Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 23 Feb 2014 02:14

Theo_Fidel wrote:None of the Turbo prop planes are comfortable for a 6’+ or a 200lb person.

BTW both times with a turboprop, as soon as the aircraft landed and still on the airstrip, the pilot cut one of the Engines!! Even during taxi, one engine was cut on one flight. Definitely KB instructions.
In no way is this a safe practice. Sooner or later some one is going to come to grief due to this.

It's a fuel saving procedure and a normal practice with a vast majority of the airlines. No safety issues involved.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 26 Feb 2014 15:09

Traveled thru Jammu Airport last week.
There were at least 3 points of Frisking and passengers have to walk thru the tarmac all the way to the Aircraft and same story is repeated while disembarking. I actually walked underneath a AI plane which had its engine still running.
Happened to see couple of Chetak Helis landing in tandem in the background.
Also saw a private plane while someone was being escorted by Police to the Airport.

Security is pretty tight though and you have to identify your luggage before it is loaded into the plane otherwise good luck with your luggage.
Coming out of the airport is like walking into a bus stand and suddenly small town reality hits you in the face.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 01 Mar 2014 23:44

Grant of extra flying seats to Dubai draws flak

India’s decision to grant additional 20 per cent increase in the weekly entitlements to Dubai to 65,200 seats has evoked criticism.

“This is another example of very ad hoc manner of allocating bilaterals, which is completely delinked to national goals and interests. India is increasingly outsourcing its international traffic to Middle East countries. This has strategic implications,” Kapil Kaul, CEO, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), said. {Wasn't the allocation mutual for Indian carriers as well?}

“Bilaterals are national assets and allocation should be only driven by a well structured Cabinet-approved policy and not driven by under-prepared and non-transparent methods that remain in practice since 2004. CAPA firmly believes that such decisions should have been left to the new government. India’s aviation strategy is, at present, against national interests,” Mr. Kaul said. According to analysts, India should not open up just because the UAE or Middle East carriers are expanding. The move would adversely affect Indian airlines, they said.

Echoing CAPA’s observation, Air India officials said that the decision would severely impact Air India’s North American operations due to lack of passengers.

With the additional entitlements to Dubai’s Emirates, the total weekly seats entitled to the UAE has gone up to over 1,30,000 seats per week.

“Enhancement of seat quotas with Dubai is a good thing for both countries. It will increase competition, and help bring down fares. The winter of 2014 may see the arrival of Emirates’ A380s, which will further reduce the airfares to India,” said Amber Dubey, Partner, and India Head of Aerospace and Defence at global consultancy KPMG.

2 points:
I am surprised the seats have been given to Dubai, and not Abu Dhabi, given the Jet Airways deal with Etihad, that was supported by the govt. If anyone had the muscle to expand internationally, and tried, it was Jet. They actually had a good arrangement when they were operating their mini-hub at Brussels - they provided good options without having to transit at BOM, which has always been a nightmare. And new 777s were awesome, back then. Wonder why AI does not try something like this. But with the Etihad deal, that's out the window. I don't know if any other airline has the muscle to expand internationally, beyond the ME/SE Asia area.

Air India complaining about empty NA flights: stop the damn prestige non-stop routes. They keep losing money on it without any scope for improvement. It is not that there is no traffic from BOM/DEL, but they (anecdotally) seem to prefer United/AA for the non-stops, wonder why. AI focusing only on BOM and DEL is not helping matters either. From MAA, no one I know prefers to fly AI to Europe/NA, the first choice is always LH/CX/EK/BA, and the reason is always convenience. No wonder EK flies 3 times a day to many cities down south and has full flights. AI has only itself to blame.

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 08 Mar 2014 20:11

Malaysia Airlines plane missing at sea off Vietnam, presumed crashed

Flightradar is showing this:

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/fligh ... 0/#2d81a27

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 09 Mar 2014 15:14

With two passengers suspected with Stolen Passport in the aircraft and no distress signal before dissapearing .....this has all tell tale signatures of an act of terrorism.

