Page 2 - Civil Aviation Sector

Airlines faced 546 technical snags during aircraft operations in 2022: Govt

The government on Thursday said domestic airlines faced a total of 546 technical snags during operation of planes last year. Out of them, the country's largest airline IndiGo faced 215 snags while SpiceJet saw 143 snags and Vistara had 97 snags. Air India faced 64 snags while those reported by Go First and Akasa Air stood at 7 and 6, respectively, according to data provided by the civil aviation ministry in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2022, Air Asia (India) witnessed 8 snags, Alliance Air reported 3 snags, Fly Big (1), TrueJet (1) and BlueDart Aviation (1). A total of 1,090 snags were faced by airlines in the last two years. Last year, the number of snags was slightly higher at 546 compared to 544 in 2021. To a query on whether more technical snags are reported in the country due to low cost airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh replied in the negative. "No Sir, Technical snags are experienced during operation of aircraft. These may be due to improper

Indian aviation industry suffers over Rs 24,000 cr loss in 2020-22

India's aviation industry suffered a loss of over Rs 24,000 crore in the last two financial years during 2020-22

DGCA imposes Rs 10-lakh penalty on Go First for 9 January incident

This is the third case of an airline getting penalised for lapses

This CEO raises 'long-standing issue' after passengers miss S'gapore flight

On Wednesday, 32 passengers could not board a Singapore-bound flight operated by budget carrier Scoot

Aviation watchdog to seek report from SpiceJet on incident at Delhi airport

Aviation watchdog DGCA will seek a report from SpiceJet on an incident at Delhi airport this week where passengers of a Bengaluru-bound flight had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge. A passenger had shared on social media a video and his experience about co-passengers having had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge on Tuesday at the Delhi airport. It happened with passengers of SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi-Bengaluru. On Wednesday late evening, SpiceJet said the flight was delayed due to weather disruption that led to incoming crew exceeding their duty time limit. A senior DGCA official on Thursday told PTI that the regulator is looking into the incident and "will seek a report from the airline". In its statement on Wednesday, SpiceJet said the flight was delayed on account of weather disruption in the network and the aircraft's previous rotation. "As a result of this, the incoming crew was not legal to operate the subsequent flight to Bengaluru and crew was arran

Recovery, expansion, Covid air pockets await Indian aviation sector in 2023

With tailwinds of high domestic air passenger traffic and airlines' ambitious expansion plans, the country's civil aviation sector is firmly on a V-shaped recovery trajectory but the gathering Covid clouds and geopolitical headwinds could cause turbulence in 2023. Air India's plans for expansion and consolidation of operations, IndiGo's focus on wide-body planes, Jet Airways' future flight path and airlines' overall profitability will be key factors for the aviation sector, which has been witnessing more than four lakh domestic passengers daily for the past few weeks. All said, global supply chain disruptions that have caused shortage of aircraft components and delay in plane deliveries, as well as spurt in coronavirus cases globally are concerns. From Tata group taking control of loss-making Air India to Akasa Air commencing operations to Jet Airways' future remaining uncertain, 2022 leaves the domestic airlines' industry with many key developments. Also, the government's ECLGS ...

Strong recovery in civil aviation sector, growth to continue: Scindia

The country's civil aviation sector is witnessing a very strong V-shaped recovery with encouraging domestic passenger numbers, and the growth will continue in the coming years, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday. After being significantly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the sector is on the recovery path and the daily domestic air passenger traffic has been above the 4-lakh mark for the past few weeks. Against the backdrop of congestion at airports that has now eased, the civil aviation minister also said efforts have been made to ensure that airport operators put in place steps that will allow the decongestion of airports. In an interview with PTI, Scindia said the domestic passenger numbers are very encouraging and already, the number is around 111 million till November this year. "I believe that the civil aviation sector has rebounded and what we in economic parlance say V-shaped recovery. A very strong V-shaped recovery. I do believe that (with the) value ..

Aviation regulator DGCA carries out 4,378 surveillance activities this year

Aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday said it has carried out 4,378 surveillance activities so far this year as part of its safety oversight responsibilities. This year, the watchdog has so far issued air operator permits for scheduled air transport service to three operators -- GSEC Monarch and Deccan Aviation (India One Air) on June 24, SNV Aviation Pvt Ltd (Akasa Air) on July 7 and Quikjet Cargo Airlines Pvt Ltd (Quikjet) on December 12. In a statement mentioning about its performance in 2022, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also said that ICAO's Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) of India was conducted in November. "As a result, the Effective Implementation score of India has risen from previous 69.95 per cent to 85.49 per cent, thereby changing India's Safety Oversight ranking from 102 to 48 among the 193 contracting states," it said. This is also the highest ever rank for India in the Indian Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) aviation safety rankings. "As p

