SpiceJet offers end-to-end travel solutions platform, SpiceVacations.com

SpiceJet, India’s favorite budget airline today rolled out an end-to-end travel solutions platform, SpiceVacations.com, offering customized travel packages thereby rendering a more suave experience to customers who can avail various services while planning their holiday, at no added cost to make it a Red.Hot.Spicy experience! SpiceVacations.com offers a comprehensive platform for customers to choose from thousands of travel packages, spread over a vast network of domestic and international destinations. The deals packs have been specifically designed in consultation with holiday experts thus easing the holiday planning exercise and adding finesse to the end holiday experience. Customers need to simply decide on the theme of their vacation, say – pilgrimage, honeymoon or a wildlife tour and the platform throws open a wide variety of deals in terms of the location, hotel arrangements, local sight-seeing tours, car rentals among others. Customers can also hand-pick the service features to customize their deal packs to best suit their needs and preferences. The launch of pilgrimage deal packs has been a pioneering initiative by SpiceVacations.com as the avenue has been explored for the first time in the air travel industry.

India needs four new modern airports: Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Monday said India requires four more modern airports, two on the West coast and the two on the East coast, keeping in line with the country's size. "At present we only have three modern airports- the airports that have parallel runways- at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. With the size of a country like India, we need more modern airports, at least two on the West coast and the two on the East coast. Things are moving... (in that direction)," the minister said while interacting with the media after formally launching the E-Boarding system at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport(RGIA) here. The minister responded on the need for new airports when a reporter asked about the new international airport being proposed at Bhogapuram, just about 28 nautical miles away from the existing Visakhapatnam Airport in Andhra Pradesh. Gajapathi Raju said his ministry would consider the new airport proposals where ever the state governments come forward to provide land to set up such facilities as land was a state subject. As Hyderabad was an important city for the country, Visakhaptnam too was an important city to have one more airport facility like the RGIA which was being operated by GMR-led consortium. This airport is coming up in the Minister's home district of Vizianagarm in a 5,311-acre site similar to the size of RGIA. The state government had tentatively decided to complete the process of selection of the developer of this project by April, 2016.

Co-pilot accidently triggered jet flight's plunge over Turkey

The co-pilot of a Jet Airways flight that plunged 2,251 feet over Turkey before correcting course last year "inadvertently manipulated" the controls, resulting in the incident, according to an inquiry by aviation regulator DGCA. The Mumbai-Brussels flight, with 280 passengers aboard, suddenly lost altitude on August 8, 2014, when the 46-year-old co-pilot was in charge. The 40-year-old flight captain was sleeping as permitted under cockpit rules. The Air Traffic Control in the Turkish capital of Ankara cautioned the co-pilot when the plane began to drop altitude, flying below 32,000 feet. Most passenger planes cruise at an altitude in the range of 30,000 feet to 40,000 feet, and the Jet flight was cleared to fly at 34,000 feet. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300 ER, had flown 4 hours and 43 minutes when the incident took place. Initial reports after the incident had said that the plane plunged 5,000 feet, but investigations showed that it fell 2,251 feet before corrective measures were taken. The reports had also said that the co-pilot was busy using a tablet computer, called an electronic flight bag by airlines, but the DGCA report has no mention of it. The final-investigation report by Sanjay Bramhane, DGCA's deputy director for air safety (western region), states that the flight started to lose altitude after the co-pilot accidentally changed controls while working on some other settings.

Indian aviation in 2015 highlights

If the revival of an airline and return to profitability of some others marked the highlights in 2015 in Indian aviation, the year also went by without the government spelling out its long-awaited policy for the sector. All that the civil aviation ministry managed in the last 19 months was to come up with a draft national civil aviation policy (NCAP) which, nonetheless, has some far-reaching implications. Among the proposals is one to scrap the 5/20 norm, which stipulates a minimum five years of operations and a fleet of 20 aircraft for oversees flying rights, and to peg a minimum tariff of no more than Rs.2,500 per ticket for each flying-hour. The grand scheme, however, still hangs in the balance and awaits the union cabinet's approval. "Draft NCAP has contemplated many interesting proposals to promote growth in the aviation sector," Amber Dubey, partner and head of aerospace and defence at global consultancy KPMG, told IANS. "Its vision to enable 300 million domestic ticketing by 2022, although ambitious, highlights the potential of the Indian aviation sector." In addition, aviation was among 15 industries in which foreign equity norms were eased in the year gone by. Moreover, India's passenger traffic demand grew at a stellar pace. Official data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation showed that passengers carried by domestic airlines between January and November 2015 grew by 20.41 percent at 73,382,000. Sector-based experts pointed out that low crude oil prices helped to bring down fares which supported the rise in passenger traffic.

Air traffic controllers to earn more for extra duty

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has raised overtime allowance to encourage air traffic controllers to work extra hours. The move comes in the wake of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s inspection of airports in India. During its inspection last month, ICAO had raised concerns about the shortage of air traffic controllers in India. While there is a requirement of 3,500 controllers, there are only about 2,300 controllers supervising air traffic movement in Indian skies. Because of the shortage, controllers are made to do extra shifts. Till now, they were paid Rs 400-500 for extra duty. The allowance has now been revised and controllers would get an additional amount of Rs 270-1,800 for an extra shift. The additional amount would be equivalent to the pro-rata payment of allowances, which are part of the regular salary package.

AirAsia and Vistara pitch for complete abolition of 5/20 rule

Vistara, AirAsia India and Air India officials met the Union Civil Aviation Secretary, R. N. Choubey on Wednesday, to discuss the draft civil aviation policy. The incumbent airlines represented by its body Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) didn’t turn up for the meeting and asked for another extension to express their views on the draft civil aviation policy, sources said. The civil aviation industry is divided in their views on the international flying norms, also known as the 5/20 rule. While the new airlines have demanded complete abolition of the 5/20 rule, the private incumbent airlines, including IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and GoAir, have opposed any move to relax the rule. According to the 5/20 rule, any airline with five years of domestic flying experience and 20 aircrafts in its fleet is allowed to fly on international routes.

FIA seeks meeting with aviation ministry on aviation policy

The Federation of Indian Airlines has sought a meeting with the aviation ministry to present its views on the draft civil aviation policy (DCAP). The ministry's meeting with FIA heads is scheduled for after January 6. "DCAP 2015 proposes certain concepts such as auction of sovereign bilateral rights to foreign airlines, substantial ownership and effective control of Indian carriers by foreign airlines all of which are not even permitted in mature global aviation markets such as the US... To the best of our knowledge, no other progressive country in the world has adopted such self-defeating policies," FIA's associate director Ujjwal Dey has written to aviation secretary R N Choubey.

DGCA grounds IndiGo pilots for Jammu near miss

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has grounded two IndiGo pilots, who allegedly did not maintain the level assigned to them while taking off from Jammu on Monday. Their plane had come perilously close to a landing Air India aircraft and action against them came a day after TOI reported this serious near miss. "The airline (IndiGo) has been advised not to use the pilots pending investigation," DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy, who has ordered a probe into this incident, said on Wednesday. The problem arose when an Air India Airbus A-320 was approaching Jammu to land and IndiGo A-320 was taking off. The two aircraft breached the minimum separation of 1,000 feet and were just 400 feet apart. The traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) alarm went off in cockpits of both the aircraft, signaling another plane was dangerously close. The AI commander, a veteran of hill flying, had turned the plane at the last minute and climbed when he saw the other plane coming right in his direction

Indian aviation sector to fly high in 2016

Indian and South East Asian airlines are likely to see improved earning prospects in 2016, primarily driven by higher demand and lower fuel costs. However, the rating agency said the operating environment will be challenging as there is strong competition and capacity expansion. Noting that macro-economic growth should help bolster demand and top-line growth for the region's airlines, Fitch said there has been a strong domestic growth in India. Citing data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the agency said revenue passenger- kilometer growth topped 19% year-on-year in India over the first 10 months of 2015, which is seen 12.4% in China, Russia (8.5%) and Brazil (2.3%). "Higher demand, lower fuel costs and ongoing industry restructuring suggest an improving earnings outlook for the Indian and South East Asian airline sectors in 2016," Passenger load factors (PLFs) in India and south-east Asia have risen steadily and improving GDP growth should continue to support it GDP growth in India and most parts of south-east Asia to accelerate next year

Air India Begins Daily Direct Flight From Ahmedabad To London

National carrier Air India today started its direct daily flight from Ahmedabad, the economic and industrial hub of Gujarat, to London. Air India flight AI-131, a B-787 Dreamliner aircraft, with 247 passengers onboard, took off from the Sardar Vallabh Patel International Airport here at 0430 hours this morning. With the commencement of this flight, Air India became the first airline to offer direct flight between Ahmedabad and London, a release said. Gujarat Civil Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel along with Law Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who handles the NRI department, greeted the passengers of the inaugural flight at the airport by handing over them boarding passes, it said. All the passengers of the new flight were also presented with rose at the time of check-in. "This flight will benefit lakhs of Gujratis living in London as well as numerous people here who are fond of travelling. I thank Narendra Modi-led Central government for starting this new service," Mr Patel said.

Psycho tests for airline pilots from next year

Psychometric tests for pilots of Indian airlines are all set to begin early next year. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the Air Force-run Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) to finalise the details of these tests — the tests to be conducted and at what intervals — within three months. "Once we get the final modalities from them and the government approves, the psycho tests for pilots should start within the first half of next year," DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy said. The aviation regulator had started contemplating these tests after the Germanwings crash of March 24, 2015. The aircraft was on its way from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when its co-pilot reportedly 'deliberately' crashed the plane in the French Alps. Following this, Sathiyavathy set up a panel of experts to decide on psychometric tests for pilots. This panel recommended four-level tests for pilots, starting from the time a student wants enrol for a flying school. The other three stages at which pilot were recommended to undergo and clear the tests are: at the time of joining an airline or charter company; at the time of being promoted to commander and whenever they exhibit any abnormal behaviour like picking fights in the cockpit.

