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Tag: DGCA

  • IndiGo bars specially-abled youngster from boarding flight for ‘panicking’; DGCA begins probe

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: IndiGo barred a specially-abled youngster from boarding a flight on the Ranchi airport as he was in “a state of panic”, following which the aviation regulator DGCA has began a probe and requested the airline to submit a report, officers mentioned on Sunday.

    As the boy was prohibited from boarding the airline’s Ranchi-Hyderabad flight on Saturday, his mother and father additionally determined to not take the flight, they famous.

    DGCA chief Arun Kumar advised PTI that the regulator has sought a report from IndiGo on this matter.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this incident and it’ll take applicable motion, he mentioned.

    When requested in regards to the incident, IndiGo mentioned, “In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7, as he was in a state of panic.” The floor employees waited for him to relax until the final minute however to no avail, it mentioned.

    The airline made the household snug by offering them a lodge keep and so they flew the subsequent morning to their vacation spot, it mentioned.

    “We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers; and over 75,000 specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month,” it mentioned.

  • Focus on not letting plane with questions of safety fly: DGCA

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: With situations starting from experiences of poor maintenance of plane interiors to passenger accidents onboard airborne flights, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated night time checks of stationary plane to maintain a tab.

    “We are carrying out night checks and it is a part of our routine surveillance work. The focus is to get things right and not permit an aircraft with safety issues to fly,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar advised TNIE.

    The plane that may be below the scanner are those which have been in service for lengthy to make sure that their health ranges proceed to be excessive, which might guarantee airworthiness.

    The spate of incidents which have been reported within the latest previous has been instrumental in conducting these checks. Last month a passenger travelling on an Air India flight tweeted in regards to the plane’s shabby interiors which included a damaged armrest. The DGCA pulled up the airline and all of the required repairs had been made. 

    SpiceJet has been within the information too lately for all of the mistaken causes. The first was relating to an incident whereby a flight from Mumbai to Durgapur after going through turbulence led to round 17 passengers struggling accidents. They needed to be taken to a hospital on touchdown. And extra lately one other SpiceJet plane inside 5 minutes of takeoff from Chennai needed to make an emergency touchdown as its engine wasn’t working. This B737 Max plane was subsequently grounded and DGCA has requested the airline to conduct thorough checks.

    The complete fleet of plane operated by SpiceJet is being investigated. Most of those are below at night time when the plane is parked.

    The DGCA is reported to have requested the airways to make sure good maintenance of the interiors of the plane too.

    Airlines with an older fleet will likely be below the scanner. The regulator needs to make sure that passengers not simply fly in plane which have well-maintained interiors however are additionally protected to function.

  • Home ministry grants safety clearance to Jet Airways

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union residence ministry has granted safety clearance to Jet Airways that’s planning to relaunch industrial flight operations within the subsequent few months, in accordance with an official doc.

    The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is at present the promoters of Jet Airways.

    The airline in its outdated avatar was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its final flight on April 17, 2019.

    Last Thursday, the airline carried out its check flight to and from the Hyderabad airport in a step in the direction of acquiring the air operator certificates.

    A letter despatched by the civil aviation ministry to the airline on May 6 knowledgeable it in regards to the grant of the safety clearance by the Union residence ministry.

    The letter, which has been accessed by PTI, mentioned, it’s “directed to refer to your application… to convey security clearance for change in shareholding pattern of the company/firm, for scheduled operator permit, on the basis of security clearance received from the Ministry of Home Affairs”.

    Last Thursday’s check flight was carried out to show to aviation regulator DGCA that the plane and its parts are working usually.

    After the check flight on Thursday, the airline has to conduct proving flights after which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will grant the air operator certificates.

    Proving flights are just like industrial flight with DGCA officers and airline officers as passengers and cabin crew members on board.

  • Durgapur flight: DGCA begins probe; SpiceJet says flyers had been instructed to stay seated

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday mentioned it has instituted a multidisciplinary group to probe the extreme turbulence incident on SpiceJet’s Mumbai-Durgapur flight that left 15 folks injured.

    SpiceJet on Monday mentioned the seat belt signal was on and a number of bulletins had been made by crew members asking passengers to stay seated on its Mumbai-Durgapur flight on May 1.

    Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia mentioned, “The turbulence encountered by a flight while landing in Durgapur, and the damage caused to the passengers is unfortunate. The DGCA has deputed a team to investigate the incident.”

    The matter is being handled utmost seriousness and deftness, he mentioned. “More details on the cause(s) will be shared once the investigation is completed,” Scindia famous.

