Dubai seeks open sky policy for North East
Dubai has requested India to give unrestricted access to airports in the Northeast for its airlines, Emirates and flyDubai. This is the first time that any country has sought an open sky policy for only a specific part of India. “We are keen to have our airlines operating to the North East region (NER) of India. We request you to extend an open sky to NE airports such as Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Bagdogra, Aizwal, Imphal, Silchar, Agartala and the new airport coming up in Gangtok besides any other,” Dubai Civil Aviation Authority head Mohammed Ahil wrote to aviation secretary R N Choubey recently”. Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha confirmed having received the request and the government is yet to take a view on it. Dubai, which has the highest flying rights to India, has been trying for some time to get more bilaterals. However given the adverse comments made by CAG for the UPA regime due to the liberal flying rights to Dubai, the NDA is treading the issue with caution. The Modi government, in fact, tied up granting more flying rights to Dubai to Indian carriers getting prime slots at the Dubai airport. Bob Gibson Authentic Jersey
Air Pegasus seeks DGCA and civil aviation ministry’s nod to resume operation
Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus, which ceased operations in July last year, plans to take flight again with a plane that once flew for the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. In a proposal submitted to the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regional carrier has said that it wants to restart operations with an ATR-72 aircraft, which was once operated by Kingfisher Airlines under VT-DKJ registration. The aircraft was first imported by Deccan Airways in 2006. Deccan Airways was later acquired by Kingfisher Airlines, which continued operating this aircraft till it shut operations in 2012. Air Pegasus has also sought approvals from the DGCA to import the aircraft, which is currently at maintenance, repair and overhaul centre in Malaysia. “We have asked permissions for import of aircraft. We will start operations as and when we get the approvals to import the aircraft, as we have the required staff to start operations,” Shyson Thomas, managing director at Air Pegasus told ET. The airline, which had started operations in April 2015, ceased operations due to cash shortage.Its flying licence was suspended in March 2016. The airline has invested Rs 33 crore in restarting operations. Of this, the promoters have infused Rs 13 crore while Rs 20 crore has come from a 30% stake sale. “The new investor is a Bengaluru-based investor. We would not like to name the investor right now,” said Thomas. Mike Remmers Womens Jersey
New rules ensure no United Airlines like situation arises in India
The customer-treatment standards followed by Indian carriers and a new set of rules governing them are likely to ensure that the recent incident of security personnel brutally manhandling a United Airlines passenger in the US isn’t replicated here, said airline executives and industry experts. United Airlines on Monday handled an overbooking situation by brutally off loading a passenger with a security personnel dragging him down the aisle even as he screamed and protested. A video of the assault went viral and led to a massive furore on social media apart from an investigation by the authorities. Such situations do arise in India, but airlines haven’t been known to manhandle passengers even in dire situations. A Jet Airways Mumbai-Bhopal flight last year was delayed by 90 minutes on Friday as a group of 80 passengers — a marriage party — refused to let the aircraft fly as some of them were not allowed to board the overbooked flight. The guests refused to accept the airline’s offer of compensation or re-accommodation on alternative flights and proceeded to hold the flight. But the authorities called the law enforcement officials only as a last resort to intervene to bring the situation under control and let the flight take off. All the offloaded guests were compensated, the airline said. When asked, a Jet spokesman said the airline strictly follows the aviation regulator’s rules in such situations. Last year, the aviation regulator –Directorate General of Civil Aviation — enforced rules that stipulate that an airline has to provide an alternative flight within two hours of the passenger’s earlier flight in case of boarding being denied or flight is cancelled due to the airline’s fault. Otherwise, the airline will have to pay a penalty, which will be three times the base fare charged on the ticket, plus the refund. Senior executives at IndiGo and Vistara said that as a practice they try not to overbook. “However, if we were to run into an overbooked situation due to unplanned schedule disruption, etc., we would accommodate customers in order of check-in. ” As the DGCA reports indicate, we have the lowest denied boarding rate in India, which is predominantly zero. “We would not, under any circumstances, offload a boarded passenger against his will to accommodate anyone,” said a Vistara spokesperson. Adam Thielen Jersey
AAI rejected AI’s proposal to convert dues into equity: Govt