Operate only Cat-III aircraft with trained flight crew during fog hours, instructs DGCA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued instruction to all schedule domestic airlines to operate only Cat-III aircraft along with CAT III trained flight crew as per visibility condition/RVR (Runway Visual Range) during fog hours. All airlines will have to ensure that aircraft deployed to/from Delhi during low visibility conditions are CAT-III compliant and both the commander and co-pilot are also CAT-III trained. Only CAT-III flight crew will operate the flights to/from Delhi in case weather predictions of CAT-III conditions are made by India Meteorological Department (IMD). Failing to do so, such operations of the defaulting airline will be stopped to/from Delhi during low visibility conditions. Airlines must take adequate care of providing basic amenities of water and refreshment to passengers during such conditions if the flights are delayed. All stakeholders should have better communication procedure so that level of intrection with passengers increases during the fog and they are aware of flihgt delays. One representative each from DGCA and IMD will be positioned at Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) who will interact with airlines, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and DIAL.

Indian context drives Delta’s new KLM-Jet partnership

SkyTeam carriers Delta and KLM announced a new codeshare arrangement with Jet Airways that will see the Indian carrier trade Amsterdam for Brussels as its European hub and cease its service to Newark. Delta and KLM flights to North America will have Jet Airways codes added to them, as will KLM’s existing service to Delhi which currently carries a Delta codeshare. The new setup will result in one-stop service to Delhi and Mumbai from 11 North American cities under the cross-codeshare agreement. Jet will provide further connections from these gateway cities to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kolkata and Amritsar, plus Kathmandu, Colombo and Dhaka. On the US side, New York-JFK, Newark, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton are included. It’s unclear why most of Delta’s largest hubs — Atlanta, Minneapolis, Salt Lake, Detroit, Seattle — and thus its largest markets, are missing from the deal. Jet also receives codeshares with KLM to a number of European destinations. The margins for ultra-longhaul flying are thin and complex. That’s particularly true in the Indian market, in which security, political, efficiency, capacity and flag-carrier issues swirl murkily, and where Delta has not been reluctant to stir the pot. Following Delta’s October cancellation of the ultra-longhaul Atlanta-Dubai route, the airline responded publicly to Air Transport World Editor-in-Chief Karen Walker’s column that questioned Delta’s true motives for canceling the route. Delta blamed the ME3 for the failure of its non-stop services to Mumbai. That route, operated at different times from New York and Atlanta, existed for fewer than three years, and was cancelled more than six years ago.

Air India ground personnel gets sucked into aircraft engine at Mumbai airport

In a freak accident, an Air India service engineer died after he got sucked into the live engine of an A-319 aircraft at Mumbai airport on Wednesday evening. The engineer, identified as Ravi Subramanium, was in his forties. At the time of going to the press, the body was yet to be recovered from the engine. The incident took place around 8.30pm when the aircraft which was to operate the Mumbai-Hyderabad AI flight 619 was being pushed back from the parking bay before take off. An aircraft can only move forward and so needs external help to reverse from the parking bay. A tow van is used to push back the aircraft and the process is carried out with an engineer positioned in front of the aircraft nose, so as to be visible to the pilots. The flight was being piloted by a new co-pilot and a seasoned commander A G Sharma. Subramanium, the technician (service engineer), was supervising the push back. "No one knew what happened. All of a sudden we hear that we heard that the technician has been sucked into the engine," said an airline source. A CISF official said "the body has been badly mutilated". Many of the around 100 passengers who were on the flight are said to have been traumatized by the incident. In an A-319 aircraft the distance from the nose to the engine is about 30 feet. "When an aircraft is being pushed back, the engine, even when if it has been started is on idle thrust, that's about ten per cent of its total thrust. During taxiing its never more than 35%. Ground staff and technicians know quite well the area that should be kept clear in front of the engines," said an airline official.

AirAsia India that started with lots of pomp is now struggling due to huge losses & top-level exits

Last Wednesday, two days before ET broke the story of deepening fissures between the three shareholders of AirAsia India, co-founder Arun Bhatia spoke by phone with the airline's CEO and MD Mittu Chandilya. "Are you a monkey who does whatever Tony tells you to do?" an angry Bhatia, a junior partner in the venture, asked Chandilya. Tony Fernandes is the group CEO of Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd, the largest shareholder in AirAsia India. "That's unfair," 36-year-old Chandilya retorted. "I too have raised the same issues several times in the past." Chandilya, a former headhunter whom Fernandes directly hired, was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the airline's board meet. He had just presented a five-year plan that calls for more money from the shareholders. The heated exchange illustrates that the deteriorating relationship between the three shareholders have come to a head. AirAsia Bhd owns a 49% stake, Tata Sons a little over 41% and Bhatia's company Telestra Tradeplace the rest in AirAsia India. ET's exclusive story brought the deep divide in the AirAsia India boardroom to light for the first time. In an hour-long interview to ET, Bhatia alleged that the airline has violated Indian laws because it is controlled by its Malaysian parent and he will go to court or the authorities. Bhatia also said he was promised the airline will make profits a year after launch. Bhatia's charges and the unwelcome spotlight on control have cast a cloud on one of the most prominent airline partnerships conceived two years ago after the government allowed foreign airlines to own up to 49% of Indian carriers. The partnership is now riven by personal animosity and cultural differences, according to half a dozen people intimately associated with the airline whom ET interviewed multiple times for the article over the past four months

British Airways to deploy Dreamliner on Mumbai route

British Airways will deploy the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from the city beginning September next year, making it the second route in the country after New Delhi. The airline started flying latest version of the Boeing 787 on the New Delhi route from October this year. British Airways has 42 Dreamliners on order. It currently operates Boeing 787-9s on New Delhi, Abu Dhabi and Muscat routes. Apart from Mumbai, the airline will deploy these modern planes on Austin, Kuala Lumpur and San Jose California routes from London.

Overflowing drain, not Adyar, flooded airport

Last week, as planes floated around the flooded airport, Airports Authority of India officials thought the rising River Adyar nearby was the culprit. The real cause, some airport staff say, was that a drain linking Pallavaram with the Adyar (see pic) was filled with water from surrounding areas and, through openings on the tarmac, inundated the operation area. Along came tonnes of garbage. Airlines officials and other staff at the airport have for years been urging the AAI to talk to the local body concerned and get the drain sealed off. Many such drains, designed to carry rain water from Pallavaram, Meenambakkam and nearby neighbourhoods, run across the airport campus. The airport was flooded, AAI officials assumed, because of the second runway built across the river. In reality, water from the drain overflowed on to the taxiway, runway and apron in front of international terminal at the time the Adyar overflowed. Airport staff watching the water level in front of the international terminal rise said it was flowing from the Pallavaram-end of the main runway to the end where the domestic terminal is located. Water flowed into the basement of the terminals. "It was flowing slowly like a river flooding the entire area used for operating planes. The drifting garbage showed that the water was flowing from Pallavaram side. The water broke the compound walls and flowed into Adayar river," said an airport staffe

Stakeholders sceptical about draft aviation policy

The draft national civil aviation policy aims to promote growth of charter operations in the country and has been currently opened to receive feedback from stakeholders. It proposes to significantly deregulate charter flights into and within India. A meeting with stakeholders in the state has been scheduled for next week. People in the know are of the opinion that the policy in the making will be of very little use to Goa, as some of the features that find mention in the draft aviation policy are already part of the inclusive tour package (ITP) charter policy applicable to Goa. Cicerone Air Transport Services managing director, Joao Xavier Miranda, proposes special status to Goa airport instead of the state being made part of the ambiguity under the national policy. He justifies the special airport status for Goa as 98% charters are handled by Dabolim airport. "What benefits does Goa derive from this?" Miranda asked raising the pitch for special status that would entail handing over Dabolim airport to the state.

How does IndiGo continue to prosper despite troubled times? Even for an industry inherently tricky, Indian aviation has long stood out like a plainwreck due to its high cost structure and infrastructural bottlenecks. Some airlines in India are again making profits, but that is thanks largely to benevolent crude oil prices. Even so, they are not truly out of the woods. Indian airlines have lost more than $10 billion since 2009 while their debt stands at around $11.3 billion, according to aviation consultancy Capa India. The only Indian airline to have remained unaffected by the misery is IndiGo, the low-cost airline founded by Rahul Bhatia's InterGlobe Enterprises, an aviation and travel services firm, and former US Airways CEO Rakesh Gangwal in 2006. IndiGo has actually prospered in this troubled industry, consistently reporting profits from its third year of operations. It enjoys a nearly 40% share of the Indian aviation market, the largest for any airline. Investors have endorsed its steady, stellar performance. The airline had set prices between Rs 700 and Rs 765 a share for its recent initial public offering, which many analysts considered steep. But not only was its sale of shares subscribed more than six times, it also made a stunning debut on the market, gaining early 18% on listing. IndiGo is now valued at around $6 billion.