RIP to all who died in Tragic Accident

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Mar 2014 02:14

Inspecteur Clouseau says no one paying L'Interpol to check les passepeurtes

that over a billion passports a year not being checked. Says sitting on Le Base de Data of over 40 billion stolen passports.

I wonder why: could it be that checking with L'Interpol is such a pain like everything run by Frogistanis? Or is a ripoff? Anyway, it sounds like Reporting To Interpol doesn't do diddly, if they are sitting on 40 billion unsolved cases.

With apologies for making snarky comments when nearly 300 families are grieving and so many innocents dead, BUT.. the other thing that is emerging is that travel documents being used by Chinese travelers, may well turn out to be 30% bogus/PhotoShopped. Like many things in China. So this incident of stolen passports may have nothing to do with why the plane went down. Maybe the seals on the doors were also Made In China ripoffs of Boeing parts. Whatever happened was explosive in nature, for there to be no MayDay signal, only "mumbled transmissions" of some sort.

Sounds pretty scary, though, that Pakis could board planes with ease using passports bought in the fleshpots of Phucket etc. Note that the two would have been TFTA, not Chinese, Malaysian or SDRE-looking. Two men, traveling together, tickets consecutive. Hmmm!!! White carnations behind the ears?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Mar 2014 09:08

Kuala Lumpur: A Vietnamese official says searchers on ships worked throughout the night but could not find a rectangle object spotted Sunday afternoon that was thought to be one of the doors of a missing Boeing 777.

--pretty alarming if a large task force in shallow coastal waters can find no trace of the plane

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Mar 2014 13:24

Indeed ....very alarming ..... my theory is either these 2 Guys might have exploded some explosive that was smuggled in and the aircraft disintegrated quickly during early hours.

Or There was some structural issue that the maintenance guys missed it and it was catastrophic lead to quick disintegration.

Very Sad Indeed.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Mar 2014 13:37

64 hrs now with nobody having a clue. looking at flightradar, that airlane is thick with planes moving north from KL and singapore...if there was a explosion in middle of night, other a/c nearby would have noticed it for sure.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 10 Mar 2014 20:24

Not to mention that area is incredibly thick with ships/boats/fishing/etc. There is 2-3 ships of all kinds every sqkm. For all of them to miss a giant plane falling from the sky that would be visible for 20 km at least is incredible.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 10 Mar 2014 21:41

The disappearance was around 3AM local time. Not many boats likely to be around, and if so then with only a token watch, not looking at the sky.

Any explosion at 30K feet would have sounded like thunder 6 miles away, 30 seconds after any flash event, no cause for comment. Watchers probably had stereo boombox plugged into ear.

But what is the chance of a hijacking with radio disabled, followed by a landing in some remote place? Did it just disappear from radar instantaneously? No descent indication? Did u c the number of planes on the radar screen at the time? Wow! I wonder why the technology is not more advanced, to show descent rate etc as a flag.

BTW, ramana has started a new dhaga on this at the Ishtrategic Phorum.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 10 Mar 2014 21:59

Singha wrote:64 hrs now with nobody having a clue. looking at flightradar, that airlane is thick with planes moving north from KL and singapore...if there was a explosion in middle of night, other a/c nearby would have noticed it for sure.

Theo_Fidel wrote:Not to mention that area is incredibly thick with ships/boats/fishing/etc. There is 2-3 ships of all kinds every sqkm. For all of them to miss a giant plane falling from the sky that would be visible for 20 km at least is incredible.

It went down a little after midnight right? Unless it exploded or was on fire, it wouldn't have been visible from a boat unless the boat was really close to the crash site. This crash definitely brings back memories of AF 447. Everybody was just as shocked when that flight disappeared. The circumstances were very similar. In the dead of the night, no distress call, no problematic weather, no communication of any problems whatsoever.

But MH370 was much closer to the coast and should have been visible on radar right till the end. It is surprising that they still haven't found it. This would lead to suggest, that they may have turned off their transponder and then flew around some more before crashing. Then it would be visible only on military radar, unless there were any old airports or civilian radar stations around still using primary radar.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 10 Mar 2014 22:04

Yes, so far a mystery how it was missed.

