Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

morem · Post by **morem** » 14 Feb 2023 23:00

TBH there are direct flights to SFO, ORD and NYC

Atmavik · Post by **Atmavik** » 14 Feb 2023 23:06

morem wrote:TBH there are direct flights to SFO, ORD and NYC

And one from DC to Delhi has been operational for a few yrs now , but I want to go to HYD .

I think we should have enough traffic for Bengaluru & Chennai as well in the next 5 yrs

morem · Post by **morem** » 14 Feb 2023 23:24

fair point, HYD doesnt have a direct one is strange, given the number of Telugu speakers in USA. Blore i believe has a direct to SFO but that's about it,

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 15 Feb 2023 01:34

The existing Air India planes operating on these direct flights are in really poor shape. Just google/youtube and see the horrendous condition of these planes. Hopefully they will get those replaced soon before opening new routes.

Atmavik · Post by **Atmavik** » 15 Feb 2023 01:46

looks like Boeing manufactures some parts in India. hopefully this deal will increase the % of components built in India

https://twitter.com/Boeing_In/status/16 ... K-244tAAAA

yensoy · Post by **yensoy** » 15 Feb 2023 01:56

morem wrote:fair point, HYD doesnt have a direct one is strange, given the number of Telugu speakers in USA. Blore i believe has a direct to SFO but that's about it,

1. USA isn't a city. It is a country. Which specific city warrants a flight to Hyd?
2. Airlines keep crunching the numbers. They know exactly how many are flying where to where; they also know the seasonality of traffic. If there is an opportunity, they will pick it up.
3. Airlines primarily make money on business travellers. The rest of us are joining for the ride. Is there business traffic to Hyd? Yes there is, but again where is from in the US, and is it concentrated in one or two cities? Probably not. And probably not in numbers needed to fill the front cabin to even 50%.
4. Airlines work on building a network. Delhi has high value round the year traffic with numbers to support destinations in the US. Mumbai/Bangalore less so but do make the cut. Hyd, not sure. Also, a good share of the traffic into Delhi connects to other cities in India - because Delhi has been built as a hub. Next in line are Mumbai & Bangalore.
5. Cargo is another aspect of airline route selection. Delhi is a big cargo hub with both imports and exports, and domestic transshipment. Hyd probably can make a good business with pharma exports but I am not sure how big it is overall (and a lot of pharma will take the sea route anyway).
6. At the end of the day, individual customers are fickle. Companies are less so because they have long term corporate contracts which is why airlines build around business traffic. Government servants have to travel on Indian carrier, in this case AI, making a strong case for Delhi. If the US Telugu family sees a fare on a gulf carrier which is $150 less they will probably take it (I don't blame them I would too; it may save them $600 and give them better flight choices).
(added later)7. Ultra long-haul is very expensive to operate because of compounding (you are carrying fuel to carry fuel), so the business case has to be very tight. Multiple crews are needed. Traveler comfort is great up front but in the back many people actually prefer breaking journey somewhere in the way. It's not a sure win.

I do wish to see more US-India nonstops connecting more city pairs, but this is not going to happen just because you saw packed planes during your annual trip to India in December/January.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 15 Feb 2023 02:07

Another thing to note is that ultra long haul flights like these are the most difficult to make money out of. Only AI has non-stop flights to the US right now. United used to have a few earlier but they stopped them after US airlines stopped flying over Russian airspace last year. And AI has the problem of not having enough aircraft for more routes. The ones they have are in terrible shape as mentioned above. They leased a few B777-200LR's to start the BOM-SFO non-stop flights. The new orders will help but it will be a while before they start coming in.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 15 Feb 2023 02:44

Only thing I can't fathom about the huge AI order is why they chose to split the narrow-body order between the A320neo and B737Max. One would have expected them to use this opportunity to standardize on one or the other like every other airline in India (and even abroad) to reduce training and maintenance costs in the long run.

Splitting the widebody order makes more sense since there is a significant enough difference in size and capacity between the B787 and A350.

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 15 Feb 2023 04:01

nachiket wrote:Only thing I can't fathom about the huge AI order is why they chose to split the narrow-body order between the A320neo and B737Max. One would have expected them to use this opportunity to standardize on one or the other like every other airline in India (and even abroad) to reduce training and maintenance costs in the long run.

Splitting the widebody order makes more sense since there is a significant enough difference in size and capacity between the B787 and A350.

