Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

James · Post by **James** » 06 May 2016 14:00

^^ Well, the Mumbai - Delhi route consistently features in the top 10 routes in the world in terms of passengers flown, seat capacity and no. of aircraft movements per day b/w 2 cities.

See this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s ... air_routes

Plus a large majority of international airlines flying into India have only Mumbai and / or Delhi as their only points of entry into India, as they may not have adequately high enough traffic to fly directly into other cities.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 15:02

dilli and mumbai also act as the only hubs in west and north. for example to fly from jaipur, pune, ahmedabad,indore to guwahati you need to reach either one.

in south there are not that many other major airport cities apart from the big 3 who share the meat equally. kochi and triv have direct flights to north and west for tourism.

punjab/haryana have a lot of NRIs and internal migrants but only one other airport in amritsar...all of them go to delhi and take surface transport.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 May 2016 15:05

a while back like a decade, chennai used to be nearly 2X that of blr ...

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 06 May 2016 19:50

Kashi wrote:There's daylight between passenger numbers for Delhi/Mumbai and Blr/Hyd. Wonder why is that.

The south does not have anything like the DEL / BOM zonal hubs. BLR, MAA, HYD and COK are all individually quite big and serve their own markets internationally too. As Singha mentioned, here was a time <10 years ago when MAA had traffic of 2x of either BLR or HYD. But they lost out. Now you can see Lufthansa, Air France, Emirates and BA widebodies parked side by side in BLR at night. COK likewise is autonomously capable of handling the Kerala-Gulf traffic. There was a time when Malayalees flew to BOM to fly to Dubai, but not anymore. In fact, Kochi is the only major Indian airport with more international than domestic traffic, with an approximately 4 million : 3 million spread of the two. It has a correspondingly much bigger and better international terminal than domestic one now, though the latter is being expanded.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 06 May 2016 20:51

HYD traffic seems to be picking up after stagnation for a long time. Mumbai cannot have another terminal even if the slums were cleared. That land is not enough for a terminal and its part of the commercial real estate to exploit.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 06 May 2016 21:18

Navi Mumbai airport will bid out soon.

SSundar · Post by **SSundar** » 07 May 2016 11:02

Singha wrote:a while back like a decade, chennai used to be nearly 2X that of blr ...

Gotta blame Hyderabad. Much of the original Chennai traffic was Intl transfer passengers from old AP. There was also good domestic day traffic to the consulates such as US. Successive regimes have built HYD into its own hub for all purposes. AP growth is direct decline for TN.

There also used to be a time when Chennai was the most beautiful airport in India. Not that it was really beautiful, but was the best looking among all the other AAI dumps. As all other cities went private airport, Chennai stuck to AAI.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 07 May 2016 11:13

Anyone and everyone would somehow try and avoid the Pigsty AAI airport in Chennai, plus there must have some Negative impact from the flooding during tourist season.

Bengaluru Airport from Now should always have higher traffic than Chennai, Bengaluru in General probably has a Higher upper Middle class/ Rich population taking flights.

Kolkota benefits a lot from the North East traffic moving through Kolkotta Airport.

Delhi Airport will always be big, 1- Its a major hub for the North, Tourists going to North of India will pass through Delhi, Similarly Tourists from Delhi probably to take Flight out as apart from Utttarakhand/ Himachal rest of the tourist spots in India need a domestic flight to reach.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 07 May 2016 11:57

there is no international apt or even a major domestic hub in Raj,MP,bihar,UP,jharkhand,chattisgarh, haryana,punjab,HP,uttarkhand,J&K and odisha.

that way south is evenly blessed with cochi, triv, chennai,hyd,blr,vizag and in future maybe coimbatore if it becomes a mega city.

I hear gulf airlines fly to even smaller places like kozhikode and mangalore.

Arunkumar · Post by **Arunkumar** » 08 May 2016 07:14

>>I hear gulf airlines fly to even smaller places like kozhikode and mangalore.