Shipping/fishing happens at night with greater intensity due to schedules and fish behavior. Fishermen leave evenings and arrive back early morning. Weather and visibility were good as well.

TWA 800 happened at night as well and folks reported it from 150 miles away. In fact it is much easier to see explosions at night to great distances. There must have been something catastrophic for there to be no distress signal. Catastrophic without explosion is hard to compute. Possibilities are very limited. Don't want to speculate just now.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 10 Mar 2014 22:08

Theo_Fidel wrote: TWA 800 happened at night as well and folks reported it from 150 miles away. In fact it is much easier to see explosions at night to great distances. There must have been something catastrophic for there to be no distress signal. Catastrophic without explosion is hard to compute. Possibilities are very limited. Don't want to speculate just now.

Well there was no explosion on AF 447.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Mar 2014 22:12

imo it might have flown over the narrow part of thailand and crashed into the andaman sea. far less shipping and air traffic in that area.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 10 Mar 2014 22:14

AF447 was flying through a thunderstorm. They were prepared for turbulence and changed settings accordingly. The pitot tubes appear to become inoperable at that point, and without accurate altimeter/speed information, the relief pilot left the plane pitched up resulted in it continuously losing speed and altitude, and crashing into the sea. It points to both equipment failure and pilot losing situational awareness. However, AF447 crashed 3.5hrs after takeoff; everything would have been quiet and the relief pilot just in.

The Malaysian flight was seemingly less than an hour into the flight at the time of last contact; night meal service might be starting out after leveling off, at this point. But the plane seemingly went poof around when it was likely to be quite active, under control of the experienced main pilot. There's no reference to a relief pilot, but this was to be a short 6hr flight compared to AF447, which was twice as long.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 11 Mar 2014 04:53

India to build 200 low-cost airports in next 20 years.

India plans to build 200 low-cost airports in the next 20 years to connect tier-II and tier-III cities, said a civil aviation ministry official.

This will be one of the focus areas of India Aviation 2014, the country's largest civil aviation exhibition and conference beginning here Wednesday.

The event with the theme "Enhancing air connectivity" will have special session on 'looking beyond metros'.

G. Ashok Kumar, joint secretary, civil aviation, told reporters here Monday that low-cost, small and no-frill airports would be built in tier-II and tier-III cities, which are expected to spur the development of the aviation sector in the second phase.

"As the operating and service costs at the major airports are phenomenally high, there are plans to build small no-frill airports. They will have the basic infrastructure and will be like upgraded high-class railway stations," he said.

The non-metro airports in India presently accounts for only about 30 percent of the total air traffic, but is expected to rise to 45 percent in the next few years.

The government also plans to construct 15 additional airports in the country under the Greenfield Airport Policy, by identifying the most suitable low cost viable model.

Airports Authority of India plans to invest Rs.1,500 crore in the development of non metro airports during the 12th Plan.

India is planning to invest over $120 billion in the development of airport infrastructure; improvement in connecting infrastructure; development of world class air navigation services infrastructure and other related activities to improve the air connectivity.

India, one of the fastest growing aviation market in the world, currently ranks ninth but is expected to become the third largest after US and China by 2020.

Indian airport system is poised to handle 336 million domestic and 85 million international passengers by 2020, from the current level of 121 million domestic and 41 million international passengers.

According to International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Airline Industry Forecast 2012-2016, India's domestic air travel market would be among the top five globally, experiencing the second highest growth rate at CAGR of 13.1 percent.

"About 400 aircraft are currently operational in the country and by 2020 the number is expected to reach 1000 aircrafts," said Ashok Kumar.

According to him, there is a huge opportunity for MRO sector (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul sector).

"Civil aviation is a highly regulated sector. This is a good opportunity and we are focusing for India to emerge as a MRO hub," he added.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 11 Mar 2014 09:08

Gagan brings Avionics Upgrades to India

Ashok Lavasa, India's civil aviation secretary, says that the implementation of Gagan is projected to save the nation's operators and airlines a combined $10 million annually in fuel savings. Gagan, jointly developed by Airports Authority of India, the Indian Space Research Organization and Raytheon, is a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) designed to allow aircraft equipped with SBAS receivers to fly en route navigation and non-precision approaches without vertical guidance within Indian airspace.

