New Delhi: Reacting to the revelations about adulterated airline fuel, former DGCA chief Kanu Gohain has admitted that there could be some adulteration in airline fuel given the history of such cases. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Gohain said, "There could be such cases, there have been very famous cases in the early 80s when we found that the fuel pumped into the aeroplanes was adulterated." "There have been cases when we...
08:03 AM, Apr 04, 2012
Mumbai: Air India Express, the low-cost international arm of Air India, plans to hire around 40 expat commanders including instructors and examiners following the implementation of the new flight and duty time limitation and rest requirements. The hiring has been necessitated due to a new Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), which bars pilots from operating two consecutive night flights, sources said. "After the new CAR, the rest period for the pilots...
04:38 AM, Apr 02, 2012
New Delhi: Over 2,800 complaints were registered at various airports for issues like poor service, bad food, lost luggage or other problems, with Delhi and Hyderabad topping the list. Out of 2,888 complaints, around 587 complaints were registered at the Delhi airport while Hyderabad stood second with 236 complaints, followed by Bangalore and Nagpur airports with 186 and 170 complaints respectively. Of the six private-run airports, Mumbai and Cochin registered...
11:23 AM, Mar 18, 2012
New Delhi: With Kingfisher Airlines struggling to stay afloat and others facing a tough time, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is understood to have discussed the problems facing the industry. However, the Minister refused to give any details about his meeting with the Prime Minister, saying "we discussed many issues". Earlier, he said the banks cannot be asked to continue to give...
02:22 PM, Mar 13, 2012
New Delhi: With air traffic growing, the Government on Monday said it would set up a Civil Aviation Authority to make air travel safe and secure and take steps to modernise more airports and air traffic management services. It would also set up an independent air accident probe panel and initiate measures to protect the interests of air travellers. These promises were made by the Government in President Pratibha Patil's...
01:18 PM, Mar 12, 2012
Mumbai: Air India is mulling direct import of jet fuel as costs have soared by about 40 per cent in the 11 months of the current financial year, denting the revenues of the debt-ridden carrier by Rs 2,000 crore. The airline is examining the idea of direct import of air turbine fuel as recently permitted by the government, to save the fuel costs, a senior Air India official said. He...
08:22 PM, Mar 11, 2012
New Delhi: After Kingfisher Airlines, now India's largest private carrier Jet Airways is in need of money. Sources say Jet Airways has asked lenders for additional working capital loans of $ 200 million. The company also needs funds as it expanded its operations by 18 per cent in 2012. Jet Airways now requires funds for expansion of domestic operations and also for fleet expansion. Jet Airways already has a debt...
03:34 PM, Feb 29, 2012
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was not satisfied with the crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines' reply on the flight cancellations, according to sources. Sources in the DGCA said that they wanted a detailed reply from Kingfisher on the safety of passengers. The DGCA gave the crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines time till Wednesday to submit its flight schedule with the 28 operational aircraft. DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan said that out...
12:51 PM, Feb 21, 2012
Mumbai: As Kingfisher hits rough weather, it isn't getting any easier for other members of the exclusive club in the Indian skies. The country's six domestic passenger airlines are all fighting for survival and a short-staffed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) fears financial stress among them could compromise passenger safety. The financial audit report of the regulatory body that concluded just last month says all airlines were slammed for...
08:06 AM, Feb 21, 2012
Bangalore: The trouble for the Kingfisher Airlines failed to end on Monday as 17 more flights were cancelled in Mumbai and Bangalore while two others were rescheduled in the morning. This came a day after as many as 28 flights were cancelled on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kingfisher operations at the Kolkata airport have been shut till March 3. The series of flight cancellations have landed Kingfisher airlines in trouble with the...
08:28 AM, Feb 20, 2012
New Delhi: A Group of Ministers on Civil Aviation, headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to meet on Thursday to decide on allowing foreign direct investment in the Aviation sector. On the agenda are issues like allowing foreign carriers to have a stake in domestic airlines and sales tax on jet fuel. On Tuesday, the GoM had decided to allow the airline companies to import jet fuel...
08:28 AM, Feb 09, 2012
New Delhi: A latest report prepared by the civil aviation ministry has made some startling revelations. The report indicates that a mere 14 per cent of scheduled flights which operate in the country cater to a mammoth 55 per cent of the nation's total population. The report states that Haryana, Sikkim, Puducherry, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have almost zero connectivity, while 11 states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,...
09:31 AM, Feb 04, 2012
New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has doggedly refused to grant sanction to the CBI to prosecute six people who were responsible for signing a deal with Airbus to procure 43 aircraft for Air India (AI) and cause a loss to the exchequer. The CBI completed its preliminary enquiry into the Airbus procurement deal in 2011 and sought permission from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to lodge an FIR...
06:38 PM, Feb 01, 2012
New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry has started working overtime to formulate a new policy to cater to the latest concerns of the aviation industry, especially issues relating to its sustainability like jet fuel pricing, infrastructure, airfare pricing, safety and security. A meeting of major stakeholders and senior Ministry officials was held on Friday to list the entire gamut of issues, elicit the views of the industry and service providers...
08:05 PM, Jan 27, 2012
New Delhi: Air India has been put on notice by the Chief Information Commissioner for refusing to reply to specific RTI queries pertaining to a flight that was cancelled and used allegedly to ferry former Civil Aviation Praful Patel's daughter Poorna Patel and some IPL players. On April 20, 2010, a scheduled Delhi-Coimbatore flight was cancelled less than 12 hours before its departure. This flight was then used to ferry...
06:57 AM, Jan 26, 2012
New Delhi: Weeks after the aviation regulator warned Kingfisher not to compromise on aviation safety, its promoter Vijay Mallya on Wednesday met DGCA top brass in New Delhi and discussed the financial and operational recovery plan of the cash-strapped airline. "He (Mallya) has a recovery plan. It is up to us to see that he keeps to the plan," DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan told PTI after over an hour-long...
07:13 PM, Jan 25, 2012
New Delhi: The Civil Aviation ministry has recommended 49 per cent FDI in the airline sector. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said a cabinet note allowing foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers will be floated. "Government will float cabinet note allowing foreign airlines to invest 49 per cent," Ajit Singh said. Earlier, the ministry was pushing for 26 per cent FDI in airlines. Ajit Singh also said the government...
06:09 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: Air India pilots on Saturday called off their stir after from the CMD and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh for the payment of their pending salaries. Singh promised that the dues of the Air India pilots will be paid soon, adding that it will take time because the finances are in bad shape. "Next week I will meet the Finance Minister about it, we will try to pay...
09:06 PM, Jan 14, 2012
New Delhi: Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Saturday promised that the pending salaries of the Air India pilots will be paid soon, adding that it will take time because the finances are in bad shape. "Next week I will meet the Finance Minister about it, we will try to pay not all the salaries and allowances but most of it should be paid," Singh said. Air India flyers bore the...
04:38 PM, Jan 14, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Saturday said that the financial condition of Air India is very bad and the airline is under heavy debt. According to reports, 18 pilots have called in sick and 20 flights have been cancelled from Delhi till Saturday noon. "Some Air India pilot reported sick. AI financial condition is very bad. They are under heavy debt. The government is aware of it....
11:41 AM, Jan 14, 2012
