‘PM vision is to make air travel affordable for all’
Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said the government wants to make air travel affordable for all by introducing a low-fare regime. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision: ‘Hawai chappal pahanne wale hawai yatra karenge’ (even people wearing hawai chappal [slippers] could travel by air),” said Sinha while inaugurating the SpiceJet direct daily flight to Kolkata and New Delhi from Gorakhpur here on Tuesday. “Low cost air travel will hasten the pace of development in the region. The vision of the Prime Minister is to enhance air connectivity in the country and make it affordable for common man,” said the minister. “Modi government believes in ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’. Inclusive growth is the key to real development and air connectivity will enhance the chances of development and prosperity in the region,” Sinha added. He also thanked SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh for providing low cost air fare to the people. Pat Lafontaine Authentic Jersey
Qualifying norms to bid for Nagpur airport eased
As bids under request for qualification (RFQ) to rope in a private partner for developing Nagpur airport are expected to be received on October 6, a number of conditions have now been eased. The bidders now need not attach a certificate issued by concerned authorities like directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), statutory auditors, or other concerned agencies certifying their claim on prior experience, which is a key criterion. The airport is currently run by Mihan India Limited (MIL), a joint venture between state government and Airports Authority of India (AAI). Under the RFQ, bidders are shortlisted for further taking part in the tender. Originally, the bids were to be invited on the basis of an upfront amount payable by the private company as well as a percentage share of revenue. Now the bids will be solely on the basis of percentage of revenue to be shared with MIL. The sharing will continue for 30 years. Moreover, the period is extendable. The other amendments mainly relate to the applicants’ experience in operations and maintenance of international airport, cross holding among bidders and assurance of credit line-up. Under the original document, the applicant needed to have a background of running an international airport as per the meaning provided by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The condition has been done away with. An official in MIL said earlier the RFQ document was drawn on the basis of Navi Mumbai airport. The interested parties had requested that the standard format issued by the planning commission should be adopted, especially for the experience clause. The plea was accepted. Alex Okafor Womens Jersey
Intra-state air service launched in Rajasthan
The first flight of an intra-state air service from Jaipur to Udaipur via Jodhpur was launched on Tuesday from here. Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje along with Gopaldas Ji Maharaj of Dadu Dayal sect flagged off a 9-seater aircraft of Supreme Airlines from Sanganer Airport State Hangar to Jodhpur. “Bikaner and Kota too would soon be connected by air,” Raje said speaking on the occasion. She said the state achieved another milestone on Monday when Scoot Airlines of Singapore started direct flight from Jaipur to Singapore. The state government has tied up with Supreme Transport Organisation Pvt. Ltd. to operate air services between different cities in the state. A state government statement said that in the first phase, flights have been launched from Jaipur to Jodhpur and Udaipur. For both these flights, minimum airfare has been fixed at Rs 3,499 per passenger. “Afterwards flights would be operated from other cities as well,” a civil aviation department official said. Matt Nieto Womens Jersey
Air India to lease turboprop planes to add wings to regional connectivity scheme
To ensure that the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS) does not turn out to be a damp squib, state-owned Air India plans to lease five turboprop planes—having 40 to 70 seats—by March next year. The carrier is expected to deploy these planes on unserved and underserved routes the RCS plans to bring to the national aviation grid. According to a senior Air India executive who requested anonymity, the government is now banking on the national carrier as private carriers are yet to commit to join the RCS scheme which is aimed to bring air travel to remote areas of the country. At present, the national carrier has five 70-seater ATR 72-600 aircraft, three 48-seater ATR 42-320 turboprop planes and three CRJ700 planes—all on dry lease. It also has 66 narrow-body planes which largely cater to domestic routes and some nearby foreign destinations, and 41 wide-body aircraft, bringing the total count to 118. The planes to be acquired will be on dry lease, wherein only aircraft is provided by the