Yes even 747 takes off from kozhikode. Its kind of funny to see it going to one end of the single hilltop runway after boarding completed, take a big u turn and start its take off roll.
With the kannur airport coming up its days are kind of numbered and from what I hear some gelf airlines have/may shut shop there because of safety issues. Probably IN might take over the airport.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 13 May 2016 20:30

10 key takeaways from the new draft Civil Aviation Policy

The proposed new civil aviation policy may finally take off — after being presented for the first time in November 2014. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has cleared the aviation policy for final Cabinet approval after months of debates and inter-ministerial consultations.

The draft policy was revised in October 2015. Public comments were thereafter invited. According to the revised draft, the government intends to create an ecosystem that will enable 30 crore domestic ticketing by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027. Similarly, it aims to increase international ticketing to 20 crore by 2027. The other goal of the government is to ensure safety and increase regional connectivity.

Below are the key takeaways of the draft aviation policy:

1. Introduction of new regional flights, allowing new carriers to fly abroad — with partial or full abolition of the 5/20 rule. Under the 5/20 rule, carriers need to have atleast five years of operational experience and a fleet of minimum 20 aircrafts to be allowed to fly abroad.

2. The Centre has proposed a regional connectivity scheme (RCS) by offering concessions to the airlines, incentivising them to fly on regional routes. The government has also proposed a fare cap at Rs 2500 for an hour’s flight on regional routes. As per the scheme, the Centre will fund 80% of the airline's losses and the rest will come from the states.

3. The draft proposes a regional connectivity fund to be set up by levying a 2% cess on domestic and international tickets.

4. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will try to create a single-window system for all aviation-related transactions, queries and complaints.

5. DGCA also intends to ensure real-time safety tracking and prompt incident reporting.

6. As per the draft, Indian carriers will be free to enter into code-share agreements with foreign carriers for any destination within India on a reciprocal basis. International code share between Indian and foreign carriers will also be completely liberalized, subject to Air Service Agreements (ASA), which India has with 109 countries, between India and the relevant country.

7. The government plans to liberalize the regime of bilateral rights, leading to greater ease of doing business and wider choice to passengers.

8. Revival of air strips, depending on demand, as no-frills airports will be done at a cost not exceeding Rs 50 crore, mostly through AAI. Requirement of 12% project IRR will be relaxed for revival of these airports, wherever the airport is under AAI control

9. MRO, ground handling, cargo and ATF infrastructure co-located at an airport will also get the benefit of ‘infrastructure’ sector, with benefits under Section 80-IA of Income Tax Act.

10. The government will promote the growth of Scheduled Commuter Airlines (SCA). The eligibility criteria for SCA in terms of paid-up capital will be kept at Rs 2 crore. SCA shall have aircraft with capacity of 100 seats or less. There will be no restrictions on number of aircraft for an SCA, but it would need to operate a minimum number of movements per week to RCS destinations as prescribed. SCAs will also be able to enter into code shares with other airlines.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 15 May 2016 13:14

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ind ... 266270.cms

Reliance defence is planning to make 50-80 seater aircraft with Antonov.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 May 2016 16:04

^^ all these are hot air JVs . they will get make something if antonov lands a big deal here, which is very unlikely....nobody is even buying the ATR72 , EMB145 or bombardier offering in india lately.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 16 May 2016 18:13

These hot air JVs are useful but I hope these big wigs industrial houses like Reliance spend some more money on developing indigenous design & manf capability instead of pouring in money on wastes like UndieTV.

Let them come up with a light UAV...perhaps they will succeed in the first iteration. Most probably they won't but the learning experience will be great. Can display is proudly in all relevant forums. Helps them to build profile as an Aerospace design house.
Also instead of hot air JVs, hire experts from Antonov to expedite in-house design, manf & testing learning.

Currently, they behave as if they are entitled for a piece of pie just because of their name and JVs with foreign. More interested in screwdriver giri with very little spending...from a bean counter POV, makes sense. But nothing can substitute experience gained through failures and eventual successes.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 17 May 2016 05:01

Mumbai CSIL desperately needs a new new runway, or the city must get a new airport as soon as possible.

