Air Passenger

MEAP to account for 58% of global air passenger demand by 2040: Survey

The Middle East and Asia-Pacific (MEAP) regions have transformed into a major international hub and are expected to account for 58 per cent of the global air passenger demand by 2040, organisers of an Airport Show here cited recent surveys as showing. According to a statement released on Monday, the airport industry's growth story is set to continue as new airports are coming up and existing facilities are getting expanded and upgraded to meet future passenger demands. With over 110 airports, this is already among the fastest growing in the world, accounting for 170 million of the global traffic, it said. The 22nd edition of the Airport Show in Dubai from May 9 to 11 will connect over 200-plus aviation brands and 100-plus buyers from over 30 airports and aviation authorities from 20 countries. Also taking place on the sidelines of the Airport Show is the Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF). CAPA -- Centre for Aviation -- figures reveal 425 major construction projects at existing ..

Indian airports' revenues to rise 26% to $3.9 bn next fiscal year: CAPA

Indian airport operators are projected to report 26 per cent rise in revenues at USD 3.9 billion in the next financial year, aviation consultancy CAPA India said on Wednesday. For 2023-24, air passenger traffic, including domestic and international, is expected to be 395 million, it said while presenting the outlook for the airports. Out of the total, domestic air passengers will rise to 320 million from 275 million this fiscal. During this period, the international air passenger count will increase to 75 million from 58 million. "India is forecast to see domestic airport pax rise to 700 million passengers, and international airport pax to 160 million passengers by FY2030," CAPA India said. It said Indian airports' revenue of USD 3.9 billion (Rs 32,390 crore) in the next fiscal will be 26 per cent higher than anticipated in 2022-23. The outlook was presented at the CAPA India aviation summit here. Stefano Barconi, Director General of ACI Asia Pacific, said airports' health was ..

India will have more than 140 mn air passengers in FY 2024: Scindia

The minister said that India is the third largest domestic market in the world in terms of seat capacity, but in terms of international seat capacity we are still ranked at the 18th position

10 passengers put on 'No Fly List' this year till March 15: Government

A total of 10 passengers have been put on the 'No Fly List' this year till March 15, the government said on Monday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that a total of 66 and 63 passengers have been placed in the 'No Fly List' in 2021 and 2022, respectively, for the period as recommended by the airline's Internal Committee constituted in accordance with Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on unruly passengers. "In 2023, 10 passengers have been placed in 'No Fly List' up to 15.03.2023. The majority of the passengers placed in 'No Fly List' were for violation related to not wearing masks or not obeying the instructions of the crew members," he said. To deal with unruly behaviour onboard flights, aviation regulator DGCA has issued a CAR titled 'Handling of unruly/ disruptive passengers'. As per the CAR, airlines are required to follow a prescribed procedure for holding passengers accountable before they are placed in the 'No Fly List

Domestic airlines carry 2.46 cr passenger in Jan-Feb, log 74% annual growth

During January-February of this year, domestic airlines carried 2.46 crore passengers as against 1.41 crore in the corresponding period of 2022, thereby registering an annual growth of 74.50 per cent

AI CEO calls for concerted efforts to curb unruly passenger behaviour

Expressing concern over the rising number of instances involving unruly behaviours by passengers, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has called for concerted industry efforts to contain the problem

American Airline flyer urinates on fellow passenger in drunken state: Rpt

A passenger of a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight has allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger on board in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday. The incident allegedly took place on flight number AA292, which took off from New York at 9:16 pm on Friday and landed after 14 hours and 26 minutes of flying at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here at 10:12 pm on Saturday. "The accused is a student in a US university. He was in a state of inebriation and urinated while he was asleep. It somehow leaked and fell on a fellow passenger who complained to the crew," a source at the airport said. He added that the male victim was not keen on reporting the matter to police after the student apologised as it might put his career in jeopardy. However, the airline took it seriously and reported it to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the IGI airport. After the crew came to know about the incident on board, they informed the pilot who reported the matter to the ATC, wh

Unruly air passenger behaviour incidents under control, says DGCA chief

Aviation regulator DGCA's chief Arun Kumar has said that incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights are under control and rules are now being strictly enforced unlike earlier, when the enforcement was not up to the desired level that led to some embarrassing incidents. In an interview to PTI, he also asserted that existing rules to deal with unruly air passengers are "sufficient" at this point of time. In recent times, there have been multiple cases of unruly air passenger behaviour, including incidents of a male passenger allegedly urinating on a female co-passenger and people found smoking in the lavatory of flights. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken strict action in these incidents and airlines concerned had also imposed a flying ban on the passengers concerned. Against this backdrop, the DGCA chief said that airlines are empowered to take action against passengers indulging in unruly behaviour in flights. "There should be order on board ..

