Category Archives: Aviation

The Government of India has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalised. Under RCS-UDAN, 405 routes connecting 65 airports including 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes have been operationalised as on 8 March, 2022.

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that effective March 27, 2022 it will resume its regular  passenger services daily from Mumbai and Delhi. It is nearly two years since the resumption of normal services, prior to which it had to rely on the air bubble agreement of once a week flights from December 04, 2020 and before that ADHOC special repatriation flights. Bengaluru will also be reconnected after two years effective March 29, 2022, with thrice weekly flights.  With three Indian cities back on the radar, Ethiopian Airlines will continue to play a significant role in bringing India and Africa together in general and India and Ethiopia in particular.

At Goa, a new airport should open later this year, one of few during the period of the coronavirus pandemic. As it will be heavily tourist-oriented there will be great interest around the world in how it performs during the winter 2022-23 period – the acid test for the industry’s ‘recovery’ ahead of schedule.  The airport is scheduled to begin operation in Aug-2022, said Center for Civil Aviation in a recent report. 

SriLankan Airlines celebrates the undaunting spirit of women the world over by welcoming the female athletes who are participating in ‘Raid Amazones 2022 Sri Lanka,’ scheduled to take place from 13 March to 6 April 2022. Accordingly, the first batch of athletes arrived from Paris to a memorable welcome at Bandaranaike International this morning on flight UL 564, which was operated by an all-female crew led by Captain Chamika Rupasingha and Cabin Manager Anju Jayasinghe.   SriLankan announced the event at a press conference in Colombo on International Women’s Day. Further, the airline has branded an aircraft with Raid Amazones 2022 themed livery to bring Sri Lanka into the limelight as an adventure and sports tourism destination on a global scale.     SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman, Ashok Pathirage said, “SriLankan Airlines is an organization that advocates for women’s empowerment and equal opportunity. We take pride in the strides made by our female employees and have always supported the remarkable women that have become national icons. With Raid Amazones 2022, we are taking one step ahead to celebrate the strength and resilience of women in the backdrop of our home base, and hoping that it would inspire many others to follow in the trail and find their adventure in Sri Lanka. “   Raid Amazones is one of the most sought-after adventure trails in the French travel market and is held every year in an iconic tourist destination. The 20th edition of this annual sporting event features over 550 French female athletes, and will take place in the areas surrounding the Sigiriya rock fortress. The event is expected to bring over 15 million euros worth of global media visibility for Sri …

N Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons, has been officially appointed as the Chairman of Air India. The national airline was recently acquired by Tata group from the government. The appointment was cleared at a board meeting held by Air India. Alice GeeVarghese Vaidyan, former CMD of General Insurance Corporation, will also be inducted as an independent director on board

The Government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India from 27th March i.e. start of Summer Schedule 2022. The suspension of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India, thus, stands extended only upto 2359 hrs IST on 26.03.2022 and air bubble arrangements shall accordingly be extended to this extent only. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended operations of scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India with effect from 23rd March 2020.

In a brainstorming session, Tourism Committee of Federation of Telangana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) and GMR mulled over ‘Roadmap for Building a Stronger Tourism Product’ with an idea to make Hyderabad, Telangana State and nearby region as a tourism hub. At the meeting senior GMR officials headed by Pradeep Panicker, CEO, shared their views on the way forward.

Europe’s travelling activity will be on the rise despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the aerospace company Airbus has said. According to the CEO of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, the 27-nation-bloc will witness a surge in travel this summer as the conflict on the Eastern part of the continent won’t impact the internal European markets.

Two weeks after he was appointed Air India chief executive officer, Ilker Ayci has declined the offer to join the Tata Group-owned airline. Ayci, former chairman of Turkish Airlines, had earlier served as advisor to Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

SriLankan Airlines adorns one of its aircraft with customized livery to reaffirm its status as the official airline of the much-awaited ‘Raid Amazones 2022.’ Raid Amazones 2022 is an annual sporting event in which a large number of French female athletes compete in a number of sports and activities against the backdrop of an iconic tourist site. Every year, the event highlights an attractive tourist destination by highlighting inherent elements such as its ecological beauty, residents’ way of life, and culture, which are publicly displayed to the world through worldwide media following the athletes on their tour. The event’s 20th edition will take place in the areas surrounding the iconic Sigiriya rock fortress, which are rich in ecological beauty, cultural heritage, and authentic Sri Lankan village life. The first leg will be held from March 13 to 23, 2022, and the second leg will be held from March 27 to April 6, 2022. The event is likely to attract over 550 participants, including athletes and officials.