Alliance Air to operate HAL's Do-228 aircraft under UDAN-RCS

Alliance Air will be operating Hindustan-228 in Arunachal Pradesh routes and has plans to procure more for other sectors in the Northern Eastern states.

HAL has the capabilities of short takeoff and landing, the ability to land and take-off from semi-prepared runways due to which it has been marketed to regional airlines that operate under UDAN.

State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had signed a pact with Alliance Air to supply two of its Do-228 aircraft for deployment in Arunachal Pradesh. The deal is meant to boost Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in the region.

Alliance Air to operate HAL's Do-228 aircraft under UDAN-RCS

The HAL Do-228 is a versatile aircraft well-suited for operations in the North East and has the capabilities of short take-off and landing, ability to land and take-off from semi-prepared runways, the company said in a statement.

HAL's Transport Aircraft Division, Kanpur has been in the business of transport and trainer aircraft for defence customers and looks after manufacturing of Hindustan-228 aircraft.

The Hindustan-228 is a 19-seat multirole utility aircraft built for various applications such as VIP transport, passenger transport, air ambulance, flight inspection roles, cloud seeding, and recreational activities like para jumping, aerial surveillance, photography and cargo applications.

The HAL Do-228 is a versatile aircraft well-suited for operations in the North East

This development opens a new vista in civil aviation for HAL, it said, adding the company is keen to increase its footprint in regional civil aviation by engaging more numbers of HAL Do-228 by air operators of the country.

Apurba Roy, General Manager, Transport Aircraft Division, Kanpur, HAL and Arun Kumar Bansal, Head of Engineering, Alliance Air Aviation Limited signed the deal papers in Bengaluru. On the occasion, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said it was a big day for the state given the geographical challenges in the vast state, the connectivity will now be easier.

Alliance Air (formerly known as Air India Regional) was founded in 1996 as a subsidiary of Indian Airlines which was later merged with Air India in 2007 and mainly operates domestic routes as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme.

The government also intended to sell Alliance Air and use the proceeds to pay down AIAHL's debt.

In 2022 following the disinvestment of Air India Limited to Tata Group Alliance Air became an independent brand remaining with the Government of India through AI Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL)

Alliance Air's parent company, Air India Limited, was sold to Tata Sons on October 8 2021. Alliance Air was not a part of the deal and was instead transferred to Air India Asset Holdings Pvt Ltd (AIAHL), a state-owned special purpose vehicle that holds Air India's remaining assets and liabilities. 

The government also intended to sell Alliance Air and use the proceeds to pay down AIAHL's debt. Alliance Air was valued at around INR 2,000 crore.

India's first indigenous flying trainer 'HANSA-NG' designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, has successfully completed the sea-level trials at Puducherry from February 19 to March 5.

The aircraft was flown to Puducherry covering a distance of 140 nautical miles in 1.5 hours at a cruising speed of 155 km/hr on February 19, NAL said in a release on Saturday, February 5.

The objective of these trials was to evaluate handling qualities, climb/cruise performance, balked landing, structural performance including positive and negative G, power plant and other systems performance at sea level, it said.

India's first indigenous trainer aircraft HANSA-NG completes maiden sea level trials

All the objectives of the sea-level trials were met and the aircraft was ferried back to Bengaluru on March 5, after completing 18 hours flying in Puducherry, it said.

The aircraft was piloted by Wing Commander K V Prakash and Wing Commander Dilip Reddy of Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), and the flight was monitored by NAL designers and Wg. Cdr. Reeju Chakraborty as Flight Test Director from telemetry.

According to NAL, HANSA-NG is one of the most advanced flying trainers powered by Rotax Digital Control Engine with unique features like Just-In-Time Prepreg (JIPREG) Composite Lightweight Airframe, glass cockpit, bubble canopy with wide panoramic view, electrically operated flaps, etc.