Seems a strategic/sarkar-driven play to distribute everything equally to both FR and US....maybe easier path to make-in-india is to start with narrow-body aircraft and having two prospects instead of one is better. Or possibly neither one has capacity to fulfil the entire order in the desired time frame.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 15 Feb 2023 08:14

Rakesh wrote: https://twitter.com/ShivAroor/status/16 ... x_OAgC52NA ---> Air India signs massive deal with @Airbus to acquire 250 passenger aircraft:

* 140 x A-320
* 70 x A-321
* 40 x A-350

Deal with @Boeing to be announced too.

https://twitter.com/ShivAroor/status/16 ... 3SwDrWZxjQ ---> The Air India order break up:

* 140 x Airbus A320
* 70 x Airbus A321neo
* 40 x Airbus A350
* 190 x Boeing 737 Max
* 20 x Boeing 787
* 10 x Boeing 777X

Roop · Post by **Roop** » 15 Feb 2023 13:09

nachiket wrote:Only thing I can't fathom about the huge AI order is why they chose to split the narrow-body order between the A320neo and B737Max.

Well, the thing I can't fathom is: why buy even a single B737Max? Given the dodgy safety record of the thing, it seems a bit reckless. Much better, IMO, to either order the normal B737 instead (if they still make it), or give the entire narrow-body order to Airbus A320Neo.

chiru · Post by **chiru** » 15 Feb 2023 13:42

I was thinking about the same safety issues of the 737 max, hope lives are not lost in the geopolitical balancing act.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 15 Feb 2023 13:58

It has been flying for over an year now. Hopefully the issues are fixed.
One year after the 737 Max’s return, Boeing is still trying to get back on course

One year since Boeing’s embattled 737 Max returned to service — following the largest grounding in aviation history — there appears to be a broad consensus in the industry that the plane is as safe as any flying today.

“The question I get asked most frequently is, ‘Would you get on a Max?’ And the answer to that is yes, without question, and I would put my family on one,” aviation safety consultant and NBC News analyst John Cox, said in an interview with CNBC’s “American Greed.”

Much less clear, however, is whether, in its next generation of aircraft, Boeing can avoid the cascade of errors, shortcuts and management failures that led to 346 deaths in two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 — blamed in part on the plane’s flight-control system.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 15 Feb 2023 14:40

Having 2 suppliers is better for price negotiations and ongoing service comparison. 3 providers would be ideal but there isn't a credible 3rd company.

As Indian economy grows, some long haul flights will become profitable. There is also a lot of travel that happens to ME, Africa and East Asia. The medium rangers are ordered keeping this in mind I think.

Travelled AI biz class a few times recently before and after TATA takeover. Though fare competitive, service was very inconsistent, cabins decrepit and overall C grade. Staff training has been very poor for decades and it shows. eCommerce, marketing are actually D grade.

But Tatas can fix it and AI does have potential to become successful on the back of the only big growth economy on the planet. It needs a leader with flair and zeal. Hope the enter into long term Av gas supply contracts with Russia, UAE when prices are low.

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 15 Feb 2023 18:03

Just for context:

https://leehamnews.com/2023/02/15/hotr- ... us-boeing/

Both Boeing and Airbus are in serious trouble in China. The local PRC industry is now getting set to crank out indigenous airframes (gawd help the passengers)...it seems going forward they will mainly need the GE-Safran engines and other miscellaneous parts from the "West", and not the Boeing/Airbus planes. So perhaps the recent AI deal is a large carrot for ramping up in India.

Furthermore, Airbus has a A320 assembly line in China (Tianjin). I wonder if bharat sarkar will stipulate no China-made aircraft.

Meanwhile, IndiGo says Airbus is having difficulty fulfilling A320 orders on time due to "supply chain issues":

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 022-08-03/

So again, it seems to makes sense to split the order....

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 16 Feb 2023 00:08

Yes uncertainty over deliveries is probably the reason they chose to split. Even now they operate both the A320 (regular AI) and 737NG (AI Express). Perhaps they will keep it that way. Still it won't allow them to simplify their training and maintenance operations like Indigo et al can thanks to using a single type.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 16 Feb 2023 00:09

Roop wrote: Well, the thing I can't fathom is: why buy even a single B737Max? Given the dodgy safety record of the thing, it seems a bit reckless. Much better, IMO, to either order the normal B737 instead (if they still make it), or give the entire narrow-body order to Airbus A320Neo.

