Russia to enter Indian Civilian Aircraft Market

US and European aviation companies are likely to face major competition in India as Russia has proposed to set up a production line for India’s civil aviation sector. A Russian delegation headed by Alexander Potapov, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation, put forward this proposal before Indian officials of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in New Delhi. A statement released by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry says, “In the civil Aviation sector, the Russian side declared its readiness to participate in the “Make in India” program in order to develop technological and production capabilities of the Indian side in this field and potential supplies of the jointly produced equipment to third countries.” Russia wants to introduce Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) civilian aircraft in India and has a target set to put out at least 50 SSJ100 in the next three to five years. Sukhoi expects to sign a deal this year with Tata Advanced System to manufacture key airplane parts in India

‘Communication failure likely cause of engineer death’

The civil aviation ministry’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is probing the death of an Air India (AI) engineer who was sucked into an aircraft engine in Mumbai last year, said in its initial findings that a miscommunication, probably caused by the aircraft’s pilot who was exhausted due to continuous assignments, could have led to the fatal accident. The probe is still underway but one of the sources said, “After examining circumstances related to the incident, it was found that the pilot of the aircraft was operating the said flight immediately after having flown in another flight. Thus, the pilot was tired and there are chances that due to the same, some miscommunication occurred and the technician, Ravi Subramanian, got sucked into the engine of the Mumbai-Hyderabad flight AI 619 and died instantly.” Following the death of Mr Subramaniam, an investigation was ordered and the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft were grounded by the airline. The source said that the investigation team realised that there should be at least mandatory half-an-hour rest for pilots and co-pilots after an assignment. “After flying in and before flying out again, a half-an-hour gap should be a must,” said the AAIB source. He said that AAIB may also recommend to the airline that it “cross-utilise crew” while flying different types of aircraft the same day. “The airline should work in the direction of cross utilisation of crew for the airbus A320 family when the crew is going to fly two aircraft in a day, in order to avoid confusion between them,” he added. Sources in the bureau said they were working on the recommendations and would soon forward the draft to authorities concerned.

Domestic air traffic: How IndiGo, Jet Airways, Air India, Go Air, AirAsia India, Vistara performed in July

India, currently the fastest-growing civil aviation market in the world, reported yet another month of double-digit growth in passenger volumes in July. The country's low-cost and full-service carriers such as IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Go Air, AirAsia India, Vistara and state-run Air India, and few smaller players, flew 85.08 lakh (8.5 million) passengers during the month, an increase of 25.82 percent, YoY. The carriers had flown 67.62 lakh (6.7 million) passengers in July 2015, according to data released by India's civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The corresponding number was 79.75 lakh (7.9 million) during June 2016. IndiGo maintained its lead as the largest carrier by market share at 39.8 percent, its highest in the past seven months, followed by Jet Airways at 16.3 percent. Air India saw its share decline to 14.8 percent in July 2016 from 15.5 percent in the preceding month. Some of the carriers saw their passenger load factor (PLF) go up during the month as compared to June while others reported a fall. Go Air, belonging to the Nusli Wadia Group, posted a sharp rise in PLF to 90.3 percent for July in comparison to 84.6 percent in June 2016. SpiceJet, which had consistently maintained the highest PLF among all carriers for the past few months, witnessed a decline to 92 percent during the month from 93 percent in June 2016. Low-cost carrier IndiGo stayed ahead of the competition in July as well, carrying 33.84 lakh passengers, or 39.8 percent of the 85.08 lakh passengers flown. Jet Airways, a full-service carrier in which Etihad Airways also has a stake, did not see any change in its market share at 16.3 percent on a sequential basis; the carrier flew 13.90 lakh passengers. National carrier Air India, which is also a full-service carrier, saw its market share dip to 14.8 percent in July from 15.5 percent in the preceding month. SpiceJet's market share also dropped, to 11.7 percent in July from 12.7 percent in June 2016. Other carriers and their market share in July include Go Air (8.4 percent), AirAsia India (2.2 percent) and Vistara (2.6 percent).

Three pilots of IndiGo airlines grounded for taking mid-air selfies

Three pilots of the IndiGo airlines were grounded for a week by the aviation safety regulator of the country. The pilots were reportedly taking selfies on their phones in mid-air in the airplane's cockpit. The trend of taking selfies is indeed increasing day by day in India but doing so while airborne is highly dangerous. Such an action by someone as responsible as the Captain of the plane is condemnable as it may endanger lives. A spokesperson of IndiGo airlines mentioned that the pilots have been de-rostered for seven days for the selfies taken nearly 1.5 years ago. "This is not the only such case. Facebook and other social media profiles are full of pilots beaming in their seats while flying aircraft," TOI quoted a source as saying.

Sector impact: GST and the aviation sector

The goods and service tax (GST) once implemented will increase the cost of air tickets and other services such as cargo transportation and aircraft maintenance. The Indian aviation industry believes that the exclusion of petroleum and aviation fuel from its ambit will continue to impact the aviation sector. The central government will continue to impose excise duty on five petroleum products—crude oil, diesel, petrol, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), while the state governments will continue to impose value-added tax on these petroleum products. ATF contributes over 40% of an airlines’ operating cost. Jet fuel prices in India are among the highest in the world. ATF prices for domestic carriers vary at different airports across the country due to different rates of sales tax and value-added tax. The various tax components before arriving at the final price include import duty on ATF. While petroleum and petroleum products are technically under GST, the GST council comprising of the Union and state finance ministers will decide upon their induction after the final GST regime is in place. Experts believe that the proposition shall be discussed.

Emirates 777 sent flight data after crash landing

The crashed Emirates 777 wirelessly transmitted critical flight data within minutes of the accident to airline officials, the supplier of the data storage and transmission device says. Raul Segredo, president and chief executive of Avionica, says the device spared safety investigators a search through the wreckage for the flight data recorder to recover immediate data about the last seconds of the landing sequence. Miami-based Avionica supplies the miniQAR Mk III quick access recorder for the Emirates 777 fleet. The device receives flight information from the same databus that feeds the flight data recorder, Segredo says. The device is linked to a 3G wireless transmitter. A key feature of Avionica’s design may have made the speedy data transmission possible despite the crash landing. Similar devices are programmed to begin transmitting data after the landing gear have touched the runway, Segredo says. The miniQAR MK III uses a proprietary algorithm that uses a mixture of parameters to determine when to activate the data transmission on the ground, he says. Emirates officials have confirmed to Avionica that the device worked on the crashed 777. Flight EK521 crashed shortly after confirming landing clearance on runway 12L. The 777 came to a halt on its belly.

Air Costa halts flight operations

Regional airline Air Costa halted its flight operations on Thursday, following financial issues with its leasing companies. Raising questions over the financial viability of regional airlines in India, the operational halt comes days after Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus grounded its operations. “We had some financial issues with the leasing company and we are in the process of re-negotiation. We are very much in business and have only temporarily suspended operations for today. We will resume our flights tomorrow,” said Kavi Chaurasia, vice president, Marketing and Communications at Air Costa told The Hindu. He added that payment dues to leasing companies are “one of the core reasons” for halting operations. Air Costa, which will complete three years in October, operates three Embraer 190 aircraft and flies to nine destinations — Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Tirupati and Vijayawada.