New Delhi: Air India has launched test flights of its Dreamliner aircraft, which have been fitted with new battery packs following battery fire incidents in January, as the first of these sophisticated planes was flown from Mumbai to Delhi via Ahmedabad.
By Friday, two of these Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes would be test-flown several times daily between Delhi and Amritsar so that the pilots and cabin crew get the experience of several landings and take-offs, airline officials said. The national carrier has already announced that it would launch Dreamliner flights from next week on the domestic sector and start international operations by the third week of May.
Aviation regulator DGCA had earlier this week allowed resumption of operations of the Dreamliners by issuing an order lifting the ban on their flights in India. The planes, fitted with the new battery packs by Boeing and Air India engineers in Mumbai, are being ferried to Delhi after making an additional landing at Ahmedabad. "Our test flights, take-offs and landings will be over and above the regulatory requirements of DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation). These series of trials will continue over the next few days," the officials said.
All the six aircraft are likely to be ready by early next week, they said, adding that the pilots and the cabin crew were also regaining their experience in the process. A team of Boeing engineers and those from Air India has been fitting new lithium ion batteries. The battery sparks
07:30 PM, May 09, 2013
Mumbai: Jet Airways group on Thursday said it has revised, with effective from May 15, the free baggage allowance to 15 kg in the economy class on all domestic routes, but has retained the cabin baggage limit at the previous level of 7 kg. The airline, in a statement, said it will charge a passenger flat Rs 250 for every additional baggage. However, the JetPrivilege members will continue to enjoy...
06:57 PM, May 09, 2013
Mumbai: An Air India pilot and two air hostesses were suspended after an airline probe found that the cabin crew overstayed in the cockpit on a Delhi-bound flight from Bangkok on April 12. The action came amidst reports that while the pilot took a nap in the business class, the air hostesses were left to operate the aircraft over 20 minutes, endangering the safety of 166 passengers on board. The...
06:58 PM, May 03, 2013
New Delhi: Passengers from Tier-II cities would no longer have to change planes at a metro, if Jet Airways gets the government nod for its plans to mount code-share flights with Gulf carrier Etihad from 23 Indian cities by 2016. According to the plans submitted to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Naresh Goyal-owned carrier is understood to have sought to connect to 23 cities with Abu Dhabi in the long...
05:00 PM, Apr 20, 2013
New Delhi: After remaining grounded for over six months, Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday sought regulatory approvals to relaunch its operations and submitted plans to the DGCA on infusion of funds and revival of its flights. "We have shared the funding and traffic plans. The initial funding to restart the airline will come from the (parent UB) Group. We have also requested that our (flying) licence be renewed," the airline's CEO...
06:27 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Aviation regulator DGCA said it has deregistered 15 aircraft operated by Kingfisher Airlines, paving the way for global leasing companies to take them back and easing worries that the dispute might hurt purchases by other Indian carriers. ...
12:50 PM, Mar 26, 2013
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday abolished the Aircraft Acquisition Committee (AAC), which used to permit import of planes by airlines and other operators, thus doing away with time-consuming procedures that affected the companies. ...
06:13 PM, Mar 21, 2013
The Dreamliner planes of Air India may fly again by mid-April 2013, with the airline expressing hope that a permanent solution to the battery-fire that led to the grounding of all the 50 Boeing 787s flying worldwide will be achieved by the month-end, official sources said on Monday. ...
09:34 PM, Mar 04, 2013
SpiceJet started it in January and now Jet and Indigo have followed the suit of slashing fares through promotional campaigns in a bid to attract more customers and tide over a seasonally slow month of March. And while the strategy has definitely got fliers excited, with the Jet Airways website reportedly crashing soon after the offer was announced, sources say the Aviation Regulator may not be as pleased. ...
11:03 PM, Feb 20, 2013
Debt-ridden and with no customers, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd posted a Rs 755 crore loss in the three months to December 31 as its planes sat idle, creditors circled and regulators rebuffed the Indian airline's revival plans. ...
11:12 AM, Feb 05, 2013
The DGCA would look into the tariff structure of Indian airlines in view of the wide range of the base prices of air tickets, after the Supreme Court observed that the price bands were too wide and directed it to examine the matter. ...
05:49 PM, Jan 24, 2013
Kingfisher Airlines(KING.NS) needs at least 10 billion rupees to restart its grounded operations and must also demonstrate an ability to sustain itself for at least 6 months, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Tuesday. ...
01:59 AM, Jan 23, 2013
Kingfisher Airlines needs to invest at least Rs 2,000 crore to restart its operations, said one of its lenders, State Bank of India's Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri. SBI is the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium that extended Rs 7,000 crore loans to the now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. ...
06:09 PM, Jan 22, 2013
Kingfisher Airlines should infuse at least Rs 2,000 crore as capital for reviving the carrier, State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said on Saturday. Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by Vijay Mallya, owes Rs 7,500 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by SBI. ...
01:37 AM, Jan 20, 2013
Grounded Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday made another attempt to convince Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on its revival plans, but failed to provide any details on its funding which the aviation regulator wanted. Kingfisher chief executive officer Sanjay Agarwal met DGCA Arun Mishra in New Delhi for about 45 minutes to apprise him of the prevailing scenario facing the airline, but sources said he gave no information about any...
01:08 PM, Jan 16, 2013
Kingfisher Airlines has been given a "no objection certificate" from oil companies and some aircraft leasing companies to restart operations, a senior regulatory source said on Wednesday. Kingfisher shares extended gains to 6 percent on the news. ...
11:34 AM, Jan 16, 2013
India is reviewing the safety situation of Boeing Co's Dreamliners and will also talk to component makers of the US aircraft, the aviation regulator said on Wednesday. However, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ruled out any plans to ground the planes. ...
08:59 AM, Jan 16, 2013
Kingisher Airlines' planned investment of Rs 650 crore is not enough to restart operations at the grounded Indian carrier, a senior government source said on Friday. ...
11:42 AM, Jan 11, 2013
With employees threatening to move court for closure of the company, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on January 10 finally broke his silence through a letter to his employees saying the management is making every effort to restart operations. At the same time, Mallya urged the employees to be careful in their interaction with the media, alleging "negative reporting" by media on the carrier. ...
12:32 PM, Jan 10, 2013
Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday faced fresh trouble with its employees deciding to move court seeking a formal closure of the company if it did not spell out future plans giving a time-line for clearing their salary dues of eight months. ...
05:32 PM, Jan 09, 2013