It is designed to meet the Indian flying club needs and it is an ideal aircraft for Commercial Pilot Licensing (CPL) due to its low cost and low fuel consumption, it said, adding that NAL has already received more than 80 LoIs (Letter of Intents) from various flying clubs.

Total of 37 flights and 50 hours of flying have been completed by the aircarft

NAL Director Jitendra J Jadhav said a total of 37 flights and 50 hours of flying have been completed and a few more flights will be conducted before getting Type Certification by DGCA.

Type Certification is likely to be completed by April and thereafter the manufacturing will be initiated with public/private industry that will enhance the aerospace ecosystem under 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', he said.

Last year on September 3, Hansa-NG had successfully made its maiden flight. The aircraft took off from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport and flew at an altitude of 4,000 feet and gained a speed of 80 knots before it made a landing after 20 minutes.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group on Friday, March 4 announced converting all its flights from India to Singapore into vaccinated travel lane services from March 16. Under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), eligible travellers will be allowed into Singapore without quarantine requirements.

SIA Group's move comes after the Singapore government decided to expand its VTL network, including from all cities in India, the company said. Currently, it operates flights from eight points in India to Singapore.

SIA will start A380 services to Mumbai from March 14 and to Delhi in the coming months.

While existing daily VTL flights will continue to operate from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, SIA's all other India flights that arrive in Singapore from March 16 will progressively operate as VTL services, the company said in a release.

These are flights from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Kolkata. SIA Group said its low-cost subsidiary Scoot will also convert its non-VTL services from Amritsar, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Tiruchirappalli, and Visakhapatnam into VTL.

"Singapore's decision to expand its VTL arrangement to cover all points across India will be a welcome development for all our customers. We continue to see strong demand across India from customers who are waiting to enjoy convenient and quarantine-free travel to Singapore.The expansion of SIA Group's VTL network is also perfectly timed with the re-launch of the airline's A380 services to Mumbai from March 14 and to Delhi in the coming months.We are thrilled to be able to bring our iconic superjumbo back to India. We are optimistic that this, along with the expansion of Singapore's VTL arrangement, will inspire even more confidence for international travel to and from India."Sy Yen Chen, General Manager, Singapore Airlines

Short-term visitors and Singapore work permit holders, who wish to travel on the VTL services, need to apply for a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) before their visa applications.

VTP applications must be made between 3 and 60 calendar days before the intended date of entry into Singapore. Customers must also ensure that they are eligible to travel under the VTL arrangements before their flight, it said.

Vaccinated air travellers from all Indian cities and Penang in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia will be able to enter Singapore without having to undergo any mandatory quarantine from March 16, a senior minister announced on Friday, March 4.

Singapore Airlines to allow quarantine-free travel for all India-Singapore flights under VTL

The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) for India will be extended beyond Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai to include all cities in India, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.

As of Thursday, March 3 CAAS has issued 348,518 vaccinated travel passes to travellers from these countries and regions to enter Singapore between September 8, 2021, and March 16.

A total of 456,215 VTL travellers have entered Singapore. CAAS said the extension of the VTLs will help facilitate travel and "densify" Singapore air hub’s connectivity with "key markets".

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept two IL-76 military transport aircraft on standby to evacuate Indians who are stranded in conflict-hit eastern Ukrainian cities like Sumy and Kharkiv from Russian capital Moscow, officials said on Friday, March 4.

As the Indians stranded in eastern Ukrainian cities, where the fighting is the heaviest, cannot move to the western border of Ukraine, the IAF is planning to evacuate them from Moscow with the help of Russian military forces, the officials noted.

Till now, India has been evacuating its citizens from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary as the Ukrainian airspace has remained shut since February 24, when the Russian military offensive began.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept two IL-76 military transport aircraft on standby to evacuate Indians who are stranded in conflict-hit eastern Ukrainian cities

Two IL-76 aircraft -- which are of Russian origin -- have been kept on standby so that they can immediately depart for Moscow and evacuate Indians, the officials added.