Aloke Singh to head Air India's low-cost airlines January 1

The new appointments are part of an organisational revamp announced today by Air India

Union home secretary to review crowding at airports, focus on Delhi, Mumbai

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday will review the issue of crowding at airports, particularly in Delhi and Mumbai, with key stakeholders, officials said. Bhalla has convened a meeting in the wake of continuous complaints from passengers about the rush at the entry gates, luggage dropping, and security check areas. Representatives of key stakeholders such as the Civil Aviation Ministry, airport operators, CISF, and Bureau of Immigration are expected to attend the meeting, an official said. Over the last two weeks, passengers have been posting pictures and videos of long queues and crowding at the IGI in Delhi and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai prompting authorities to take note and asking airlines and airport operators to ease the traffic. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has formed a pool of more than 100 personnel to man additional security counters expected to be handed over to it to ease the congestion at large airports of

Unmanned check-in counters causing congestion at airports, says govt

Airlines ask passengers to arrive early to ensure 'smooth' security check

Aviation ministry lists five-point action plan to decongest Delhi airport

A surge in air travel has strained the infrastructure at the country's busiest airport and forced the civil aviation ministry to order a reduction and shifting of peak-hour flights

Explained: How 'Digi Yatra' reads one's face as the boarding pass

At the launch, Scindia said Digi Yatra will be one of the most efficient systems in the world

Single-pilot operations only after thorough investigation, EASA says

European Aviation Safety Agency's proposal draws flak from pilots who say it is too risky

AirAsia partners with Sugarbox to provide in-flight wi-fi service

AirAsia India in partnership with cloud technology firm Sugarbox has started providing in-flight wi-fi service on all its aircraft, according to a joint statement. The service will enable travellers on AirAsia India flights to access over 1,000 international and Indian movies, short movies, web series episodes and stream buffer-free content from OTT apps from the system installed in the flight. "We are delighted to partner with AirAsia India to launch a multi-feature in-flight experience hub - 'AirFlix'. This service will be pivotal in enhancing the in-flight experience for passengers and generating ancillary revenue for the airline, by unlocking an in-air digital economy through commerce and Ads. 'AirFlix' is available across the AirAsia India fleet of 28 aircraft," Sugarbox co-founder Rohit Paranjpe said. He said AirFlix will be available to all fliers through a local in-flight wi-fi at no extra cost. According to the statement, the service has launched with storage capacity of 8

BCAS withdraws accreditation of Jet Airways' training facilities

Aviation security agency BCAS has withdrawn the accreditation given to Jet Airways' aviation security training facilities amid continuing uncertainty over the recommencement of the airline's operations, according to sources. Jalan Kalrock consortium has emerged as the winning bidder for the bankrupt airline through an insolvency resolution process. A spokesperson for the Jalan Kalrock Consortium on Tuesday claimed that the accreditation was surrendered voluntarily. On November 18, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) informed the airline about the withdrawal of the accreditation, the sources said. "The competent authority has revoked the accreditation granted to both the Aviation Security Training Institutes (ASTIs) of Jet Airways at Gurugram and Mumbai. The airline may apply afresh for approval of its ASTIs as and when it is ready for inspection," BCAS said in a communication. Under current regulations, it is mandatory for all scheduled airlines to impart aviation securit

Domestic air traffic increased by 10% in October, shows DGCA data

Indian airlines carried 1.14 crore passengers in October, 10 per cent higher than the number of people flown in September. Data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday showed that domestic air traffic jumped nearly 27 per cent to 114.07 lakh last month compared to the year-ago period when it was 89.85 lakh. In September, the air traffic number stood at 103.55 lakh. Air traffic has been picking up in recent months after the airline industry was significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The country's largest airline IndiGo's market share declined to 56.7 per cent in October compared to the previous month when it stood at 58 per cent. The market share of Vistara also fell to 9.2 per cent last month from 9.6 per cent in September, as per the data. Akasa Air, which started operations in August, had a market share of 1.4 per cent in October compared to 0.9 per cent in September. In October, Air India's market share stood at 9.1 per cent while

Calicut-bound Air India flight returns to Mumbai due to technical glitch

Air India flight AI 581 was carrying more than 110 passengers, according to an official

India's aviation safety rank to improve after UN agency audit: DGCA

Says country fared well in ICAO audit of Nov 9-16 covering legislation, licensing, operations, airworthiness, among other areas; India was placed below Pakistan and Nepal an earlier exercise

Scindia inaugurates direct Hubli-Delhi flight; to operate 7 days a week

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the flight on Monday. It will operate on all seven days in a week