Government plans to build 220 airports by 2025 with 80 new ones

Radhika Bansal

24 Mar 2022

Highlighting that the Civil Aviation industry has become a key element of India's economy, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday, March 23 said that the government has set a target of creating 220 airports by 2025.

Replying to the demands for grants of the Civil Aviation ministry for 2022-23, Mr Scindia said that India had moved forward in domestic and international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Cargo flights for perishable food items will be increased to 30% with 133 new flights in the coming years," he said.

Mr Scindia said the simplification of the pilot licence will be done in the coming days with the latest technology. He said that the government plans to create 33 new domestic cargo terminals, set up 15 new flight training schools for pilots, create more jobs, and increase focus on the drone sector.

Government plans to build 220 airports by 2025 with 80 new ones

"With this, the Government of India has set a target of creating 220 new airports by 2025," he said.

The minister informed the House that 3.82 lakh passengers per day undertook air travel in the last seven days. He informed the house that Ministry is targeting to triple the passenger throughput from 34.5 crores in 2018-19 to 40 crore in 2023-24.

Mr Scindia said 90 flights sent to five countries evacuated students from Ukraine. He also thanked the Indian Air Force which conducted 14 sorties and operated 4-C17 Globe Masters during the evacuation.

The minister informed the House that 15% of the total pilot strength in the country are women.

Mr Scindia said 90 flights sent to five countries evacuated students from Ukraine

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Mr Scindia said, "In all other countries in the world, only 5% of the pilots are female. In India, over 15% of pilots are female. This is another example of women's empowerment. There has been a lot of changes in the aviation industry in the last 20-25 years."

"Earlier only big cities had airports. Today that has changed completely. This is the reason why the Civil Aviation industry has become a key element of India's economy. The amount of employment generated in the industry is massive," Union Civil Aviation Min Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

The second half of the Budget session of Parliament resumed from March 14 and will conclude on April 8. The first half of the Budget session began on January 31 and concluded on February 11.

He said AAI will set up 42 brownfield airports in the country.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya while speaking about the investments in the field of aviation infrastructure said that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Private sector will invest INR 1 Lakh crore in the next 2-3 years.

He said AAI will set up 42 brownfield airports in the country. "AAI will build three new airports in the greenfield - Hollongi, Hirasar and Dholera," Scindia said.

Greenfield airports are the ones that are built on a new site (undeveloped) from scratch. However, brownfield airports are the ones where there is already a structure or another airport that is being remodelled for a new airport. Brownfield redevelopment can be more inexpensive because necessary infrastructure like drainage, electricity, roads, transport networks etc. already exist.

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Vaccine passports will probably become obsolete - Airline Alliance CEO

Radhika Bansal

24 Mar 2022

Vaccine passports will probably become redundant as more people are inoculated against Covid, and efforts to create a common standard are stymied by differing entry requirements, the head of the world’s biggest airline alliance said.

“There’s no way that this has been integrated into one place,” Star Alliance Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Goh said in an interview in Singapore.

Jeffrey Goh, Chief Executive Officer, Star Alliance

“If you look to the future, if we were all vaccinated, or if we were all 90% vaccinated, why would you get a vaccination certificate? There will come to a point where maybe you don’t really need this.”

Governments have been working to create a unified policy that will ease travel for vaccinated people. Airlines have supported several tech solutions to verify passengers’ vaccine status or testing results, such as the IATA Travel Pass app by the International Air Transport Association.

"Efforts to create a vaccine passport to make travel easier have faced challenges because governments initially didn’t recognize some vaccines. Airlines and governments also use many different technology platforms, making it difficult to find a common standard.Leisure will lead to the recovery in travel and could reach a comparable level to that seen in 2019 probably in late 2023 or early 2024. There is a possibility that business travel may see some structural change because companies are trying to keep costs down and reduce their carbon footprint."Jeffrey Goh, Chief Executive Officer, Star Alliance

With travel starting to show signs of revival, the immediate concern is that people may take longer to check-in because a lot of documents are needed, putting strain on airport infrastructure, Goh said.