The MAX has gone through a very lengthy safety review after those two accidents, with the entire fleet grounded for a long time and there is so much scrutiny on that aircraft now that it is likely to be one of the safest around in the future.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 17 Feb 2023 23:48

Air India Selects Up to 290 Boeing Jets to Serve Its Strategy for Sustainable Growth
https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2023-02-14 ... ble-Growth
14 Feb 2023

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 18 Feb 2023 10:02

https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/ ... 48318.html

Nepal plane crash preliminary report: Investigators suspect human error

17th February 2023

Crashed Yeti Airlines aircraft , Nepal crash. Wreckage of a passenger plane lies near the airport, in Pokhara, Nepal on Jan.16, 2023

KATHMANDU: The Yeti Airlines aircraft which crashed in Nepal last month killing 71 people, including five Indians, lost thrust and fell after the propellers of both engines went into a feathered position, according to a preliminary probe report which lead investigators to suspect human error behind the deadly crash.

Yeti Airlines flight 691, after taking off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on January 15, crashed on the Seti River gorge between the old airport and the new airport in the resort city of Pokhara.

There were 72 people including four crew members onboard the ATR-72 aircraft when it crashed, but rescue officials have so far managed to recover only 71 bodies with the other missing passenger presumed dead.

It is rare for the propellers of both engines to come to a feathered position, said one of the members of the five-member probe committee, which is also mentioned in the 14-page preliminary report posted on the website of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation of Nepal.

“Human factor in the accident could not be disregarded. So it is an issue of investigation,” said the member on condition of anonymity.

“When both propellers were feathered, the investigation team observed that both engines of 9N-ANC were running flight idle condition during the event flight to prevent over torque,” states the preliminary report.

“As per the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) all the recorded parameters related to engines did not show any anomaly,” adds the report.

“When Air Traffic Controller (ATC) gave the clearance for landing at 10:57:07, the Pilot Flying (PF) mentioned twice that there was no power coming from the engines,” the report further says.

“During the time of the crash, the prevailing visibility was 6 km and the sky was almost clear with only a few clouds,” points out the preliminary report.

According to experts, the pilots unintentionally pulled the condition levers causing the engine to shut down and feather the propellers. Each lever starts and stops the fuel supply, and controls the idle speed for its respective engine.

One investigator said that they found the levers pulled down at the crash site.“We are waiting for a detailed report. We cannot ascertain what happened before that,” said a probe committee member. “Yes, there is also the issue of flaps. There are questions about why the pilots delayed extending the flaps. The routine checklists were not followed.

There are many factors to look at,” Joint Secretary at the Tourism Ministry Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane - a senior member of the probe committee -- was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

As per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the state investigating an accident or incident must produce a preliminary report within 30 days of the accident.

The final report should be produced within 12 months of the accident.

According to the preliminary report, the flight crew had made two flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara earlier in the morning.

The flight that crashed was the third in a row by the same crew. There were two captains on the plane.

Captain Anju Khatiwada was in the process of obtaining aerodrome familiarisation for operating in Pokhara, and Captain Kamal KC was the instructor pilot on this training flight.

The take-off, climb, cruise, and descent to Pokhara were normal.

At 10:56:12, the pilots extended the flaps to the 15 degrees position and pushed the landing gear lever to the down position.

Khatiwada then disengaged the autopilot system at an altitude of 721 feet above the ground. Khatiwada then called for “FLAPS 30”, and Captain KC replied, “Flaps 30 and descending.” The flight data recorder (FDR) did not record any flap surface movement at that time.

Instead, the propeller rotation speed of both engines decreased simultaneously to less than 25 per cent and the torque, the force that causes an opposite rotation, started decreasing to zero per cent, which is consistent with both propellers going into the feathered condition, the report said.

When the propellers are feathered, they don't produce thrust that pushes the aircraft forward.

As per the flight data recorder, no recorded parameters related to the engines showed any anomaly.

When the air traffic controller gave the clearance for landing, Captain Khatiwada twice mentioned that there was no power in the engines.

The report said that the aircraft's airworthiness certificate was valid till April 24, 2023.

Nepal's investigators have received analytical support from Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau.

The airport, built with China's assistance, was hastily inaugurated and operated without adequate preparations to meet the January 1 project deadline.

Flight calibration, which tests all pieces of equipment at the new airport, has yet to recommend landing from the west.

The calibration report is due to be published on February 26. The flight procedure has not been published either. Airlines have very little information about airport procedures and data, according to experts.

The AAIC has stated that further investigation will focus on the circumstances under which both propellers went into the feathered condition, human factors, and visual approach procedures, including simultaneous operation of both national and international airports, according to media reports.

TrishulM · Post by **TrishulM** » 21 Feb 2023 11:40

Sanctions-hit Russia pitches manufacture of its civil jet in India

India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation in talks to draw up a working arrangement to manufacture Sukhoi Superjet with foreign components.