This happened

Lufthansa plane blocks Mumbai airport runway, flights hit

MUMBAI: The main runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here was closed for operations after a Lufthansa flight suffered four tyre bursts late on Friday, officials said here on Saturday.

The Mumbai International Airport Ltd. has opened up the secondary runway for regular operations after the incident which led to flight delays or diversions as the main runway remained shut for nearly 15 hours till 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Officials were unsure when it would be reopened even as the Lufthansa Airlines officials were busy replacing the damaged tyres of the aircraft stranded on the main runway.

Four tyres of the landing gear of Airbus A-330 Munich-Mumbai flight LH764 were damaged after landing and the plane could not be moved. The incident took place around 10.45 p.m., the Lufthansa Airlines said in a statement on Saturday.

There were 163 passengers on board who were evacuated via stairs on the runway, and the return flight LH-765 of Saturday was cancelled, hitting the flight plans of 223 passengers. The airline was making efforts to rebook them on other flights.

The incident has hit flight operations with a Cathay Pacific cargo service being diverted to Hyderabad. Some other flights were compelled to offload cargo to operate from the secondary runway which does not enable a longer take-off run.

Another three services were delayed including an Air India flight and a United Airlines Mumbai-Newark flight. Emirates Airlines operated a B-777 instead of an A-380 while a Mumbai-Singapore flight SQ423 of Singapore Airlines with 427 passengers and 25 crew on board was also affected.

Singapore Airlines said passengers of the Airbus A-380 aircraft were provided with hotel accommodation and the revised departure plans of the flight would be determined after the main runway was opened for operations.

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 31 May 2016 13:00

Singha wrote:^^ all these are hot air JVs . they will get make something if antonov lands a big deal here, which is very unlikely....nobody is even buying the ATR72 , EMB145 or bombardier offering in india lately.

This is a really crowded market.
Sukhoi Superjet.
Misubishi MRJ70/90
Bombaridier C series.
Embraer's new E family.

All of the above have firm orders.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 31 May 2016 18:46

Check out the mirror finish of the paint (& smoothness of the underlying skin panels) of an Airbus A-350 Wing.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 31 May 2016 18:57

Dunno whats going on but there seems to be perennial construction going on near car parking at BLR Airport. Has been there since last year. Airport has become very crowded...dropping off passengers is a pain...cabs dominate every inch of available road space...definitely need another terminal along with separate arrival/departure levels ASAP. Parking fees are quite expensive...100 INR for up to 1 hr!! Plus another 120 at toll booth...so far the elevated expressway is in good shape permitting consistent 85-90 Kph speed, which is awesome!

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 31 May 2016 19:04

Zynda wrote:Dunno whats going on but there seems to be perennial construction going on near car parking at BLR Airport. Has been there since last year. Airport has become very crowded...dropping off passengers is a pain...cabs dominate every inch of available road space...definitely need another terminal along with separate arrival/departure levels ASAP. Parking fees are quite expensive...100 INR for up to 1 hr!! Plus another 120 at toll booth...so far the elevated expressway is in good shape permitting consistent 85-90 Kph speed, which is awesome!

80 KMPH limit. Be careful of the radar cops. The fines are very high these days.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 08 Jun 2016 11:10

Russia launches its new Narrow Body Aircraft MS-21-300

http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/78765/

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 08 Jun 2016 17:27

^^I am really excited for this baby. Hopefully they'll find success commercially and we'll see the type operating in numbers outside of FSU/Russia region. I think the first flight should be some time next year?

First it was the Chinese with their Comac C919...now Russia.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 08 Jun 2016 21:07

NDTV

A fourth runway will be added to the airport as part of its expansion
The target is to finish the fourth runway in 3 years
Delhi airport currently handles 62 million passengers every year
New Delhi: Government has approved the expansion plan for the international airport in the national capital that would see addition of fourth runway as well as increase its passenger handling capacity.

The international aerodrome in the national capital is operated by Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd -- a public private partnership where diversified group GMR, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Germany's Fraport are the stakeholders.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said the Delhi international airport has made a target of having the fourth runway in three years. This would increase the facility for cargo as well as for services to all domestic and international passengers, he added.

