft is around USD 2 lakh for a month and with more than 50 aircraft the monthly bill would be USD 10 million. "Cost of this misadventure is enormous," he said. For SMBC Aviation only, Go First has to pay USD 4.2 million per month, which includes maintenance and lease. SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd submitted that they have legal possession of their aircraft before the insolvency process started and as of today, Go First has no right for

SpiceJet starts process of reviving grounded airplanes with $50 mn

Budget carrier SpiceJet on Thursday said it has no plans to file for insolvency proceedings and has also started the process of reviving its grounded fleet with USD 50 million. The statement from SpiceJet comes at a time when a lessor has filed an insolvency resolution plea against the airline and crisis-hit rival Go First being admitted for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday. While citing the recent developments in the Indian aviation market, SpiceJet said it has no plans whatsoever to file for insolvency. "We want to scotch any speculation that may have arisen due to the filing by another airline. The airline is firmly focussed on its business and remains in active talks with investors to raise funds," it said in a statement. On May 8, the NCLT issued a notice to the budget carrier on the insolvency plea filed by lessor AirCastle (Ireland) Ltd and the matter is scheduled for a hearing next week. Besides, lessors h

Go First's bank loans to be classified as 'bad', but has strong collaterals

The Indian central bank's rules for handling substandard assets says banks have to provision for at least 15% of total outstanding loans on secured assets in the first 12 months

India, EU sign MoU for cooperation in aviation safety, air traffic control

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for cooperation in aviation safety. The agreement was signed on the first day of the EU-India Aviation Summit here where the Airport Authority of India also signed a declaration of intent with Eurocontrol, a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation. While the MoU between DGCA and EASA will focus on collaboration at regulatory level and safety level, the declaration of intent between AAI and Eurocontrol will be focused on the area of air traffic control. Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India and EU share historical relations and invited industry players from EU to become a part of the fastest growing aviation market in the world. "India and the EU have shared strong historical relations which continue to grow today on the back of robust physical, digital and people-to-people ...

India continues to retain FAA IASA Category 1 ranking, says DGCA

In the ICAO audit, India's global ranking has also climbed significantly and scored an Effective Implementation (EI) of 85.65 per cent from the previous EI of 69.95 per cent

Domestic aviation sector recovering, passenger traffic 60% higher in FY23

The domestic aviation industry continues to witness recovery with air passenger traffic logging around 60 per growth at 13.60 crore in FY23 annually, ICRA said on Wednesday. Despite this, domestic air passenger traffic remained around 4 per cent below the pre-pandemic (FY20) volume of 14.15 crore, the credit rating agency said. The Indian carriers had flown a total of 8.52 crore passengers on local routes in the year ended March 2022, as per ICRA. Domestic passenger traffic stood at 1.30 crore in March this year, a growth of around 22 per cent from March 2022 volume of 1.06 crore, said Suprio Banerjee, Vice President, ICRA. In FY23, the overall airlines' capacity deployment was higher by 38 per cent as compared to FY22, he said. The airlines' capacity deployment last month was higher by 14 per cent year-on-year and around 7 per cent more than pre-COVID level of March 2019, ICRA said. The domestic passenger load factor of the airlines industry, according to ICRA is estimated at 89

Air India introduces Premium Economy experience on select int'l routes

The class will be initially available to customers travelling on select routes operated by its fleet of Boeing 777-200LR aircraft: Bengaluru-San Francisco, Mumbai-San Francisco, and Mumbai-New York

Assam Govt signs MoU with Flybig to start flight in non-Udaan sector

In a bid to promote intra-state air connectivity, Assam government on Saturday signed a MoU with Big Charter Private Limited (Flybig) to facilitate air services in the non-Udaan sector. Flybig will operate flights between Guwahati-Dibrugarh-Guwahati and Guwahati-Silchar-Guwahati routes on a daily basis, an official of the company said. Assam Tourism Development Corporation managing director Kumar Padma Pani Bora and Flybig director Sanjay Natavarlal Mandavia signed the agreement in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. According to the terms of the MoU, the flight operations will be started in line with the Centre's Udan scheme with the state government operating the flights under viability gap funding. Speaking at the programme Sarma said the number of daily flight services will be enhanced and will add a new dimension to intra-state air connectivity. The services will give assured connectivity and price as it has been decided to keep a tab on the pricing with the

Akasa Air to hire nearly 1,000 people by March 2024: CEO Vinay Dube

Akasa Air plans to hire nearly 1,000 people and take the total staff strength to more than 3,000 by the end of March 2024 as the airline continues to expand its fleet as well as routes, according to its chief Vinay Dube. The airline, which took to the skies a little over seven months ago, also plans to start international operations by the end of this year, and the possible overseas destinations are still in the process of being finalised. In an interview with PTI, Dube, the founder and CEO of Akasa Air, said the airline will place a "three-digit aircraft order" by the end of this year. It has placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, and 19 of them are already in its fleet. The 20th aircraft will be inducted in April, following which it will also be eligible to fly overseas. In the next financial year, the carrier aims to add another 9 planes to its fleet, taking the total size to 28. Currently, it operates 110 flights every day. "We have more than 2,000 employees today, an

Go First penalised for violation, receives two-hour operation ban

Order will be in effect between 12-2 p.m on April 1