Till date, the IAF has evacuated a total of 1,428 Indians on seven flights from Ukraine's western neighbouring countries. These seven flights were operated through US-origin C-17 planes.

The IAF has readied its fleet of C-17 transport aircraft for Operation Ganga. The American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying to long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way to evacuate citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there.

These seven flights were operated through US-origin C-17 planes.

India on Thursday, March 3 said it was primarily focusing on the evacuation of its nationals from the besieged city of Kharkiv and other conflict zones in eastern Ukraine amid increasing Russian military offensive in the region.

At a media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 1,000 Indians reached Pisochyn from Kharkiv following the urgent advisory issued by the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday, March 2.

"We estimate that a few hundred people still remain in Kharkiv despite our advisory," Bagchi said, adding that "unfortunately" there has been a fresh outbreak of violence in the city on Thursday, March 3.

Domestic flights will soon start operating from Uttarlai Air Force Station in Barmer near the Pakistan border, a senior official said on Friday, March 4.

Ministry of Defence has granted sanction to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to operate air services from the runway of the Uttarlai Air Force Station, Defence Estate Officer Abhinav Singh said.

After Jodhpur Air Force Station, this will be the second airbase in Western Sector to allow the operation of civil domestic flights from its runway. The airbase played an important role in the Indo-Pakistan war.

AAI to begin domestic flight operations from Uttarlai Airbase near Pakistan border

The squadron of upgraded MiG-21 Bison is deployed here. Defence Estate Officer Singh said that land measuring 4,568 sqm would be given to the AAI on the annual lease of INR 10,670 in the air force station as per the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the IAF and AAI.

"Besides this land, a parcel of 7.1 bighas between the adjacent railway line and air force station has already been allotted to the AAI for construction of a terminal for the airport," said Singh.

The permission is in pursuance of the regional connectivity scheme 'UDAN' introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2017 to expand air services in the country and make them economic.

Uttarlai airbase played an important role in the Indo-Pakistan war.

The AAI had expressed its intention to operate civil flights from Uttarlai Air Force Station in 2018 keeping in view the growing importance of Barmer as a centre for crude production and its refining and generation of non-conventional energy.

While construction of the refinery and crude exploration by the oil exploration giant Cairn Energy is already in full swing in Barmer, many other companies are engaged in minerals, oil and gas exploration and solar and wind energy generation.

The Estate officer said that the sanction has been granted to the AAI for construction of temporary/minimum infrastructure on and near the defence land at/inside perimeter wall and between the railway line and air force station boundary wall without alienation/transfer of ownership of land.

The Ukraine-Russia conflict is expected to hit supply chains and reduce cargo capacity at a time when air transport supply is still struggling to catch up from pandemic-related cutbacks.

The increased flight duration and longer routes would also result in higher cargo rates and could also disrupt global supply chains, as airlines would be incurring higher costs at a time when jet fuel prices are already touching all-time highs.

The Ukraine-Russia conflict is expected to hit supply chains and reduce cargo capacity at a time when air transport supply is still struggling to catch up from pandemic-related cutbacks.

Many American and European airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Virgin Atlantic and Finnair and among others have announced they will cancel cargo services to Hong Kong and Beijing.

FedEx Corp, one of the world’s largest logistics companies, has also said that deliveries between the US, Europe and East Asia will be delayed by two to three days due to the closure of the Russian and Ukrainian airspace.

Air cargo experts say that air cargo rates between the US, Europe and East Asia can rise by around 30-50% by the end of March when compared to February.

Air cargo experts say that air cargo rates between the US, Europe and East Asia can rise by around 30-50% by the end of March when compared to February.

The consumer durables, automobile and electronics industry in Europe and parts of Asia are also expected to be hit due to disruption of global chains, especially for critical parts.

Many European consumer durables, automobile and electronics companies import semi-conductors, a critical part of these industries, from East Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea.

(With Inputs from MoneyControl)