Category Archives: Aviation

CAPA India reveals that among PPP airports, Hyderabad is expected to recover closest to pre-COVID traffic at 31.3 per cent, while Mumbai will be the furthest behind at 52.3 per cent. This is according to its updated outlook for airports for FY2022. And though Mumbai’s recovery underperforms other metro airports, it may be possible for the airport to accelerate during the year and achieve higher volumes.

Indian flag carrier Air India has launched non-stop flights from Delhi to Kathmandu that will be operated thrice a week, every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The flight will depart from Delhi at 12:55 pm and arrive in Kathmandu at 2:35 pm. Air travellers entering Nepal are required to submit a COVID-19 negative report of swab taken within 72 hours of boarding and unless exempted, a proof of hotel booking for 10 days of hotel quarantine or confirmation of home quarantine.

Indian LCC SpiceJet has introduced new exclusive non-stop flights from Patna to Surat and Bagdogra. The thrice-weekly flight to Surat and back will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the Patna-Bagdogra-Patna route will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The airline has also launched new flights between Patna and Kolkata that will operate thrice weekly.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Cabinet Minister for Civil Aviation, chaired the first discussion of the advisory group on airport operators as well as airlines to deliberate on issues and the way forward for the sector. Early last week, the Minister had announced three advisory groups to work out such matters and help solve challenges that the civil aviation sector of India faces.

The aviation sector of India continues to fly higher as Airports Authority of India (AAI) witnesses 50 per cent of its pre-COVID era flight movement and passenger footfalls. AAI reveals that amidst this growth, Belagavi Airport has emerged as the third busiest airport in Karnataka, with 2.6 lakh passengers flying with 6.4K flights in the last 10 months.

Budget airline GoFirst, formerly known as GoAir, operated its first ever night flight from Jammu to Delhi. Operated on an Airbus A320neo, the flight took off from Jammu at 20:00 hrs. Going forward, GoFirst will operate four flights on the route, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The budget airline will also operate three flights from Jammu to Srinagar on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Under the chairmanship of Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has formed three advisory groups comprising airlines, airport operators and MRO, cargo carriers, FTOs and ground-handling companies. The groups will meet regularly to deliberate upon issues and resolve challenges that each of these sectors faces.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that based on its latest passenger survey, most air travellers are confident about the safety of air travel and support mask-wearing in the near-term. In fact, 65% air travellers agree that the air on an aircraft is as clean as that in an operating room (OR).

Airlink, the privately owned South African regional airline based in Johannesburg, has named AirlinePros International as its General Sales Agent for India with immediate effect. Airlink is a member of IATA and is IOSA accredited. It has more than 50 commercial jetliners operating throughout Southern Africa. In 2019 pre COVID the airline carried 2 million customers on more than 63,000 flights on 55 routes to 39 destinations in 9 African countries and St Helena Island. Airlink operates the widest network in Southern Africa to countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Eswatini (Swaziland), as well as to the remote island of St. Helena. Airlink operates independently under its own unique 4Z flight code. Throughout 2020 Airlink has been busy activating new interline relationships and partners including British Airways, Air France, Emirates and Qatar which will offer strong opportunities for connecting traffic from India. Ramesh Marwah, Regional Managing Partner India, AirlinePros International added “India enjoys close strategic, cultural & economic ties with South Africa and neighbouring countries in Southern Africa which will be connected well to India by Airlink in cooperation with its Interline Partners. We are confident to receive necessary support of our trade partners in India to assist Airlink in not only establishing base in India but securing optimum market share of travel triggered by growing trade, anticipated surge in tourism and movement of large number of Indian origin people residing in South Africa and other nations in Southern Africa”.

The second wave will further delay UDAN progress; stressed financial health of airline operators to impact existing route operations and future bidding, as per ICRA. As on May 31, 2021, only 47% of total routes and 39% of airports (unserved and underserved) have been operationalised[1] under UDAN. The number of new RCS routes which started operations increased at a healthy pace and stood at 102 and 120 routes in FY2019 and FY2020 respectively, but have declined to 77 new routes in FY2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During FY2018 – FY2021, a total of Rs. 3,350 crores have been incurred by the Central Government towards the UDAN scheme and the budgeted outlay for FY2022 is Rs. 1,130 crores.