Whopping Rs 1,000 Crore Loss To Aviation Sector

The Indian aviation industry has been severely hit due to the recent floods here. According to sector experts, the industry is believed to be staring at a collective loss of more than Rs 1,000 crore. Commercial operators are suffering losses both due to flight cancellations and grounding of aircraft. It’s the private jets that took a massive hit with at least 6-7 of them either partially or completely damaged. “This is the first such incident where multiple carriers’ fleets have been stranded for more than a week. The losses are not just due to flight cancellations, but also non-operation of fleets. The combined loss could be more than Rs 1,000 crore,” Prem Kumar Pandey, Assitant vice president, Truejet, a regional carrier, told Express. Typically, a 70-seater aircraft turns up a loss of Rs 8 lakh due to non-operation of a 2-hour flight. More number of seats implies more losses. “Cancellation of one route will have a multiplier effect on airline’s operations,” pointed out Mittu Chandilya, MD & CEO, Air Asia India, which runs 10 flights from Chennai. According to Chandilya, Air Asia counts a passenger load factor of 80 per cent and this being the peak season, losses could be significant. “Because of flight cancellations, we need to do a lot of forward planning to ensure that the rest of our operations are unaffected,” he said, adding that the airline is taking stock of the situation in Chennai. It’s no different for another regional carrier Air Costa, which parks four flights at Chennai, including two 112-seaters. Chennai accounts for nearly 20 per cent of its overall operations. “We took a timely decision to move our aircraft. They are currently parked at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Vijayawada. Our ground handling equipment is severely damaged,” said Vivek Choudhary, CFO, Air Costa.

Air India rolls out advance purchase scheme for economy class

Seeking to make flying affordable to the common man, national carrier Air India has rolled out an advance purchase scheme for the economy class, matching the fare with that of a 2AC train ticket price, including on key domestic destinations like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The 90-day advance purchase fares (all-inclusive) starts at as low as Rs 2,865, sources said. These advance purchase fares have already been put in the system for sale on various routes operated by Air India, they said. As per the new scheme, a ticket price on Delhi-Mumbai route would cost Rs 2,865 while on Delhi-Bhubaneshwar the same would cost as low as Rs 3,470. Incidentally, the 2AC train ticket prices in these two sectors respectively are Rs 2,865 and Rs 3,325. "We have brought our economy class fares on key domestic routes at the level of 2AC train fares. The idea behind rolling out such low fares is to make the flying affordable for a common man," a source said. These fares are also in line with the government's plan to make air travel affordable for all in the draft national civil aviation policy, they said. The scheme targets all segment of travellers, youth, students and vacationers, among others, they said.

DHL to Invest $16.3 Mn and Introduce Drones in India

Global logistics provider DHL is planning to invest about $16.3 million in all its business segments in India and introduce new technologies, including drones, for deliveries and managing logistics, a senior company executive said. "We are investing in all divisions in India," said Matthias Heutger, senior vice president for strategy marketing and development. Speaking at the launch of DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Centre here, he said the group will be introducing new technologies including drones for deliveries and managing logistics in the Indian market in the future. "The use of drones in the delivering and managing logistics is becoming increasingly important globally, especially in the remote and disaster hit areas," he told PTI.

Hyderabad Airport capacity expansion work may start next yr: GMR

GMR group, which manages Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here, is likely to start the terminal expansion work next fiscal to accommodate 20 million passengers per annum against 12 millions at present, a top official said . S G K Kishore, CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), said it will have a capacity to handle 100,000 tonnes of cargo by the end of the current fiscal as against 80,000 tonnes last year." We may start the expansion work during next year which will have 20 million passengers per annum," Kishore told reporters on the sidelines of a CII programme. RGIA was inaugurated on March 14, 2008, with an initial capacity of 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA) and 150,000 tonnes of cargo handling capacity per annum. The Project has the flexibility to increase capacity to accommodate over 40 MPPA and shall be developed in a phased manner.

Ground-handling firms oppose opening up of airport services

Airport ground-handling companies like Menzies Aviation, Cambata, Celebi and Indo-Thai Airport Management Services have cried foul at the aviation ministry’s proposed move to allow all domestic carriers to do self-handling that include baggage loading, cleaning of aircraft, passenger check-in and ground transport. The companies have claimed that the proposal differs from the present one under which they had bid for the airport services and invested about Rs 1,500 crore. They collectively employ 16,700 people and handle over 142,000 flights annually at various airports. “Ground handling entails substantial investments and operating costs. Any increase in supply beyond a point will lead to the environment becoming unreasonable and will eventually be counter-productive as such a scenario will not be sustainable and will lead to a collapse eventually,” ground-handling companies have told the aviation ministry. Departing from the principles of the ground handling policy notified in 2007, the aviation ministry has proposed to remove cap on number of ground-handling companies at metro airports allowing both scheduled and charter air operators to undertake pre-flight departure activities. The incumbent ground-handlers have made strong pitch for retaining the present rule that restricts number of such agencies to three at metro airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The 2007 policy required air-carriers to outsource ground-handling services to only three authorised agencies – the airport operator itself or its joint venture partner, subsidiary companies of the national carrier Air India or their joint ventures specialised in ground handling services and any other ground handling service providers selected through competitive bidding on the revenue sharing basis by the airport operator. This was challenged by the federation of Indian airlines (FIA), airline industry trade body, in the court and as a result could not be implemented in totality. While the aviation ministry has been locked in legal battle with FIA defending the 2007 policy in the Supreme Court, the draft aviation policy released on October 30 this year took opposite position and proposed self-handling for domestic carriers. Ever since the litigation began, the ministry maintained that the decision to cap number of ground-handlers had been taken on security grounds.

After a 4-day break, Chennai airport bounces back to life

Normal flight operations, domestic and international, will resume at Chennai airport from Monday,. Domestic and international flights will start operating, said Airports Authority of India said on Sunday. The announcement came soon after partial operations were resumed at the airport, with five flights taking off almost a week after flooded runways caused the airport to shut down. The flights were handled after the runway and the instrument landing system were declared safe. The first flight to reach Chennai in a week - an Air India from Delhi - brought just 30 passengers in the afternoon. IndiGo also operated a flight from Delhi to Chennai and back. Directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) had allowed the airport only a 12-hour window for operations, from 6am to 5.41pm. Flights arrived using visual and instrument guided landing. "Night operations will not be there on Sunday. More inspections will be done to certify the airport fit for night operation," airport director Deepak Shastri said earlier on Sunday. An airport official said an Air India flight to Port Blair took off with 150 passengers at 10.50am after Air India's proving flight landed amid a visibility of 2,000 metres in the morning. The proving flight is an aircraft which is flown without passengers as an operational test, in this case to certify whether the airport was fit for use. "Pilots informed us that the runway surface was good," the official added. "As of now, the airport is open for flights. Air India has started to operate, while Jet Airways has expressed interest in starting services. Domestic arrivals will be handled at the international arrival because the building is yet to be salvaged fully," the offical added. On Sunday, apart from the flight to Port Blair, Air India operated two others in the afternoon, to Hyderabad and Delhi, while Jet Airways operated one to Bengaluru. "The schedule of other airlines is awaited," a DGCA official said. Officials of DGCA and the civil aviation ministry will inspect the airport on Monday. The airport had to be shut down after the runway and taxiways got flooded at night on December 1. and the radar and instrument landing system were damaged. Operations at the city airport are limping back to normalcy with domestic flights expected to resume in one to two days. On Sunday, around three flights were handled till afternoon after the runway and the instrument landing system were declared safe.

State pushes for abolition of ‘5/20’

The State has sought scrapping of the 5/20 rule for commencing the flight operations of Air Kerala and extension of the open sky policy to all international airports based on their infrastructure facilities and flight-handling capacity. In its suggestions to the draft Civil Aviation Policy unveiled by the Civil Aviation Ministry for discussion with stakeholders, Kerala has pointed out that limiting the open sky policy to major international airports is discriminative. Considering the sustainability of the existing government and public-private-partnership airports, the State has suggested that no future airports be permitted within 150 km radius of these airports. A three-member committee headed by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson has been set up to study the draft policy and submit suggestions. Additional Chief Secretary, Aviation, V.J. Kurian and Managing Director of Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL) G. Chandramouli are the other members. The committee is to submit the suggestions soon. The demand for abolishing the 5/20 rule is seen as the last attempt by the State to commence flight operations of Air Kerala, the airline start-up conceived by the State to provide Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKs) better connectivity to West Asia at affordable fares. The State has been knocking at the doors of the Ministry to overcome this hurdle.

Vistara inducts ninth aircraft in fleet

Launched this January, the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines JV full service carrier Vistara on Monday inducted its ninth aircraft in the fleet. Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh said, "We are delighted to announce the arrival of our ninth aircraft. The new aircraft will allow us to further enhance our capacity on our key routes and allow many more customers to fly a new feeling with Vistara. With this addition, our fleet induction for the year is complete." Vistara currently flies to 12 destinations and has 297 weekly frequencies. The Airbus A-320s in its fleet have 148 seats — 16 in business; 36 in premium economy and 96 in economy.

Karnataka woos aerospace firms for MRO in Bengaluru

Karnataka on Tuesday exhorted global aerospace firms to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the Aerospace Park near the international airport on the city's outskirts. "In the 1,000-acre Aerospace Park at Devanahalli, we have a special economic zone (SEZ) for setting up aerospace related facilities, including an MRO to capitalise on the growing civil aviation traffic at the adjacent international airport," state's Principal Secretary, Infrastructure Development, Vandita Sharma said here. As the third busiest airport in the country after New Delhi and Mumbai, the Kempe Gowda international airport has about 450 passenger and cargo aircraft movements daily through the year. "With domestic and international passenger traffic projected to touch 18 million per annum by 2020 from 15 million annum in 2015, potential for aircraft service, including MRO is immense, as the airport is a strategic hub for South Asia," Sharma said at the fourth edition of the 'India MRO -Aerospace & Defence' meet.