lessor. However, if crew is also provided by the lessor, then it is called a wet lease. In May this year, Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said the Air India Group will add 100 planes to its current fleet in the next four years by leasing them. “We have experienced this in the past as well and this is how aviation has grown in India. First, Air India starts flying to any remote area in the country. We (Air India) create demand and private carriers follow,” said the official. As per the proposed contours, the viability gap funding (VGF) will be available for three years for airlines flying under RCS, followed by a two-year cooling-off period. It will be limited to nine seats for a 12-seater aircraft and a maximum of 40 seats for larger aircraft. Another Air India executive, who also did not want to be named, said the airline is in talks with various lessors for dry lease of around five small aircraft. Rougned Odor Authentic Jersey
‘Among best’ in world, Indian airports flunk safety test
In a report that is certain to have rattled India’s Civil Aviation authorities, global oversight body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has given India significantly lower safety ranking than its neighbours such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its safety audit report of 2015. Surprisingly, while on the one hand Delhi’s International Airport has been tagged as one of the “best airports” in the world, ICAO safety report reveals a different picture for Indian airports in terms of “Effective Implementation” (EI) in Legislation, Air Navigation, Accident Investigation, Licensing and Organisation. In terms of Accident Investigation, i.e. an aircraft sustaining damage or structural failure during flight operation, EI is 34.26 per cent in India whereas Sri Lanka and Pakistan have scored 90.72 per cent and 87.5 per cent respectively. Notably, Effective Implementation of Legislation in India stands at just 50 per cent, which is again very low as compared to China and other neighbouring countries. When asked about the basis on which this audit report was prepared, Anthony Philibin, Chief Communication Officer of the Secretary General, ICAO said that under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), ICAO confirms a Significant Safety Concern (SSC) with respect to a country’s oversight resources and procedures. When this occurs, the state in question is given a maximum of 15 days to undertake mitigating measures and implement a suitable Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to resolve the SSC and conform to required standards. India’s Effective Implementation of Navigation Services as per ICAO standards is 68.75 per cent while that of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and China is 75, 84.38 and 87.11 respectively far outstripping India’s performance. In Effective implementation of Organisation and Accidental Investigation, India scored a relatively poor 63.64 and 45.74 percent, according the world body’s safety audit. Matthias Farley Jersey
AAI organises workshop on ‘Vigilance as a Management tool’ at Trivandrum Airport
A workshop was organised by the Corporate Vigilance Department, Airports Authority of India at Trivandrum Airport on the topic “Vigilance as a Management tool” on September 29 and 30. Around 60 Executives and Non-Executives from Trivandrum, Tuticorin, Madurai and Cochin Airports participated in the workshop. Besides general issues, the workshop also covered varied aspects of vigilance and disciplinary matters. Jacob Punoose, Retd. DGP, Kerala(IPS:1975) also addressed the participants. Among the eminent speakers, Vijay Menon, renowned Industry HR trainer and Motivational Speaker spoke on “Optimizing Human Excellence”. Dale Hawerchuk Jersey
Regional Connectivity Scheme: Centre plans to bid out routes to participating airlines this month
In order to ensure that the first flight under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) takes off from January next year, the government plans to bid out the routes to participating airlines later this month. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will unveil the final RCS policy by mid-October after which it will invite bids from the airlines wanting to fly on regional routes, civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said. The bids for routes will be on “reverse auction” basis, he told The Indian Express. This means an airline quoting the lowest amount of subsidy would get the right to fly on a particular route. Apart from bidding out a pair of routes, the government will also auction a network of routes. The Centre has already signed memorandum of understanding with states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh among other for the RCS. It signed an MoU with Puducherry on Friday for implementing RCS in the state. The Centre has proposed to cap fares at Rs 2,500 for a one-hour flight under the RCS. Airlines operating under the RCS will get viability gap funding and a host of other benefits such as lowers taxes and airport charges to promote regional connectivity. The government has already notified setting up of a Regional Air Connectivity Fund for providing viability gap funding to aircraft operators. The Centre will share 80 per cent of the cost of viability gap funding while the states will share the remaining 20 per cent. B.J. Goodson Jersey
