DGCA orders pre-flight alcohol tests for 50% of pilots and cabin crew daily

Radhika Bansal

30 Mar 2022

Airlines must ensure that 50% of cockpit and cabin crew members are subjected to pre-flight alcohol tests daily, aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday, March 29.

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, all crew members were required to undergo pre-flight alcohol tests. When the pandemic began, these tests were suspended for a couple of months. Later, the tests were resumed but for only a small percentage of crew members.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday, March 29 issued a notice mentioning that 50% of crew members will undergo these tests "because of reducing trend of COVID-19 cases and increase in the volume of air traffic as a result of the resumption of normal operation".

DGCA orders pre-flight alcohol tests for 50% of pilots and cabin crew daily

"In case of flying training institutes, 50% of instructors and 40% of student pilots shall be subjected to pre-flight breath-analyser on daily basis," the notice issued by the DGCA said.

Operators or owners of charter planes must ensure that 50% of their crew members undergo these tests. Every aviation employee who is reporting for duty is required to submit an undertaking that he or she is not under the influence of alcohol and that he or she has not consumed alcohol in the last 12 hours from the time of reporting for duty, the DGCA said.

"The cockpit crew, cabin crew shall submit the undertaking in the presence of medical staff and the same shall be captured on camera," it mentioned. The DGCA said the notice issued will remain in force for three months only.

Every aviation employee who is reporting for duty is required to submit an undertaking that he or she is not under the influence of alcohol.

India resumed full scheduled international flights on March 27 this year. The country resumed full scheduled domestic flights on October 18, 2021.

DGCA said that aviation personnel covered under CAR Section-5, Series-F, Part-Ill, who are reporting for duty, are required to submit an undertaking that they are not under the influence of alcohol and that they have not consumed alcohol in the last 12 hours from the time of reporting for the duty.

The undertaking must also contain a warning that in case of violation of the undertaking, strict enforcement action including off rostering and suspension by applicable rules will be taken by DGCA against the individual, the regulator said.

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Adani Group completes financial closure of the Navi Mumbai airport

Radhika Bansal

30 Mar 2022

The Adani Group has achieved financial closure for the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), paving way for the first phase of this awaited-for-decades project to be ready by December 2024.

Adani Enterprise subsidiary NMIA Pvt Ltd (NMIAL) has executed financing documents with the State Bank of India (SBI) that will underwrite the entire debt requirement of INR 12,770 crore for this project.

SBI Capital Markets Ltd. acted as the financial advisor to the SBI, and Saraf & Partners Law Offices acted as the lenders’ legal counsel. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as the legal advisor to NMIAL.

ALSO READ - Adani prepares SBI funding of INR 15,000 crore for Navi Mumbai Airport

The financial closure of the Navi Mumbai airport was completed by the Adani Group. (Image Courtesy - Business Today)

The airport will be developed in phases to have an eventual capacity of six crore passengers annually. The initial phase to be ready in just over 2.5 years will have a capacity to handle 2 crore passengers and 8 lakh tonnes of cargo annually.

Goa will be the first Indian city to get a second airport when GMR Group completes the upcoming one in Mopa this August. The NCR will join that league in about two years when Noida International gets ready. And some months after Noida, Navi Mumbai Airport will follow suit.

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate had in July 2021 taken over Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) from the GKV group that had won the bid to build Mumbai’s second airport. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, holds 73% in MIAL, which in turn holds 74% in NMIAL.

“The Adani Group’s focus is to create and provide best-in-class airport infrastructure and allied services to the consumer. We aim to converge India’s biggest cities with other surrounding cities and towns in a hub and spoke model. Given the central role, airports will play in the future, we intend to develop an economic ecosystem that has airports and airport users at its core. With this facility from the SBI, we have moved a step closer to providing Mumbai with another landmark utility.”Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Enterprise subsidiary NMIA Pvt Ltd (NMIAL)

With a set of two cross runways, the existing CSMIA was handling more than its peak capacity of 4.8 crore passengers annually before Covid struck.

India’s busiest hub — Delhi’s IGI Airport — with its four runways and three terminals (one of which, T2, will be demolished in coming years to make way for a bigger one) can eventually handle up to 14 crore passengers annually by the end of this decade.

Mumbai’s capacity constraints have seen what was once India’s busiest airport now compete with Bengaluru — where expansion work is on — to remain the second busiest.

The initial phase to be ready in just over 2.5 years will have a capacity to handle 2 crore passengers and 8 lakh tonnes of cargo annually. (Image Courtesy - The Hindustan Times)

“The achievement of financial closure (for NMIA) signifies the commitment of the Adani Group to mobilise the required resources and complete, within the set timelines, the NMIA project which was taken over under the acquisition of MIAL by the Group through Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), in July 2021,” the group said in a statement.