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"... The government has already cleared the expansion plan," Mr Sharma said.

He was speaking at a function organised by DIAL to felicitate its stakeholders for making the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport the world's number one airport -- in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category -- for the second consecutive year.

It has been recognised as the number one airport in this category by the Airport Council International (ACI).

GMR Group Chairman G M Rao said Delhi airport's current capacity to handle 62 million passengers per annum and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo makes it ideally suited to serve the growth of Indian aviation.

"The airport has the ability to expand to 109 million passengers per annum and 2.2 million tonnes of cargo," he added.

According to Mr Sharma, out of the 484 airports in the country, only around 84 are being used.

"We are coming up with a regional connectivity scheme, where tier 2 and tier 3 cities will be connected by the flights where the ticket price will not be crossing more than Rs 2,500 for a one-hour flight," he noted.

In the last three months alone, the passenger growth has been almost 25 per cent.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 09 Jun 2016 09:44

Zynda wrote:^^I am really excited for this baby. Hopefully they'll find success commercially and we'll see the type operating in numbers outside of FSU/Russia region. I think the first flight should be some time next year?

First it was the Chinese with their Comac C919...now Russia.

Spec wise the MS-21 is better than the latest narrow body aircraft , fuel consumtion is 5 % lower compared to Max and Neo , the Chinese C919 is comparable to Neo and Max.

As of now MS-21 has 175 firm order and 100 soft ones but it has yet to make its flight , lets see how things shape up it has long way to go still it gets certified , UAC will have to slog their arse off even to make a small dent in this market where big boys are well established and market is unforgiving one.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 10 Jun 2016 09:46

Air India's Books Are So Bad, Nobody Will Buy It: Minister

New Delhi: Air India's "books are so bad" that nobody will buy it even if the government wanted to sell off the national carrier, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Thursday.

Ruling out disinvestment in the carrier that has a debt of some Rs 50,000 crore, Mr Raju at the same time made it plain that the taxpayers' money cannot be committed "for eternity".

"Its (Air India) books are so bad. I don't think that even if it is offered, anybody would come for it," he said.

Grappling with mounting debts and tough business conditions, Air India has been in the red since the merger of then Air India and Indian Airlines in 2007 and is staying afloat on a Rs 30,000-crore bailout package extended by the erstwhile UPA regime.

Asserting that unlike others, he would not like to get into "Air India bashing", the Minister also said that the carrier needs to function in a more cohesive manner to deliver on its turnaround goals.

"It is a nice airline. I like Air India but I can't commit taxpayers' money for eternity. That is not done," Raju told PTI in an interview.

Buoyed by improving financial situation and high growth potential of the domestic aviation market, Air India is putting in plans to expand its fleet by another 100 aircraft in the next four years.

"My feeling is that the cohesiveness of the team has to increase and where they have worked as a team, they have delivered, and where they have not worked as a team, they have pulled in different sides. Nobody can put the clock back. The quicker they realise it the better," he noted.

While there has been no official announcement so far, the airline has managed to eke out an operational profit of around Rs 6-8 crore in the previous financial year.

"The fact that they have not made an operating loss speaks volumes," Mr Raju said.

Confident that the national airline has the capability of flying high, the Minister said it is working in that direction and in a veiled reference to criticisms, emphasised that he does not like the idea of Air India "bashing".

As per latest DGCA data, Air India ferried a total of 11.98 lakh passengers on its domestic network in April, cornering a market share of 15.1 per cent during this period.

Arunkumar · Post by **Arunkumar** » 12 Jun 2016 13:16

>>>First it was the Chinese with their Comac C919...now Russia.

Are we attempting anything beyond 14 seater saras?

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 15 Jun 2016 16:40

'Acche din' for flyers: Cap on airfares, lower fee on excess baggage

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the much-awaited civil aviation policy , which puts a cap of Rs 2500 for a one-hour flight on special routes and at the same time aims to extend air connectivity to more cites.

The Cabinet has also tweaked the 5/20 rule that prevented Indian airlines from flying overseas unless they have operated for at least five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft.