Air India had proposed to convert a part of its total dues towards the AAI into equity besides offering the airport operator a position on its board, the government said today. The proposal was “considered” but not “accepted” by Airports Authority of India, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said in Rajya Sabha. “Air India has proposed to convert Rs 1,000 crore of outstanding dues payable to Airports Authority of India into equity, thereby offering AAI a stake in Air India as well as a position on its board,” Sinha said. The proposal of the national carrier was considered but not accepted by the AAI, he said. “As per the audited annual accounts of AAI, the total outstanding dues of Air India is Rs 1883.73 crore as on March 31, 2016,” the Minister said in reply to another question. Air India, which is staying afloat on taxpayers’ money, owes around Rs 2,300 crore to AAI, a senior official had said last month. These dues are towards landing and parking charges as well as route navigation charges. On earlier occasions, too, the airports operator had rejected similar proposals from the government-owned airline. Air India has been making various efforts to revive its fortunes amid stiff competition. The carrier is surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package extended by the central government. Matthew Dellavedova Womens Jersey
Government sets up inter-ministerial panel to monitor UDAN
The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports. Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for “time-bound” implementation of the scheme. The Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, under the scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary, the ‘Inter- Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee’ would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas, as per a notification. Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) apart from officials of airlines and states concerned would also be part of the panel. If required, the panel’s chairperson can co-opt any officer or expert, according to the notification issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The committee would be responsible for “overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports/airstrips and RCS-UDAN”, it added. In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 per cent of the seats would have a fare cap Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. Apart from various incentives, the operators of such flights would be extended viability gap funding — for which money is partly raised through a levy of up to Rs 8,500 on flights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai. The viability gap funding would be in place for three years for the airlines concerned from the date of starting operations in a particular UDAN route. Other benefits include zero airport charges for the operators and three-year exclusivity on the routes. Yanni Gourde Womens Jersey
Shirdi airport set to take off in May
Devotees of Saibaba can hope to fly to Shirdi from next month. Shirdi airport in Ahmednagar district will be the first airfield developed and managed by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC). Officials said the airport is almost ready and should witness flight movement from the month of May. With the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) coming down heavily on MADC for failing to develop even a single airport in the state since its formation in 2002, Vishwas M. Patil, the chairman and managing director, MADC, told TOI that the greenfield airport in Shirdi will be the first on their list. “The airport at Shirdi is almost ready and will be operated by MADC. Flight operations will start from next month,” Patil said. He added that the airport will initially cater to the domestic flights and will eventually have international flights too. The project costs about Rs 320.54 crore. “In the domestic circuit, we expect four to five flights operating from the airport initially from major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. More routes will be added in the near future,” Patil said. According to the official, the 2,500-meter runway stretch along with a terminal building measuring 3,000 m is ready. “We got an additional Rs 40 crore from the civil aviation ministry last month to extend the runway by 700m, work for which has been initiated. The ATC (air traffic control) tower and systems are in place. All efforts are being made to give the airport an international look,” the official added. The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust is set to celebrate the centenary year of Shirdi Saibaba from October 1, the preparations for which are in full swing. Jordan Lasley Authentic Jersey
Mayday signals from 3 South-based airlines
Three regional airlines, all based out of South India, are struggling to raise funds, and at least one of them is expected to be sold as early as this week. The Coimbatore-based Air Carnival is set to be sold for about ?70 crore to an investor, sources close to the airline said. The airline has one ATR-72 and commenced its operations in July last year. At its peak, it used to operate 10 daily flights to three cities, including Chennai. A second airline, Air Pegasus, based out of Bengaluru, which shut its operations in July last year, sold a 74 per cent stake to FlyEasy, another Bengaluru-based airline, but has received only about ?5 crore out of the ?18 crore it is expected to get. Sources in the airline told BusinessLine that funds are being released in instalments, and that Air Pegasus will commence its operations next month. Air Pegasus had struck a deal with a