Category Archives: Aviation

First-time MP from Pune and BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol has been inducted as Minister of State for Civil Aviation in the Narendra Modi government. He is an MP from Pune Lok Sabha constituency and was elected Mayor of Pune in November 2019 replacing Mukta Tilak.

At the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024, Arun Bansal, CEO, Adani Airport Holding, said, “We are preparing NMIA to meet travellers aspirations from day one. The Navi Mumbai airport will be the most digitised airport from day one. We are actively working with airlines for slot allocation between CSMIA and NMIA for fair play.”

Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India said they have finalised the start of their retrofit program for new aircraft. “More than 100 aircraft will be refitted with new interiors, including more than 40 wide-body aircraft. We have purchased more than 25,000 seats to support this refit program which will be installed in the coming months,” he added.

Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Operating Officer, Bengaluru Airport said, “Bengaluru airport has been successful in attracting long-haul traffic in the last five to seven years and connected seven and eight important long-haul markets in last 5 years.” He suggested that airlines should try to connect more long-haul and ultra-long-haul points from the Bengaluru airport.

Vumlunmang Vualnam, Secretary of Civil Aviation, Government of India said, “While we have 157 airstrips already, which are functional, which we are proud of, we have already started looking at the 453 full list of airstrips that exist in our country. We are considering to develop these as brownfield projects. We also look at the defense airfields to expand joint user concept.”

Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director, CAPA India, addressing the CAPA India Aviation Summit said, “India’s airline fleet is set to double by FY2030. It took the Indian industry around 90 years from the time of the first commercial flight to reach a fleet size of 700 aircraft. But the rate of growth is so strong that carriers could add a further 600-700 aircraft in just the next 5-7 years.”

Airlines must stay vigilant about governments “going rogue” on globally agreed aviation standards, as the Dutch government did when it moved to cut Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s capacity without consultation, Willie Walsh, Director General IATA, said. Such actions had the potential to create a retaliatory mess, he warned.

Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD of Air India, has said that the airline’s focus is now on integration, growth optimisation and consumer experience onboard. “The operational processes related to the merger with Vistara to complete towards end of this calendar year,” he said, adding that India has huge 3rd and 4th freedom traffic and the airlines aims to take significant portion of this traffic.

Air India Express expands its network in the National Capital Region (NCR), bringing more convenience to flyers in NCR and North India, by operating 28 weekly direct flights connecting Hindon with Bengaluru, Goa, and Kolkata, with fares starting from ₹5,134. Flight operations will commence on 1st August 2024. Besides operating over 280 flights a week from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in New Delhi, AIX will be operating from Hindon Airport, ensuring enhanced connectivity to/from other cities in Western UP, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Hindon’s strategic location within the National Capital Region (NCR) ensures seamless access for travellers based out of Central and Eastern Delhi, Noida, Alipur, Agra, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Dadri, Dasna, Dehradun, Faridnagar, Hapur, Haridwar, Khekra, Loni, Meerut, Modinagar, Muradnagar, Noida, Nangloi Jat,  Pilkhuwa, Panipat, Rishikesh, Saharanpur, and Sonipat. Speaking about the announcement, Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express, said, “Our network expansion is focussed on enhancing connectivity across the rapidly growing domestic and short-haul international market, particularly the new and underserved routes. The maturity and size of major metropolitan areas in India can support secondary airports, spreading the benefits of air connectivity and further stimulating growth. We believe the launch of our flights from Hindon is a pioneering effort towards this direction. It will benefit travellers from an extended catchment area, even beyond Delhi NCR, including Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal and Haryana. The new services will complement our operations from the primary airport serving Delhi NCR, providing convenient options.”

Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director, CAPA India, addressing the CAPA India Aviation Summit said, “The industry’s average fare in FY2024 was almost the same as in FY2023. IndiGo’s average airfare in FY2024 was just 1.3% higher than FY2023 but 36% higher compared to FY2020.”