Now, any domestic airline can start international operations if it puts higher of 20 aircraft or 20% of total capacity on domestic routes.

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the new policy will be a "game-changer" and that the country's aviation sector is poised to become the world's third largest by 2022.

"The centrepiece of this policy is the BJP manifesto's promise of Regional Connectivity," he tweeted after the Cabinet meeting.

The new policy has a slew of passenger-friendly measures...

Here are the highlights of the new policy:

1. Under no circumstances can ticket cancellation charges be more than the "basic fare". Carriers also cannot levy additional charges to process refunds for flyers.

2. Airlines will have to refund all statutory taxes levied in the event of flight cancellations.

3. In case of checked-in baggage, the airlines would be charging Rs 100 a kg for baggage in excess of 15 kg and up to 20 kg. At present, Rs 300 is levied for every kg of baggage beyond the 15-kg limit. Only Air India allows free baggage up to 23 kg.

4. Airlines will, though, be free to charge any fee on the baggage beyond 20kg.

5. With regard to being denied a hotel room in the event a flight is overbooked, the government has proposed a compensation of up to Rs 20,000 subject to specific conditions.

6. No compensation will be paid if a passenger is informed about a flight cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled departure of a flight, and if the airline has arranged another flight depending on the passenger's convenience. This would be applicable, subject to conditions, even in instances where the passenger has been informed about the cancellation less than two weeks before and up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the flight. In such cases, there would be no compensation if the carrier has arranged an alternate flight scheduled to depart within two hours of the scheduled departure of the cancelled flight.

7. For cancellations, the financial compensation would be Rs 5,000 or one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is lower, for flights having a block time of up to one hour. This amount would be Rs 7,500 in case of flights that have a block time of one to two hours. For flights that have a block time of more than two hours, the financial compensation would go up to Rs 10,000.

8. The option of holding a refund amount in credit by the airline would be decided by the passenger.

9. The onus of the refund of tickets which are booked through travel agent or portal will be on the carriers.

10. The refund process must be completed within 15 working days in case of domestic travel and 30 working days in case of international travel.

11. For foreign airlines, the refund must be in accordance with the regulations of their respective countries while the mode of refund will be governed by Indian norms.

12. Airlines should develop a procedure for making advance request for stretchers and those should be displayed on the airline's web site.

SSundar · Post by **SSundar** » 17 Jun 2016 10:11

The major disappointment in the new Civil Aviation policy is the lack of clear reform in how new airports will be developed in India. Looks like GoI is looking for state governments to put their own money into small regional airports. Still hoping against hope that this government will give a major boost to private investments in Airport Build-Own-and-Operate mode. Minimum Government... yada yada yada.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 17 Jun 2016 14:00

Flew SYD - HK - BLR yesterday on QF/KA combo. Although AI has a daily direct Dreamliner service to DEL, after my first Ai long haul trip a few months, have no enthusiasm to relive the experience if I can help it. Uninterested cabin crew, dirty toilets and general mess slots it in the fine company of cheeni China Southern.

QF have never disappointed with its great "matesy" service and I found KA (CX parent) service to be good.

I have found mmigration, customs and baggage at BLR consistently good. I had filled up my incoming card while half sleep so handwriting was not very good. Immigration officer had a friendly demeanour and and wow - a (rare) sense of humour - asked me if I was a Doctor and both of us laughed and I replied - Maybe I should be but then I might kill every body to which again he (wonder of wonders) laughed. He queried the illegible parts of my form and when I offered to to clean it up - he said he would do it himself. Another wow. Usually, they just throw the form back at you and start chatting with their comrade at the neighbouring counter.

The only other countries where I have experienced such friendly immigration officers are Australia - off course

and SIN. Most other places, they are arrogant with the US topping the list.

Then the fine bureaucratic genius is upon me. After immigration, there is another line to check the Immigration officers work. This chap's raisin d'etre is to check if your passport has stamp. Why? is there no trust in the Immigration officers that their work has to be checked?

This ridiculous process creates a long queue, a bottle neck and the queue jumping jokers begin their antics. We seem to be genetically engineered against queues. The efficiency gain due to numerous immigration counters is now lost to this verification step.

