Aviation soars with 25% growth in passenger traffic; IndiGo’s domestic market share hits almost 40%
India’s aviation sector is soaring new highs and touching new skies, with the month-on-month passenger growth for the month of July hitting a record 25%. The total number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during the January to July 2016 period were 560.87 lakh versus 455.95 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year, thereby registering a growth of 23.01%, says the latest data released by DGCA. Indigo topped on the domestic airlines front, with a market share of 39.8%. Jet Airways had a share of 16.3%. While Air India’s domestic airline market share was reported at 14.8%, that of SpiceJet was 11.7%. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of July 2016 was 0.70%, with Air Costa and Go Air recording the lowest of 0% and 0.02% and Air Pegasus and Trujet the highest at 29.67% and 17.38% respectively. At 36.6%, technical factors dominated the reasons for cancellations. During July 2016, 948 passenger related complaints were received by the scheduled domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried stood at 1.1. The biggest reason for passenger complaints was Flight problem. India’s aviation sector is soaring new highs and touching new skies, with the month-on-month passenger growth for the month of July hitting a record 25%. For the second quarter of this calendar year, the market share of Air India had remained constant at 15.4%, while that of IndiGo increased to 38.4% versus 37% in Q1. Jet Airways witnessed a decline in market share from 18.2% to 16.1%, while that of Jet Lite increased to 2.9% versus 2.7%. SpiceJet also saw a decline in market share from 13% to 12.7%. Caleb Sturgis Jersey
India may open talks on foreign flying rights
India is likely to further open foreign flying entitlements with several countries, helping ease travel worries on some of the usually busy routes and start direct flights to Greece. Over the next two months, India will start negotiations on foreign flying rights with Nigeria, Dubai, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Cambodia to add more seats on the routes. Greece currently doesn’t have any such pact with India and the two sides are considering a deal for the first time. This is also the first time in two years that the government is negotiating foreign flying rights at such a large scale. “The plan is to negotiate agreements with all six nations. The increase will primarily be pegged on quota sought by Indian carriers,” said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named. Analysts said any increase in bilateral entitlements is good for consumers as it means more flights in the international sector, but they wanted the government to formulate an international strategy as well. Better connectivity will further improve India’s integration with the world economy. To start with, it will boost tourism, trade and the hospitality sector. And in the medium term and beyond, the policy move will step up investment, including Foreign Direct Investment, and better allocate funds for infrastructure. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Authentic Jersey
Aviation ministry to meet foreign delegates, stress on auction for additional seats
In a bid to curb any increase in bilateral airline seat entitlements and push for auction process to allocate additional seats, the ministry of civil aviation will meet official delegates from West Asian and European countries later this month. This comes in the wake of the underutilisation of seats by Indian carriers. Indian airlines use less than 40% of their entitlements, while foreign carriers operating here manage to utilise over 80% of their entitled number of seats. This has helped foreign carriers to corner the international traveller segment. While Indian carriers offered 242,000 seats in June this year, foreign carriers offered 432,000 seats, according to data provided by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Also, Indian carriers fly to only 66 of the 108 countries with which India has bilateral air agreements. A senior aviation ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the meetings with delegates will start later this month and exact dates will be finalised soon. InfraCircle on August 12 reported about the government’s plans to discuss the auction concept with different carriers and implement it before the revised summer schedule comes into effect by March end next year. Pavel Datsyuk Womens Jersey
Indian carriers line up 50 plane deliveries by March 2017 to meet demand
Indian commercial carriers will add at least 50 new and leased aircraft during the current financial year, with IndiGo alone accounting for 24 narrow-body new generation Airbus-A320neo deliveries. Of the 24 planes, IndiGo has taken deliveries of four aircraft in this financial year. IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd and with a current fleet size of 111 planes, ordered 100 Airbus A320 aircraft in June 2005, 180 A320neo aircraft in June 2011 and 250 A320neo aircraft in August 2015. The airline’s current market share is 36.8%. State-run Air India also has 20 planes lined up for induction in its fleet by 31 March 2017. The remaining six planes, ordered by SpiceJet, Vistara, GoAir and AirAsia, among other domestic carriers, are scheduled for delivery by March 2017. These airlines have informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regarding the deliveries of the new aircraft. This comes in the backdrop of the new civil aviation policy (NCAP) easing restrictions on newer domestic carriers to start overseas operations. The government relaxed the so-called 5/20 rule, which required an airline to have a five-year experience and 20 aircraft in its fleet in order to obtain a licence to operate international flights. A senior DGCA official, requesting anonymity, said airlines have informally updated on the expected deliveries of aircraft in the current year. The government, meanwhile, is planning to invest around $120 billion for developing the country’s airports and aviation navigation services Danny Salazar Authentic Jersey
Navi Mumbai airport may miss December 2019 deadline to commission the first phase