HAL stresses the need to develop indigenous aerospace technology base

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) organized a national seminar on "Indigenous Technology Base for Growth of Aerospace Ecosystem" by bringing together various stakeholders in aerospace on a common platform as part of its 75 year celebrations on November 28 Dr V M Ghatge Convention Centre, Bengaluru. "This seminar is an opportune mechanism for creating a confluence of knowledge on recent advancements in indigenous cutting-edge technologies," said T Suvarna Raju, CMD (chairman-cum-managing director), HAL. "It is our constant endeavour to lead the sector in providing collaborative support to the aerospace community and creating an ecosystem for aviation technology," he added. Ajay Shankar, Chairman Expert Committee on Regulatory Approvals, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) complimenting HAL on completing landmark 75 years and said that the nation should be proud of HAL's contributions. He said, "Aerospace is the frontier technology and we have acquired core strength of system design and system integration in the past three decades. We have the ability to innovate things and we could have the enormous success that we are capable of achieving."

Airbus Group upbeat on India, to boost local sourcing

The French aviation, defence and space major Airbus Group has projected huge business and sourcing opportunities unfolding in India with the Government relaxing the foreign direct investment norms and encouraging domestic manufacturing and souring. Venkat Katkuri, Head of India Subcontinent, Head of Sales-India, Airbus Defence & Space, said through its domestic aerospace supplier partnerships, Airbus Group is already making in India and targets over $2 billion cumulative sourcing volume from India over the next five years, until 2020, covering both civil and defence businesses. Speaking on the sidelines of the Second Defence & Aerosupply India, a global conclave here today, he said, “We are in the midst of a tremendous transformation, full of opportunities, but with a number of challenges. There is intense effort for accelerating the growth of aerospace and defence industry in the country by building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones.” “India has a huge requirement for modern and advanced defence platforms. With the Government of India linking the aerospace and defence sector to the Make in India, it provides a special opportunity to engage with the country and various other manufacturing companies,” he said.

Govt to order 100 Tejas aircrafts for IAF

Decks have been cleared for the country's largest ever defence order, over RS 2 trillion for 100 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. At a crucial November 27 governing body meeting of the DRDO's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) that included manufacturers Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the IAF brought down a wishlist of 57 outstanding maintenance issues with the aircraft down to 43, all of which can be executed by ADA and HAL without changing the aircraft design. "We are now hopeful of an order for 100 Mark 1-As before the end of the current financial year," DRDO chief Dr S Christopher told MAILTODAY. The meeting of the governing council headed by Dr Christopher follows the September 23 signing of new aircraft specifications between the four key stakeholders in the three-decade old LCA project-the IAF, DRDO, MoD and HAL. The agreement has launched the struggling LCA Tejas project on a new trajectory. Designs of the Mark-1A will be complete by 2017 and the modified aircraft could enter production beginning 2019. HAL is currently supplying the IAF with 20 variants of the basic LCA Tejas. The DRDO chief says the Mark 1-A Tejas will address other shortcomings indicated by the IAF like the lack of an Active Electronically Scanned Array or AESA radar and Electronic Support Measures (ESM) which will be carried on a pod instead of within the fuselage. The modified Mark 1-A was proposed by HAL this year as a stop gap because the Mark 2 with uprated GE-414 engines and a lengthened fuselage, will not be ready for induction before 2024.

Maiden Air India flight to San Francisco almost full

It's almost full. The first nonstop flight from India to the Silicon Valley - more precisely, from New Delhi to San Francisco (SFO) in the US - has seen 98% of its 238 seats booked. The Air India flight is scheduled to take off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday and from Bengaluru on Tuesday night. It will see passengers from seven Indian cities, including Bengaluru, fly into Delhi to board the maiden flight to the West Coast. "A smaller aircraft will carry passengers from Bengaluru and six other cities -- Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi Ahmedabad and Pune -- to Delhi. The Boeing 777 the only Air India flight from India to San Francis co, will accommodate these passengers," V Chandrashekar, an Air India spokesperson, said. Air India flight AI-173 will operate thrice a week. An Airbus-321 will ferry flyers from Bengaluru on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The flight will take off from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at 9.15pm and arrive in Delhi at 11.45pm. From Delhi, the AI-173 to San Francisco will leave on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2.35am, ferrying passengers in a Boeing 777-200Long Range air craft. This flight will arrive in San Francisco at 7am local time there.

Love being in the air? Take a 17-hour flight

By the time you read this sipping your morning tea, India’s longest direct flight would be in the air. Air India launched its new service at 2.25 am on December 2, flying passengers from Delhi to San Francisco on its Boeing 777-200 long-range aircraft. One of the longest air journeys in the world, the flight will cover 12,400 km in 16 hours and 55 minutes. It may seem ludicrous to be locked inside an aircraft for close to 17 hours, but with improving in-flight comfort, fliers now prefer non-stop flights to save time. That is why Air India is not alone. Customer demand prompted Singapore Airlines to recently announce plans to revive its 19-hour flight to Newark (a major departure point for the New York City market) after it stopped the service in 2013. “We discontinued the all Business Class, A345 direct flights to Los Angeles and New York in 2013, and replaced it with stop-over flights on our Airbus A380 (with larger business class cabin), which were more commercially viable,” says David Lau, General Manager – India, Singapore Airlines. “(But) new aircraft technologies, better fuel efficiency, as well as the continuous effort to meet customer expectations prompted us to restart direct flights,” adds Lau. Singapore Airlines has ordered seven Airbus A350 ultra-long range aircrafts to launch more such flights. Though this flight will take two years to restart, there are others coming up sooner. From February 2016, Emirates Airline will start flights from Dubai to Panama City in Florida, United States. The flight will take 17 hours and 35 minutes, and will be the first among many such long routes that the Dubai-based airline is planning.

New Airbus A320 Neo to join IndiGo fleet from December-end

Domestic carrier IndiGo today said the Airbus A320 Neo would begin arriving from December-end and over the next 15 months the fleet strength would be raised to 134 aircraft. "The Airbus A320 Neos will start coming in from December- end. In the next 14-15 months itself we will see a huge expansion. We are going to grow from about 98 to 134 airplanes," IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh said here today. IndiGo in August had finalised a USD 26.55 billion purchase of 250 new Airbus A320 Neo Armed with fleet expansion to 134 aircraft in the next 15 months, IndiGo is planning to begin direct international flights from Kolkata.

Sky is the limit for women, says British aviator Tracey Taylor

For contemporary women who want to achieve their dreams irrespective of their chosen vocation, the sky is the limit, according to British Aviator Tracey Curtis Taylor. The female aviator from Britain was here as part of achieving a unique feat — completing a 13,000 mile journey from the United Kingdom to Australia over 23 countries in three months. Flying the Boeing Stearman, an open-cockpit biplane, Taylor says she wants to not just replicate the inspiring story of legend Amy Jonson, who pioneered the first solo flight by a woman from Britain to Australia, but also engage with young women in the field of aviation and promote the achievements of women in all spheres of the world. “The main ethos of my flight is to celebrate not only women’s achievements in aviation past, present and future, but also women’s roles in engineering and beyond. The sky holds no limit for women,” Taylor told PTI. Emulating Amy Johnson’s aerial odyssey in a restored open-cockpit 1942 Boeing Stearman, christened ‘Spirit of Artemis’, Taylor is calling herself a ‘bird in a bi-plane’. Johnson became the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930 and prepared the way for air travel as we know it today

Hand-written passport becomes invalid for travelling abroad

Hand-written passports of Indian citizens are no longer valid as per government’s directive. The government had asked those having hand-written passports to get machine-readable ones having bar codes by November 24. The government had decided to discontinue hand-written passports in accordance with recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to incorporate biometric data in the machine readable travel documents

Rafale deal to be signed on eve of Hollande’s India visit

India and France are set to sign the deal for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft on the eve of French President François Hollande’s visit to India for the Republic Day celebrations. The draft contract, which envisages supply of the first fighter within 36 months of signing the deal, has been finalised. The supply of full complement of 36 fighters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be completed within seven years of signing the deal. The induction of the 36 fighters will add to the IAF squadron strength which is now down to 34. At least 44 fighter squadrons are needed to be comfortable against China and Pakistan. The proposal for buying 36 Rafale fighters from France in a government-to-government deal was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris in April.

Vistara's Sanjiv Kapoor

When Spicejet was in a tough spot last year, the airline's then COO Sanjiv Kapoor often recalled a line from one of John Lennon's tracks, "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans." A Lennon fan, Kapoor and his team steered the airline out of trouble. In the process, Kapoor and his employees developed a bond, which only a crisis can bring about. After further steadying Spicejet with two good quarters, Kapoor quit his job and joined the Indian airline industry's latest entrant, Vistara. Currently, he is on gardening leave, recharging his batteries before his new assignment. ETPanache caught up with the Delhi-based Kapoor when he was in Mumbai for a day. He flew to the city on Vistara. "They (cabin and ground staff) treated me like I was family," Kapoor says. "I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't think they would know I was on board. They really made me feel warm and welcome." He was to return to Delhi on Spicejet, where he's still treated as one of their own. "I am grateful to have not just my family at home but two airlines out there who are both my families. I find that very nice. I will enjoy it as much as I can," says Kapoor, who grew up in Kolkata

FinMin okays 2% fee on metro air routes for regional fund

The Ministry of Finance has given its nod for levying a two per cent fee on air tickets on metro routes and setting up a regional connectivity fund (RCF) to subsidise air travel between identified non-metro destinations. The FinMin has also consented to waive central excise duty on jet fuel and service tax on tickets on regional routes to cap fares at about Rs 2500 per flying hour and give wing to the civil aviation ministry’s proposal to air link remote and regional areas under the revised regional connectivity scheme (RCS). Sources in the ministry of civil aviation informed a charge of 2 per cent on all domestic and international flight tickets sold within the country is being considered for levy from Jan 1, 2016. The move will help generate around Rs 1,500 crore per annum in Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) and will be utilised to provide viability gap funding (VGF) to airlines for capping fares at about Rs 2,500 per flying hour between non-metro destinations come April 1, 2016.