Baggage clearance is easy. Its already there on the belt by the time I arrive. Customs are least interested in me or any other passengers. This is the first time I did not carry a print out of the Indian baggage rules allowances which means, at the sub-conscious level i have become confident I wont have to argue and fight with Customs. For years, this was one of the first documents I would print and keep with my passport prior to travel.

Taking a taxi is easy enough. I think BLR has the best non pre-paid taxi rank of all airports in India. The taxi driver asks me if I want to go "URGENT" or "aaramse". I am relieved - I opt for "aaramse" Hindi is creeping in deep south in-spite of BRF link language thread

. Driver hands me his smartphone and asks me to type in my destination - all very good. It needed google to sort out our "opposite this, on top of that, underneath this, ask anyone they know me" navigation mess.

First driver I hired who does not drive like a loony or like somebody who arse is on fire after eating andhra curry and is looking for a toilet.

Just before Meridien was hit by a Brahma(nd) only knows stink that reminded me I was back in desh. How can any body live within a few kms radius?

Closer to the city its gets famaliar - NaMo's swacch bharat is yet to make a mark, there is an endless stream of garbage everywhere. Nothing has changed, or if it has it is not enough to make a sensory difference.

Today morning, I went to residency road. The new foot paths are nearly complete and now I can walk safely without putting my karma to the test and in the hands of the crazed motorists. so far so good. The not so good part - the foot path already looks 10 years old. Parts are missing, there are dips and shallows where puddles form and litter is collecting in corners. Why can't we get it right?

I nearly throw up in disgust my nice chai and veg puff from Chai Point when I have to cross, on foot, between residency road and Leonard lane - richmond, 3 smelly sewers overflowing on the road. This only seems to bother me, the rest of the people are justa walking in equanimity.

Tomorrow, I plan a trip to Rajvardhan Foods in Jayanagar for a pucca marathi sabudana khicchdi and a ride in the Namma metro. If only, I can work out a way to avoid the sewers after i have eaten.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Jun 2016 17:48

the areas around MG / residency / magrath road / church street have a sewerage problem due to too much digging without concrete ducts and too many restaurants and commercial places generating waste.

that said you are behaving like a pukka MUTU - cant stand one or two open drains

suck it up and move on bro

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 20 Jun 2016 10:23

Well, I have now become the unofficial speed walking while holding breath champ. I must have my daily dose of morning tea from chai point. The chaps who came up with Chai Point are geniuses. Inko Padmashree award de do and maybe even a Rajya Sabha seat.

And IR must mandate by special amendment a Chai PoinT kiosk in every train from Jayanti janta to upcoming HSR to improve quality of travel life. Say NO to crap IR tea.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Jun 2016 12:34

Chai point puts highly addictive amounts of sugar in their tea. thats why it tastes so good . thats not you speaking but the bacteria in your gut who release chemicals that impact the brains pleasure centers into demanding more pleasure via sugar...which these bacteria then feast on.

wait till you see how much sugar they dump into the mix when making a fresh batch.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Jun 2016 19:09

Iran's deal with Boeing covers purchase of 109 jets

https://www.rt.com/business/347911-iran ... -coverage/

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Aug 2016 11:52

Russia, India discuss Superjet-100 contract, production of Ilyushin-114

NEW DELHI, August 23. /TASS/. Russia and India are in talks over future purchases of Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet-100 airliner, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Aleksandr Potapov told Russian media in New Delhi in the wake of last week’s session of the Russian-Indian working group for modernization and industrial cooperation.

Russia and India are conducting proactive negotiations with a number of Indian air carriers over marketing Russia’s Sukhoi Superjet-100 airliner. Also in progress are consultations with India’s aviation authorities regarding the validation of SSJ 100 certificates," he said.

The absence of a firm contract with India is the main obstacle to validation, he added.

"At the same time we believe that this is a very promising area of cooperation and we agreed with the Indian partner to push ahead with the work in the same direction," Potapov said.

Production of India’s own regional plane may become an important joint project in civil aircraft building, he added.

