Category Archives: Aviation

The Union Cabinet has approved signing of the Air Services Agreement between India and Mozambique. Presently there is no Air Services Agreement between India and Mozambique. To promote the air connectivity between the two countries, the two sides initiated the process of consultation in 2011 to finalize the text of Air Services Agreement. The draft text of the Air Services Agreement (ASA) has been finalised in consultation with Ministry of Finance (Deptt. of Revenue/Deptt. of Economic Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Law & Justice (Deptt. of Legal Affairs). The major features of the Agreement include multiple designation of airlines by each party. The designated airline of each party can enter into cooperative marketing arrangements with the designated carriers of same party, other party and that of a third party. This agreement allows designated airlines of either countries to establish offices in the territory of other country for the promotion and sale of air services. The designated airlines of the two countries shall have fair and equal opportunity to operate the agreed services on specified routes. Apart from the above, the ASA also has the provisions relating to revocation or suspension of operating authorisation, principles governing operations of agreed services, commercial opportunities, safety and security related clause etc. that were incorporated in the line of Indian model ASA.

Turkish Airlines has resumed all its flights including those to and from the United States of America. By July 19, 2016, all Turkish Airlines flight schedule will be back to normal. Turkish Airlines Media Relations Office announced that FAA removed the recent order of all airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the US from Turkey either directly or via third country. Accordingly, all scheduled Turkish Airlines flights to the US will resume starting as of July 19, 2016, with Turkish Airlines Istanbul – NYC flight at 06:45 am. Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee İlker Aycı stated that, “Earlier today I had stated that we saw no reason for the ban as all precautions were in line with the norms. Following our recent report and dense meetings, FAA removed the ban as expected.” Following the illegal failed coup attempt in Turkey, on July 16th 2016 at noon hours FAA had issued a ban of “all airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country.”

Effective August 1 , 2016, an airline will have to pay up to Rs 10,000 to a flyer in the case of cancelling/delaying a flight beyond two hours, while the compensation for not allowing a passenger to board the flight stands at up to Rs 20,000, according to DGCA. Previously, the compensation under both circumstances amounted to Rs 4000. Passengers who have not been informed by the airlines shall be provided compensation of Rs 5,000 or booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less for flights having a block time of up to and including 1 hour. Similarly, for flights having block time of more than 1 hour and up to and including 2 hours, compensation of Rs 7,500 or booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less for flights will be provided. For cancellation/ delay of a flight having a block time of more than 2 hours, Rs 10,000 or booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less for flights, will be compensated. Additionally, the airline shall provide facilities at the airport in the event they have already reported for their original flight and whilst they are waiting for the alternate flight. In case of denied boarding, airline will have to pay an amount equal to 200 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of Rs 20,000, in case airline arranges alternate flight that is scheduled to depart within 24 hours of the booked scheduled departure, and 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of INR 20,000,in case airline arranges alternate flight that is scheduled …

Starting July 15, Jet Airways will be charging Rs 900 for extra cabin bag for passengers flying from the six metros. Under the new rule Jet Airways would allow flyers to take one hand bag weighing up to seven or 10 kg. This is depending on whether they are flying economy or business or are Jet’s privilege platinum and gold members, a laptop bag, and a purse for women without any extra charge. Apart from this, any other cabin luggage will have a levy of Rs 900.

SpiceJet is all set to take more than 8000 pilgrims on special flights for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca from Gaya and Indore. It plans to deploy two Airbus 320 to carry pilgrims from Gaya and Indore respectively. The flights will be operated from the two Indian cities to Jeddah and Madina between August 4 and September 3, 2016. The return journey for the pilgrims back to Gaya is scheduled from September 17 and to Indore from September 30. The whole activity is expected to be executed by October 16, 2016. G. P. Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer and Accountable Manager, SpiceJet says, “It is a great privilege for us to be a part this grand holy ritual and eagerly look forward to serve our nation on this occasion. Hajj is a lifetime experience and SpiceJet will make every effort to ensure a hassle-free and delightful travel experience to all its customers. We extend our appreciation to the Ministry of Civil Aviation & Hajj committee for choosing us and wish all our pilgrim customers a wonderful stay at Mecca this year.”