“Realizing maximum benefits from GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite System] based services in en-route and terminal airspace would virtually require all aircraft to be equipped with GNSS avionics,” said Lavasa. “Implementation decisions obviously should take into account aircraft operators’ plans to equip, which in turn depend upon cost savings which justify avionics and related costs.” The upgrade need in India is similar to needs in the United States and Europe, where airlines and operators face the need to upgrade their aircraft to comply with NextGen and SESAR requirements.

Operators have to invest in the technology up front and then receive the benefits of fuel savings by flying more direct routes once the entire Air Traffic (AT) system is modernized.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 16 Apr 2014 16:00

Nice Interview with Deputy Chief Designer (Aerodynamics) of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC), Alexey Dolotovski on finer aspect of Superjet SSJ 100 design

SSJ100 is not only new technical solutions, but also new aspects

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 19 Apr 2014 11:48

India puts civil aircraft plan back on runway

Undeterred by the earlier failure of Saras, India has set in motion plans to build its first indigenous civilian aircraft. Saras, a locally made 14-seater plane that took over two decades to develop, is yet to win local certification.

Hindustan Aeronautics, the country's sole maker of military aircraft, is forming a 50:50 special purpose vehicle with state-owned plane designer National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) to design and develop a turboprop aircraft, capable of carrying 70-10 people, by 2020.

We are forming a SPV with a paid-up capital of Rs 20 crore and authorised capital of Rs 30 crore to develop the country's first locally made transport aircraft. The HAL board has already given approval for the formation of SPV and the nod from NAL board of directors is expected by the end of the month, said a top HAL official.

The total project cost is expected to be in the region of Rs 7,500 crore and the SPV may rope in more public and private sector companies such as Tata Technologies, Samtel Avionics (provider of cockpit avionics), Taneja Aerospace as equity partners in the project at later stages of the development programme.

"We hope India will see its own regional transport aircraft by 2020 if subsequent government approvals for R&D and development phases are granted in the current calendar year," the official said.

It is expected that the venture would take off soon after the formation of the new government at the Centre. The proposal would also need approval from the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) that is studying the regional aircraft plan and would finalise the number of seats and the type of engine that would be used in the aircraft.

"The most important component of the project is the engine and we have received responses from seven major engine companies, including the French Snecma, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric to our request for information (RFI). In the next three months, we are going to make a presentation to the government through NMCC and are hoping for a favourable response, HAL chairman R K Tyagi told FE.

Indigenous development of a national transport aircraft is part of the government's initiative to give a boost to manufacturing activity. Last year Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved a plan to develop a 70 to 100-seater aircraft.

According to a Boeing estimate, India will require close to 1,500 planes with 80-100 seating capacity in the next 20 years to catch up with the rising demand for air travel.

Besides, the aircraft development plan will help the country reduce its dependance on companies such as Bombardier and Embraer SA for expensive aircraft.

Indias plan to develop a national aircraft comes after limited success in an earlier attempt by NAL on Saras.

The aircraft not only crashed during one of its test flight but is yet to get local certification even though over 23 years have been spent on the project.

Even country's military aircraft development programme suffered setbacks and HAL is yet to commence deliveries of the light combat aircraft, Tejas, which uses a General Electric engine.

The programme was approved in1983.

ManjaM · Post by **ManjaM** » 20 Apr 2014 00:03

Austin wrote:India puts civil aircraft plan back on runway

Indias plan to develop a national aircraft comes after limited success in an earlier attempt by NAL on Saras.

The aircraft not only crashed during one of its test flight but is yet to get local certification even though over 23 years have been spent on the project.

.