Sanctions-hit Russia, which is going for import substitution in a big way, has proposed to manufacture its Sukhoi Superjet civil aircraft in India and the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The plan is to manufacture the Superjet in Russia with Russian components and in India, set up manufacturing of Sukhoi Superjet international with foreign components, said Yury B. Slyusar, director general of UAC.

“We offered to the Indian side to assemble the Sukhoi Superjet with foreign-made components here in India in line with international technical specifications... Our plan is to manufacture in Russia with Russian components and in India to set up manufacturing of Sukhoi Superjet international, which can be built very fast...,” Mr. Slyusar said, speaking to a few journalists on the sidelines of Aero India last week. “On the request of HAL, we made a presentation and sent it to them and we are awaiting their feedback.”

The Superjet 100 is a 100-seater civil aircraft designed and developed by Sukhoi corporation, which has now been merged into UAC along with MIG corporation. The other major aircraft manufacturing companies, Ilyushin and Tupolev, are also set to be merged with UAC soon. The Superjet could be the first Indian-made civil aircraft, which meets the requirements of national aviation authorities, he noted.

In a related development, last week Air India announced a massive deal for the procurement of 470 civilian aircraft, 250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. Separately, India is currently evaluating proposals from three global engine manufacturers — General Electric, Rolls Royce and Safran — to co-develop and manufacture a fighter jet engine locally to meet future Indian requirements.

On the current situation in the backdrop of the sanctions, Mr. Slyusar said the Superjet has foreign components that were being certified by European certification agencies and at present they are making an “absolute Russian variant with Russian components, avionics and systems so that there are no foreign components”.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia has seen a series of sanctions imposed by the West and was expelled from the global SWIFT payment system. Since then, they have been doing import replacements, Mr. Slyusar said.

On the choice of HAL as the partner in India, he said they have extensive military cooperation with HAL and it will be a nice platform to convert to civil items. A total of 200 Superjet aircraft were manufactured and practically all of them are in active operation, he said, adding that they are open to working with the Indian private sector for airframes and vendor items among others.

Mr. Slyusar pitched the Superjet as an ideal platform for India’s plans to expand local and regional transportation under the UDAN scheme. The Superjet aircraft will be fully compliant and very useful for India, he stressed.

Sukhoi upgrade
A major upgrade programme for the entire SU-30MKI fleet has been under negotiation with Russia for a while to give the aircraft better radar, avionics and weapons among others. As reported earlier, IAF officials had said that it was envisaged that all upgrades would be incorporated per aircraft in one go but given the cost and time it would take to cover the entire fleet, the IAF has decided to go for capability upgrades in phases.

On this, Mr. Slyusar said discussions are continuously on and they just defined the technical specifications. “We plan to undertake considerable upgrades in India with HAL. It was the main requirement of the Indian territory, upgrade and testing should take place here,” he said.

Stating that they are installing Indian-made equipment and weapons on the SU-30MKIs, he said they had offered to the Indian side different options, including a new engine, and it was for the IAF to decide.

Atmavik · Post by **Atmavik** » 28 Feb 2023 13:53

Shivamogga Airport dedicated to India by PM Modi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsyk1-57GpQ

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 04 Mar 2023 02:53

New Airports of India

1. Kanpur Airport, Shares Runway with HAL Chakeri. Was a tin shed in 1960s a small building till now. New terminal ready awaiting clearances from BCAS(Bureau of Civil Aviation Security), Fire deptt and UP pollution control Board. March 15th is when it will be declared open after NOCs are obtained and a 4 lane highway finished linking the airport to the Kanpur--Prayagraj 6 lane highway. ILS-II is also being installed and night landing lights.

2. Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport , Lucknow, new terminal to become ready Dec 2023. Currently airport is shut from 9pm to 6 am to refurbish and lengthen runway and add two more taxiways.

https://twitter.com/Sahilinfra2/status/ ... Xc2qEtAAAA

https://twitter.com/cbdhage/status/1403419186882396163

3. Jewar International airport, Yogi Adityanath's flagship project providing Delhi NCR, NOIDA etc a second international airport. Built on 1300 acres already acquired and will become UP's 5th international airport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9XFBo97CJQ

4. Navi Mumbai International airport, Mumbai's under construction second airport. Will be linked to the city by a long bridge transharbor bridge being built. Eventually Gold line of Mumbai Metro will run to this airport and in the future the airport will be connected by High speed rail to Hyderabad, Mumbai to Hyderabad HSR bullet train will have a station at this airport. A huge hill is being completely leveled as it is on the flight path. Adani took over the contract from GMR group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LOQmqS7E9c

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 04 Mar 2023 21:10

Ayodhya International Airport(Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram International Airport)