AAI recommends GAGAN receivers for all aircraft by 2017

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has recommended to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to ensure that the airlines install GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) receivers on all aircraft flying in Indian airspace from April 1, 2017. GAGAN has been jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the AAI. P. Laxminarayana, Director, Research and Training Unit for Navigational Electronics, Osmania University, said that GAGAN has been certified and will make airline operations more efficient and reduce costs. “The system is already being used by the Railways, Forest Department and other departments,” he said speaking at the Disha annual seminar organised by the CNS Engineers of Indian Air Navigation Service Provider here on Wednesday.

Zero baggage’ fares may not fly

Any drop in fare is generally welcomed whole-heartedly by travelers but the new hand luggage-only, or ‘zero baggage’, fares have neither airlines nor flyers excited. At present, only budget carrier SpiceJet is offering zero baggage fares, wherein passengers get a ₹200 discount for not carrying check-in baggage. But does that really flying cheaper? Probably not. “In the present context the zero baggage charge does not benefit the flyer. There are times when fares on carriers that allow free baggage are much cheaper than airlines that have a zero baggage charge,” said John Nair, Head - Corporate Travel, Cox & Kings. “It would only make a difference if the fares vary by a wide margin. A small drop in charges will not act as an incentive for customers to switch to airlines that have a zero baggage charge.” At present all domestic airlines except national carrier Air India allow a flyer to carry up to 15 kg of check-in baggage without any cost — Air India allows up to 23 kg. In some cases, Air India still turns out cheaper than the zero baggage fares. While allowing these fares, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified that it has to be an opt-in facility, which means if a traveller doesn’t want to go for zero baggage, the regular fare, which will be only ₹200 more, will be available for him. Airlines can’t even fix the number of seats for zero-baggage flyers, limiting the impact of the new fares.

ICAO organizes symposium

The fourth edition of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Regional Aviation Training symposium was organised in Delhi on Tuesday. The four-day event is being hosted by the GMR Aviation Academy and the objective of the symposium is to provide ICAO member states international fora to share the latest trends, technologies and tools currently available world-wide. About 200 delegates from 40 countries gathered at this event, in which Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju was the chief guest.

Honeywell Aerospace to deliver 9,200 business jets by 2025

More than 9,200 new business jets are expected to be delivered in the next ten years at a cost of USD 270 billion, an annual global business aviation outlook report said. The deliveries, worth about USD 270 billion are a 3 to 5 per cent reduction over the value noted in the 2014 forecast, Honeywell Aerospace Asia-Pacific's Shanghai headquarters said. According to the report, slow growth means that only about 700 new business jets are expected to be delivered in 2015. Brazil, Russia, India and China retain a very strong near-term demand profile with 48 per cent of new purchases scheduled for the next two years, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today. Brazil recorded the strongest new aircraft purchase plans, while China and Russia are expected to show slight improvements compared with 2014. "While emerging markets like Brazil continue to be a bright spot for business aviation over the medium term, we have seen weaker demand across other key growth markets

Signing of revised Air Services Agreement between India and New Zealand approved

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of revised Air Services Agreement between India and New Zealand. The Air Services Agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and New Zealand and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Deadline for submission of response to draft civil aviation policy extended

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday extended the deadline for submission of stakeholders response to its draft Civil Aviation Policy by more than a week. The Ministry had earlier given time for receiving response from stakeholders on the draft policy till November 21. "The Ministry of Civil Aviation has extended the last date for receiving response from stakeholders on the draft Civil Aviation Policy to November 30," an official release said on Wednesday. The revised draft Civil Aviation Policy was unveiled on October 30 by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju to provide a conducive environment and a level playing field to all stakeholders. Private carriers, under the banner of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), however, had reportedly sought more time to state their views on the grounds that deadline was "too short" and more time was required because the proposals under the draft policy were "far reaching ramifications on the sector." Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir are the members of FIA. Two new airline - AirAsia India and Vistara-have not yet been given its membership.

Aided by a turnaround in fortunes, SpiceJet in talks to buy 150 planes

Emboldened by a quick turnaround in fortunes under its new promoters, budget airline SpiceJetBSE 9.48 % has initiated talks with aircraft manufacturers to place orders for at least 150 planes, said Ajay Singh, chairman of India's fourth largest carrier. "It will be a significant sized order. And it will be placed soon," SpiceJet is in talks to buy 100 narrow-bodied aircraft (Boeing 737 MAX or Airbus 320 Neo) and 50 turboprop aircraft. "We have two businesses here. Large aircraft for metros and larger towns and small aircraft for smaller regional towns. We see a potential in the regional aircraft business," Singh said. He is hopeful of placing the order by the end of this financial year. "The order size for bigger aircraft would be in excess of 100 and smaller ones again would be a large-sized order and could be in the range of 50 aircraft," he said. Currently, SpiceJet operates a fleet of 25 Boeing, two Airbus (on wet lease) and 14 Bombardier aircraft.

Isro launches GSAT-15 to help civil aviation sector

There could not have been a more appropriate Diwali gift for Isro than the successful launch early on Wednesday of the 3,164 kg GSAT-15, India's latest communication satellite by Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from the European spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. With 24 transponders in the ku band, GSAT-15's primary role will be to boost direct-to-home broadcasting as well as enhance the GPS-aided augmented navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands. This will mainly help the civil aviation sector. GSAT-15 is the 19th payload launched by Arianespace for Isro. It will replace the ageing Insat 3A and 4B spacecraft when they retire. Isro Satellite Centre director Mylswamy Annadurai announced in Kourou that GSAT-17 and GSAT-18 will be launched by Arianespace next year. Following a countdown of 11 hours and 30 minutes, Ariane 5 lifted off at 3.04 am (IST) on Wednesday. Then after a flight of 43 minutes and 24 seconds, GSAT-15 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point from earth) of 35,819 km.

Human error' behind AI plane's fuselage panel falling off in 2013

Aviation regulator DGCA has found "human error", among others, as the cause of an incident at the Bengaluru airport two years ago involving an Air India Dreamliner plane, in which the aircraft's fuselage panel had fallen off at runway during landing. The Boeing 787-800 aircraft, bearing registration no VT-ANK, was carrying 146 passengers and seven crew members from Delhi at the time of incident on October 12, 2013. "The RH heat exchanger access panel detached at the time of landing on runway as the panel was remaining on the aircraft with only four screws instead of 47 screws which were not fully tight. "The cause of the incident was due to human error and not adopting Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)," Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) concluded in its nine-page final investigation report on the incident. The report was made public this week. According to the investigation report, prior to flying to Bengaluru, the aircraft had operated Frankfurt-Delhi flight and was scheduled to fly to Melbourne.

End safety area constructed for runway

Adding a new dimension to the safety precautions at the Trivandrum International Airport, the 3,373-meter-long runway at the airport is now equipped with runway end safety area (RESA), a mandatory facility at airports. Complying with the guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the work of the RESA at the Vallakkadavu side was completed two weeks ago. RESA is constructed as a safety measure at both ends of the runway which limits the impact when an aircraft over-runs the end of the runway during landing or take-off. A new 90x90 meter RESA was added to the end of runway 32 (in the direction of Vallakkadavu) in a project worth Rs 1.5 crore. The 3,373-meter runway at the airport already has a RESA at the end of runway 14 (in the direction of All Saints' College). The RESA could not be installed at the Vallakkadavu end because of shortage of land. An area of 39 cents was allotted to the airport by the state government last year and the work for RESA began in March.

Tata-Boeing Tie up

After UK-France joint venture Air Bus Industries decision to enter India under the ‘Make in India’ policy of the Modi Government the US civilian Aircraft making giant Boeing company has also decided to come to India to develop aero structures in India to make passenger aircraft's in the civilian sector with tie up with the Tata House of India. During the recent visit to France the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi visited the aeroplane making plant of the Air Bus Companies. At that time the Air Bus Company declared its decision to come to India under the ‘Make in India’ policy make planes for civil aviation in India. The Air Bus and the Boeing are two international giant in the field of plane making. At one time India was purchasing all the planes for civil aviation from Boeing company. But during the Nixon- Dulles- Kissinger period of US Administration US relations with India soured and India shifted it plane purchases to Air Bus Company. But now there is a make change and improvement in India-US relations. India has started buying US military transport planes, Helicopter and other military armaments. In civil aviation the Tata House of India is a pioneer in field. Its Supremo Late Mr JRD Tata started civil aviation in India by flying the first mail carrying planes from Karachi to Bombay way back in 1931. At also started it profit earning Tata Airlines but during Nehru period the Tata Airlines along with Birla’s Bharat Airways were nationalized in a Government undertaking Air India. Now the private sector has come back in India in all the segments of the industries. Tata is again in civil aviation service in association with a Singapore based airline carrier.