Is DGCA in a position to certify India designed and manufactured designs? As I recollect, the Mahindra was trying to get DGCA to certify the CNM-5, but that effort hasnt moved forward.

amit · Post by **amit** » 22 Apr 2014 06:01

Has anyone recently taken a Jet Airways flight from Desh to the US (or vice versa) recently? Generally how's the service quality on Jet Airways international flights? Some feedback on this will be much appreciated. Thanks!

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 23 Apr 2014 04:31

amit wrote:Has anyone recently taken a Jet Airways flight from Desh to the US (or vice versa) recently? Generally how's the service quality on Jet Airways international flights? Some feedback on this will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Well, not to the US, but I did go half way (Londonistan). Overall, the aircraft condition, service quality and especially food was better than United, Lufthansa or Virgin. Will definitely choose them again as long as they are price competitive.

amit · Post by **amit** » 23 Apr 2014 05:00

nachiket wrote:Well, not to the US, but I did go half way (Londonistan). Overall, the aircraft condition, service quality and especially food was better than United, Lufthansa or Virgin. Will definitely choose them again as long as they are price competitive.

Nachiket,

Thanks a ton for the feedback. This is similar to what someone told me recently so I guess I'll take the plunge. I've never flown these guys but I'm willing to give it a try. Will post a feedback here.

BTW UA is bad, very bad. I was once waiting near the departure gate in San Francisco. I could see the United plane through the window. About 40 mins or so before departure, when I thought they'd start boarding, they towed the damn plane away! I asked what happened and was told that there were taking the plane to the workshop to do some repairs! And since they didn't have a standby plane we'd have to wait till the repairs are done!

It came back after about 3 hours and by the time I arrive at my destination I missed the connecting flight! And you know what? For the past three times that I've flown them there has been some glitch or the other!

ldev · Post by **ldev** » 23 Apr 2014 05:51

amit wrote:
nachiket wrote:Well, not to the US, but I did go half way (Londonistan). Overall, the aircraft condition, service quality and especially food was better than United, Lufthansa or Virgin. Will definitely choose them again as long as they are price competitive.
Nachiket,

Thanks a ton for the feedback. This is similar to what someone told me recently so I guess I'll take the plunge. I've never flown these guys but I'm willing to give it a try. Will post a feedback here.

BTW UA is bad, very bad. I was once waiting near the departure gate in San Francisco. I could see the United plane through the window. About 40 mins or so before departure, when I thought they'd start boarding, they towed the damn plane away! I asked what happened and was told that there were taking the plane to the workshop to do some repairs! And since they didn't have a standby plane we'd have to wait till the repairs are done!

It came back after about 3 hours and by the time I arrive at my destination I missed the connecting flight! And you know what? For the past three times that I've flown them there has been some glitch or the other!

Agree with Jet's food, overall cleanliness etc. But there is one big No No and that is if you are flying via their Brussels hub. It used to be one unholy mess there in the mornings as something like 6-8 wide body Jet aircraft were parked there at the same time. The mayhem at the toilets at Brussels airport was unbelievable

with 2000+ people clamouring to get it done....Swore never to fly that route again.

Late last summer I flew Mumbai to Newark on United, non stop, flight on time, service was acceptable, the food loaded in Mumbai had a distinctly Indian taste, though in economy you had to pay for booze if you wanted it.

amit · Post by **amit** » 23 Apr 2014 07:02

ldev wrote:Agree with Jet's food, overall cleanliness etc. But there is one big No No and that is if you are flying via their Brussels hub. It used to be one unholy mess there in the mornings as something like 6-8 wide body Jet aircraft were parked there at the same time. The mayhem at the toilets at Brussels airport was unbelievable with 2000+ people clamouring to get it done....Swore never to fly that route again.

Late last summer I flew Mumbai to Newark on United, non stop, flight on time, service was acceptable, the food loaded in Mumbai had a distinctly Indian taste, though in economy you had to pay for booze if you wanted it.

Thanks Idev. Brussels is a no, no certainly. I find Frankfurt to be the only tolerable Euro hub. This time I'm looking at Mumbai-Newark via Jet Airways, never flown them before. Thinking of taking the plunge.