This is an under construction International airport. Phase 1 will involve constructing a 2200 m X 45m long runway and a terminal building. This will allow Airbus 320 and ATR-72s to land for the moment. It will only be for Domestic traffic. This will open June 2023 or a few months after that once certification and NOCs are received. Phase 3 expansion will permit international flights. Interview with the chief engineer overlooking airport construction and views of the under construction runway and terminal buildings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVbOCM6qUIA

Renders of the terminal building

http://www.uniindia.com/~/pm-inspects-m ... 48929.html

hgupta · Post by **hgupta** » 05 Mar 2023 13:37

Vsunder,

Given the recent orders for Boeing and Airbus in nearly 1000 planes from two airlines, how come the Civil Ministry has not stepped in and mandated that 50% of the money must go toward local production of airplane parts just as China did a decade earlier? Now we see China coming out with a passenger plane that could compete with the likes of Boeing and Airbus.

I feel that this is a missed golden opportunity to try and get the local aeronautical industry going.

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 05 Mar 2023 23:39

hgupta wrote:Vsunder,

Given the recent orders for Boeing and Airbus in nearly 1000 planes from two airlines, how come the Civil Ministry has not stepped in and mandated that 50% of the money must go toward local production of airplane parts just as China did a decade earlier? Now we see China coming out with a passenger plane that could compete with the likes of Boeing and Airbus.

I feel that this is a missed golden opportunity to try and get the local aeronautical industry going.

It's not that simple - sarkar is clearly working on it (several news items posted earlier). It will be one step at a time, like this one:

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-02-13/

Already the delivery of existing orders is reduced to a trickle (see news items about IndiGo's previous large order). Airbus production backlog is about 7000 planes, and Boeing's 4000. I don't know the exact reasons.

Also, it looks like IndiGo is going to place another massive order that will be bigger than the recent Air India one. Once India gains enough traction as a major buyer, local production demands may be more successful.

Regarding China: they did demand (and got) local production from Airbus - after 10-15 years of placing large orders. In the meantime they slowly worked on their own planes, and now (it appears) may only need imported engines and a few other parts. Like I said earlier, this situation could further accelerate set up of local parts production or even assembly in India.

However, the only long term path is for India to learn how to build planes that are reliable (a single crash could kill the domestic industry). The Russians have a lot of experience building large commercial jets and may be a good partner. Right now it looks like we are learning to walk:

- Saras (15-20 seater turboprop) has military orders, and is also being marketed as a civil commuter/regional connectivity aircraft.

- Russia has offered co-production of a 100-seater jetliner (SJ100):

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 525839.ece

Latest news on this:

https://simpleflying.com/uac-sell-its-s ... 0-program/
https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transp ... 59.article

The Russians have exited SJ100...the stakeholders are now UAE and Italian firms. The news items says it will "focus on markets in UAE and India" and a factory to be built in UAE. I wonder what is brewing there...maybe some manufacturing in India as well? What happens to the existing Russian manufacturing facilities ?

Gotta be patient.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 05 Mar 2023 23:57

It is remarkable the sort of transportation infrastructure coming up in India. Road rail air.

An aside.

When BRF started this would have been unthinkable.

India is certainly ten times richer than it was in the 90s. It is just starting to show it.

India is now at the stage where growth increments will come faster. It is the classic sigmoid curve. China is already at the terminal part of the curve whilst India is entering the steep portion.

It is an unknown if this would have been possible under the corruption of the ancien regime. I doubt if Indians will tolerate such again.

krithivas · Post by **krithivas** » 08 Mar 2023 10:35

Looks like the andolan Jeevi is leaching on to an ongoing pushback.
https://indianexpress.com/article/citie ... 7772/lite/

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 12 Mar 2023 05:04

Supply Chain Constraints Forces Air India To Receive Airbus A350s With Aeroflot Cabins

On Valentine's Day, flag carrier Air India finally announced its highly-anticipated historical order of 250 aircraft with Airbus. Among the massive aircraft order, the airline committed to six Airbus A350-900s and 34 A350-1000 widebody aircraft, with the initial six of the smaller variant due to be received later this year.

While it's indeed good news that these new-generation, long-range widebody aircraft will finally get to debut within the Indian aviation industry, Air India will be receiving six Airbus A350-900s that were initially meant for the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot. Although the six widebodies will bear Air India's livery, the interior will paint a different picture for the airline and its passengers.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, sanctions imposed on the country meant that Aeroflot and all Russian carriers could not take in already-built aircraft that had rolled off production lines and were awaiting delivery. As a result, several completed and furnished aircraft, including more than 20 of the highly-popular Airbus A350s, were parked aside, waiting for new owners.