Gulf-based company, which operates FlyEasy airline, in January, but FlyEasy is yet to commence its operations. Sources said the airline has started the process of leasing two 72-seater ATRs from the US-based Amur Aviation; one of them is likely to be inducted into the fleet this month. FlyEasy’s promoters are also planning to route the investment to Air Pegasus from another company. FlyEasy hasn’t received the NoC from various agencies, and hence, routing the investments through the airline may not be easy, sources said. The third cash-strapped airline, Air Costa, stopped its operations in February this year, and is in talks with several investors to raise about ?200 crore. A spokesperson for the airline said the Air Operator’s Permit is still valid, but setting a timeline for restarting operations was difficult. Embraer aircraft “We expect some positive response from some of the investors we are talking to this month,” said Kavi Chaurasia, Vice-President, Marketing. He said the airline’s entire fleet of Embraer aircraft had been taken back by the lessors. Air Costa did not bid for the regional connectivity scheme as it requires smaller aircraft than Embraers, he added. Chaurasia denied that the choice of Embraer aircraft for the fleet was one of the reasons for the airline’s temporary shutdown. He pointed out that operational costs had gone up, while revenues were stagnant. “If we had been able to induct six aircraft by December 2016, the airline would have turned profitable by now,” he said. “Embraer was, perhaps, the best choice at that time as we wanted to expand rapidly to several cities,” he added. Sources said the airline would consider inducting aircraft other than Embraer if any investor chooses to do so. Dalvin Cook Womens Jersey
India rises two spots to become the 4th largest aviation market
India’s record breaking aviation growth continues unabated. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Monday said the country saw the fourth highest number of passengers taking off in 2016, up two places from the previous year overtaking UK and Brazil. India had 13.1 crore passengers taking off — including domestic, international and connecting — last year. Globally, IATA says, 380 crore passengers took off last year (half domestic, 35 per cent international and 15 per cent connecting), up from 350 crore in 2015. The top three markets – US, China and Japan remained unchanged but there was a shakeup below with India a part of this upheaval. “The big movers on this year’s rankings are the key emerging markets of India and Indonesia. India has jumped up two places to the fourth ranking with 13.1 crore departures in 2016 and, with growth of 20 per cent year-on-year, continues to close in fast on Japan. Just three years ago India held the eighth ranking,” said IATA. Indonesia also moved up two positions in 2016, to the sixth spot. At this rate, India will so on be at the third spot in terms of number of passengers taking-off by overtaking Japan. In total passenger terms, India saw 15.2 crore passengers flying in 2016, with 9.9 crore flying within the country and 5.3 internationally . IATA’s take-off numbers are at 13.1 crore as it include 9.9 crore domestic flyers, 2.7 crore people flying out of India and only a part of the 2.6 crore international flyers coming to India, who took off to take more flights last year. However, the growth is coming amid an infra crunch — especially at busy metro airports — that is getting worse by the day due to the over 20 per cent rise in traffic that India has been witnessing on a month-on-month basis for almost two years now. Air traffic congestion has made hovering common at Delhi and Mumbai. These two airports hardly have any free slots available for new flights, with Mumbai completely choked. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) had recently said India had become the third largest domestic air travel market globally with more people flying here within the country last year than Japan, pushing the “land of the rising sun” to number four spot. India’s 9.9 crore domestic flyers in 2016 were more than the 9.7 crore in Japan. John Greco Jersey
Budget carrier IndiGo claims to run 900 flights on single day; highest ever by any Indian airlines
Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Saturday claimed that it operated a total of 900 flights on April 7, making it the highest ever by any Indian airline company. Commenting upon the same, Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo said, “We at IndiGo are thrilled on having flown 900 daily flights for the first time yesterday… Now, the team is excited to reach the 1,000 flights milestone.” The budget carrier has recently added 35 new domestic flights in its summer schedule which will be operational during April and May. The airlines is also said to add new flight frequencies from cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Agartala, Amritsar, Trivandrum and Delhi. “Effective April and May, IndiGo will introduce new flights between Amritsar-Jammu, Chennai-Bhubaneshwar, Chennai-Indore, Kolkata-Jammu, Srinagar-Kolkata, Bengaluru-Mangalore, Mumbai-Mangalore, Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad-Trivandrum, respectively,” IANS quoted IndiGo saying in a statement. The airlines today has also announced discounted fares for select domestic routes starting at Rs 1,119. In a report published by NDTV Profit website, the IndiGo Rs. 1,119 offer is on Chennai-Bengaluru route. An