    A complete of 15 folks, 12 passengers and three cabin crew members, had been injured on this flight as a result of extreme turbulence, mentioned officers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

    DGCA chief Arun Kumar instructed PTI, “We have deputed a multidisciplinary team to carry out regulatory investigation (into this incident).”

    On Monday, SpiceJet spokesperson mentioned, “Eleven passengers travelling on SpiceJet flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur on May 1, which encountered severe turbulence during descent which unfortunately resulted in injuries to a few passengers, were hospitalised.” Eight of these hospitalised have been discharged thus far, the spokesperson mentioned.

    The spokesperson mentioned it’s offering all potential assist to the injured.

    “The seat belt sign was on when the aircraft encountered turbulence. Multiple announcements were made by the pilots and the crew instructed passengers to remain seated and keep their seat belt fastened,” the spokesperson talked about.

    Due to extreme turbulence, accidents had been brought about to few passengers, the spokesperson famous. “Timely medical assistance was provided upon arrival,” the spokesperson added.

  • Pilots barred from Boeing’s 737 MAX: ‘SpiceJet knew about faulty gear, still continued training’

    SpiceJet determined to proceed coaching its pilots at a Boeing 737 MAX simulator facility close to Delhi regardless of realizing that gear on the stated coaching centre was defective, official sources advised The Indian Express. Aviation security regulator DGCA, which barred 90 pilots of the airline from flying the 737 MAX mannequin until they bear retraining on a compliant simulator, has served a show-cause discover to SpiceJet and Canadian flight coaching service supplier CAE, which manages the simulator facility.

    According to a senior official on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), throughout a routine inspection on March 30 it was discovered that the Boeing 737 MAX simulator had a malfunctioning ‘stick shaker’ on the co-pilot seat. A stick shaker is a mechanical system that warns the pilots of an imminent aerodynamic stall by shaking the plane’s management yoke violently. The stated piece of kit had been out of service since March 17.

    Notably, particular pilot coaching for the Boeing 737 MAX is necessary for airways working the aircraft mannequin to make pilots perceive the brand new flight management system within the plane referred to as MCAS, or manoeuvring traits augmentation system. This system was on the coronary heart of the 2 crashes of this plane kind that collectively killed 346 individuals, resulting in a world grounding of the aircraft.

    Upon discovery of the defective gear on the CAE-managed coaching facility in Noida, the DGCA inspectors reached out to Boeing looking for the American airframe maker’s view on whether or not coaching might be carried out with a malfunctioning stick shaker on co-pilot seat. “Boeing replied that such training should not be conducted. Reply was then sought from SpiceJet regarding this issue, to which they replied that they have taken in house measure to continue such training. However, the OEM (Boeing) was not consulted by the operator (SpiceJet)”, the DGCA official stated. “The simulator training was stopped by DGCA … and the credit of training for 90 pilots was nullified. Further, SpiceJet was informed not to utilise these pilots for B737 MAX flight operations,” the official added.

    Additionally, the DGCA additionally served show-cause notices to SpiceJet and CAE for conducting the coaching that was in violation of the principles laid down by the regulator — particularly mentioning {that a} flight simulation coaching system with lacking, malfunctioning or inoperative part “that is required to be present and correctly operate for the satisfactory completion of that maneuver, procedure, or task” shouldn’t be used or be allowed to be used.

    In response to a question from The Indian Express looking for touch upon why the airline determined to proceed coaching at a defective simulator facility, a SpiceJet spokesperson stated: “We have received a communication from the regulator on the matter and the airline shall submit its reply within the specified period. We would like to reiterate that safety and security of our operations and passengers are of utmost importance which is manifested in our outstanding track record. None of our operations are compromised and are in line with international safety standards”.

    CAE responded through mail saying: “As the simulator is owned by Boeing, please speak to Boeing. We are working closely with all parties involved including Boeing and the DGCA to ensure the maintenance and operation of this specific device complies with all regulatory requirements. We are committed to ensuring our customers receive high quality simulation experiences in accordance with all regulations”. In a equally worded response to a question despatched by this newspaper, Boeing in India stated: “We are working closely with all parties involved including our supplier and the DGCA to ensure the maintenance and operation of this specific device complies with all regulatory requirements. We are committed to ensuring our customers receive high quality simulation experiences in accordance with all regulations.”