Rehoming all 22 of the long-range widebodies has been a tough challenge for Airbus, but with Air India's order, the manufacturer's job got much more manageable. The six Airbus widebodies headed for Air India are MSN589, MSN592, MSN594, MSN554, MSN555, and MSN558.

Unfortunately, reallocating is not all that Airbus has to do, as since the aircraft were initially ready for Aeroflot, they now need to be prepared for Air India - which typically would not be a problem, except that there's still an ongoing disruption to the global supply chain causing a shortage of supplies for aircraft and cabin spares.

This means that refurbishing these six Airbus A350-900s, currently configured as Aeroflot had ordered - 28 in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 264 in economy class would take additional time. And time is something Air India does not have, so the airline opts to retain the existing cabin layout and accept its new widebodies with Aeroflot cabins instead.

Aside from the 250 aircraft order from Airbus, the Star Alliance member also has a similar significantly big order commitment for 220 aircraft with Boeing. In total, Air India is expanding and renewing its fleet with 470 aircraft from these two manufacturers - but what could this mean for the airline and its passengers?

Besides updated cabin configurations on the new-generation aircraft, passengers will definitely be looking forward to network expansions and frequency enhancements from the flag carrier, especially within the UK. The flag carrier recently announced moving four existing UK routes from London Heathrow to London Gatwick Airport at the end of March.

The move will allow Air India to add more weekly frequencies to its Heathrow services between London and Delhi and London and Mumbai. And with an expanded fleet, the airline might also look towards expanding sixth-freedom flight operations, such as further connecting Europe to several parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East via India.

While no definitive route network plans have officially been laid out by Air India, except for the moving of the UK routes, the flag carrier will likely focus intensely on increasing its international presence. But still, the excitement for such announcements will have to wait until the end of this year, when the first routes of the newly-delivered Airbus A350-900s get revealed.

Atmavik · Post by **Atmavik** » 12 Mar 2023 05:28

krithivas wrote:Looks like the andolan Jeevi is leaching on to an ongoing pushback.
https://indianexpress.com/article/citie ... 7772/lite/

Did this jeevi flew in for protests or did she hike thru the jungles ?

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 16 Mar 2023 01:47

1st aircraft unit to come up at UP defence corridor's Kanpur node.

Genser Aerospace Private Limited will set up a complete aircraft manufacturing unit at the Kanpur node of UP defence industrial corridor (UPDIC).
A senior government official said that manufacturing will commence at the first complete aircraft manufacturing private industry at UPDIC by 2024.

"UP defence industrial corridor chief nodal officer, former Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and UPDIC chief general manager Rakesh Mishra hadheld a meeting with Genser Aerospace at Aero India to consolidate the MoU signed and announced at the UP Global Investor Summit 2023," he said.

He added that the design of defence aircraft RAJAS-Rakshan was also announced by Genser CEO Arunakar Mishra during the day. The officer said that Genser, under the aegis of Aerospace Foundation of India (Aerofi), has been working for over five years on the development of the defence transport aircraft RAJAS-Rakshan.

Mishra said that RAJAS-Rakshan is a two pilot plus seven seat aircraft, with 5 tonnes all-up weight, having a twin turbofan engine with cruise speed of over 0.7 Mach (over 800 kmph) and a range of over 2,000 nautical miles (4,000 km) to travel across India.

It will be sold within the SAARC countries and similar ranges elsewhere in the world. He said that the projected market is 1,200 aircraft (600 for domestic market and 600 for export) in 20 years. “This is going to be the first private industry setting up their complete aircraft manufacturing unit in the Kanpur node of UP Defence Industrial Corridor with massive investments of Rs 3,000 crore,” he said.

Project realisation is planned under a collaborative model using many Indian and overseas partners and through an extensive supply chain across India for prototyping, testing, certification, limited series production, series production and operations support, he added

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 23 Mar 2023 14:06

https://onemileatatime.com/news/india-b ... expanding/

India Blocks Gulf Carriers From Expanding

For years, the major Gulf carriers have been the de facto national airlines of India, given the amount of global traffic that they carry to and from India via their hubs. With Indian airlines undergoing a major transformation, Indian authorities are now restricting the growth of these airlines, as reported by Reuters.
...
...

rajkumar · Post by **rajkumar** » 05 May 2023 21:41

Go First Isn't The First To Go: All Who Went Down Forgot Three Realities Of Flying In Indian Skies

....The Indian landscape is littered with airlines that went bust ever since the skies above were opened up for private players in the 1990s: Damania, East West, NEPC, ModiLuft, Paramount, Kingfisher and Jet are only some of them, even if we leave out the ones that (temporarily) survived by merging with other airlines (Air Sahara, Air Deccan, Indian Airlines). And this is not even an exhaustive list (read this Wikipedia page for the full laundry list of failed airlines)....