advanced search on the IndiGo’s website showed that the Rs. 1,119 sale is available for travel in mid-May. Other low fares available under the special offers are Delhi-Jaipur (Rs. 1,200), Coimbatore-Chennai (Rs. 1,220), Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad (Rs. 1,221), Imphal-Guwahati (Rs. 1,222), and Goa-Bengaluru (Rs. 1,267). The airline recently announced introduction of 35 new flights as part of its summer schedule. HomeIndustry Budget carrier IndiGo claims to run 900 flights on single day; highest ever by any Indian airlines Budget carrier IndiGo claims to run 900 flights on single day; highest ever by any Indian airlines Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Saturday claimed that it operated a total of 900 flights on April 7, making it the highest ever by any Indian airline company. By: FE Online | Updated: April 8, 2017 8:50 PM 504 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Plus IndiGo, 900 flights IndiGo, Aditya Ghosh, Low-cost carrier, indian airlines, flights from Delhi, Delhi flights, flights in India, cheap flights in India Advertisement Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Saturday claimed that it operated a total of 900 flights on April 7, making it the highest ever by any Indian airline company. (Source: Reuters) Low-cost carrier IndiGo on Saturday claimed that it operated a total of 900 flights on April 7, making it the highest ever by any Indian airline company. Commenting upon the same, Aditya Ghosh, President and Whole Time Director, IndiGo said, “We at IndiGo are thrilled on having flown 900 daily flights for the first time yesterday… Now, the team is excited to reach the 1,000 flights milestone.” The budget carrier has recently added 35 new domestic flights in its summer schedule which will be operational during April and May. The airlines is also said to add new flight frequencies from cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Agartala, Amritsar, Trivandrum and Delhi. “Effective April and May, IndiGo will introduce new flights between Amritsar-Jammu, Chennai-Bhubaneshwar, Chennai-Indore, Kolkata-Jammu, Srinagar-Kolkata, Bengaluru-Mangalore, Mumbai-Mangalore, Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad-Trivandrum, respectively,” IANS quoted IndiGo saying in a statement. The airlines today has also announced discounted fares for select domestic routes starting at Rs 1,119. In a report published by NDTV Profit website, the IndiGo Rs. 1,119 offer is on Chennai-Bengaluru route. An advanced search on the IndiGo’s website showed that the Rs. 1,119 sale is available for travel in mid-May. Other low fares available under the special offers are Delhi-Jaipur (Rs. 1,200), Coimbatore-Chennai (Rs. 1,220), Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad (Rs. 1,221), Imphal-Guwahati (Rs. 1,222), and Goa-Bengaluru (Rs. 1,267). The airline recently announced introduction of 35 new flights as part of its summer schedule. Being one of the largest passenger airline carriers in the country, IndiGo translate into a market share of 39.5 per cent as of February, 2017. The Gurgaon-based airline carrier currently operate flights connecting to 46 destinations across the globe- 39 domestic and 7 international. IndiGo has a fleet size of 131 including 19 new generation A320neos. Paul George Womens Jersey
Unruly air passengers to face ‘severe consequences’: MoS for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha
The civil aviation ministry today warned that unruly air passengers will face “severe consequences”, including police action, a day after Air India lifted the flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad. Gaikwad was barred by Air India and leading private carriers after he assaulted a staffer of the national airline at the Delhi airport last month. Following direction from the ministry, Air India lifted the ban yesterday and private airlines followed suit today. In a series of tweets, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said unruly behaviour by air passengers will result in severe consequences. This is the first official response from the ministry after the airlines revoked the ban on Gaikwad — a development that had become a political hot potato after the Shiv Sena, an ally at the Centre, sought lifting of the ban. “Air travellers should note that safety and security for passengers and crew are our paramount priority. Unruly and disruptive behaviour will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list,” he said. Sinha emphasised that the ministry is strengthening rules so that a national no-fly list can be implemented so that such incidents can be prevented and safety improved. About the incident involving the Shiv Sena member, the minister said Gaikwad had apologised and provided an undertaking that such incidents would not reoccur. “Therefore AI (Air India) has been advised to revoke his ban… Police investigations regarding Gaikwad’s conduct during the March 23 incident are under way and the law will take its own course,” Sinha said. Furthermore, in response to certain tweets related to Gaikwad incident, Sinha said police FIRs have been filed and justice will surely be delivered. He noted that case has been registered against Gaikwad, including sections 308 (culpable homicide) and 355 (assault). “A flying ban is meant to prevent future unruly behaviour, not to punish past behaviour. We now have an undertaking for future behaviour,” he added. Brian Flynn Womens Jersey