Sridhar K · Post by **Sridhar K** » 30 Apr 2014 07:30

Did a round trip of MAA-BOM-LHR-MAA on company duty. BA had given me a AI domestic connection but the air India flight was pretty neat, took on time at 6:30. Except for the old aunties in service, it was pretty good. The connecting bus starts only at 9:30 AM in the morning and had to wait for an hour at the domestic terminal to board the bus. The guys loading the luggage asked money for chai pani as usual. T2 at Mumbai is really nice with a lots of space, food courts. The BA 777 connection at 1:30 was pretty good, a new aircraft, I got a lucky upgrade to world traveller plus which had a 9 abreast seats with good leg room, connections for charging laptop and usb ports for personal device. The regular economy had a 10 abreast. The flight was delayed for an hour in Mumbai and reached there on time.

Return was on BA direct to Chennai and the aircraft was pretty old ala Air parasite with the overhead compartment shaking on take off. The touch screen was very old with a lot of scratches. The aircraft plastic panels had faded. Read in the inflight magazine that BA is planning to convert the Chennai service to daily with dreamliners. The service was ok. Heathrow check in and security check was a breeze and hardly took anytime.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 30 Apr 2014 08:47

amit wrote:
Thanks Idev. Brussels is a no, no certainly. I find Frankfurt to be the only tolerable Euro hub. This time I'm looking at Mumbai-Newark via Jet Airways, never flown them before. Thinking of taking the plunge.

Jet's BOM-EWR flight has a stop in Brussels. It's not non-stop to EWR, although you don't have to change aircraft in Brussels. Sometimes the short flight info on travel websites' search page does not include this information unless you click on "See Flight Details".

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 20 May 2014 08:27

EBACE: Dassault launches Falcon 8X, its largest, longest-range jet

Dassault has turned up the heat in the competitive ultra-long range sector with the launch at EBACE of its longest range and largest cabin Falcon – the 8X.

The unveiling of the 19-seat tri-jet comes just seven months after the French airframer took the wraps of its all-new and widest cabin Falcon, the 5X. The 8X is a stretched version of the 7X which entered service seven years ago and the 250th example of which is in completion.

“The Falcon 8X will be our new flagship and a great complement to our product line,” Dassault Aviation chairman, Eric Trappier at the show.

The 8X will be pitched against Gulfstream’s G550, G650 and Bombardier’s in-development Global 7000 and 8000. With a range of 6,450nm (11,950 km) – 500nm more than the 7X – it will offer a more extensive list of one-leg missions than its stablemate, such as Beijing to New York, Hong Kong to Seattle, Paris to Singapore and Sao Paulo to Moscow.

Dassault has introduced a number of refinements and enhancements to the aircraft’s design including an extra fuel tank within the centre fuselage section, which enables the 8X to carry up to 15,800kg (34,900lb) fuel – compared with 14,500kg carried by the 7X. It will also feature a redesigned ultra-efficient wing derived from the Falcon 7X. “The wing structure has been redesigned to minimise the overall aircraft drag during cruise while achieving 600lb weight saving,” says Olivier Villa, senior vice president, civil aircraft. “It will also feature an optimised leading edge profile and winglets. These improvements will increase significantly the lift to drag ratio.”

The 8X will be equipped with three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines, each delivering 6,720lb (30kN) of thrust – a 5% increase compared to the PW307As that power the Falcon 7X. These engines will offer a new full authority digital engine control system, as well as a significant reduction in fuel consumption, noise and nitrogen oxide emissions, says Dassault.

The 8X has the same cabin cross-section as the 7X, but is around 1.1m longer bringing the total cabin length to 13m. “This extra space has enabled us to offer the most diverse selection of cabin layouts on the market,” says Dassault. “More than 30 configurations will be available and three galley sizes, two with a crew-rest options,” it continues. The 8X cabin also features up to 33 windows, depending on the configuration, compared with a maximum of 29 windows on the 7X.