"At India’s request we’ve sent our proposals for launching a joint venture with India’s government-run aircraft-building corporation Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce Ilyushin-114-300," Potapov said.

The KPMG consultancy in the middle of last April published a report saying that India by 2020 will not only rise to the position of the world’s third largest aircraft market after the United States and India but also get ahead of them to rise to first place by 2030. Experts attribute the potential for such considerable increase to population growth prospects, air traffic’s growing popularity (at the moment no more than 0.5% of India’s population use air carriers’ services) and lower jet fuel prices.

More:
http://tass.com/economy/895549

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 23 Oct 2016 14:28

Air India flies Delhi-San Francisco nonstop over Pacific, and into record books

NEW DELHI: Flying Delhi to San Francisco (SFO) over the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic, as it had done till last week, has earned Air India the record of operating the world's longest nonstop flight.The Pacific route is almost 1,400km longer than the Atlantic one, and the flight covered 15,300 kilometres in 14.5 hours. Despite the route being longer, the flight took almost two hours less thanks to tailwinds — winds that blow in the same direction as an aircraft and thus make it go faster.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 24 Nov 2016 22:55

^^Airbus is planning to layoff around 1000+ white collar jobs...lay-offs will be mainly in EU...to offset losses from A380 & A400 programs! This will hurt Indian Aerospace Engineering service sector as well...'cause most of their work comes from Airbus. In other news, A350-1000 took to the skies

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 27 Dec 2016 12:57

Cleared domestic security check at Nagpur airport today. No baggage Tate's required. Apparently, this requirement has been scrapped since yesterday.

This clears the way for electronic QR code boarding passes.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 27 Dec 2016 13:49

^^ Didn't need them in BLR and HYD last week either. Security simply scanned the bags and handed them back to me.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Jan 2017 17:34

will find out at mum on sunday. i recall the good old days when even checkin baggage had to be identified on the tarmac before they would be taken in tractors and loaded. and people were carefully counted to see if anyone had sneaked off or held back after checkin or security.

we sure keep a hawks eye on things given the threats we face...and thats a good thing

India's Low-Cost Airline to Buy Up to 205 New Boeing Planes
New York Times - ‎54 minutes ago‎
NEW DELHI - India's low-cost airline Spicejet plans to buy up to 205 next-generation Boeing planes worth $22 billion in a major deal to expand its domestic and international operations.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 13 Jan 2017 19:39

NEW DELHI - India's low-cost airline Spicejet plans to buy up to 205 next-generation Boeing planes worth $22 billion in a major deal to expand its domestic and international operations.

I don't know why we keep placing these massive orders without getting any significant offset work. And we have China, which muscled Airbus into setting up an assembly line for them!

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 13 Jan 2017 21:08

The policies should come from GoI. Private airline operators don't and probably doesn't need to care (unless the change effects the bottom price on the unit cost per plane) where the product gets assembled.

Also, I think Chinese Govt have a say over which airline will buy which product. So, their negotiating power becomes more clear. They could plan in such a way that 3 different airlines each will buy say 150 planes of A3xxNEO...PRC will say to Airbus, open a plant or lose 450 plane orders. Unfortunately, GoI can't direct private operators like PRC does. So it is impossible to make that Jet & Spiecjet to order Boeing products at the same time totalling 400+...so no one time big confirmation orders to force these OEMs to even think about work offset.

Chinese in a few years will have both Airbus & Boeing assembly plants on their soil. This in addition to Comac's indigenous products. And Comac & Russia are supposed to work on a wide body commercial aircraft to take on long-range planes from Boeing & Airbus. I mean, the way they are investing money on all scientific & engineering fronts is really envying.

At least, GoI can demand Boeing or Airbus to tie up with a few private companies and open a MRO facilities in Desh. Currently, all these planes go to either Middle East or APAC. Heck, even Malaysia & Singapore have better MRO facilities than India.

We really did screw up in the first 40 years of our independence and in the last 10+ years as well by ignoring industrial infrastructure. I hope NaMo's Govt is more aggressive on some of the above fronts...

Just my 2 paisa...