Category Archives: Aviation

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has said that it will make body scanners mandatory at all major airports in next one year. It has also said that all airport across the country will have body scanners in the next two years. The BCAS is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the regulatory authority for civil aviation security. A full-body scanner is a device used to scan an individual’s body for security screening without making any physical contact. A full-body scanner is a device used to scan an individual’s body for security screening without making any physical contact. However, passing through the body scanner for the passengers will be purely voluntarily and those with implants, medical conditions, pregnant women will be frisked manually and through metal detectors. “Since the nature of threat is changing a lot of technological upgrade is happening in terms of aviation security. We have ordered installations of body scanners as normal scanners cannot detect trace of plastic explosives and other threat material,” said Jyoti Narayan, Joint Director General, BCAS. He added that radiation detection systems have already been launched to check cargo for CBR and plastic explosives. The official said that the BCAS is taking several other steps to ensure smooth movement of passengers at the airports without risking security. For instance, new CTX machines are being installed at airports to prevent passengers from taking out laptops and liquid from hand baggage during security scan.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Civil Aviation, Housing & Urban Affairs and Minister of State for Commerce & Industry,  launched an aviation job portal for people looking for jobs in this sector. Puri revealed that the portal aims to provide a common platform for job seekers to register their job interests across various civil aviation sub-sectors. “Aviation Jobs portal is a unique initiative to harness the growth potential of the aviation sector to contribute to employment and re-employment in skilled aviation jobs in India. Both candidates and employers would be able to access a wider choice. Candidates will be able to seek job opportunities matching their profiles. Employers will be able to shortlist those suitable to serve their HR requirements as per their company policy through an online medium,” he added. Prospective Employers, who have completed their KYC under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs MCA-21 database would be eligible to register themselves on the portal. The portal can be accessed at the following link: http://aviationjobs.co.in/available on the website of the Ministry. Aviation Jobs makes no recommendations regarding employers. Job seekers and employers are encouraged to perform their verifications when applying for or accepting employment offers.

Going with the PM’s vision to encourage environment-friendly products, national carrier, Air India, has announced ban on usage of single-use plastic on the flights of its subsidiaries, Air India Express and Alliance Air, from October 2. “Air India is going to ban single-use plastic from October 2. In first phase it will implement in all flights of Air India Express and Alliance Air flights. In 2nd phase, it will be implemented in Air India flights,” an Air India spokesperson said. For special meals that are ordered and paid for by passengers in advance, the crew of Alliance Air and Air India Express will only use eco-friendly birch wood cutlery from October 2, the spokesperson added. Source: PTI

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, has advised passengers not to carry models of 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops that Apple deemed a safety risk due to overheating batteries. Affected units were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 and product eligibility is determined by the product serial number. Apple has determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

In a bid to cater to the demand of Indian diaspora and foreign tourists to visit various destinations, Air India has introduced ‘Discover India’ scheme valid for sale and travel up to March 31, 2020. Under the scheme, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Foreign nationals will now be able to buy five domestic Air India economy class tickets for Rs. 40,000 which will be valid for travel within 15 days of the first leg of travel. According to a statement, “Ten domestic economy class tickets are also on offer for Rs 75,000 with a validity period of 30 days both on firm basis. The passenger will be allowed to travel to any destination of their choice within India and are also permitted to reroute their journey as per their requirement.” The scheme allows re-booking, which is permitted without penalty till 4 hours prior to scheduled departure. The passenger can also change the date of the journey without any charge. “Air India offers unique benefits to passengers like 25 Kilograms free baggage allowance to all adult and child passengers and also 10 kgs free baggage allowance to infants. Besides, comfortable seats, range of inflight cuisine in plush new aircraft,” revealed the statement by Air India.

The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) for scheduled domestic carriers in the month of July 2019 has shown declining trend compared to previous month primarily due to the end of tourist season, according to DGCA. Overall, SpiceJet came out on top in terms of PLF amongst all other domestic carriers, with a PLF of 92.4%, while GoAir was a close second with 90.4%. Air Asia was at the third place with a PLF of 89.5%, followed by IndiGo at 86.2%, while Vistara recorded a PLF of 86.2 per cent. Air India recorded a PLF of 79.7 per cent.

SpiceJet and IndiGo would shift their flight operations to T3 terminal from September 5 due to expansion works at T2. Where SpiceJet has moved its entire operations to T3 from T2, IndiGo's flight numbers from 6E 5000 to 6E 5999 will operate from Terminal 3. Post completion of infrastructure enhancement at T2, the terminal will be able to handle 18 million passengers yearly, up from current 15 million, the DIAL said. GoAir will continue its domestic operations from T2 terminal.

Hahn Air, unveiled its new NDC platform and is extending its suite of products for partner airlines and travel agencies with a solution powered by IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. To mark the occasion, the German airline and ticketing expert welcomed the first passengers holding NDC-enabled Hahn Air tickets on one of its scheduled flights from Luxembourg to Dusseldorf on 16th August 2019. “As Hahn Air today supports travel agencies in 190 markets and airlines of any size and business model, we carefully developed a scalable solution that meets the needs of all our current and future partners in a changing airline industry”, says Christopher Allison, Head of NDC at Hahn Air. “We are leveraging on the expertise we have acquired during our 20 years of being the leader in airline distribution solutions, as well as our involvement in the IATA activities driving and developing the NDC standard from the very beginning. We have been actively participating in several IATA committees and are currently holding the chair position of the NDC Orders Group, as well as a seat on the Shop-Order Board and the Architecture and Technology Strategy Board.” Hahn Air’s NDC platform will bring the following benefits to partner airlines: Airlines, irrespective if they are already NDC capable or not, can add an additional distribution channel and thereby extend their global customer base. In addition, airlines can join the world of NDC by using Hahn Air’s NDC platform without having to develop their own solution. Thereby they save time, money and resources and don’t have to deal with the complexity of the new standard.   Travel agents will benefit as follows: All travel agents, regardless of which system …

IGI Airport, Delhi has rolled out ‘Express security check-in’ facility at Terminal 2 for all the domestic passengers with handbags as luggage. This facility will enable them to head towards a separate express lane with X-Ray machines for their luggage and CISF security personnel. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), in a statement said, “This facility will significantly reduce the load on the main security check-in area by diverting passengers carrying only hand baggage towards express lane. It will ensure fast and seamless flow of the domestic passengers travelling without any check-in baggage.” The Delhi airport has introduced the facility in collaboration with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Terminal 2 handles about 45,000 domestic passengers daily of which, more than 13,000 passengers (30 per cent) travel without any check-in baggage. The service is soon expected to be extended to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 as well. (Inputs from PTI)

According to The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the domestic India market has proven resilient with the closure of Jet Airways earlier this year. Growth in domestic RPKs (revenue passenger kilometers) have recovered strongly, lifting to a 7.9% year-on-year pace in June, as the remaining carriers moved quickly to fill the gap created by the loss of a competitor and to meet the customer demand.