Good-bye Russia. India’s aerospace industry chooses Ukraine
Ukraine is doing more than USD 100 million in annual defense business with India, and aims to increase it to USD 500 million in the next three years A sensational event for both Ukraine and the world happened in India but it was unfortunately by-passed in the headlines of the Ukrainian press. Despite this fact, during the Defexpo India 2016 in Goa the country’s ministry of defence along with several companies signed more than a dozen memorandums for the manufacturing of 500 transport planes as well as the supply of gas turbines for Indian warships. This took place in light of the previously frozen joint project with Russia about the development of a transport warplane Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA) and the rejection from the Russian side to service the ships. The Defexpo India 2016 theme covers the manufacturing and development of weapons for ground forces and army naval forces, including air defence, army aviation as well as dual-use products. The exhibition is pivotal for the whole of South and Southeast Asia. It is held every two years and this was the ninth exhibition to date. More than 600 companies from around the world take part in the exhibit. The Defexpo India 2016 display area is about 40 thousand square metres.
CBI files case against AISATS officials over royalty evasions
A day after it asked six international airlines operating in the state capital airport to submit details of charges paid to ground-handling firm AISATS, the agency on Thursday registered a case against its officials for evasion of royalty charges payable to Airport Authority of India. AISATS, a 50:50 joint venture between Air India Ltd, and leading gateway services and food solutions provider SATS Ltd., has been engaged in ground handling duties at the Thiruvananthapuram airport since 2012. The Kochi unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s anti-corruption bureau has registered a case against AISATS vice president Binoy Jacob and finance manager P.K.Anandan. On Wednesday, CBI officials arrived at Thiruvananthapuram airport and asked six international airlines to submit their statement of accounts of their business transactions with AISATS by April 11. The CBI started to probe financial dealings between AISATS and Airport Authority of India, ever since whistle blower Air India staff L.S.Sibu, last year wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission saying he suspected foul play in the AISATS’ dealings.
India’s domestic passenger demand up 25 percent: IATA
A leading global airlines’ association on Thursday reported that India’s domestic passenger demand grew by 24.6 percent in February. “India led all domestic markets again with a 24.6 percent year-on-year growth, supported by the strong economic backdrop, as well as notable increases in services,” said International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its global passenger traffic results for February. “This trend is expected to continue with flight frequencies in 2016 scheduled to increase by 11.5 percent year-on-year,” it said. According to IATA, India’s passenger traffic demand grew the fastest amongst the seven major aviation markets of the world — Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russian Federation and the US. “All markets except Brazil showed growth, with the strongest increases occurring in India, the US and China,” IATA cited. India’s traffic demand growth was followed by that of the US at 8.9 percent, China at 8.2 percent, Australia at 4.6 percent, the Russian Federation at 3.4 percent and Japan at 1.4 percent. However, Brazil’s domestic passenger growth slumped by 3.1 percent during the month under review.
Air passenger capacity up more than demand in February
Global demand for air travel rose 8.6 per cent in February, building on a 7.1 per cent gain in January, but the amount of seats available rose faster than that for the first time in months, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Capacity measured in available seat kilometres rose 9.6 per cent, outstripping demand and meaning load factor – a measure of how full planes are – dropped 0.7 percentage points to 77.8 per cent, IATA said in its monthly traffic update. Overcapacity can lead to more pressure on prices as well as profits, as currently being seen in the air freight market. “February was the first month since the middle of 2015 in which capacity growth exceeded demand … It is unclear whether this signals the start of a generalized downward trend in load factor, but it bears watching,” IATA Director General Tony Tyler said in a statement.
Why don’t you apply night flying restrictions at airports: NGT
Why is night curfew not implemented for flights to and from airports across the country, the National Green Tribunal asked today as it directed aviation regulator DGCA to provide data on flights landing at the IGI Airport here at night. Taking the government to task over lack of norms on noise pollution in residential areas near airports across the country, the NGT asked “why should there not be night flying restrictions at airports.” A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the government to file a short note on the steps taken by it to notify noise-level standards for airport noise zones. It also asked Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to give a break-up of flights landing in the night between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM at the IGI airport here. “What steps have you introduced to curb noise pollution in residential areas near airports so that people are not disturbed? Why should there not be night flying restrictions at airports? You give a short note on these aspects”, the bench said. The government told the bench it was adopting various aircraft noise mitigation measures like Continuous Descent Approach and mixed mode approach to bring down noise levels at airports. Continuous Descent Approach or Optimized Profile Descent is a landing method designed to reduce fuel consumption and noise compared to other conventional descents. NGT had earlier expressed displeasure over government’s failure to fix environmental norms on noise pollution and directed Environment Ministry, DGCA and Central Pollution Control Board to convene a meeting and take a clear decision on the issue. The green panel was hearing a bunch of pleas filed by the residents of South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, Bijwasan and Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), a super-speciality hospital located near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The pleas alleged that the noise created by aircraft at the IGI airport was affecting the health of the residents of nearby areas. The hospital has claimed that the noise created by planes were usually between the range of 75 and 94 decibels, which was “clearly beyond the stipulated standards laid down under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000”. The Supreme Court had last November referred the matter to NGT, saying the parties would not claim any interim order before the tribunal.
New international flights sought from city
Lok Sabha Member from Visakhapatnam Kambhampati Haribabu has written to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju seeking new international sectors from Vizag. On a representation received from K.V. Mohan of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra, the MP sent the proposals for dedicated Air India flight on the Vijayawada-Vizag-Bangkok, Bangkok-Vizag-Vijayawada-Dubai and vice versa daily and on the Colombo-Vizag-Colombo sector thrice a week. The association sought the new flights based on the load factor for the last two years.