MIAL is the 74% owner of NMIAL and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO, also the concessioning authority for the project) has the remaining 26% stake in it. The airport is being built on a “design, build, finance, operate and transfer” (DBFOT) basis.

With seven functional airports — Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram — and the NMIA under its belt, the Adani Group will be the biggest private airport operator in India in terms of the number of airports handled. It accounts for 25% of airport footfalls and controls 33% of India’s air cargo traffic.

Adani Group will be the biggest private airport operator in India in terms of the number of airports handled. (Image Courtesy – Ahemdabad Mirror)

In terms of the number of passengers handled, however, GMR will remain the biggest player for some time as it runs India's biggest airport — Delhi's IGIA. This group has, among others, Hyderabad and the upcoming Mopa airport in Goa in its aviation portfolio.

The Navi Mumbai airport, first approved by the Maharashtra government in July 2008, is seen as a critical alternative to the existing airport in India’s financial capital. The new airport will be built on 1,160 hectares in phases.

The initial concession period is 30 years from the appointed date and is extendable for a further 10 years. The airport project has suffered numerous setbacks including land acquisition problems, GVK’s paucity of funds and the Covid19 pandemic.

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Vistara plans to add 8 routes and 14 aircraft in FY23

Radhika Bansal

30 Mar 2022

Vistara plans to expand its routes as international operations open up, according to a top official. International markets account for 25% of Vistara's profits. In the coming fiscal year, the Tata SIA-owned airline plans to add at least 7-8 new routes. By the end of FY23, it plans to add 13-14 aircraft to its fleet.

Vinod Kannan, who recently took over as CEO of Vistara, told BusinessLine that the airline will now focus on expanding to international markets "in a big way." "Today, our international market accounts for 25% of our revenue. As a result, everything points in the right direction," he said.

Currently, it operates flights to at least 9 international destinations and 30 domestic destinations. He said it plans to connect at least 7 to 8 destinations across international and domestic markets. 

Vistara plans to add 8 routes and 14 aircraft in FY23. (Image Courtesy - Live from a Lounge)

During the pandemic, Vistara had operated to multiple destinations including Doha, Male, Sharjah, London, Frankfurt, Bangkok and Paris under air bubbles. Of these, it had flying rights to London, Frankfurt, Bangkok and Paris.

“The priority would be to ramp up daily to these destinations. We will be looking at new routes in Europe. We have also been talking about the US which is on the cards,” he said.

ALSO READ - Vistara in talks with lessors to fill the long-haul gap in the wake of B787 delays

Air bubbles are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended as a result of Covid-19. The airline has applied for flying rights to Doha, Male and Sharjah. 

The airline has applied for flying rights to Doha, Male and Sharjah. (Image Courtesy - AirlineGeeks.com)

When asked the rationale behind adding these routes, he explained that though it wasn’t a completely open market where commercial flights were operating and capacity was restrained, the airline couldn’t gauge the complete potential or have a clear picture.

However, “since we have been there, established ourselves, and shown our product, we’ve asked for traffic rights to these points, and we’re waiting to see what happens.”

ALSO READ - Vistara wins the best domestic airline award for the second year in a row

While the industry is opening up, the rising fuel cost, US dollar rates and the indirect impact of the Russia-Ukraine war could be a dampener, he said.

To ramp up international operations, Vistara plans to add 13-14 aircraft by the end of FY23 (Image Courtesy - Victor Tango Aviation)

To ramp up international operations, the airline plans to add 13-14 aircraft by the end of FY23, Kannan said. The airline recently added four aircraft, taking its fleet size to 50. 

Speaking about the domestic market, Kannan said the airline has established itself well in the domestic market. and he does see a scope to increase the frequency of flights. 

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation numbers, Vistara’s domestic market share in February was up at a record 9.7%. 

(With Inputs from Hindu BusinessLine)

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India bound passengers stuck at Yangon airport due to clearance delays by the aviation ministry

Radhika Bansal

29 Mar 2022

While India has resumed international flights, red tape left roughly 50 passengers stranded for nearly 48 hours at Yangon airport, Myanmar as the baton to allow chartered flights passed on from the DGCA’s hands to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Nearly 50 Indians, including workers, businessmen and CEOs arrived at the Yangon International Airport for a chartered flight booked with Myanmar National Airlines on Sunday, March 27 at 4 AM for their flight to Kolkata at 8 AM.

However, the flight didn’t take off in the absence of a green flag from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation. The permission was granted only late on Monday, March 28. 

Nearly 50 Indians arrived at the Yangon International Airport for a chartered flight booked with Myanmar National Airlines. (Image Courtesy - Retail News Asia)

“Many passengers left and came to the airport again at 4 a.m. on Monday and waited till 3.30 p.m. but there was no sign of the flight. Many others, who had nowhere to go to and had travelled from far away cities to reach the only international airport in the country, spent Sunday night at the airport without food or water as shopkeepers have abandoned their shops in protest against the military junta,” said Kavita Kumar from Bangalore, whose relatives were among the stranded passengers.

