DIAL claims that Delhi Airport will be net zero carbon emitter by 2030

The Delhi airport will become a net-zero carbon emission facility by 2030, said its operator DIAL on Tuesday, November 23.

Achieving "carbon neutral" or "net-zero carbon emission" status refers to a policy of not increasing carbon emissions and of achieving carbon reduction through offsets, it stated in a release.

(Image Courtesy - The Guardian)

The announcement about the 2030 target was made by Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), through a video message on November 10 at the COP26 event in Glasgow.

"At Delhi Airport, we are on a strong environment progress journey and we are confident to becoming 'net zero carbon emission' airport by 2030, following the Airport Carbon Accreditation guidelines. Towards this direction, we have initiated various environmentally sustainable programmes, such as the introduction of TaxiBot and adoption of electric vehicles.While the airport is already utilising renewable energy programmes such as solar rooftop panels, it has also developed green infrastructure and multiple passenger connectivity networks. The airport also has a water and waste treatment plant, along with energy efficient lighting systems."Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL)

To add to these measures, the airport operator recently adopted electric vehicles and a TaxiBot, which is a semi-automatic robot that helps in taxiing an aircraft, without the aircraft having to be turned on, thereby reducing carbon emissions. TaxiBot was introduced in 2019, making Delhi airport the first one in the country to do so.

The airport said TaxiBot has resulted in a significant reduction in turbine fuel consumption for ground movement.

He added that the airport achieved a level 4+ accreditation last year after getting a “carbon neutral” status in 2016.

(Image Courtesy - Delhi Airport - Twitter)

Commercial aviation is responsible for about two to three per cent of the global carbon emissions. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has given up flying to reduce her carbon footprint, boosting the "flight shame" movement in Europe and other parts of the world.

India is currently the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, after the United States and China. Speaking at the COP26 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the country would make a one billion-tonne reduction in projected emissions from now until 2030. Modi also said India’s emissions intensity, or emissions per unit GDP, will be reduced by at least 45% by 2030 from the 2005 levels.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia flew on SpiceJet's special flight between Delhi and Gwalior using Boeing's 737 Max plane on November 23 that has been allowed to return to service after two-and-a-half years.

All Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead.

(Image Courtesy - ANI - Twitter)

Along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh and Boeing India President Salil Gupte were also present on the special flight today.

The flight SG9945 took off at 2:50 PM from Delhi and landed at approximately 3:50 PM at the Gwalior airport.

SpiceJet, the only operator of Boeing 737 Max planes in the country, had signed a USD 22 billion deal with Boeing for up to 205 Max aircraft in 2017 and has 13 of these planes in its fleet at present.

After Boeing made necessary software rectifications in the last two-and-a-half years, the DGCA on August 26 this year lifted the ban on 737 Max planes' commercial flight operations.

SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh with Boeing India President Salil Gupte (Image Courtesy - Saurabh Sinha - Twitter)

At a press conference before the flight, Mr Singh said, "We are going to provide broadband Internet on board on Max planes and it will be free initially. However, voice calling will be disabled as it would disturb other passengers."

Boeing 737 Max planes will have five rows of premium economy seating on this plane, he added.

The fact that the aircraft burns 20% less fuel than its contemporaries helps at a time when oil prices are high, he said.

This aircraft could fly longer distances to places such as Moscow and Turkey where the older plane, 737-800, could not go, Mr Singh noted.

Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet speaking at the press conference. (Image Courtesy - SpiceJet - Twitter)

The aircraft is flying in most countries around the world and 33 airlines are flying this plane globally, he mentioned.

He said Boeing 737 Max planes were going to be the backbone of SpiceJet's fleet.

Mr Singh said the airline will shortly be flying 737 Max aircraft using Boeing's sustainable aviation fuel.

SpiceJet had on November 17 said it has agreed with the US-based aerospace company Boeing to settle outstanding claims related to the grounding of 737 Max aircraft and its service return.

