Category Archives: Aviation

In a recent Tweet, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, has said that “domestic aviation operations in the country are slowly reaching towards the pre-COVID numbers.” He adds, “With 2,77,235 passengers on 2,235 flights, 4,469 total movements & 5,51,506 footfalls at airports, we are almost at a touching distance.”

Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), the flagship holding company of Adani Group for its airports business, has acquired 23.5% equity stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from ACSA Global Limited and Bid Services Division (Mauritius) Limited. This makes AAHL’s total stake in MIAL touch 74%, having earlier acquired the entire 50.5% cent stake of the GVK group in Mumbai Airport.

Beginning February 11, Indian low-cost carrier GoAir will fly direct between Hyderabad and Malé (in Maldives). The flight will be operated four times a week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The new route will be serviced by the Airbus A320 neo aircraft, and will further strengthen the airline’s network in the region.

MoCA is in talks with various others ministries – Home Affairs, Health, and External Affairs – for restarting the tourist visa. It has also revealed that AAI will privatise 6-10 more airports April onwards. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, MoCA, says that the government will look to club profitable airports with loss-making ones during the sale process.

Air travel can get expensive as the prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) have increased by 3 per cent in a recent revision. This is the 5th increase in ATF prices in the last two months amid rising international crude oil prices. The price of ATF in Delhi has increased by Rs 1304.2 per kl to Rs 53795.41 per kl.

The first direct Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) Air India flight to Amritsar from Rome took off on Wednesday with 243 persons onboard. Dr Neena Malhotra, Ambassador of India Italy met the crew members & passengers and wished everyone a pleasant and safe flight.

IndiGo is now the world’s 7th biggest airline by capacity and the largest outside the US and China, according to data firm OAG. The low-cost airline has a 52% share in the domestic aviation market in 2020 compared to 47% in 2019.

Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group, commented that India’s vaccination program may help in economic recovery. “However, the Indian economy is awaiting a return to normalcy in sectors such as travel and aviation. These sectors are now carrying most of the COVID-19 burden and have yet to start operating at anywhere near pre COVID-19 levels. They are also the sectors responsible for enormous job losses and consumption declines. We expect a full throttle vaccination programme to bring the long-awaited cheer to the sector,” he added.

With the objective of expanding Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport’s current capacity of handling 2.5 crore passengers annually to 3.4 crore, a growth of approximately 36 per cent, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) has successfully priced an offering of $300 million bond in the international bond market.

IndiGo has announced direct flights from Kurnool to Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai March 28 onwards, strategically enhancing regional connectivity in southern India. The LCC will begin these operations under the UDAN scheme.