Tag Archives: Ministry of Civil Aviation

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has six key initiatives underway, said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation. Addressing a gathering at CAPA Conference in Mumbai via a video link, the minister opted to answer questions from the audience instead of giving a speech. As part of a response, he outlined six key initiatives that India has undertaken. “There is no other country in the world that has undertaken such pathbreaking projects in the last four years as we have. Apart from the privatisation of our national carrier, UDAN and country-wide up gradation of airport infrastructure, we are also working on our passenger-centric measures via Air Seva initiative, dramatic breakthrough in the security architecture of our airports and last but not the least, a drone policy that will change the landscape as far as drone services are concerned. This has not been spoken about much but it will make India a world leader in drone services,” Sinha pointed out.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has given a nod to 90 proposals for 325 routes during the second round of bidding in the UDAN regional connectivity scheme. While SpiceJet and Air India subsidiary-Alliance Air have been a part of the scheme from the first round itself, IndiGo and Jet Airways participated in the second round only. R N Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation, said, “In all, we got 141 proposals for 502 routes (for both planes and choppers). Out of 325, 129 routes are in a newly created category of ‘priority areas’ that include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, North East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.” IndiGo has got 20 routes Kannur-Bangalore; Kannur-Trivandrum; Cochin-Hubli-Goa; Bangalore-Allahabad-Pune; Nagpur-Bhubaneswar-Allahabad; Mumbai-Allahabad; Hindon-Allahabad-Dehradun; Hindon-Gorakhpur-Allahabad and Hindon-Jaisalamer-Udaipur. SpiceJet was awarded 20 new sectors. “Out of these 20, 15 will cater to unserved markets of Kannur (Kerala), Darbhanga (Bihar), Ozar (Nashik), Pakyong (Sikkim), Kishangarh (Rajasthan).” Alliance Air has got 18 routes like Nashik-Ahmedabad-Kandla; Hyderabad-Kohlapur; Hubli-Hyderabad; Bikaner-Jaipur and Jammu-Bhatinda. Jet has got four proposals.  

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Government of India (GoI), has granted ‘in principle’ approval for setting up of 18 Greenfield Airports in the country. The list of these airport along with the estimated cost is: Mopa in Goa (approx. Rs. 3100 cr), Navi Mumbai (approx. Rs. 16704 cr), Shirdi (approx. Rs. 320.54 cr) and Sindhudurg (approx. Rs. 520 cr) in Maharashtra, Bijapur (approx. Rs. 150 cr), Gulbarga (approx. Rs. 13.78 cr in initial phase), Hasan (approx. Rs. 592 cr) and Shimoga (approx. Rs. 38.91 cr) in Karnataka, Kannur in Kerala (approx. Rs. 1892 cr), Durgapur in West Bengal (approx. Rs. 670 cr), Dabra in Madhya Pradesh (approx. Rs. 200 cr), Pakyong in Sikkim (approx. Rs. 553.53 cr), Karaikal in Puducherry (approx. Rs.170 cr), Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh (approx. Rs. 448 cr), Dholera in Gujarat (approx. Rs. 1712 cr) and Dagadarthi Mendal, Nellore Dist. (approx. Rs. 293 cr), Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram District near Visakhapatnam (approx. Rs. 2260 cr) and Oravakallu in Kurnool District (approx. Rs. 200 cr), Andhra Pradesh. The timeline for construction of airport projects depends upon many factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure, etc. by the individual operator. This information was given by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. The construction of airport project depends upon many factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure, etc. by the individual operator. The State Government of Maharashtra has completed the tendering process and MIAL is the highest bidder.

SpiceJet has announced its third daily direct flight on the UDAN routes of Hyderabad-Puducherry, starting August 16, 2017. After the new flight, Puducherry will be connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Vijaywada and Varanasi with convenient onward connections. SpiceJet was awarded six proposals and 11 routes in the first phase of Ministry of Civil Aviation’s UDAN scheme. Out of the six finalised proposals, four will cater to the unserved markets of Adampur, Kandla, Puducherry and Jaisalmer, and the other two will be for the underserved markets of Porbandar and Kanpur. Flights have already started on Mumbai-Porbandar-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kandla-Mumbai routes from July 10.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, in its meeting with industry stakeholders, invited suggestions for designing AirSewa 2.0, which would be the upgraded version of the AirSewa web portal and mobile app that was launched in November last year to make air travel convenient and hassle-free. Nodal Officers of all stakeholders like airlines, airports, immigration, customs, DGCA, etc. attended the meeting. All of them shared valuable suggestions for service improvement, enhancing user comfort and quick redressal of complaints, which will be considered for  incorporation in the design of AirSewa 2.0. This comes in line with the success of AirSewa1.0 which has been well received, with around 19,000 app downloads and over 65,000 web portal hits since its launch. More than 92 per cent of grievances have been resolved and most of them within the stipulated time limits.