Boeing in a statement said that it continued to remain focused on supporting SpiceJet in their operations to safely return the 737 MAX to service in India as outlined by the DGCA.

"Today, more than 175 out of 195 global regulators have opened their airspace to the 737 MAX. Over 30 airlines have returned their fleets to service and those airlines have safely flown over 235,000 commercial flights, totalling more than 575,000 flight hours. The fleet has a schedule reliability rate of more than 99 per cent," the aerospace company said.

In what can be termed as a historic moment, India is now gearing up to be a part of an elite league, which is currently the pride of a select few.

Wall Street Journal

India is finally set to launch " AMCA"- Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, its most ambitious indigenous military aviation project to build a fifth-generation fighter craft with advanced stealth features and "supercruise" facilities.

According to reports, discussions between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance on the development of AMCA prototypes have ended with the CCS expected to put its stamp of approval early next year.CCS is the highest decision-making body on India’s national security.

https://twitter.com/rajatpTOI/status/1462612146148167681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1462612146148167681%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feurasiantimes.com%2Findia-set-to-become-4th-country-with-indigenous-stealth-fighters-to-get-prototype-approval-early-next-year-reports%2F

As of today, only the US with its F-35 and F-22 Raptor, Russia with its Su-57 Felon, and China with its J-20, are a part of the elite league with countries that possess fifth-generation stealth technology.

Experts have reasons to believe that with the AMCA, India could well join the elite league and be the fourth country in the world to do so.

The AMCA project is very critical to the IAF who is yet to hit the required sanction of 42 squadrons by the next decade or so. With 36 4.5 generation Rafale jets, the IAF currently operates only 30-35 fighter squadrons.

Dassault Rafale | Twitter

Apparently, the AMCA design which was approved in December 2018, had everything going except for one small issue- the lack of a powerful engine.

A new engine would be manufactured on home soil in collaboration with a foreign entity, which would be finalised by early next year.

The AMCA would have data fusion and multi-sensor integration with AESA (active electronically scanned array) radars.Additionally, it would have supercruise capability- meaning it could hit supersonic speeds without the use of afterburners.

The AMCA would be India’s third supersonic jet, after the HAL Marut and HAL Tejas.It is expected to make its maiden flight in 2025 and large scale production is pinned for 2030.

COVER: DefenseXP

SpiceJet plans to induct 50 '737 Max' planes of Boeing in its fleet by December 2023, CMD of the low-cost airline, Ajay Singh, said on Tuesday, November 23.

Two SpiceJet's Max planes out of the total 13 in its fleet have started operating commercial flights since Sunday, November 21 he said at a press conference.

All Max planes were grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead.

After Boeing made necessary software rectifications, the DGCA had on August 26 this year lifted the ban on Max planes' commercial flight operations.

SpiceJet, the only operator of Max planes in the country, had signed a USD 22 billion deal (one billion is equal to 100 crores) with Boeing for 205 aircraft in 2017 and has 13 of these planes in its fleet at present.

"The first two have started flying already and the other 11 would start flying in the next 15-20 days," Singh said.

Apart from the aforementioned 13 Max planes, another four Max aircraft are lying in the Boeing facility for SpiceJet, he mentioned. The carrier has an order for 205 737 MAXs (155 firm orders and 50 on option) and has received 13 so far. Of these 13 jets, only two are back in service while 11 remain parked. However, the airline plans to have all of its MAXs back in service within the next three weeks.

(Image Courtesy - Flight Global)

The delivery of these four new Max planes will begin on December 10, he stated.

SpiceJet had on November 17 said it has agreed with the US-based aerospace company Boeing to settle outstanding claims related to the grounding of 737 Max aircraft and its service return.

Singh said that Boeing has provided compensation in both cash and kind.

"The idea is to completely replace our existing NG fleet (older version of 737 planes) in the coming months...The idea is to get 50 Max aircraft in 2022 and 2023. Out of the 50 Max planes, 15-20 will be replacement of NG aircraft and the remaining would be a new addition to the fleet," he said.