https://swarajyamag.com/business/go-fir ... dian-skies

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 07 May 2023 23:43

New Kanpur airport terminal is all ready and due to be inaugurated May 26th. The terminal structure is modeled after the Gupta era terracotta temple at nearby Bhitargaon and the local city landmark JK temple. ILS-CAT II system has been installed to prevent closure of the airport during fog season. New destinations are to be added, Goa, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai are connected to Kanpur by air. Currently the small terminal has 1 check in counter and only one aircraft can park in the bay. This will increase to 8 check in counters and a bay that will allow 3 aircrafts to be parked in the new terminal. Go Air, Vistara and Air Asia also have evinced interest in operating flights out of Kanpur.

Lucknow International airport (Chaudhury Charan Singh airport)is shut for night flights till July as the runway is being lengthened to 3200m, two new taxiways are to be added. A brand new terminal--- concrete, glass and steel being built by Adani will also be inaugurated by October or November.

Ayodhya airport that will later become an international airport in Phase II will also open in October, Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram International airport.

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 25 May 2023 15:21

SriKumar wrote:
Kartik wrote: Jokers who come from other industries (I have worked with a couple of managers with prior experience in other software firms but not aerospace who were absolutely hopeless and understood NOTHING about the domain they were working in) and brought the combative and every pushy culture and mindset of those organisations into Boeing.
Two questions: How were these guys even hired in the first place? How come co-workers did not see through their ignorance after a month or two in the job? Usually a couple of months is enough to figure out whether they have any real knowledge or not.

Because they were in management and when they're hiring folks for such positions, what they look at is their performance in their previous jobs at delivering projects on schedule and cost. That is what is considered of prime importance for project management, not necessarily aerospace experience or domain knowledge. For that, the engineering and technical folks are supposed to be there. But when management is setting up unrealistic goals sometimes on the basis of schedule and order book rivalry with Airbus, they can be very persuasive and refuse to listen to experienced engineering folks.

A project manager without aerospace domain knowledge is fine as long as he/she takes relevant inputs from the more experienced people around and then takes decisions.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 28 May 2023 18:42

New Kanpur airport terminal inaugurated on Friday May 26th by UP CM Yogi Adityananth. The airport is a civilian enclave at HAL/IAF Chakeri and shares one runway 2800m 09-27 with the military airfield. There is a secondary runway 01-19 not used for commercial operations. ILS-CAT II has been installed as part of the new terminal to allow night landing and landing in foggy weather. The new terminal has 8 check in counters as opposed to 1 before and 6 bays to park aircraft as opposed to 3 before. Seating for 350 passengers is now available. The airport will in the future connect to the under construction limited access Kanpur ring road and also the under construction Kanpur to Lucknow expressway. Currently it is connected via a 4 lane road to the Kanpur to Prayagraj 6 lane highway. The airport is modeled to resemble the JK temple a local landmark and the Gupta era terracotta temple at Bhitargaon in Kanpur Dehaat, a ruin now. The hope is that with the availability of night operations new flights to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Surat, Ahmedabad will become operational besides the lone flights to Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Flights to Gorakhpur, Chitrakoot etc are also on the anvil.

Additional Details of Chakeri(Kanpur) airport

The main runway is on a bearing 27-09 that means the runway is aligned 90 degrees and 270 degrees in compass bearing. The precise orientation/ compass bearing of the runway is 88 degree and 268 degrees, so more or less very, very close to an exact EAST-WEST alignment.
This runway is 2800m long and 45.7m wide and a concrete runway. There is a secondary runway oriented 1-19 roughly on a northeast--southwest orientation, that is on a 10 degrees and 190 degrees axis that is NOT used for commercial operations. So just one runway is utilized for commercial operations. ICAO nomenclature for this airfield is VICX and it is 123m above MSL(mean sea level).

Radio and ATC(Air Traffic Control) Tower details and Navigation beacons.

These are the radio frequencies of the ATC tower and Approach.
ATC tower 123.5 MHz and Approach 122.7 MHz.