India enhances air services agreement with Oman

India has enhanced the bilateral seat entitlement with Oman, allowing additional flights between the two countries. The move will enable Oman Air to launch extra flights to India and offer better onward connections. The revision took place at International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) negotiations in Turkey last month. The Indian government held discussions with Qatar at the event but did not negotiate for additional seats with the Gulf state. According to the revised agreement between India and Oman, carriers from both countries can fly 5,131 additional seats per week between the two countries taking the total capacity entitlement to 21,149 seats per week. “A MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed with Oman whereby, additional 5,131 seats were granted taking the total capacity entitlements from 16,018 seats per week to 21,149 seats per week for both sides,” said a press statement issued by the Union civil aviation ministry here on Thursday. At present, only Oman Air flies 15 daily flights to 11 destinations in India. It has double daily frequencies to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai and plans to increase flights to Bengaluru, Kochi and Kozhikode. Indian carriers too could benefit with the expansion of traffic rights and IndiGo is planning to launch a flight between Kochi-Muscat. At present Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet fly to Muscat. The decision to increase traffic rights will help Oman Air’s demand to expand its operations to India. The airline recently introduced service between Muscat and Goa and does fly passengers from India to Europe and also to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. For Oman Air, around 26 per cent of its business comes from the Indian sub-continent.

India Inks Civil Aviation MoUs With Six Countries

India has inked memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with six nations during the International Civil Aviation Negotiations held in Turkey, the central government announced on Thursday. The negotiations would enhance the international air connectivity from India and would offer the passengers wider choice and seamless connectivity, a civil aviation ministry statement said. The negotiations were held from October 19-23 in Turkey's Antalya and attended by 106 countries.

Qatar Airways keen on 49% stake in India’s low-cost carrier Indigo

Dubai: Qatar Airways said it’s keen to take a stake in Indian discount carrier Indigo once shares start trading following an initial public offering (IPO), after plans for a direct investment were frustrated by local regulations. The second-biggest Gulf carrier could seek a maximum 49 per cent of Indigo — valued at $2 billion based on the IPO price — to boost its exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets, chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said on Sunday in an interview at the Dubai Air Show. The sale of a 10 per cent Indigo stake in October’s IPO raised about Rs30 billion ($456 million), valuing the airline at $4.2 billion and making it the third-largest low-cost carrier in Asia, with a value five times that of Jet Airways and nine times that of SpiceJet, the other two listed Indian airlines. “I couldn’t take a stake in Indigo because the Indian authorities have restrictions on airlines taking part in IPOs of an airline,” Al Baker said. “The process to do it would have taken a long time and they were in a hurry. If we can go up to the 49 per cent that’s allowed, we’d like to go as much as that.”

Emerging biggest aircraft market

For years, plane makers Airbus and Boeing have made optimistic forecasts about growth of aviation in India - a rising middle class, growth in gross domestic product and under penetration of airlines making it a relevant market. Earlier this year, Boeing projected India's demand for aircraft to touch 1,740, valued at $240 billion, over the next 20 years in India. This would account for 4.3 per cent of global volumes. The optimism is getting translated into orders, with Indian carriers placing multi-billion contracts to cater to growth plans. In August, IndiGo signed up with Airbus for a $25.7-billion order for 250 A320neo planes, largest ever order for the European plane maker. Previously the biggest single order in terms of planes was for 234 planes from Lion Air of Indonesia in 2013. Boeing's latest market forecast claims it will deliver 38,050 planes till 2034 with the highest share (38 per cent) in the Asian market. India will require 1,740 planes over the same period.

Jet Airways confirms order for 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft

Jet Airways on Monday announced placing an order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft at the Dubai Airshow. The order includes options and purchase rights for an additional 50 aircraft. This is the airline’s largest ever fleet order valued at $8.7 billion at list price. The deliveries will start from 2018 and transaction will be completely financed and managed through a sale and leaseback arrangement, Jet Airways said. The new aircraft will support the airline’s replacement strategy and ensure it maintains a modern, environmentally friendly fleet, the airline said. Currently, Jet Airways has a fleet of 115 aircraft. “This order is an endorsement of our confidence in the long-term prospects of the Indian aviation sector, which reflects the positive forecast for the country’s economy, and offers tremendous potential for growth and development,” Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways said in a statement.

US-INDIA aviation summit closes in Bangalore

The US-India Aviation Summit closed on November 5 following two days of high level meetings and discussions between public and private sector leaders from both nations to discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral aviation partnership. The Summit was co-hosted by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and India's Ministry of Civil Aviation with the support of the US-India Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP). "The dedication of India's government to the expansion of their aviation sector has fostered continued growth and created opportunities for U.S. businesses to provide their technology and expertise," said USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak. "USTDA is pleased to support our Indian partners' goals and to have convened US and Indian stakeholders from this critical sector." "The government is making all efforts to promote the growth of the Indian aviation sector in a significant manner," said Minister of Civil Aviation Raju. "Systems and processes which affect this sector will be simplified and made more transparent with greater use of technology without compromising on safety and security." India's aviation sector has continued to grow rapidly since the last biennial event was held in 2013. Building on this success, the country's civil aviation market, currently the world's ninth largest, is anticipated to require an additional USD 110 billion in financing to continue to advance India's diverse aviation expansion and modernization projects through 2020

Tata, Boeing to jointly manufacture aircraft parts in India

American aviation company Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems on Monday announced a joint venture to manufacture airframe parts for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, which were recently ordered by India. The joint venture will also collaborate on development and selling of integrated systems in India, reported the Press Trust of India. Chris Chadwick, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, said, "This partnership will capitalise on India's industrial capability, innovation and talent to contribute to Boeing's long-term competitiveness and position us for future growth in the global marketplace.” Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar said that the company has doubled its sourcing from India over the last 12 months

Top scientist wants pvt airlines to set up MRO facilities in India

Chandigarh: A member of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, Dr VK Saraswat, today called upon private airlines to set up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in India as it has a large scope for employment generation in the aviation sector. Delivering the presidential address at a two-day national symposium on “Careers and Opportunities in Aerospace Defence Technology” organised jointly by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), he pointed out that most private airlines had MRO facilities in Sri Lanka or Dubai, which was unfortunate. “We have MROs for Air India and Indian Airlines. If we set up MROs here, we have a large scope to generate employment. For that, we need to change our system of taxation. Repairs in India are not done as our tax structure is not competitive,” Saraswat, who was earlier Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said.

Air India to report operational profit this fiscal

New Delhi: Air India will report an operating profit in fiscal 2015-16. Aviation secretary R N Choubey said the airline will have an operating profit of about Rs 6 crore, two years ahead of the target year set for it as per the turnaround plan under which it is getting a Rs 30,000 crore package from the government. The airline has mainly benefitted from benign oil prices and an improved operational parameters, including enhanced aircraft usage. "Better on-time performance and increased availability of passenger aircraft have helped in improving operational efficiency," Choubey said.

Jet Airways says Brussels flights unviable, begins employee dialogue on future of European hub

Mumbai: Jet Airways has said it is reviewing its operations in Brussels, now “unviable due to significant changes in the competitive scenario” in Europe. Brussels is capital of Belgium, a country in western Europe. The airline has initiated a consultative process with its 25 Belgian employees, as required under local laws, to determine the future of its operations there. Jet is likely to make Amsterdam (Netherlands’ capital) its gateway for flights to the US and Canada, replacing Brussels. It has slots at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and is in talks with Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines for commercial partnerships and code-sharing on European and North American routes. Code-sharing is an agreement between two or more airlines to carry each other’s passengers and use their own set of letters and numbers for flights provided by another airline. “No decision on the Brussels operations has been taken,” a spokesperson said.

Boeing Helping Indian Manufacturing to Fly

India’s aerospace design and manufacturing industry is finally coming home to roost. Boeing (Stand 900) chairman James McNerney echoed confidence in the industry and the new government during a global summit, “India’s Time to Fly,” held in Delhi last month [October] when he announced that Boeing was “much closer to having final assembly [of] Apache or Chinook helicopters here.” McNerney added: “That will play out, and that is our strategy. Companies like Boeing are always on the lookout for competitive advantages that come withinnovativenew technologies and long-term partnerships.” He said India, with its broad, deep engineering capability and skilled workforce, was a natural partner “that offers us the long-term opportunities…” The statement came on the heels of India finalizing an order with Boeing in September for production, training, and support of 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. It is the 14th nation to select the Apache and the 19th to select the Chinook. “All capabilities are here in programs I want to make sure get done, even assembling entire airplanes–wings fuselages, systems, avionics and software that is in some ways are more sophisticated than structures. We are committed to taking Indian capability to that level–I see an opportunity to help India to move up by bringing technology,” McNerney said. He cautioned, however, the two governments had to agree to “what technology they will share or not. Generally speaking, the more cutting edge the technology, the less sharing there will be.”

IndiGo raises Rs 3,008 crore from IPO

IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation has raised Rs 3,008.5 crore at the issue price of Rs 765 per share from its recently concluded over-subscribed IPO. The public issue closed on October 29 after three days of bidding in a price band of Rs 700-765. The company has now fixed the issue price at Rs 765 per share, the upper end of the price band. The public offer of InterGlobe Aviation, the biggest IPO in nearly three years, elicited robust response as the issue got over-subscribed 6.15 times. The quota reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) saw tremendous response with over-subscription of 17.80 times. Non-institutional investors category was over-subscribed 3.57 times. In contrast, the portion set aside for retail investors witnessed 92 per cent subscription, while the employees category was subscribed 13 per cent. This is the biggest IPO in the Indian market since Bharti Infratel's over Rs 4,000-crore public offer in December, 2012.