  • DGCA bars 90 SpiceJet pilots from working Boeing 737 Max planes, cites ‘improper coaching’

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Indian aviation regulator DGCA has barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from working the Boeing 737 Max plane after discovering them not correctly skilled.

    “For the moment, we have barred these pilots from flying the Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying the aircraft,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar stated in an announcement.

    He additionally stated that the regulator will take “strict action against those found responsible for the lapse.”

    The pilots must endure coaching once more, in a correct method, on the Max simulator.

    ALSO READ: Plane crash in China: DGCA places Boeing 737 fleets of Indian carriers on ‘enhanced surveillance’

    The Boeing 737 Max planes have been grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane close to Addis Ababa, which killed 157 folks, together with 4 Indians.

    The ban on the planes was lifted in August final yr after the DGCA was glad with US-based plane producer Boeing’s crucial software program rectifications within the plane.

    Proper pilot coaching on the simulator was additionally among the many circumstances of the DGCA for eradicating the ban on the Max planes after a span of 27 months.

    A SpiceJet spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that the DGCA has restricted 90 pilots of the airline from flying the Max planes.

    SpiceJet has 650 pilots skilled on the Boeing 737 Max.

    The DGCA had an commentary on the coaching profile adopted for 90 pilots, and due to this fact, as per the advise of the DGCA, SpiceJet has restricted 90 pilots from working the Max plane, till these pilots endure re-training to the satisfaction of the DGCA.

    These pilots proceed to stay accessible for different Boeing 737 plane,” the spokesperson stated.

    This restriction doesn’t impression the operations of the Max plane in anyway.

    SpiceJet, presently, operates 11 Max plane and about 144 pilots are required to function these plane, the spokesperson stated.

    “Of the 650 skilled pilots on the Max, 560 proceed to stay accessible, which is way more than the present requirement,” the spokesperson stated.

    SpiceJet is the one Indian airline that has the Max plane in its fleet.

    Akasa Air, the brand new airline backed by ace investor Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Aditya Ghosh and Vinay Dube, had in November final yr signed a take care of Boeing to buy 72 Max planes.

    Akasa Air has not received any of those planes as but.
     

  • Scheduled international flights resume immediately: India to attach with 63 nations

    Six Indian airways and 60 international airways will begin connecting India with 63 nations Sunday onwards because the aviation regulator DGCA has printed the ultimate schedule for worldwide flights. The scheduled worldwide flights will resume after a two-year suspension, imposed in March 2020 on account of the Covid pandemic.

    According to the brand new summer season schedule, international airways will function 1,783 weekly flights, whereas Indian carriers will function 1,466 departures each week.  Market chief IndiGo will function 505 departures per week, adopted by Tata Group-owned Air India at 361 weekly flights, and its subsidiary Air India Express at 340 flights per week.

    The resumption of scheduled worldwide operations is anticipated to occur in a staggered method. As per the final schedule ready earlier than the pandemic hit, a complete of 4,700 worldwide flight departures had been being operated each week from Indian airports — with the cut up between worldwide and home being roughly 50:50. Till Saturday, worldwide flights in India had been working by way of air bubble preparations with 37 nations.

    The nations that get added because of scheduled operations embrace Iran, Malaysia, South Korea, Poland, Myanmar, Turkey, Yemen and Egypt. Even as scheduled operations substitute air bubble flights, the rules issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will proceed to be relevant for worldwide arrivals into India.

    Dubai-based Emirates — which has the largest operations in India for a international airline — will function 170 flights per week. Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia will function 140 flights, together with 30 Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s flights from the UAE capital.

    Sri Lanka Airlines will function 128 weekly departures, whereas Oman Air will function 115 flights each week from numerous locations in India to Muscat.

    Among European carriers, British Airways will function 49 departures per week, whereas German service Lufthansa will function 32 flights per week. Air France will fly 20 flights each week, and its group airline KLM will fly to Amsterdam from India 18 occasions per week.

    Connecting India to Southeast Asia, Singapore Airlines will fly 65 occasions per week from Indian airports, its low-cost arm Scoot will function 38 departures. Malaysian service AirAsia Berhad will function 71 flights, whereas Malaysia Airlines will function 30 departures per week. Thailand, one of many prime vacationer locations from India, may also see connectivity by way of Thai Airways and Thai Smile, with weekly departures of 36 and 21, respectively.

    A major connectivity can be being supplied between India and African nations with airways corresponding to Air Tanzania, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Rwand Air and Kenya Airways working weekly flights.

    Among the US-based carriers, United Airlines and American Airlines will function 28 flights and 7 flights each week, respectively.