Aviation regulator seeks explanation from airlines on high cancellation fees
Taking a serious note of domestic airlines increasing ticket cancellation fees by a significant amount, aviation regulator DGCA has sought an “explanation” from these carriers on the rationale for such a steep hike. Last week, budget carrier IndiGo had done away with the slab system for charging ticket cancellation fee and made it uniform at Rs 2,250. National carrier Air India too had in February effected a massive hike of Rs 500 for cancelling its flight tickets, which now stands at Rs 2,000 per ticket. “The DGCA has written to all the airlines across board, asking them to explain the reason for increasing ticket cancellation fee, which in some cases now is almost equivalent to the airfares charged for a short haul journey,” a source said. The airlines have been given time till Friday to respond, according to the source. Fee for tickets cancelled up to two hours before the scheduled departure of the flight will be Rs 2,250, IndiGo had informed its passengers, saying that the hike was effective from April 1. A passenger will not get any refund for the bookings cancelled 0-2 hours before scheduled departure, it had said. IndiGo had last time revised these charges in February, under which it was charging Rs 1,900 for tickets cancelled more than seven days before scheduled departure and Rs 2,250 for tickets cancelled two hours to seven days before scheduled departure of the flight.
Many parties jealous about Air India’s success: Aviation Secy
Air India’s performance has improved in recent times and “many parties are jealous about its success”, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey today said and asserted that there is no stake sale plan for the carrier. His assertion comes amid reports suggesting that the government might be looking to offload stake in Air India, which is in the red. “There is not any divestment plan for Air India. False rumours are being spread by those who are jealous. Many parties are jealous about Air India’s success,” Choubey said. Speaking at the pre-launch function for Air India’s non-stop Delhi-Vienna flight, Choubey noted that the carrier has improved “its performance in recent times”. The Delhi-Vienna flight launch will be on April 6. It will fly three times a week. Air India is expected to cut its losses by 40 per cent to Rs 3,529.80 crore in the last financial year, which ended on March 31. In 2014-15, the airline had a net loss of Rs 5,859.91 crore.
Government to develop 25 regional airports, says FM Arun Jaitley
To improve air connectivity, Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government plans to develop 25 regional airports. “This year I have set a target of having 25 more regional airports,” Jaitley said. Speaking at a conference here, the finance minister also emphasised the need for having long-term funding for infrastructure. He said the government is looking to develop 15 airstrips owned by the state governments and 10 that are with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). There are around 160 airstrips that are lying unused, he said while talking about the steps taken by the government for infrastructure development in the country. According to the minister, AAI would be able to fund itself from the money coming from Delhi and Mumbai airports. The international airports in the national capital and Mumbai are run through public private partnerships, where AAI is a stakeholder. Further, Jaitley said the operation and management of some developed airports could be given to private players. The government has been working on ways to bolster aviation sector, especially increasing regional connectivity amid rising number of air passengers. In the draft civil aviation policy, which is in the advanced stages of finalisation, various measures have been mooted for boosting regional air connectivity.
3 runways, 8 radars and a dozen pair of eyes
t the Indira Gandhi International airport, a brigade of air traffic controllers handles 1,100 landings and take-offs every day. In peak time, it manages up to 75 flights an hour. This works out to one flight operation each minute, making the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) station the country’s busiest. “Our aim is to ensure safety of aircraft, maintain regular flow of flights and avoid incidents involving aircraft or passengers,” says a senior Delhi ATC official. “We have state-of-the-art automation system provided by a US-based firm, which gives us the capacity to manage 75 flight movements per hour on the three runways and two terminals at IGI airport.” Air traffic at Mumbai is comparably higher, says an official, but IGI is the only airport in the country that employs three runways simultaneously. The controllers work in five shifts to keep the ATC operational 24×7. Each shift is headed by a Watch Supervisory Officer (WSO), who oversees the functioning of 55 controllers. Over all, Delhi ATC is headed by a general manager, Air Traffic Movement (ATM). “A team of 11-12 officers sits in the tower managing the landings and take-offs at IGI. The Delhi ATC has jurisdiction over 250 nautical miles. This space is divided in four sectors that are manned by four teams with three members in each,” explains an official. “To prevent collisions, ATC enforces traffic separation rules that obligate aircraft to maintain a prescribed minimum unoccupied space around it at all times. Many aircraft also have collision-avoidance systems. These provide additional safety by warning pilots when other aircraft get too close.” The Delhi ATC uses feeds from eight radars. At IGI airport, there is a long-range instrument called the Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR) with the capability of coving the entire 250 nautical miles under Delhi’s purview, two short-range radars keeping vigil on 60 nautical miles of territory, and two surface movement radars that manage the ground surveillance of the runways, apron area, taxiways and bays. Apart from these, the ATC gets feed from three other radars stationed at Varanasi, Udaipur and Bhopal for an integrated surveillance of the entire air space under its jurisdiction. “ARSR is 15 years old, while one of the short-range radars was only bought last year. But we ensure regular maintenance of all of them,” says an official. Apart from radars, IGI’s three runways are also capable of handling landings and take-offs from both ends. Of the six approaches to the runways, three are CAT III-enabled and allow flight operations even at visibility as low as 50 metres. Well-equipped and already at an advanced stage and prepared to handle the rising air traffic, one problem most ATCs face is staff shortage. Delhi, however, given its status as the busiest in the country, has been spared this problem. Elsewhere, the long and stress-filled working hours, the necessity of regularly keeping oneself updated with industry developments and low initial salaries keep the youth away from opting for an air traffic controller’s job. Despite these challenges, however, controllers testify that the responsibility that comes with the job is rewarding in itself.