RwandAir has appointed Bird Travels, the Airline Management Services arm of Bird Group as its new General Sales Agent for the Indian market. RwandAir is planning to commence operations to Mumbai, India in the last quarter of this year, and the appointment of Bird Travel as its GSA comes in line with that. “Bird Travel is happy to be associated with RwandAir as their exclusive GSA in India. RwandAir is one of the fastest growing airlines on the African continent and has aggressive plans to connect India and Africa through their hub in Kigali, Rwanda. We look forward to a great working association with RwandAir and are optimistic of making their online operations a success,” commented Praful Khosla, Executive Vice President, Bird Travel. John Mirenge, RwandAir’s Chief Executive Officer stated that, “ we have selected Bird Travel to position our brand, create awareness of our products and sell our services in this important new market.” The new GSA, Bird Travel will use its vast experience and will be the immediate liaison for the airline’s sales development in India, including ticketing and direct support services to the travel trade. RwandAir will be operating four weekly flights to Mumbai with its brand new A330-300, a state of the art triple class 274 wide-body seater equipped with full flat beds in business class and unmatched leg room in premium economy, with inflight entertainment and Wi-Fi as well as GSM connectivity across all three classes.

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju held a meeting on July 11 to review the functioning of Air India, where he advised the national carrier to use the best IT practices to bring efficiency in the airline. During a presentation made by Air India, the Ashwini Lohani, CMD, Air India, explained the initiatives taken recently and the various challenges that the airline was facing in the domestic and international market. Aspects about the performance of Air India in comparison with other domestic airlines and the industry as a whole were analysed. Strategies for improvement of various parameters were also looked at. The Minister reviewed the status of monetisation by Air India so far and the hurdles if any. He keenly sought information on operationalisation of MRO for advanced aircrafts at Nagpur and Hyderabad. The Minister reviewed Air India’s strategy to increase its market share of the domestic and international market as well as improve its financial performance by reducing losses in any segment of the company. The Minister promised Air India that the Ministry on its part would look into their demands and will provide all possible support.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is all set for a green makeover and has thus planned 146 MW of solar-power generation at airports, with 30 MW already in the pipeline. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, has reviewed the progress of energy and water conservation measures at Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports across the country. The important review meeting was attended by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation and Secretary of the Department, besides Chairperson AAI and other senior officers. Airport Directors of 12 important airports also attended the deliberations so that they could be sensitized to implement these initiatives at their respective airports. AAI has already installed solar power plants at 16 airports with a total capacity of 5.4 MW. So far, 51 lakh energy units have been generated from these plants leading to a reduction of 4,600 metric tonnes in carbon emissions. By December 2016, additional 24.1 MW of solar power plants will become operational at 11 more airports. Infact, the perspective plan of AAI targets augmenting the solar power generation to 116 MW by including 16 more airports. During the meeting, the Airport Director, Jaipur dwelled at length on the energy conservation measures recently undertaken at the airport. These include maximum use of LED lighting, installation of efficient air-conditioning equipment, provision of energy efficient pumps and motors, a roof top solar power plant of 1 MW capacity and a 1.8 MW ground-based solar power plant under implementation. All Airport directors were encouraged to adopt similar initiatives, some of which have a payback period of as low as two years. The status and scope of water conservation, water-recycling and sewage treatment plants at the airports …

With annual growth of 18.8 per cent (in a market of 80 million domestic passengers), India’s performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9 per cent growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers), China (9.7 per cent growth, in a market of 394 million domestic passengers) and the United States (5.4 per cent growth, in a market of 708 million domestic passengers), as per International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) industry performance statistics for 2015. This information was included in the recently released 60th Edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), the yearbook of the airline industry’s performance. “Last year airlines safely carried 3.6 billion passengers— the equivalent of 48% of the Earth’s population—and transported 52.2 million tonnes of cargo worth around $6 trillion. In doing so, we supported some $2.7 trillion in economic activity and 63 million jobs,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region once again carried the largest number of passengers with a 34 per cent market share (1.2 billion passengers) registering an increase of 10 per cent compared to the region’s passengers in 2014.

Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has revealed that Rs. 400 crore assistance will be provided by the Centre for developing the airports in Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly. And this would be done within a period of one and a half months. He said that a major effort is underway to operationalise numerous airports in the State of Uttar Pradesh. This is an outcome of a Review meeting that was held earlier in the day which was chaired by Dr. Mahesh Sharma. The meeting was attended by Secretary, Civil Aviation, R.N. Choubey, senior officers of Airports Authority of India, Director, Civil Aviation, Uttar Pradesh Government and District Magistrates of the concerned Districts in Uttar Pradesh. Dr. Sharma also revealed that an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the State Government had provided 200 crore and the work is being executed by RITES and would be complete with a year. The Minister said that a Committee had been set up, comprising of two senior officers from the Ministry and two officers from the Uttar Pradesh Government. This Committee will study the feasibility of developing no frills airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad. Dr. Mahesh Sharma also informed that the case of constructing airport in Jewar had been sent to the Ministry of Defence for their NOC. The Minister informed the media that the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural follow up to the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme that had been announced last week.