  • Direct Tier-2 connects, new airports mark return of home flights

    The summer season schedule for home flights this yr will see a comeback for India’s civil aviation because the weekly flight quantity — 25,309 — will surpass the final pre-pandemic schedule for the primary time.

    In this proposed schedule, three discernible elements inform the story of India’s air connectivity: direct connections for tier-2 airports, to this point linked via hubs like Delhi or Mumbai; non-RCS connectivity for airports that had been introduced on to the aviation map via the regional connectivity scheme (RCS); and three new airports that might see flight operations for the primary time.

    Once the brand new schedule kicks in, a number of tier-2 airports which are to this point linked to one another or to different main centres via a hub like Delhi or Mumbai may have direct flights as soon as the brand new schedule kicks in. These embody connections resembling Ahmedabad-Guwahati, Srinagar-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Srinagar, Vadodara-Chennai, Jaipur-Patna, Dehradun-Kolkata, Mumbai-Port Blair, Jammu-Pune and many others. Notably, lots of the routes on this class are seeing flights being mounted by IndiGo.

    Another facet is the added connectivity to airports that had been initially introduced on to the aviation map via the regional connectivity scheme, however at the moment are seeing airline operations exterior of the scheme’s ambit. These routes embody Lucknow-Pantnagar, Delhi-Pantnagar, Agra-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru-Kadapa and Mumbai-Shirdi.

    Third, airways have additionally proposed to mount flights to 3 new airports — Gondia in Maharashtra, Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry. SpiceJet plans to function a Bengaluru-Puducherry service and a Hyderabad-Puducherry service. Other routes on this bucket are Indore-Gondia, Ziro-Dibrugarh, and Hyderabad-Gondia.

    The home flight schedule is ready collectively by civil aviation stakeholders, together with airways, airport operators, DGCA and the federal government, and in two components — summer season and winter. In the summer season schedule for 2022, a complete of 112 airports throughout India are proposed to be linked. Market chief IndiGo will function 11,130 home flights each week, adopted by SpiceJet with 4,192 flights, GoAir with 2,557 weekly flights and Air India with 2,456 flights.

    Compared to this, within the winter schedule of 2021, 108 airports noticed 22,287 weekly flights, whereas in the summertime schedule of 2021, 22,980 flights had been mounted each week. In the summer season schedule for 2020, which might have been efficient within the absence of the pandemic, 24,409 weekly flights had been deliberate.

    In the primary bucket of flights, the place two cities with no direct connection to this point at the moment are getting continuous flights, it’s typical for airways to promote tickets for a sector that’s made up of two flights to establish the site visitors volumes on these sectors earlier than launching direct connections.

    For instance, IndiGo, which is launching the Hyderabad-Srinagar direct flight, sells tickets for the Hyderabad-Srinagar sector with a layover in Delhi, the place a passenger wants to alter the plane. Low-cost provider GoAir operates an Ahmedabad-Srinagar flight with a 30-minute layover in Chandigarh, the place passengers don’t want to alter the plane, and can start a direct Srinagar-Ahmedabad service.

    Sector consultants, nevertheless, have flagged issues with the airways’ skill of complying with the proposed schedules, the place regardless of getting approvals for working air providers, airways don’t really launch flights on sure sectors. Aspects resembling delay in plane supply, airport upkeep works, or a change in route economics result in airways not complying with the authorised schedule.

    The details about the proposed routes in the summertime schedule has been sourced from DGCA and varied on-line journey portals.

    In addition to those routes, there are over 100 routes, the place airways didn’t function within the winter schedule of 2021 — legitimate until March 26 — however are proposed to be added within the upcoming schedule. These embody Ahmedabad-Kolhapur, Lucknow-Amritsar, Chennai-Bhopal, Chandigarh-Chennai, Lucknow-Jaipur, Lucknow-Prayagraj and Pune-Visakhapatnam.

    In a press launch, SpiceJet stated it was introducing eight new “industry-first flights”, together with within the Gorakhpur-Kanpur, Gorakhpur-Varanasi, Jaipur-Dharamshala and Tirupati-Shirdi sectors. State-owned airline Alliance Air additionally, in a collection of tweets, introduced new flights on its community from March 27, together with each day providers between Hyderabad and Goa, Hyderabad and Pune, Kolkata and Ranchi, Delhi and Lucknow, Hyderabad and Vijayawada, and Bengaluru and Kochi.