Air India moving towards turnaround: CMD
Air India Ltd is moving towards a turnaround and expecting even better performance after narrowing June quarter loss to INR 246 crore from INR 316 crore in the year-ago period. “Yes, we are definitely moving towards that turnaround. Last year it was good. This year would be better. Next year should be even better. We narrowed our June quarter loss to INR 246 crore from INR 316 crore in the corresponding quarter last year,” Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India Chairman told reporters after inauguration of the airline’s new booking office in Bengaluru. Air India’s operational margins were affected by intense fare war unleashed by private carriers during the first quarter of this fiscal, leading to the state-run carrier posting operational loss of INR 246 crore. Asked how long it would take for Air India to come out of losses, Lohani said he cannot give a specific timeline due to factors relating to the market. “I can’t give a specific time because a lot of things are decided by the market. The ticket prices are decided by the market. However, we would try to improve our services or efficiency,” he said. To a query, Lohani admitted that the market share of the airliner has gone down domestically, but internationally it was a big player. Lohani said Air India plans to regain domestic market share by going in for huge induction in domestic segment in next one year. “In next one year, there is going to be a huge induction in domestic segment, and with that induction we are going to regain our market domestic market share,” he said. On tapping international market, Lohani said the airliner will have nine brand new aircraft – six Dreamliners and three Boeing 777 in the next two years. Sterling Shepard Authentic Jersey
Air traffic: 26% gowth in domestic passengers
After three years of negative growth, the Jaipur International Airport has registered a whopping domestic passenger growth of 26% in 2015-16, bringing cheers to the state’s tourism sector. This is higher than the national average growth of 20.5% for the year. Passenger traffic swelled from 18.71 lakh in 2014-15 to 25.40 lakh in 2015-16, adding 7 lakh passengers more than the previous year. This can be attributed to the significant rise in domestic aircraft movement, which rose from 18,648 flights in 2014-15 to 22,772 in 2015-16. During the same period, the frequency of flights has also shot up from 32 daily in May 2015 to 48 at present. B K Tailang, airport director, Sanganer, said that a few more airlines would start operations from Jaipur. “The rising congestion in Delhi offers abundant opportunities for Jaipur in both domestic and international sectors. The new terminal is meant to handle 70 flight movements. This means that we have a lot of potential,” he said. After completing the runway extension, the airport has overcome the last obstacle for the entry of premium luxury international airlines. He also pointed to the possibilities of operators increasing flight frequency on existing routes. Alfred Morris Jersey
Government body proposes four new airports in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
A government body recommended four new greenfield airport projects in the smaller towns of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as part of India’s overall aim to improve airport infrastructure and regional connectivity in the country. “The Steering Committee on Greenfield airports headed by Secretary, Civil Aviation…met today and considered 4 new airport projects. The Committee recommended ‘in principle’ approval to 3 projects in Andhra Pradesh viz., Bhogapuram, Dagadarthi (Nellore) and Orvakallu (Kurnool). The Committee also recommended for ‘site clearance’ to the project of Kothagudem in Telengana,” the ministry of civil aviation said in an official statement. A new international airport at Bhogapuram will be developed by the state government under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore. It is estimated to cater to 6.3 million passengers per annum in the initial phase. The other two airports in Andhra Pradesh will be developed as domestic no-frills airports with an estimated cost of Rs 88 crores each. Dagadarthi will be developed under the PPP mode whereas a project at Orvakallu will be developed by state government on its own. The steering committee has also recommended ‘site clearance’ for a new greenfield airport project at Kothagudem in Telangana. With this, Telangana would be getting its second greenfield airport after the one at Hyderabad. Shayne Corson Authentic Jersey