Navi Mumbai international airport may miss the December 2019 deadline due to extension in the request for proposal (RFP) submission period and delays in securing various clearances. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which is a nodal agency for the airport project, will now have to extend the time till December or January next year from October for the RFP following the union ministry of home affairs (MHA) according its security clearance to Hiranandani Developers and its consortium partner Zurich Airport to bid for the project. CIDCO earlier had proposed to award the contract and commence the airport development by December 2016 to commence the first phase with 10 million passenger handling capacity annually by December 2019. MHA in January had rejected the security clearance following which Hiranandani Developers-Zurich Airport consortium was barred from the submission of RFP, thus leaving GMR Delhi, the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd, MIA Infrastructure of France along with Tata Realty in the fray. The Hiranandani Developers has now sought the clearance from the union ministry of civil aviation and thereafter will formally approach CIDCO to seek RFP document and adequate time for its submission. George Fant Womens Jersey
Govt sets 2019 deadline for Navi Mumbai Airport
Alarmed at the capacity constraints in Mumbai airport, the aviation ministry is working on a two-pronged strategy — to create slots by making the airport in Juhu operational, and complete the operational part of the airport in Navi Mumbai by 2019. According to the plan, the government has set a 2019 deadline to make the Navi Mumbai airport available by creating operational portions such as the runway, terminal building and the ATC tower. “The rest of the infrastructure can come eventually and the airport should be made operational first,” said a top aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be identified. The ministry has also asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to hire consultants to suggest ways to revive the airport in Juhu in its efforts to decongest the existing airport. “The plan is to shift general aviation operations and regional flights operations to the airport in Juhu, which will help decongest the existing airport,” said the official. He said the plans to build a runway on the sea can be revived. “It is true that that the plan is old and never been implemented. But those were different times, when the current airport was not saturated. The circumstances have changed now and solution needs to be arrived at as quickly as possible.” The Mumbai airport has run out of landing slots from this summer schedule that started in March 2016, and could not allow additional domestic flights from the airport, EThad reported in March 2016. The airport could not add slots because the single runway operations out of Mumbai airport does not provide room for any new aircraft movements. Brad Marchand Jersey
Biju Patnaik International Airport to operate 24X7 from Sep 1
Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) authorities have decided to keep the airport open round the clock from September 1. “The Ministry of Civil Aviation has already given permission for day and night operation of the airport,” said BPIA Director R Mahalingam.
Air India registers Rs 100 cr operating profit in FY 16, finds mention in PM’s I-day speech
Air India’s return to profitability was acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Monday. “Air India was infamous for incurring losses. My government has succeeded in bringing Air India to a situation of clocking operational profit,” Modi said, taking credit for the carrier’s achievement. Modi did not disclose the airline’s profit figure in his speech. According to airline officials, Air India has made an operating profit of Rs 100-110 crore in FY16, higher than the earlier projection of Rs 8-10 crore, driven by low jet fuel price. The airline, which is under Rs 30,000-crore government bailout plan, closed its financial 2015-16 accounts recently, but the accounts are yet to be audited. Top officials confirmed that the airline had made Rs 100-crore operating profit in FY16, but refused to divulge other details. This is the carrier’s first operating profit in a decade. At a net level though the carrier is making a huge loss as its interest and maintenance cost remain high. In April government informed the Parliament that the airline is likely to post Rs 2636 crore net loss in FY 16. A senior Air India official said that the though low crude played a major role behind the airline’s performance, its result also improved due to increased aircraft utilisation and improved seat occupancy. The airline is estimated to have saved 30 per cent on its fuel bill due to lower crude oil price even as it added new services between Delhi-San Francisco and Ahmedabad-London. Klim Kostin Womens Jersey
CM: No more extensions for airport bidders
Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Sunday said that the state government will give no further time extension to bidders to submit their request for proposal (RFP) for the construction of the international greenfield airport at Mopa. Parsekar told mediapersons that the last time they received RFP from three bidders and two bidders requested a two-month extension to submit RFP. He also said that after assurance from them that they would submit the RFP in a month’s time, an extension was granted till August 26. “We will not extend the time frame further, and on August 26 we will announce the bidder for the airport,” he added. He also said that extension was granted keeping in mind that there would be healthy competition and more revenue would come to the state. Henrik Lundqvist Womens Jersey
Centre not to give clearance to Aranmula airport: Kerala BJP
BJP in Kerala has said the Centre would not take a stand in favour of the proposed private International Airport at Aranmulla, which has run into trouble after environment groups and the locals opposed it. BJP state president Kummanom Rajasekharan, who was in the forefront of an agitation against the airport, said Union Environment and Forest Minister Anil Madhav Dave had informed him that the Expert Appraisal Committee recommendations to conduct a fresh environment study would be cancelled. The Centre did not want a project rejected by the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal, Rajasekharan said in a statement, quoting Dave. The project, promoted by KGS Group, had run into trouble when it was mooted nearly seven years ago with environment groups and people in the area holding that it would cause environmental hazards. “The EAC has become committee to protect the interests of KGS group. Giving clearance for an environment study without hearing my complaint is quite a mystery,” he added. Rajasekharan also said the environment minister had assured him that no permission would be given and there was no change in Centre’s position that there was no need for an airport in Aranmula. Nick Easton Authentic Jersey