Major disaster averted

The airspace over the Arabian sea might have been the scene of a great disaster on Saturday. According to the Mumbai Mirror, the Indian Navy conducted defence exercises with surface-to-surface missiles on Saturday even as the airspace remained open for civilian flights. The Mumbai Mirror reports that the Navy had requested closing of airspace for three hours between 12:30 and 3:30 pm on Saturday. However it did not convey to to aviation authorities whether this meant IST or GMT. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) Mumbai assumed it to be GMT. Consequently, airspace remained open for three hours after the exercises had begun. While the Navy had sought a NOTAM - notice to airmen - from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm, ATC kept the airspace open during this period and shut it from 6 pm to 9 pm, by which time the exercises were over.

No handwritten passports after Nov 24

Pune: Indian citizens with handwritten passports will have to get them replaced with machine-readable ones. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has set a deadline of November 24 for the global phase-out of all non-Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). Thereafter, foreign governments may deny a visa or entry to a person travelling on a non-Machine Readable Passport, a circular from the ministry of external affairs said. The government has been issuing MRPs since 2001. Those issued before 2001 and particularly those issued during the mid-1990s with a validity of 20 years fall into the non-MRPs.

Air India Express to get first dry leased aircraft in March next

The first of the six Next Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft to be taken on “dry lease’’(A dry lease is a leasing arrangement whereby an aircraft financing entity (lessor), such as GECAS or Aercap, provides an aircraft without insurance, crew, ground staff, supporting equipment, maintenance, etc) by Air India Express (AIE), the low cost carrier of the national carrier, is to join the fleet in March next. All the remaining Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft will join the fleet by December 2016 and will be deployed to increase frequencies, strengthen the existing network and to expand operations to the Tier II and III cities. Once the six aircraft are inducted, the strength of fleet of the Kochi-headquartered Air India Express will go up from the present 17 to 23. The director board of the AIE that met this week in Delhi has given the nod for dry lease. “The routes and deployment of the aircraft is under discussion,” airline sources told The Hindu. At present, the airline operated 175 weekly flights from various ports in the country to 12 international destinations. The flight from Varanasi, a Tier-II city in the North, to Sharjah was the latest addition in the AIE network.

Egypt says no survivors from Russian plane crash

More than 200 passengers and crew aboard a Russian airliner flying from the popular tourist resort Sharm el-Sheikh have died after it crashed in the Sinai desert.The flight, operated by Metrojet and bound for St Petersburg, lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes after departure. Its wreckage was found about 100km (60 miles) south of the north Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said. A north Sinai security source said a technical fault was the initial explanation for the crash, adding that the plane had landed in a “vertical fashion”. The first rescue workers at the scene described the plane as “completely destroyed” and an Egyptian security officer told Reuters that many passengers had died strapped in to their seats. “The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part that crashed into a rock. We have extracted at least 100 bodies and the rest are still inside,” he said. The Russian embassy in Cairo said it had been told by Egyptian officials the pilot had been trying to make an emergency landing at El-Arish. Conflicting reports had earlier emerged, with suggestions that there had been some survivors after voices were heard in the wreckage of the plane’s cabin. Egyptian search and rescue officials said later that all 224 on board, including 17 children, had died. The plane lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes after departing Sharm el-Sheikh Airbus said the A321-200 that crashed was 18 years old, had made almost 21,000 flights and accrued about 56,000 flight hours. It had been operated by the Russian airline since 2012. Kogalymavia, which owns Metrojet, said there were “no grounds” to blame the incident on human error. Russian state media reported that the crew had complained to officials earlier this week about the state of the plane, claiming it should not be flown due to technical issues. “This aircraft appealed to the technical service in connection with engine start failure several times over the past week before this,” a source told the RIA agency.The plane, which had a tail number of EI-ETJ, lost contact 23 minutes after takeoff while flying at more than 30,000 feet above sea level, according to the plane tracker website Flight Radar. It had begun to make a steep descent at a rate of 6,000 feet per minute shortly before communications were lost. Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said flight 7K9268 failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control and disappeared from the radar

15 key takeaways from draft aviation policy

In a big first step to making flying affordable for the masses, the Centre announced a slew of measures in its draft aviation policy that aims to incentivise flights to smaller towns and allows creation of no-frill airports to boost regional numbers. Here are 15 key takeaways from the draft aviation policy that was released on Friday for inputs from stakeholders before finalisation. 1. Flying for masses Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) that will come into effect from 1 April 2016, the Centre will target an all-inclusive airfare not exceeding Rs 2,500 per passenger, indexed to inflation for a one-hour flight on RCS routes. This will be implemented by way of: i) Concessions by different stakeholders ii) Viability gap funding for scheduled commuter airlines iii) Put nearly 300-odd airports to use. These will be upgraded no-frills airport at cost of Rs 50 crore each. Besides, to make operations in such airports feasible, the security will be aircraft-based, so that the airport is sanitised just around an hour or two before the flight. iv) Centre has mooted 2 per cent levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity scheme. 2. Bilateral traffic rights The government plans to liberalize the regime of bilateral rights leading to greater ease of doing business and wider choice to passengers. It will enter into an 'Open sky' ASA on a reciprocal basis with SAARC countries and countries with territory located beyond 5000 km. 3. Plan to increase FDI The Centre has proposed to increase FDI in airlines from 49% to above 50% if it decides to go in for open skies for countries lying within 5,000 km radius 4. 5/20 Rule Under this rule for Indian carriers to fly abroad, the Centre has invited suggestions on three possible policy options: i) 5/20 Rule may continue as it is, or ii) 5/20 Rule will be abolished with immediate effect, or iii) Domestic airlines will need to accumulate 300 domestic flying credits before commencing flights to SAARC countries and countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5,000 km radius from New Delhi. The rest: 5. Secure skies 6. Code Share Agreements (CSA) 7. Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) 8. Route Dispersal Guidelines 9. Ease for helicopters 10. Scheduled commuter airlines 11. More airports 12. Prod for AAI 13. Push for cargo 14. Aeronautical 'Make in India' 15. Charter operations

Now, GoAir Comes Up With Rs 601 Offer

Budget carrier GoAir has joined the fare-war bandwagon, announcing fares as low as Rs 601 (excluding taxes and surcharges) in a new offer. GoAir said the bookings for this offer are open till November 1 and it is applicable on travel between November 23 and December 16, 2015. GoAir also said that tickets booked this scheme are not refundable. SpiceJet had earlier launched a promotional scheme, called 'Diwali Sale', offering tickets as low as Rs 749 base fare (excluding taxes) for domestic sector and from Rs 3,999 (all-inclusive) on international sectors.

Government plans all-inclusive airfare at Rs 2500 for 1-hour flight

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday released a "dynamic" draft aviation policy that can "keep pace with the ever changing demands of the sector". The highlight of the draft policy was a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), under which the airfare has been capped at Rs 2500 per passenger for a one-hour flight. However, the Rs 2500 cap for one hour doesn’t specify if the limit is on the schedule timing of flight or the on-air time. According to a ministry release, the scheme will come into effect from April 1, 2016. While the government has put a cap on the airfare, it has also mentioned the ways by which the cost can be compensated for the stakeholders. The most significant of the steps to be taken, as per the draft policy, is a levy of 2% on all domestic and international tickets on all routes. In addition to this, it has been proposed that the state governments will provide free land and multi-modal hinterland connectivity. The state governments will also be required to provide concessional rates of power, water and other utilities. Also, they would be required to impose VAT on ATF 1% or less on airports coming under the regional connectivity scheme. The excise duty on ATF drawn by SCAs from RCS airports will also be exempted. The draft policy also talks about looking at cost effective security solutions. The draft policy further talks about building no-frills airports at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Pointing that at least 75 out of 476 airstrips and airports have scheduled operations, the ministry has called for revival of the rest on the basis of demand. It also mentions that the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for scheduled commuter airlines will be shared between the Centre and the states in 80:20 ratio. Presenting the revised draft national aviation policy, Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said the ministry has proposed 2 per cent levy on all domestic and international tickets for regional connectivity scheme

IndiGo to induct ten A-320 Neos this fiscal

No-frills airline IndiGo will induct 10 fuel-efficient A-320 Neos this fiscal to its aircraft fleet and expects the company’s low-cost structure to deliver improved profitability in the coming years. Preparing to hit the capital market with nearly Rs 3,000 crore IPO next week, IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation is bullish on the airline’s growth prospects in the highly under penetrated domestic aviation market. As per the latest set of financial results disclosed by the company, it posted a net profit of Rs 640.44 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2015. During the same period, total revenues stood at Rs 4,317.19 crore. For the year ended March 2015, it recorded a net profit of Rs 1,295.58 crore on revenues of Rs 14,309.14 crore. The low-cost carrier, which has remained profitable for the last seven years, would be inducting 10 A-320 Neos in the current fiscal ending March 2016

A Life And Love Of Aviation Journalism

Dozens of colleagues, friends and family members gathered at Le Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget, France, on Oct. 9 to celebrate the life and career of legendary Aviation Week editor, bureau chief and columnist Pierre Sparaco, who died on Aug. 3 at the age of 75 after a battle with leukemia. The event was held in the museum's Concorde Hall, in the shadow of an Air France Concorde, a fitting venue for Sparaco, who had covered the supersonic passenger jet from its inception to its retirement in 2003. Aviation Week Editor-in-Chief Joe Anselmo — who attended the memorial service along with Executive Editor James R. Asker, Managing Editor Jens Flottau, Paris Bureau Chief Amy Svitak and Copy Editor Patricia Parmalee — noted Sparaco's pivotal role in transforming Aviation Week from a U.S.-centric publication into one with a diverse international staff and outlook. A highlight of the memorial was a slideshow put together with photographs from Sparaco's wife, Danielle, and colleagues at Aviation Week and French publications he worked at before joining Aviation Week in 1992, such as Air Revue and Aviation.