Ministry of Civil Aviation, hosted the first edition of WINGS 2017 – ‘Sab Uden, Sab Juden”- Expanding Regional Connectivity in New Delhi.  The plenary session was chaired by  P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister of Civil Aviation.  Around 338 delegates from the government and civil aviation sector participated in the event which included key stakeholders from all states, tourism departments and tour operators. The stakeholders interacted amongst themselves in 112 one to one discussions (G2B meetings) with the airlines operators in an attempt to showcase their destinations and routes as viable business market for the airlines. They represented airline consumers to facilitate interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and other ecosystem players at a common forum. Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation;Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Secretary, MoCA; B S Bhullar, Director General of Civil Aviation; Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India; Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Pratyush Kumar, Chairman, FICCI National Aviation Committee also attended the sessions. 19 states made presentations emphasising the incentives or special packages to the airlines other than the support offered by Government of India under RCS- UDAN. The closed-door event entailed incentives to the airlines operators such as underwriting of seats, reducing the tax on ATF, additional VGF, night parking, concessional electricity and water charges, infrastructural support etc. and routes and airport wise benefits. This event proved to be an ideal platform for states to project themselves as a viable aviation market and showcasing the strength and opportunities in the aviation sector to the potential airlines.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the second edition of the Aviation exposition -Aero Expo India 2017 from November 2-5 in New Delhi. The first Aero exposition was organised last year at Indira Gandhi International Airport with the patronage of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The 4-day long Aero Expo is also going to witness India’s first ‘Heli-Expo’ at the Pawan Hans Heliport in Rohini on November 4-5. K.N. Rao, Chairman, Civil Aviation Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry said, “Aero Expo has no doubt helped to bring a major boost to regional air connectivity in line with PM’s recently announced UDAN scheme in India are noteworthy. India is already the fastest growing aviation market in the world and the move to improve Regional Air Connectivity is expected to further boost the industry by providing a new set of growth opportunities to both domestic and international airlines alike along with a new lease to the allied aviation services and skilling industries.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation will be adding a digital experience for air travellers through DigiYatra Platform, which is an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the Ministry. The move comes in line with Air Sewa which brings together all the stakeholders on a common platform for handling customer grievances and disseminating real-time data. Union Minister for Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju claimed that DigiYatra initiative will transform the flying experience for passengers and position Indian aviation amongst the most innovative air networks in the world. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, launched a report on DigiYatra on June 8 and said that this initiative aims to bring together entire industry to develop a digital ecosystem that will deliver Indian customers a seamless, consistent and paperless service experience at every touch point of their journey. The Ministry has created a Technical Committee comprising industry stakeholders which will submit its recommendations in 30 days. These propositions would be open for public comments and discussions for another 30 days. These would then be translated into a time-bound action plan. He informed that all aviation stakeholders – airlines, airport operators, security and immigration agencies, cab operators, retail establishment and others are working to devise digital standards which can enable seamless exchange of data and information. He said that these standards can power unique applications which can deliver a delightful experience for air travellers. Sinha also said that the platform will be built on 4 key pillars—Connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying and Connected Systems. DigiYatra would offer which can make it possible over a period of time for passengers to plan their trips efficiently by identifying price trends and estimate future airfares …

The Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has proposed an Automated People Mover (APM) or air train between Terminal 1, T2 and T3 at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, revealed Jayant Sinha, Minister of State, Civil Aviation. In compliance with the provisions of Operation, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA), DIAL has reviewed and updated the Master Plan of IGI Airport, New Delhi in 2016 in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India and Sovereign agencies providing reserved services at the airport and with other stakeholders.  The Master Plan, 2016 contains a provision for Automated People Mover (APM) for connecting all the terminals of the airport. Total length of the proposed APM alignment is 5.5 km out of which 1.5 km is underground whereas 4.0 km portion is elevated. The Master Plan recommends this facility to be available by year 2020. DIAL has already taken steps for exploring all technical possibilities for providing the APM facility in consultation with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The design, project cost and other details etc. are finalised during the finalisation of the Major Development Plan in compliance with the OMDA.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) received an increase of over 22 per cent in budgetary allocation at Rs 5,167.60 crore in the Union Budget for 2017-18. Out of the ministry’s total allocation, a good chunk will be for Air India, which is to get Rs 1,800 crore. The amount will be extended to the national carrier as part of the bailout package announced by the then UPA government in 2012. Apart from that, the airline will be given Rs 508 crore as part of investment in public enterprises. National airports operator AAI has been allocated Rs 2,543 crore, apart from a budgetary support of Rs 100 crore. The budgetary funds for aviation watchdog DGCA has been stepped up significantly to Rs 230.56 crore for 2017-18. The amount is at Rs 29.67 crore for the current fiscal.