  • More worldwide airways add flights to India

    Dubai-based airline Emirates will re-introduce its pre-pandemic flight frequencies to India locations efficient April 1, working 170 weekly flights to 9 cities within the nation. Foreign airways have been reinstating their operations to India and in addition including flights within the run as much as resumption of worldwide scheduled operations.

    Emirates mentioned Friday it is going to be working the 35 weekly flights from Mumbai, 28 from Delhi, 24 from Bengaluru, 21 every from Chennai and Hyderabad, 14 from Kochi, 11 from Kolkata, 9 from Ahmedabad and 7 from Thiruvananthapuram.

    Further, UK-based Virgin Atlantic introduced a brand new second day by day service to Delhi from London beginning June 1. The airline already operates one day by day flight on Delhi-London sector, and one on Mumbai-London sector. “This will be our largest ever flying programme to India, which is our third largest market globally,” mentioned Alex McEwan, Country Manager South Asia at Virgin Atlantic.

    Thai Airways can be planning to function 35 flights each week between India and Thailand throughout summer season 2022. In an announcement, Rhett Workman, MD–Europe, Middle East and Asia operations at American Airlines, mentioned: “As India resumes international flying, we look forward to expanding our presence in the country as we deepen our partnership with IndiGo and plan to launch new service between Seattle and Bangalore later this year”. It operates a continuous service on Delhi-New York route.

    Several different European airways together with Air France, KLM, Finnair, Lufthansa, LOT Polish, along with Malaysia Airlines have introduced new routes, added frequencies and resumption of previous routes to India. Given that scheduled worldwide flights have been suspended since 2020, abroad air connectivity has been made potential beneath the air bubble agreements. Under the air bubble pacts, airways might mount solely a restricted variety of flights. However, with resumption of scheduled flights, carriers will have the ability to function capability in accordance with the unique air service agreements negotiated between India and their house nation.

  • Global airways prep for enterprise as normal: Ramp up outdated, contemporary routes

    Finnair, which already operates the Delhi-Helsinki route, will add three weekly flights between Mumbai and Helsinki. German provider Lufthansa introduced that it’s resuming direct flights between Chennai and Frankfurt thrice each week efficient April 29.

    Dutch airline KLM will reply to the resumption of scheduled worldwide flights from India by growing its frequencies to Delhi and Mumbai. The provider flies to India from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Poland’s LOT Polish Airlines will start passenger flights from Warsaw to Mumbai from May 31, and resume flights on Delhi-Warsaw sector efficient March 29.

    Malaysia’s flag provider Malaysia Airlines will resume 25 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to a number of Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad March 27 onwards.

    After a two-year suspension imposed due to Covid-19, the federal government introduced resumption of worldwide scheduled flights from March 27 — a transfer that was anticipated to result in an elevated variety of flights, thereby offering a aid to excessive fares on worldwide sectors. In absence of scheduled flights, airways have been working worldwide flights underneath air bubble agreements with 37 nations.

    Earlier this week, the Ministry of Civil Aviation relaxed Covid19-related laws, stating that cabin crew members needn’t put on PPE kits, airways needn’t hold three seats vacant on worldwide flights for medical emergencies, and safety personnel at airports might resume pat-down search of passengers.

    “We are delighted that after a pandemic-related break, our flagship aircraft can again land at Delhi’s IGI Airport. Ensuring a direct connection is an essential element in strengthening Polish-Indian cooperation,” mentioned Rafal Milczarski, president of the Management Board, LOT Polish Airlines.

    Speaking on resumption of Malaysia Airlines’ providers to 5 Indian cities, the airline’s nation supervisor—South Asia, Amit Mehta, mentioned, “We will steadily increase capacities to these cities based on demand”.

    Separately, jurisdictions of Hong Kong and Singapore have additionally eased journey guidelines that may assist airways mount flights to India from these locations. Earlier this month, Hong Kong introduced scrapping of its journey ban on 9 nations, together with India, that it deemed high-risk from a Covid-19 perspective.

    Following Singapore administration’s easing of guidelines, Singapore Airlines and its low-cost arm Scoot will open up its complete community to fully-vaccinated travellers with out the necessity for quarantine or testing. So far, Singapore had carried out the vaccinated journey lane system, by which travellers might fly in to Singapore solely from particular locations to get exemption from quarantine and testing.

    If a passenger was flying to Singapore from a vacation spot aside from these specified underneath the system, they might be subjected to quarantine and testing necessities. From April 1, fully-vaccinated travellers from India will be capable of fly from Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram and Vishakhapatnam with out extra restrictions.