Category Archives: Aviation

Pradeep S Kharola, Secretary, MoCA, has said that the government will now focus on promoting Indian carriers. Speaking at a webinar organised by FAITH, he said, “We have realised the importance of tourism and aviation as an industry. Hence, as a matter of policy, the government would be giving more thrust on promoting Indian carriers.”

The Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) comprising ACI World, IATA, and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG) recommend regulators worldwide to temporarily adopt more flexible slot rules as quickly as possible in order to preserve essential air transport connectivity.

CAPA India recommends the development of 100 new low-cost airports by re-targeting of the planned $4-5bn of capital and other assets earmarked for investment in regional aviation over next 10 years.

In a written statement, Air Asia India has clarified with TAAI that they are not going out of business. The statement by Ankur Garg, CCO, Air Asia India, pointed out, “While the current pandemic has severely impacted the aviation sector and AirAsia India is no exception, we have remained adequately capitalized throughout these months by securing the funding from our majority shareholder as and when required.” He further said that they continue to grow their network and are already at ~55% of their pre-COVID capacity and looking to increase to 70% as per the recent relaxed capacity mandate from the government last week. They have also recently added a brand new A320 NEO to their fleet in Oct, adding a 2nd NEO in Nov and will add another 3 aircraft in as many months. Giving another evidence of the financial stability of AirAsia India, Garg reveals that they have been smoothly processing all refunds in the last few months and never forced a conversion of bookings during lockdown to “credit shells”. In the months of Sep-Oct, Air Asia leadership proactively engaged in regional meetings with travel agent partners across the entire country and addressed any questions on refunds, long term growth plans, etc. On the employee front, we have not retrenched any staff and have not done salary cuts for employees earning less than Rs 50,000 per month, and also no delay in salary pay-outs has happened for any month since the pandemic, he informed. Citing these points, Garg said that he hopes that it would dispel any doubts and provide enough confidence in the financial sustainability and growth plans of AirAsia India.

IATA is in the final development phase of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health pass that will support the safe reopening of borders. The Pass will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers.

IATA has announced that Alexandre de Juniac, its Director General and CEO, will step down from his role at the association effective March 31, 2021. He made known his intention to step down several months ago. The IATA Board of Governors will recommend the appointment of Willie Walsh, former CEO of International Airlines Group to become IATA’s eighth Director General from April 1, 2021.

The first direct flight operations from Kalaburagi, Karnataka to Hindon Airport, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh was recently flagged off under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik). The officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) were present at the launch.

Access to technology that reduces human contact, queues and physical touchpoints is the ultimate factor that would need to be fulfilled for Indian respondents to feel comfortable travelling (40%), according to a recent study by Amadeus titled ‘Rethink Travel Global Survey India insights 2020’.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that air travel in India will reach pre-COVID level by the end of current year or early January. He also urged people to continue to maintain safety protocol with self-discipline.

Lufthansa Group (LHG) airlines, Lufthansa, and SWISS will be the first to use the new Star Alliance Biometrics for elected flights in Frankfurt and Munich from mid-November. The new system is available via the app and Lufthansa Miles & More members will be able to pass through boarding and security without contact and have a touchless experience at airport.