(With Inputs from Bloomberg)

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Airbus delivers India's first INR 100 crore luxury helicopter to Kerala billionaire

Radhika Bansal

24 Mar 2022

B Ravi Pillai, chairman of RP Group of companies, on March 20 became the first Indian to own an Airbus H 145 helicopter, estimated to be worth around INR 100 crore.

The helicopter was delivered by Airbus in Kovalam and took its inaugural flight from Kovalam to The Raviz Ashtamudi with the RP Group Vice-Chairman on board.

Airbus delivers India's first INR 100 crore luxury helicopter to Kerala billionaire

The helicopter is the first Airbus D3 helicopter in India and the first five-bladed H145 helicopter in Asia. It is capable of handling up to seven passengers and two pilots and can land on and take off even at altitudes as high as 20,000 feet above sea level.

The RP Group has helipads at The Raviz Kadavu in Kozhikode, The Raviz Ashtamudi in Kollam, and The Raviz Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram.

The H145 is the latest member of Airbus' four-tonne-class twin-engine rotorcraft product range. The 68-year-old Ravi Pillai is worth USD 2.5 billion and has on his various company rolls about 70,000 employees.

Airbus H145 Helicopter's Luxurious Interiors

The helicopter is a small-sized machine, as per the company, it gets a small footprint and flexible cabin making it ideal for multiple purposes. The H145 is the most recent addition to Airbus' four-tonne-class twin-engine rotorcraft lineup.

The H145 family of helicopters include BK117, EC145 and the H145; it has close to 1,500 helicopters in service worldwide and has clocked more than six million flight hours.

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Airbus to hire high-end engineering and IT talent from India at Hyderabad airshow

Radhika Bansal

23 Mar 2022

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus will unveil employment opportunities for high-end engineering and IT talents from India at the upcoming Wings India airshow later this week.

Airbus India said it is actively recruiting to fill positions in avionics software, aircraft system simulation and airframe structures. Additionally, opportunities also exist in digital technology roles such as cybersecurity, API development, full-stack development, big data, cloud and DevOps and IoT, the firm said on March 22.

“India’s strength lies in its talent, its ability to scale volume and the presence of perhaps the largest engineering and information technology partner ecosystems in the world.We will continue to tap India’s talent to contribute to our global programmes. I am confident that India’s world-class talent and research and development will power the future of the aerospace sector."Suraj Chettri, Regional Director - Human Resources, Airbus India & South Asia

The company supports about 7,000 jobs in India and is set to raise the number of engineering and IT positions to more than 2,000 by end of 2022, as part of its growth strategy for India, which foresees capacity building to address future requirements, including in sustainable and decarbonisation technologies.

But it did not give details of how many positions it is looking to fill in India, and what does increasing engineering and IT positions to 2,000 means in terms of actual additions this year.

Airbus to hire high-end engineering and IT talent from India at Hyderabad airshow

Airbus, however, said the recruitment plan for India is in line with the company’s growth forecast of around 6,000 new hires worldwide.

ALSO READ - Airbus A350 to be displayed at the Wings India 2022 airshow

The company said senior officials will attend the ‘meet-and-greet’ event at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, where job seekers can learn about Airbus, inquire about career opportunities with the company and apply for open positions.

ALSO READ - Hyderabad to host Wings India – Asia’s largest Civil Aviation show

Airbus India is also ramping up focus on in-sourcing core capabilities across the product life cycle

Airbus India's engineering operations are a key resource hub for capabilities in structural analysis, loads, aerodynamics, avionics software design and testing, system simulation, digital mock-up and system installation.

Airbus India is also ramping up focus on in-sourcing core capabilities across the product life cycle and ERP solutions as well as digital capabilities such as big data, Internet of Things, cloud, and cybersecurity. Today, parts or technology developed in India has become a critical factor in the production of all Airbus commercial aircraft.

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Qatar Airways denies owing USD 220 million to Airbus for rejected A350s

Radhika Bansal

23 Mar 2022

Qatar Airways denied it owes Airbus SE USD 220 million in compensation for failing to accept A350 deliveries, in the latest salvo in a bitter legal dispute. 