Domestic air passenger traffic nearly doubled in January, shows data

IndiGo had a market share of 54.6 per cent, while Air India took the second spot with 9.2% share beating Vistara

Passenger deplaned from flight for not adhering to instructions: Airlines

American Airlines said on Sunday it deplaned a "disruptive" passenger from its flight to JFK Airport in New York from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here allegedly for not adhering to the crew's instructions. Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report on the incident, which took place on January 30, a senior DGCA official said. "On January 30, prior to the departure of American Airlines flight 293 from Delhi (DEL) to New York (JFK), a disruptive customer was removed from the aircraft for failure to follow crew member instructions," the airline said in a statement. American Airlines also said it has reached out to the customer "to refund the unused portion of their ticket." "We have sought a report. We are looking into the incident," the senior DGCA official told PTI.

Vistara crew restrains unruly passenger on Abu Dhabi-Mumbai flight

A passenger travelling on a Vistara flight to Mumbai from Abu Dhabi was restrained by the crew for "unruly and violent behaviour", the airline said on Tuesday. The incident, which took place on Monday, was reported to the relevant authorities as per the standard operating procedures, while the security agencies on-ground were informed to take immediate action upon arrival, Vistara said in a statement. We confirm that there was an unruly passenger on Vistara flight UK-256 operating from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai on January 30. In view of the continued unruly conduct and violent behaviour, the captain issued a warning card and made a decision to restrain the customer, the full service carrier said. The pilot made regular announcements to assure the other passengers onboard of their safety and security, Vistara said. The airline did not share other details about the incident.

Upset over delay, passenger falsely tweets flight hijacked; held in Delhi

A man was arrested for allegedly falsely tweeting that a flight going from Dubai to Jaipur had been hijacked, police said on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday. Moti Singh Rathore, a resident of Nagaur in Rajasthan, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after a Dubai-Jaipur was diverted to Delhi due to bad weather, Deputy Commissioner of Police (airport) Ravi Kumar Singh said. The flight landed at 9:45 am and was given clearance to depart at 1:40 pm. Meanwhile, Rathore tweeted "flight highjack", the police said. Rathore was offloaded from the flight with his bag and the flight was allowed to leave after the necessary checks. He was handed over to the local police for further action, they said. The accused told police that he posted the tweet as he was frustrated over the flight being stranded, they added. A case was registered in the matter and Rathore was arrested, the police said.

Air-passenger opens emergency door, creates panic in IndiGo plane

Aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe into the matter and has sought a report from the airline

IndiGo flight lands in Indore due to medical emergency, passenger dies

An IndiGo flight from Madurai to Delhi was diverted to the Indore airport after a 60-year-old passenger's health deteriorated mid-air on Saturday evening, a senior official said. After the flight landed at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar international airport, the passenger was taken to a hospital near the airport where doctors declared him brought dead, he said. "As per the initial information, Atul Gupta (60), who was on board the IndiGo Airlines flight 6E-2088, was bleeding from the mouth and his condition deteriorated midway through the journey," Prabodh Chandra Sharma, Director in-charge of the airport, told PTI. Due to a medical emergency, the Madurai-Delhi flight was diverted to Indore and it landed at the local airport around 5:30 pm. Gupta was sent to a private hospital from the airport where doctors declared him brought dead, Sharma said. "According to a doctor who took Gupta from the airport to the hospital, he was already suffering from a heart disease, high blood pressure a

'Crewed' lessons

On-board incidents point to poor training

Delhi court reserves order on bail plea of accused urinating midair

A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail application of Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on an elderly woman co-passenger on an Air India flight. Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg reserved the order on the plea, which said the act was not driven by sexual desire and that it was not aimed at outraging the complainant's modesty. Another magisterial court had sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand on Saturday, denying police his custody. The incident took place in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

Domestic air passenger traffic grew 15% to 12.9 mn in Dec 2022: Report

Domestic air passenger traffic grew 15 per cent year-on-year to around 129 lakh in December 2022 but remained 1 per cent lower than the pre-pandemic level (December 2019), rating agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra has also maintained a 'Negative' outlook on the Indian aviation industry. In the April-December period of the current fiscal, domestic passenger traffic is estimated at around 986 lakh, registering around 63 per cent year-on-year growth and lower by approximately 9 per cent compared to April-December 2019 (pre-COVID levels), it said. At the same time, the airlines deployed slightly higher capacity (less than 1 per cent) in the previous month over the year-ago period, the rating agency said, adding that it, however, was lower by around 7 per cent than the pre-COVID levels. According to Icra, the domestic aviation industry operated at an estimated passenger load factor of around 91 per cent in December 2022 against approximately 80 per cent in December 2021 and about 88 per

Male passenger who urinated on woman banned by Air India for a month

Airline sets up internal committee to probe lapses on part of Air India crew that did not report the incident

53 international arrivals found Covid positive as random testing continues

5,666 samples of passengers were collected for Covid-19 testing. Of the total samples collected, 53 international travellers tested positive for Covid, said the source

Thousands stranded at airports as airlines cancel flights amid storm in US

Disruptions likely to continue throughout the week; cancelled flights are making weary home-bound travellers sleep on floors