A government official in the know explained the reason for the delay and said that until Sunday, March 27 when international flights resumed for India, DGCA used to grant permission for relief and repatriation flights but won’t be doing so anymore and the authority for giving clearance for such charter flights now rests with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. 

The plane was a Myanmar National Airlines' 48-seater ATR aircraft. (Image Courtesy - Pinterest)

Myanmar is yet to permit commercial flights. Ms. Kumar said passengers were issued tickets nearly three weeks back and the airline had more charters planned to India in the days to come. The plane was a 48-seater ATR aircraft. 

It is learnt that the Ministry of Civil Aviation granted the permission late on Monday, March 28 evening, but it was not clear when the flight was scheduled for take-off. 

(With Inputs from The Hindu)

(Cover Image - Wikipedia)

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Taliban prohibits women from flying without a male relative

Radhika Bansal

29 Mar 2022

The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to stop women from boarding flights unless accompanied by a male relative, aviation officials told AFP.

The latest restriction on women follows shutdown of all girls' secondary schools just hours after they were allowed to reopen for the first time since the hardline Islamists seized power in August.

Two officials from Afghanistan's Ariana Afghan airline and Kam Air said late on Sunday, March 27 that the Taliban had ordered them to stop boarding women if they were travelling alone.

Officials from Ariana Afghan airline said that Taliban had ordered them to stop boarding women if they were travelling alone. (Image Courtesy - Aviation Nepal)

The decision was taken after a meeting between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines and airport immigration authorities, the officials told AFP, asking not to be named.

Since the Taliban's return to power, many curbs on women's freedoms have been reintroduced -- often implemented locally at the whim of regional officials from the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The ministry said it had not issued any directive banning women from taking flights alone. But a letter issued by a senior official of Ariana Afghan to the airline's staff after the meeting with the Taliban, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, confirmed the new measure. 

Taliban ban Afghan women flying alone in latest setback on rights. (Image Courtesy - Arab News)

"No women are allowed to fly on any domestic or international flights without a male relative," the letter said. Two travel agents AFP contacted also confirmed they had stopped issuing tickets to solo women travellers.

"Some women who were travelling without a male relative were not allowed to board a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Islamabad on Friday," a passenger who was on that flight told AFP.

An Afghan woman with a US passport was also not allowed to board a flight to Dubai on Friday, another source said. The Taliban have already banned inter-city road trips for women travelling alone, but until now they were free to take flights.

The Taliban have promised a softer version of the harsh Islamist rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. (Image Courtesy - Global Village Space)

The Taliban have promised a softer version of the harsh Islamist rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. But since August, they have rolled back two decades of gains made by Afghanistan's women. 

Women have been squeezed out of most government jobs and secondary school education, as well as ordered to dress according to a strict interpretation of the Koran.

Tens of thousands of girls flocked back to class on Wednesday after schools reopened, but officials ordered them home just hours into the day, triggering international outrage. Authorities have still not given a clear reason for the policy reversal.

(Cover Image - AFP)

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Air France-KLM to boost flights to India starting May 2022

Radhika Bansal

29 Mar 2022

The Air France-KLM Group on Monday, March 28 said it will increase its regular India flights from 20 per week in April to 30 per week in May. Regular international flights resumed on Sunday, March 27 after a coronavirus pandemic-induced hiatus of approximately two years.

During the last two years, limited international passenger flights were operating between India and selected countries — including France and the Netherlands — under bilateral air bubble arrangements.

Air France - KLM to boost flights to India starting May 2022 (Image Courtesy - Financial Times)

"Following the resumption, Air France and KLM will progressively increase flight operations from India, starting with 20 weekly flights in April and expand frequency to 30 weekly flights in May,” the group’s press release stated.

Air France will operate from four gateways — Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai — and KLM from Delhi and Mumbai, it said.

”India is a strategic market for Air France and KLM, thanks to a strong VFR (visiting friends and relatives) segment and incoming tourism we anticipate a rapid recovery that should help the industry.We will carefully monitor the market situation as we intend to reach our pre-pandemic activity over the summer of 2022."Jean-Noel Rault, General Manager Indian Subcontinent, Air France- KLM

Air France–KLM S.A., also known as Air France–KLM Group, is a Franco-Dutch airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, near Paris.

Both Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam airline alliance. (Image Courtesy - Flight Waves)

The group has offices in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris, and Amstelveen, Netherlands. Air France–KLM is the result of the merger in 2004 Air France and KLM airlines. Both Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam airline alliance.

The company's namesake airlines rely on two major hubs, Paris–Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol respectively. Air France–KLM Airlines transported 87.3 million passengers in 2014.

(Cover Image - FL360aero)

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