Priced at around $57 million, first flight is expected in early 2015 with certification in the middle of 2016 and initial deliveries before the end of the year.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 23 May 2014 00:11

High-tech indigenous system for low visibility landing to be deployed at all airports

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 24 May 2014 06:17

The 8X will be pitched against Gulfstream’s G550, G650 and Bombardier’s in-development Global 7000 and 8000. With a range of 6,450nm (11,950 km) – 500nm more than the 7X – it will offer a more extensive list of one-leg missions than its stablemate, such as Beijing to New York, Hong Kong to Seattle, Paris to Singapore and Sao Paulo to Moscow.

Note - All the countries are Bric countries and emerging economy but India is missing

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Jun 2014 08:45

Clogged loos force Air India Frankfurt flight to return

While Saturday's incident raises questions on AI's maintenance, airline officers recounted "horror" tales of Indian passengers flushing almost everything down the toilet.

"Some months ago, our ultra long Boeing 777 New York-Delhi flight was faced with an identical problem," the official said. "The pilots first wanted to divert to London but Heathrow was closed for the night. Then somehow one toilet became serviceable and passengers decided to fly to Delhi. The crew and some passengers rationed the use of the toilet for passengers."

The real horror was discovered when the toilets were serviced in Delhi. "Everything made available to passengers for free was found flushed down the toilet," another official said. "Dozens of small blankets and pillows, items in overnight pouches such as socks, slippers and towels were flushed down."

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Jun 2014 09:56

clogged toilets happen in any airline..incl tfta ones like emirates on usa->dubai missions. friend diverted to reykjavik recently.
but I wonder why ppl would flush bedding items down the hole....perhaps the maint crews were running science experiments or someone found it more comfortable as a wipe than toilet paper? perhaps someone vomited and afraid of scolding they quietly flushed the evidence?

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 05 Jun 2014 22:38

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/shit-hap ... socialflow

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 17 Jun 2014 13:53

India’s airspace to benefit from advanced surveillance technology

NEW DELHI: India is now equipped with the technology for advanced surveillance of its entire airspace by operationalizing 21 stations having surveillance technology for tracking aircraft — from the Himalayas to the high seas.

The sophisticated automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) infrastructure covers the Indian subcontinent's vast landscape of over 3 million sq km, plus parts of Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the entire Himalayas, allowing increased efficiency and safety in areas where radar coverage has so far been restricted.

The ADS-B was installed at 21 sites in two phases by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Germany-based firm COMSOFT, which has been providing products for innovative surveillance and communication solutions like ADS-B and multilateration sensors for over two decades.

COMSOFT's Quadrant ADS-B sensor installed here now is a lightweight and cost-efficient alternative to the conventional radar, with the ability to build a complete air situation picture from airport surface to well beyond 250 nautical miles, a company statement said.

AAI has also established a crucial air navigation link with Nepal for exchanging real-time data on various aviation-related aspects, including weather charts and aeronautical maps.

alexis · Post by **alexis** » 18 Jun 2014 11:55

ADS-B is not an alternative to radar as it can track only co-operative flights...

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 22 Jun 2014 09:34

Rs 49k cr losses put aviation sector on verge of collapse

NEW DELHI: The civil aviation sector is on the verge of collapse with accumulated losses of Rs 49,000 crore and needs an urgent boost to prevent more Kingfisher-type meltdowns and job losses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was told on Saturday.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 03 Jul 2014 06:14

Jet Airways is despite the infusion of funds by Etihad not able to pay salary to its employees.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 03 Jul 2014 16:22

From the above report...

Unsurprisingly, Air India contributes a staggering Rs 30,000 crore to the accumulated Rs 49,000 crore losses in the civil aviation sector and the ministry outlined the need for a credible, result-oriented capital infusion plan.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Jul 2014 17:03

about the only thing the GOI can do quickly is reduce the taxes on aviation turbine fuel to 0% , and put a price cap on the parking and landing charges levied by the airport operators on the airlines.

I believe due to high taxes of ATF, no intl airline likes to buy fuel in india and bring in just the minimum fuel need to make it in and out safely.

only robust economic growth will revive domestic and foreign air travel by indians and inbound business arrivals who then take domestic flights.