He also said there is absolutely no legal issue that is hampering the hive off of SpiceJet's cargo business.

(Image Courtesy - Flight Global)

"We expect that the hive off would be done by the end of this year and by January 2022, it would operate as a separate business," he added.

He also added that the airline would try to lease all these planes through GIFT City near Ahmedabad, which the government wants to grow as a leasing hub for the world.

Passenger demand sustainability is a worry SpiceJet is worried about the sustainability in demand of passengers in the domestic sector may not be sustainable, as cases in Europe have started to spike.

“The passenger demand has been good and we hope it sustains,” Singh said. He added that cases have been rising in Europe and Austria has announced a lockdown. “We hope that Europe can vaccinate more and more and able to control the surge as that may have an impact on demand.

He added that the situation in India is set to stay better (in terms of COVID infection numbers), as India has vaccinated a record number of people.

The airline is also looking at expanding its international operations using the 737 MAX. Possible destinations on the cards include Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. Additionally, the airline is exploring scheduled long-haul services, including Canadian and European destinations, using widebody aircraft.

SpiceJet Chairman & MD Ajay Singh said, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Airways is entering the sector at a very challenging time and hopes to avoid a price war with new competition.

He said price war in aviation creates monopolistic situations, hurting the sector. "The aviation industry has had many price wars. Ideally, we all need to work on reducing the cost of Indian aviation. Price wars are always unhealthy for the sector, it creates monopolistic situations. So people must be selling above cost."

The SpiceJet CMD said that while competition will hot up, what with many new players entering the Indian airspace (in the context of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's upcoming Akasa Air and Tatas buying Air India), it will be a high-cost market. 

India has been one of those markets where costs have traditionally been very high because of the taxes imposed on aviation, while fares have remained very low, he added.

"As far as new entrants are concerned, competition is always good, it makes you more efficient. However, it is a terrifically challenging market that Akasa Airways is entering. They are also not entering at the best of time because of the after-effects of COVID, price of oil and currency issue and so on. But I am sure they will find a way to make their business viable.Domestic space needs reasonable pricing but fare wars are not good and I hope that reasonable pricing is done. We cannot have a situation where the highest cost sector is selling at the lowest fares. This is not sustainable. We want larger states to reduce VAT on aviation turbine fuel as this will bring in more flights to these states and airport charges will also come down. The high-cost structure needs to be changed if the common man has to fly. I hope that ATF does come under GST."Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet

Singh said the reduction in airport charges and bringing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, are extremely important for the sector.

(With Inputs from CNBC TV18)

Online travel services firm MakeMyTrip on Monday, November 22 said it will partner with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to promote regional air connectivity through the UDAN scheme.

As the UDAN scheme completes four years of connecting major cities with regional hubs, MakeMyTrip will now power UDAN flights on the AirSewa portal and market them on its platform to promote its visibility and product discovery to provide air connectivity to underserved destinations, the company said in a statement.

MakeMyTrip will also market UDAN flights offline through its large network of franchisee retail stores for offline booking, it added.

Quoting Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, the statement said, "As the RCS-UDAN scheme completes four successful years - our enabling policies, incentives and partnerships with leading travel players will only improve air connectivity for the common man at affordable airfares on regional and remote routes".

"UDAN is a first of its kind scheme globally and has immensely contributed to domestic aviation market growth. We are privileged to work closely with the government to promote regional air connectivity through online and offline travel channels and contribute towards Indian Aviation's transformation under the dynamic and bold leadership of Hon'ble minister."Deep Kalra, Founder and Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip

At present 62 unserved and underserved airports, including five heliports, with 389 routes have been added under the UDAN scheme across the length and breadth of India, the statement added.

MakeMyTrip is an online travel company founded in 2000. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the company provides online travel services including flight tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail, and bus tickets.

As of 31 March 2018, they have 14 company-owned travel stores in 14 cities, over 30 franchisee-owned travel stores in 28 cities, and counters in four major airports in India. MakeMyTrip has offices in New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Bangkok, and Dubai.