GoAir Plans IPO This Fiscal Year: Report

Budget carrier GoAir is planning to go for an initial public offer in the current fiscal year, ahead of the scheduled delivery of 72 new Airbus A-320 aircraft starting April next year. Wadia Group-promoted GoAir would be the second domestic carrier to come out with an IPO after rival IndiGo, which is all set for little over Rs 3,200-crore initial share sale on October 27 amid the season of companies queueing up to tap the capital market. (Also read: IPO-bound profitable IndiGo has negative net worth) As of now, only two private domestic carriers - Jet Airways and SpiceJet - of the four are listed ones. Sources said GoAir is firming up plans for the IPO in this financial year that ends on March 31, 2016. The airline is likely to file the preliminary papers for the share sale soon, they added.

Air India offers 25% discount for women flyers

Rolling out freebies to its domestic flyers and business class passengers, national carrier Air India on Saturday offered four schemes, including 25 per cent flat discount to women travellers, due to high air travel demand during the festive season. Air India offers four schemes to the executive class passengers flying the domestic sectors as part of the super festival bonanza, the airline said in a statement. The validity of the offer stands between November 1 to December 31, it said.

Big wins in flight efficiency analytics

Last month, GE customers and partners convened at the annual Minds + Machines event for one of the defining moments of the Industrial Internet – General Electric CEO, Jeff Immelt, projected that revenue from GE’s software services would nearly triple, to $15 billion, by 2020. As software continues to ‘eat the world’ GE is positioned at the nexus with its industrial domain expertise and industrial software capability. This unique position will provide exceptional outcomes for the next generation of customers. GE Aviation made announcements during the conference, including further growth of the digital flight efficiency business with Southwest Airlines and Qantas. GE’s Flight Efficiency will support Southwest’s fleet of nearly 700 Boeing 737 aircraft. For Qantas, the agreement will support one of the Asia-Pacific region’s largest airline groupings, which includes Qantas, Qantas Freight, QantasLink and the Jetstar Group, operating almost 300 aircraft to 85 destinations. “Optimizing the performance of a fleet the size of Southwest’s requires smart technology that delivers big data in a consumable way. The GE Aviation Flight Analytics System will allow Southwest to continuously improve the reliability and efficiency of our operation,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. ”We’re delighted to be expanding the long-standing relationship between Qantas and GE with a renewed focus on fuel efficiency,” said Alan Milne, Qantas’ Head of Fuel & Environment. “Greater fuel efficiency is an operational, financial and environmental priority for the Qantas Group, and at the heart of the biggest transformation of our business for two decades. We’re big admirers of GE’s innovation in this area and we look forward to working even more closely together in years to come.” These advancements in data and analytic technologies are examples of where GE is taking Predix, the cloud-based platform for creating innovative, Industrial Internet applications that turn real-time operational data into actionable insights. “GE’s Flight Efficiency collects data generated by the aircraft and applies proprietary techniques that use historic intelligence to help drive airline business strategies,” said Alan Caslavka, president of Avionics & Digital Systems for GE Aviation. “Aircraft performance analytics are used to reveal patterns, transforming data into actionable insights that improve operations.”

What’s common between Tirupati airport and garuda

Garuda, the celestial carrier of Lord Venkateswara has an inseparable link to Tirupati. The favourite bird has established yet another link with the newly-developed Tirupati airport building, which is all set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 22 (Thursday). The front view of the imposing terminal gives a clear indication that the building plan has drawn inspiration from Garuda. The overall view of structure carries an impression that the Garuda, with his wings wide open is ready to take a flight. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is apparently leaving no stone unturned to highlight the ‘Garuda angle’ behind the design of the building. Further, nobody can miss the statue installed in the airport lounge, which is again of ‘Garuda’, but shown as a structure resembling a man. The image shows that soul is trying to get out of a body. With its twelve hands placed away from the body, the soul is indicated to be ready to take flight. Meaning: Philosophically, a man is trying to wriggle out of the mundane worldly pleasures to reach ‘Moksha’ (salvation).

Mangaluru airport chosen for World Quality Commitment Award

Mangaluru lnternational Airport has been chosen to receive the 'World Quality Commitment' (WOC) Award in Paris, France on Sunday, October 25. The decision to present this prestigious award is the result of research and analysis carried out through quality hunters, leaders, entrepreneurs and experts in quality, directed by Business initiative Directions (BlD), to recognize the contribution of Mangaluru lnternational Airport Ltd in terms of leadership, quality and excellence, stated a press release by airport director J T Radhakrishna. "The World Quality Commitment (WOC) Award in the gold category to Mangaluru lnternational Airport has been made by the WQC selection committee on the basis of the criteria of total quality management, QC 100 principles, ISO 9000, customer satisfaction, and business results," the press release said.

Boeing not to take over Air India MRO

in a major jolt to Nagpur and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Boeing has turned down the proposal to take over Air India's maintenance repair and overhaul depot (MRO). Fadnavis had requested the company to take it over jointly with Singapore Airlines. Addressing a press conference on Friday, Boeing vice-president Dinesh Keskar said that there was cut-throat competition in MRO business and Boeing's taking over the MRO would prove counterproductive. "The salary of Boeing's American employees is very high and it will increase the cost of servicing of the aircraft. It is better that Air India runs it. We have provided a state-of-the-art facility to them. They should now recruit more manpower and market the MRO," he added. The Boeing vice-president said that his company had given the proposal due consideration. "We plan for five to ten years for an MRO. Other than manpower cost, there are other factors too. The new aircraft Boeing is making will require overhaul after ten years instead of eight," he said, adding that this factor would not affect MRO business because the number of aircraft would go up across the world. "According to our estimates,

Boeing boost for Make in India

'Make in India' campaign got a major boost on Friday with American aviation major Boeing joining the bandwagon. Boeing chairman James McNerney said here that the company could assemble fighter planes and either the Apache or Chinook defense helicopter in India. "Even (building a commercial aircraft wing or fuselage in India) is closer than you think," McNerney said, making Boeing the biggest global company to commit to the 'Make in India' programme. Last month, Boeing had got a $3-billion contract for supplying 22 Apaches and 15 Chinooks to India. While finalizing the chopper order, the defence ministry had said that contract will have a 30% offset clause and bring in business worth $1 billion for the Indian defense industry. "Make in India is a very important mission for the country. Over the last two to three decades, the capability of the Indian people has been obvious and clear. Modi's initiative takes up those capabilities two to three levels," McNerney, who met Modi on Thursday, said. "Make in India is not just someone handing you a blueprint and you make it. It can't be that way. I think the vision of the Prime Minister is more than that. India will get technology that can be used elsewhere in manufacturing ... Make in India is for India and globally. Given the global nature of our products, we can play at the centre of that," he said.

Fireproof Jet Fuel

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology say they have discovered a fuel additive that could reduce the intensity of jet-fuel-fed explosions when airplanes crash. The additive has no adverse affect on fuel performance, according to the team’s preliminary results. The additive, created by a team headed by Julia Kornfield, professor of chemical engineering, is a polymer — a long molecule made up of many repeating subunits. The substance has “an unprecedented combination of properties,” according to the CalTech news release, that enables it “to control fuel misting, improve the flow of fuel through pipelines, and reduce soot formation.” The substance inhibits misting under crash conditions, but permits it during normal fuel-injection operations. Tests with similar substances have been tried in the past, with mixed results. This time, it was the “integration of science and engineering [that] was the key to success,” according to CalTech. Collaborators on the research team included Simon Jones, an industrial chemist now at JPL, and Ming-Hsin "Jeremy" Wei, a recent CalTech graduate, who worked with chemistry professor Robert Grubbs — winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry — to develop a method to precisely control the structure of the polymer. Wei says he is ready to move ahead with finding a way to produce mass quantities of the substance. “My goal is to develop a reactor that will continuously produce the polymer,” he said, “and I plan to achieve it less than a year from now." The work was published in the Oct. 2 issue of the journal Science.

Microlattice-Strongest & Lightest material known to Science

​Microlattice is the lightest metal ever made. The entire structure is 99.99% air and is comparable to the hollow honeycomb architecture of bone. The structure is composed of a network of super thin, hollow struts. The struts are around 100 micrometers in diameter and have walls just 100 nanometers thick. It's this design that makes Microlattice 10 times lighter than Styrofoam. However, despite it being insanely light, it is also extremely strong. Microlattice was first announced in 2011 when a nickel-phosphorous alloy prototype was developed in collaboration between University of California, Caltech and HRL Laboratories – the Boeing-owned lab that built the first laser in 1960. As the video explains, this development has many possibilities, ranging from use in aerospace, high-performance vehicles, as well as shock absorption and vibration insulation. Watch the Video: http://bcove.me/zx6n29tn​

Air India to offer 'Incredible India' holiday packages from Dec 1

Air India will launch holiday packages from December 1 under the Incredible India programme in collaboration with state tourism departments. According the statement released by the airline, the states which have tied up with the airline are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Sikkim, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Tourists will be able to choosing from three-four packages in each state. The two nights and three day packages will be attractively priced and will be available for direct purchase from the Air India website, The packages will cover a wide range of interests like wildlife reserves, religious places, adventure sports like skiing in Gulmarg and Srinagar, paragliding in Kangra, forts, museums, festivities & fairs like Pushkar in Rajasthan.