Category Archives: Aviation

The Government will now permit 100% FDI in Brownfield airport projects under automatic route, extending the earlier cap of 74 per cent. The extant FDI policy on Airports permits 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield Projects. As per the present FDI policy, foreign investment up to 49% was allowed under automatic route in Scheduled Air Transport Service/ Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline and regional Air Transport Service. It has now been decided to raise this limit to 100%, with FDI up to 49% permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond 49% through Government approval. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be allowed under automatic route. However, foreign airlines would continue to be allowed to invest in capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air-transport services up to the limit of 49% of their paid up capital and subject to the laid down conditions in the existing policy. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems celebrated the foundation laying of a new facility in Hyderabad for its joint venture named TATA Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL). The joint venture has been established to co-produce Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter fuselages and other aerostructures, as well as to pursue integrated systems in aerospace. The Hyderabad production facility will eventually be the sole producer of AH-64 fuselages globally. The Apache has been flown or selected for acquisition by the United States and 15 other nations, including India. Participating in the ceremony were Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister, Government of India; K. T. Rama Rao,  Minister of IT and Industries & Commerce, Telangana; and other dignitaries from the Telangana government. “The joint venture between Tata and Boeing is a significant step in developing India’s capabilities for aerospace & defence manufacturing and becoming a global exporter. This is a clear example of the significant progress made towards “Make in India for defence,” said Parrikar, Union Defence Minister. “I am delighted to see Boeing and Tata step forward and make this substantial investment, in defence FDI.” Speaking on the occasion, S. Ramadorai, Chairman of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), said, “Today’s ground-breaking ceremony is a significant milestone in furthering our commitment to the Indian aerospace sector. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 this partnership could boost the emerging manufacturing sector, contributing to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Make in India. I am positive that this joint venture which brings together the core strengths of both companies will help take this strategic relationship to the next level.” “This joint venture is an exciting advancement for Boeing in leveraging our capital and expertise globally,” said Pratyush Kumar, …

Jet Airways has introduced #JetAdvance where flyers will have the flexibility to change their booking to an earlier flight for a nominal fee. This customer-centric initiative is applicable for flights across the Jet Airways domestic network and offers guests the opportunity to travel on an earlier flight. This new feature will help guests in reaching their destination ahead of schedule with greater ease and convenience. This facility will be applicable for flights with departure time difference of maximum of 4 hrs. Guests are required to be physically present at the airport for managing the booking. The request for time change will be confirmed at the check-in counter, subject to availability of seats and for a fee of Rs 1,000 per guest per flight. This new feature is not applicable for guests booked under group fares. Gaurang Shetty, Whole-time Director, Jet Airways, said : “The comfort and convenience of guests is our utmost priority. This new feature demonstrates Jet Airways’ continued commitment to the ‘Guest First’ philosophy. We understand the need of guests having to save precious time while travelling between important engagements. With the introduction of this feature, Jet Airways has yet again raised the industry benchmark for customer experience.”

In response to competition in the global aviation market, Korean Air has announced some network realignment. Commencing December 2016, Korean Air will introduce direct flights from Seoul to New Delhi. The capital is a commercial hub for many Korean and global companies. In addition to corporate travel, New Delhi is currently in high demand as a tourism destination.

GoAir claims to be the first airline to offer late evening/night operations to Srinagar. Effective June 15, 2016, the GoAir flight G8-228 and G8-229 took off from Srinagar at 18:40 pm to Mumbai and Delhi, respectively. One-way fare for this journey costs Rs 9000 + taxes. The carrier flagged off the first flight of this schedule at the Srinagar International Airport in the presence of Mehbooba Mufti, Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir and GoAir CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer. The newly introduced evening flights from the carrier were announced soon after the IAF, AAI, and DGCA gave their nod to evening and night flights from private airlines at the Srinagar International Airport. The offering will help keep up with the demand from tourists, and the increase in flights will aid in keeping the prices competitive and ensure that Srinagar remains accessible to both business and leisure travellers.

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Air Services Agreement between India-Taipei Association in Taipei (India’s representative office in Taiwan) and Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (Taiwan’s representative office in India). Presently there is no formal Air Services Agreement between India and Taiwan and the Air Services are governed by an MoU exchanged between Air India Charters Limited (AIRL) and Taipei Airlines Associations (TAA). The Air Services Agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and Taiwan, and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two parties.

The new Civil Aviation Policy gives a boost to the domestic aviation sector by offering auctioning of unilateral traffic rights and tax incentives. Under the new policy, domestic airlines will be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. In fact, the policy has completely liberalised international code share between Indian and foreign carriers. Government will also liberalise the regime of bilateral rights, which in turn would lead to greater ease of doing business and wider choice to passengers. The policy also proposes real time safety tracking. The Civil Aviation Policy is aimed at creating an eco-system to handle 300 million domestic passengers by 2022 and 500 million by 2027, and 200 million international travellers by 2027. India recorded around 139.32 million domestic and over 50 million international air travellers in 2014-15.    

The new Civil Aviation Policy, which got the Cabinet’s clearance today, has made many provisions to boost regional connectivity in India. The policy has proposed increasing connectivity to the country’s smaller towns and cities by offering sops and incentives to airlines to fly on these routes. According to the new policy, a 2 per cent cess in domestic and international tickets for the regional connectivity fund will be set up. Air strips will be refurbished, depending on demand, as no-frills airports. This will be done at a cost not exceeding Rs 50 crore, mostly through AAI. There will be a window system for all aviation related transactions and complaints by aviation regulator DGCA.

The policy proposes a cap in fare of Rs. 2,500 for one-hour flights as the government plans an ecosystem that will lead to an increase in air travel by making it affordable. A cap of Rs 1300 is also put on 30 minute flights. According to the new policy, the centre will refund 80 per cent of the losses incurred by airlines due to the cap in fare on such routes. The policy has a slew of passenger friendly measures, offering respite to frequent flyers. The new policy comes after the tourism secretary had promised last month that the new policy will address issues of regional connectivity aggressively and in a fulfilling manner.

Air India has announced special fares for students on its domestic network. Under this offer, students after providing required documents would be able to avail tickets at Rs 3,500 (all inclusive) for distance up to 1000 km and at Rs 5,500 (all inclusive) for distance over 1000 km. The booking period for this offer started from June 1, 2016 and tickets can be booked till August 31, 2016 for travel between July 1, 2016 to August 31, 2016. Students travelling for various academic reasons like proceeding to join their school, college or to give entrance exam would be able to benefit from this special offer. To avail these special fares, students are required to provide photo copy of the following documents while booking: Admit card/ Examination hall ticket or admission slip/ Photo Id of the institution. The tickets can be booked at Air India city and airport booking offices. Air India offers the best flying experience with more legroom and value for money.