Category Archives: Aviation

IndiGo is set to enter the China market by launching new flight between Delhi and Chengdu, which will become the airline’s  19th international destination. This will be the first non-stop service between Chengdu to India, and will be effective from September 15, 2019. The aircraft on the route would be an Airbus 320, with a capacity of 180 seats. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “This is truly a milestone moment for all of us at IndiGo. “India is witnessing a much higher growth rate with respect to aviation and currently the India-China route is underserved by Indian carriers. With our plan to operate non-stop daily flights to this Chengdu we are providing the much needed connectivity between the two destinations. China is a market with immense potential and holds prominent trade, cultural and tourism values. We hope to further strengthen this relation by announcing our entry into China.”  

In a bid to strengthen its international network, IndiGo has launched non-stop daily flight on Kolkata – Hong Kong route, which would be effective from August 20, 2019. Bookings for the flight are open and the one-way fare would be Rs 10,999. The aircraft on the route would be an Airbus 320, with a capacity of 180 seats. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “As part of our international expansion plans, we are happy to announce the launch of a daily direct flight on the Kolkata – Hong Kong route. We are committed to strengthen and grow our international network, in line with our overall growth strategy to meet the requirement of both business and leisure travellers. It is our constant endeavour to provide flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer on-time, affordable, courteous and hassle-free flying experience consistently.” Departure                                              Arrival                                           Capacity Kolkata                22:40                     Hong Kong          04:55                     180 seats Hong Kong          05:50                     Kolkata                 07:40

The secretary general of ICAO, Fang Liu, and the Director General and CEO of IATA, Alexandre de Juniac, have officially launched new ICAO legal guidance on the management of unruly and disruptive passengers. “Unruly and disruptive passenger conduct can pose distinct threats to the safety and security of aircraft, flight crew and passengers,” said Liu. “It can also generate costly disruptions to airlines and passengers alike in situations when aircraft must be diverted to manage these incidents.” “Enhancing safety is the shared goal for governments and airlines, and deterring unruly and disruptive behaviour on flights is key to this,” said de Juniac. “IATA welcomes today’s new ICAO guidance, which is intended to help governments address unruly passengers under their own national law. It covers many practical measures for consideration by policymakers, including ‘on the spot’ fines to boost enforcement action.” The new ICAO manual on the legal aspects of unruly and disruptive passengers is a key result emerging from the adoption of the protocol to amend the convention on offences and certain other acts committed on board aircraft. Its chief aim is to assist national governments in legislating appropriate and better harmonized legal measures to prevent and deal with unruly and disruptive passenger incidents on international flights.

Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA, said that the rising ATF prices and weakening rupee is pulling down the aviation sector, impacting the profitability of airlines. Noting that cost environment is not very favourable for airlines in India, de Juniac said prospects for the airlines’ industry are less positive than six months ago. Global airline industry is expected to rake in a profit of $28 billion this year, much lower than the earlier forecast of $35.5 billion as rising fuel prices and weakening world trade are adversely impacting the business environment, IATA said earlier this month. (Source: PTI)

Air travel will become a bit costlier as the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has decided to increase the aviation security fee (ASF) from Rs 130 to Rs 150 for each Indian passenger from July 1 onwards. For international passengers, the ASF will be increased from 3.25 USD to 4.85 USD from next month. “The ASF for domestic passengers will be levied at the rate of Rs 150 per embarking passenger,” said an Ministry of Civil Aviation order. “The ASF for international passengers will be levied at the rate of USD 4.85 or equivalent Indian rupees per embarking passenger,” the order added. The ASF will be replacing the PSF (SC), which stands of passenger service fee (security component). “The above rates of the ASF will be applicable with effect from 00.01 hrs of 01.07.2019 and will replace the PSF (SC) which was being charged so far at the rate of Rs 130 per embarking passenger for tickets issued against Indian Rupees and USD 3.25 per embarking passenger for tickets issued against foreign currency,” the order stated.

Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru is going for expansion worth 1.2 billion dollars, under which it will get a new runway by the end of this year and a new terminal by 2021. Arun Chandra, General Manager- Aviation Business, Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, claimed, “Being customer centric airport where each effort and focus of ours goes into making the customer experience different from other airports. That’s what puts us in the league above the rest and therefore we deserve this recognition. The airport has a massive expansion plan, wherein around 1.2 billion dollars will be invested. We are coming up with a new runway by end of this year and a new terminal for about two years from now. Hence, a lot of things are happening, and capacity increase is almost 100 percent, where we will move from the current 26 million capacity, to a 35 million, growing to 45 million capacity over the next two years.”

Air China has announced the suspension of flight CA 890 from Mumbai to Beijing Capital and CA 889 from Beijing Capital to Mumbai from July 21 to October 26, 2019. The airline has also announced the cancellation of flight CA948 on Friday/Saturday and CA 947 on Thursday/Friday on the Delhi- Beijing Capital-Delhi route from September 1 to October 26, 2019. The Chinese flag carrier has advised the passengers planning to travel from Mumbai to re-route/re-issue their travel via Delhi with NO ADC. Air China has advised the tour operators to waitlist the PNR in the same RBD and send them confirmation, if the seats are not available on GDS.

According to FICCI’s recent report titled ‘Opportunities and Financing  Outlook for Aviation Sector’, there will be a huge number of aircraft deliveries in India in the next few years. The report quoted a CAPA study, which estimated that out of 400 aircraft deliveries by FY22 to Indian carriers, 70-80 per cent of them will be either on direct lease or sale and leaseback transactions. To fulfil growing demand, the Government has envisaged huge capex of around US$ 15.5 billion towards development of Greenfield airports, expansion of Brownfield airports, fleet addition & maintenance by Indian Carriers and strengthening ancillary services like skill development, MRO, Cargo handling, amongst others in the value chain. This development plan by airports and airlines requires strong support from Banks, Lessors, Private Equity Firms and other Financial Institutions to cater their funding requirement.

Boeing has signed a pact with Airports Authority of India (AAI) to come up with a 10-year plan to modernise air traffic management in India. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will fund the 18-month project which will focus on navigation, communication and modernisation of air traffic management. The agreement aims at developing a road map for AAI to upgrade the Indian National Airspace System. The mordernisation of this system will be based on local and global best practices to use airspace capacity, improve communications and invest in surveillance, navigation and air traffic management. Boeing will analyse current processes and technologies to tap efficiency improvements which can be implemented while maintaining a safe and practical airspace system.

According to the recent figures release by Airports Authority of India (AAI), the aircraft movements, passenger and freight traffic have decreased by -3.4 percent, -5.4 percent and -3.2 percent respectively at all Indian airports taken together during April 2019 over April 2018. During this month, all operational airports (taken together) handled 201.16 thousand aircraft movements (excluding General Aviation Movements), 26.70 million passengers and 275.15 thousand tonnes of freight.