Navigational beacon Details

A VOR-DME LLK(Lucknow) beacon is located at 38 nm(nautical miles) from Chakeri airport and sends signals at a radio frequency of 113.10 MHz(Mega Hertz) and is oriented at a compass bearing 49 degrees in a Northeasterly direction from the airport. This beacon is omni directional and since DME, it is equipped with distance measuring equipment(DME), allowing the receiver/pilot to measure distance from the plane to the beacon, thereby establishing the position/location of the plane.
There is also a NDB(non directional beacon) transmitting from the airport at 1.3 nautical miles from the airport at 292MhZ. An NDB is the sort of opposite of a VOR beacon.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 28 May 2023 19:10

The Comac C-919 will undergo its first commercial flight soon (may happen today or in the next few days)...kudos to them. They have worked on the program hard even though a lot of it may not be indigenous

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 28 May 2023 23:03

The Runway (South Runway) of DB Patil International Airport (Navi Mumbai Airport) is finally beginning to take shape. L&T is the contractor and operator will be Adani Group. The runway will have two taxiways in Phase I. Phase II will see construction of the parallel North runway with two associated taxiways.

Runway 1: 08L/26R 3700mx60m

Runway 2: 08R/26L 3700mx60m

The about to be completed(Dec 2023) Mumbai Trans harbor bridge about 22 km long will connect to the airport making it possible to reach the airport in 20 minutes from South Mumbai. Later there will be a Metro link(Gold Line) between the existing airport CSM airport and this one and in the future this airport will have a bullet train station for the proposed Hyderabad--Mumbai bullet train.

There is a huge hill at one end of the runway that has to be cut down to the base, this is a major effort and work on this is going 24x7x365.
Progress as of April 2023:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE0iZ0dJifY

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Runways are designated by their compass headings. So Runway 08 means 80 degrees compass bearing. The opposite direction will be 180+80=260 degrees, so 26R or 26L, in the case of DB Patil International for example. Always subtracting the bigger number from the smaller number from runway designations should in all cases give 18, because of 180 degrees.

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 10 Jun 2023 12:17

India failed to soar in global skies — it's correcting that mistake now
ET Online Last Updated: Jun 10, 2023, 11:11 AM IST

Recently, India said no to United Airlines when it wanted permission to put its code on Emirates flights from India, upsetting a landmark arrangement signed between the two airlines last year which would have enhanced their network to India. Code-share flights allow carriers to jointly market a route, allowing them to expand their network and help fill their planes.

Emirates is one of the several airlines that seek more bilateral flying rights from India. Why is the government refusing the rights to these airlines when more seats and flights would obviously mean cheaper fares?

India's global ambition
India has its eye on a big aim for which it can forgo immediate benefits of more flights and low fares to its passengers. It has freezed extension of flying rights to Middle-East countries in order to encourage Indian carriers to fly widebody aircraft and provide direct connectivity to North America and Europe. Global airline CEOs say the policy stifles capacity expansion and hurts consumers. But Air India is said to be in favour of the freeze as it plans to increase direct connectivity through long-haul flights.

India wants to spread its wings in the global skies where it has had limited presence so far despite having a large population, growing economy and purchasing power, and a large number of international passengers. How did it happen?

The lopsided bilateral pacts
Many international carriers, especially from the Middle-East, have grown at the cost of Indian carriers. India has lopsided bilateral aviation pacts with 116 countries. Bilateral air-service agreements between two countries that allow their airlines to fly between the two countries offer quotas on the basis of seats or flights per week. The countries distribute these quotas to their respective airlines.

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had found that these bilateral pacts, signed mostly during the UPA rule, had favoured foreign carriers which made full use of these rights to operate flights to and from India while Indian rights remained under-used. Often, Indian airlines keep extending the bilateral rights without launching flights to use those rights. Now, the government is auditing the use of these rights by Indian airlines.

More points discussed in original article.

Head full article from here//
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 875615.cms

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 10 Jun 2023 17:27

I suspect bread and butter survival of many of these Middle East airlines are based on the traffic to India. Even though the perception is that they are serving EU and US markets and the Indian sector is an afterthought.

mappunni · Post by **mappunni** » 11 Jun 2023 08:21

Dilbu wrote:I suspect bread and butter survival of many of these Middle East airlines are based on the traffic to India. Even though the perception is that they are serving EU and US markets and the Indian sector is an afterthought.

Its been a long time since I traveled on ME carriers from the US to India. The long flights (16 hours or so) from Dallas to Dubai/Doha and then a short hop to TN/Kerala is not my choice. Plus the way the ME carriers treat Indians in flight and and at the ME airports, leaves much to be desired.

They used to bus passengers to connecting flights to India. In case of flight delays they way the ME airlines folks treat you is horrible. After one bad experience in Dubai some 6 years ago, I refuse to travel on them and prefer to do one hop flights from to London and then onwards to Chennai.

With quite few trips to India in this route, my family I snagged enough miles for free trips to Europe couple of times. Why will I fly ME carriers?

I do not expect Air India to fly to Chennai from Dallas or Houston direct anytime soon.