The Gulf carrier said in documents made public Monday, March 21 that it didn’t break its contract with Airbus when it refused to take two of the wide-body jets, and said the planemaker hadn’t properly explained how it arrived at the figure. 

Qatar Airways denies owing USD 220 million to Airbus for rejected A350s

Qatar Airways, one of Airbus’s biggest customers, has been feuding with the planemaker over surface paint issues, rejecting further deliveries while the two sides argued and filed a lawsuit late in 2021. Airbus responded by cancelling orders for two A350s and a separate order for 50 A321s, a smaller plane.

ALSO READ - Airbus responds to Qatar Airways’s A350 dispute by cancelling A321 Order

Qatar Airways, which has asked for more than USD 700 million, said that the surface flaws could leave the plane vulnerable to damage from a lightning strike. The airline said the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which has backed Airbus’s contention that there’s no safety issue, hasn’t undertaken an “extensive analysis.”  

ALSO READ - Qatar airways sue Airbus for USD 618mn over A350 paint issue

The manufacturer proposed a patch repair for one aircraft which Qatar said exhibited failings after one week.

Qatar Airways also listed other carriers that have flagged concerns with the A350. They include Finnair Oyj and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., which both raised questions as far back as 2016 before the Hong Kong carrier later reported problems with multiple planes. By October 2019, Etihad and Air France/Air Caraibes Atlantique had also reported such damage, Qatar Airways said.  

The two sides also disagree over whether Airbus has adequately figured out the cause of the issue, and found suitable solutions. The manufacturer proposed a patch repair for one aircraft which Qatar said exhibited failings after one week. 

A judge is set to rule next month on whether the A321 cancellation is allowed to stand

ALSO READ - Qatar Airways tells UK judge to reinstate Airbus A321 order or award unquantified damages

In its legal documents made public on Monday, March 21 Airbus said that the cancellation of a separate A321 order for Qatar Airways won’t free up capacity for the oversubscribed model. The planemaker said it builds some customer attrition into its business model.  

ALSO READ - UK court orders Airbus to halt the cancellation of Qatar Airways’ A321neo

A judge is set to rule next month on whether the A321 cancellation is allowed to stand. Airbus has already provisionally added Qatar back into its plans, it said. It estimates it could deliver the first aircraft around the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with an original delivery date of February of that year.

(With Inputs from Bloomberg)

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Domestic air travel sees a 20% improvement in February

Radhika Bansal

22 Mar 2022

Around 76.96 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in February, approximately 20% more than the 64.08 lakh who flew in January, Indian aviation regulator DGCA said on Monday, March 21.

The February figure is a sign that the domestic aviation market is recovering after the 43% dip that was observed in January due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus. In December 2021, 1.12 crore domestic passengers had travelled by air.

The passenger load factors -- which means occupancy rates -- increased for all Indian carriers in February as compared to January, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated in its monthly statement.

Domestic air travel sees a 20% improvement in February

The load factors of SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara, Go First, Air India and AirAsia India were 89.1%, 85.2%, 87.1%, 87%, 84.1% and 83.2%, respectively, in February 2022, it mentioned. However, in January 2022, the occupancy rates of these carriers had been 73.4%, 66.6%, 61.6%, 66.7%, 60.6% and 60.5%, respectively, it added.

In the last two years, the aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries because of the Covid pandemic.

IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 39.51 lakh passengers in February, a 51.3% share of the domestic market, the DGCA said. SpiceJet flew 8.2 lakh passengers and Air India flew 8.55 lakh passengers in February.

IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 95.4% at four metro airports - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai

Vistara, Go First, AirAsia India and Alliance Air carried 7.49 lakh, 7.34 lakh, 4.46 lakh and 1.12 lakh passengers, respectively, in February, the data showed.

The DGCA data mentioned that in February, IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 95.4% at four metro airports - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Go First and Vistara were at the second and third positions at these four airports in February with 94.1% and 90.9% on-time performance respectively, the DGCA said.

In February, Vistara, SpiceJet, Air India, AirAsia India and Alliance Air had OTP of 90.9%, 90.9%, 89.8%, 88.5% and 88.5%, respectively.

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