Page 3 - Indian Aviation

Air India fined Rs 30 lakh over man's death after wheelchair unavailability

The man, in his 80s, died on February 12 after collapsing when he decided to walk after being told by Air India that the waiting time for the wheelchair was long due to heavy demand

Delay in flight arrivals reduced, traffic improved at Mumbai airport: Govt

The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday said air traffic situation has improved and delays in flight arrivals have been reduced at the Mumbai airport, nearly two months after directions, including a reduction in flights, were issued to tackle congestion at the airport. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the city is one of the country's busiest airports. Giving a comparison of the air traffic trends based on flight arrivals between the time periods November 11-December 10, 2023, and February 16-24, 2024, the ministry said its initiatives are yielding results and that the situation is also being closely monitored. During the February 16-24 period, the ministry said there were 4,337 arrivals at the airport, and out of them, there were no delays of more than one hour while 178 planes were delayed for 30-60 minutes. As many as 570 aircraft came before schedule, 2,469 planes were delayed for 0-15 minutes, and 1,120 aircraft for 15-30 minutes, as per the ...

Passengers on Air Mauritius plane stuck for over 5 hours at Mumbai airport

Passengers on board an Air Mauritius flight were stuck on the aircraft for over five hours at Mumbai airport on Saturday before the airline decided to cancel it, one among the flyers said. The Air Mauritius flight MK 749 from Mumbai to Mauritius was to depart at 4.30 am and passengers boarded the plane from 3.45 am onwards, he said. There were nearly 200 passengers on board, including a 78-year-old man who developed a breathing problem as the aircraft's air-conditioning system was not working, he alleged. Air Mauritius GSA (general sales agent) in India did not respond to phone calls from PTI. The plane developed an engine problem but the passengers remained locked inside the plane for over five hours and were not allowed to come out, he said. Though the airline called engineers with spare parts to fix the engine glitch, it could not be rectified. Finally, around 10 am the captain announced that the flight had been cancelled, he said.

Go First gets 2 financial bids as part of its bankruptcy process: Bankers

The airline has also received a financial bid from Sharjah-based Sky One Airways which is lower than the competing bid, one of the bankers said, without disclosing the amount

Decade after MH370, aircraft still at risk of vanishing off the map

With no mayday call, no known flight path and no wreckage, MH370 remains modern aviation's biggest mystery

Pay $4 million to engine lessors by February 15, Delhi HC tells SpiceJet

The airline had sought more time for payment and said they could pay $1 million upfront. SpiceJet is supposed to pay close to $11 million to the lessors

DGCA terminates chief flight operations inspector on administrative grounds

'The contract of Capt Vivek Chhabra, CFOI stands terminated with immediate effect on administrative grounds and in the public interest,' the statement added

India needs 2,840 new aircraft, 41,000 pilots in 20 years: Airbus forecast

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the aviation conclave and exhibition, Wings India 2024, Maillard said Airbus will double its sourcing from India to USD 1.5 billion

Airlines, plane makers set to unveil new orders at Indian aviation event

The activity comes despite the financial struggles of two budget carriers GoFirst and SpiceJet, in the wake of the collapse of two other Indian airlines since 2011

'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

DRDO successfully conducts flight-test of new-generation AKASH missile

India on Friday conducted a successful flight test of the new generation AKASH missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha, officials said. The flight test was conducted by DRDO against a high-speed unmanned aerial target at very low altitude. During the flight test, the target was successfully intercepted by the weapon system and destroyed, they said. "It has validated the functioning of the complete weapon system consisting of the missile with indigenously developed Radio Frequency Seeker, Launcher, Multi-Function Radar and Command, Control & Communication system", the officials said. The system performance was also validated through the data captured by a number of radars, telemetry and electro-optical tracking system deployed by ITR, Chandipur. The flight test was witnessed by senior officials from DRDO, Indian Air Force (IAF), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The AKASH-NG system is a state-of-the-art ...

48 hrs weekly rest, only 2 night landings in rules to avoid crew fatigue

The revision in FDTL regulations is expected to influence flight schedules and may result in certain implications when it comes to operating costs, aviation sources said

DGCA increases rest time among other reforms to address pilot fatigue

The new reforms include weekly rest periods of 36-48 hours for flight crew, increasing the official "night period" by an hour, and limiting maximum flight time & duty periods to 8 hours and 10 hours

DGCA imposes penalties worth Rs 2.75 cr on India carriers in 2023

DGCA said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023

Fog of confusion

The aviation ecosystem needs to cooperate better

Govt asks airport operators to explore biometric models for smooth travel

The civil aviation ministry, which is taking measures to prevent congestion at airport in the upcoming festive season, has asked airport operators to look at the successful biometric models being used in other countries for smooth travel of air passengers. During a meeting with an advisory group, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asked airport operators to promote Digi Yatra, which provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various check points at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). Currently, Digi Yatra is available for domestic passengers at 13 airports, including Delhi, Mumbai and Varanasi. At the meeting on Tuesday, the airport operators were also tasked with presenting biometric enabled models being successfully used in other countries, according to an official release. On December 15, Scindia said the Digi Yatra facility will be available at 25 more airports in 2024. The release said that a suggestion at the meeting was to ...

India's busiest routes see surprise dip in airfares for year-end travel

Fare 'adjustment' comes as airlines seek to rectify missteps taken before Diwali

CDS General Anil Chauhan to open HAL's avionics exposition in Delhi

State-owned aerospace and defence equipment maker to showcase capabilities in avionics

Is grounded airline Go First even capable of doing test flight, asks lessor

The lessor also said that even physical inspection of the aircraft was not granted by the RP, besides the aircraft not being maintained and records not being provided to them

Air India targets 5x members for frequent-flyer plan in four years

In August, Air India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) Campbell Wilson announced that a thoroughly revamped loyalty programme is set to launch early next year