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

Wings India-2022, Asia’s largest Civil Aviation Show, will be held at the Begumpet Airport from March 24 to 27 with the first two days being business days and the rest for the general public.

The fifth edition of Wings India, a biennial exhibition on civil aviation, is organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The event is expected to provide aviation sector stakeholders insight into technology-driven innovations which will help revolutionize air travel in the coming years. The exhibition will feature chalets, demonstration flights, CEOs forum, static display, aerobatics along with media conferences and B2B meetings.

Wings India-2022, Asia’s largest Civil Aviation Show, will be held at the Begumpet Airport from March 24 to 27.

A preparatory meeting on Tuesday was attended by the officials from various authorities involved in the facilitation of infrastructure, law and order and other services where FICCI briefed the attendees about the show and its highlights.

Over 125 international and domestic exhibitors are expected to participate along with 11 hospitality chalets, over 15 country delegations, and several States and Union Territories. Aviation Ministers of several countries and industry captains are expected to participate in the Global Aviation Summit.

The Sarang helicopter air display team of the Indian Air Force will be performing at the event.

IIM Bangalore to host International Virtual Conference on Future of Aviation and Aerospace 2022 on March 12

India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. To ensure the availability of quality managerial talent to meet the growing needs of this sector, the Executive Education Programme Office at IIM Bangalore has partnered with Toulouse Business School, France to design and offer a General Management programme for Aviation and Aerospace Executives.

IIMB and TBS also collaborate on a variety of initiatives to provide thought leadership for this sector. One of the initiatives, under this partnership, is to organise an International Conference on the Future of Aviation and Aerospace (FOAA).

This is a virtual conference and BIAL is one of the partners in this conference.

The FOAA is an annual event that brings together industry experts, researchers and scholars to deepen the understanding of the current state and future of the sector. The FOAA, for 2022, is being held on 12th March. This is a virtual conference and BIAL is one of the partners in this conference.

FOAA 2022 will feature keynote speakers and panel discussions anchored by several C-suite executives from Aviation and Aerospace companies and faculty from IIM Bangalore.

Tirupati international airport expansion works are all set to begin soon and the state government of Andhra Pradesh has immersed itself in addressing the land acquisition-related issues mired in legal tangles.

MP Dr M Gurumoorthy said that Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his recent interaction with Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at New Delhi asked the centre to clear all decks for the expansion of the Tirupati and the Bhogapuram airports.

Expansion of Tirupati international airport set to begin soon

Following the Chief minister's directive, Tirupati MP Dr M Gurumoorthy held a series of meetings with the airports authority of India officials, the Chittoor district administration and a group of farmers who filed cases against land acquisition linked to the airport expansion works.

"The runway was proposed to extend from the existing 2,285 metres to 3,810 metres to facilitate the landing of wider aircraft like B-747-400, B777-300 ER type. Airport Authority of India has proposed to extend the runway by 240 metres at one end and 1,284 metres at another end for the purpose was caught in some land issues which we are sorting out how to speed up the land acquisition process.AAI officials informed us that after runway expansion works were completed, cargo flight services, flight overhauling and engine service centre will come up at the Tirupati international airport soon for which an MRO facility has already been sanctioned by the union government."Dr M Gurumoorthy, MP, Tirupati

The MP added that the shifting of high-tension electric line works will also be completed soon.

Tirupati Airport is a public airport serving the city of Tirupati in Andrea Pradesh. The airport opened a new terminal building in November 2015, upgrading facilities to international standards. It was awarded the international status in 2008. Tirupati Airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is set to audit the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) again soon and to check on the work done on changes in procedures flagged during the last audit conducted in October 2021.

In the last audit, they had given some findings on procedures. "All those findings have been worked upon and the FAA would come for an audit again," said a government official, who did not want to be identified.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is set to audit the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) again soon

A five-member team of FAA had audited safety guidelines, including the licensing of personnel and airworthiness, during their October audit. The findings were mainly on procedures being followed by the aviation regulator in the country.

If the FAA is satisfied with the changes in the DGCA, they will retain the category I status for India's aviation sector. Any dissatisfaction would lead to a downgrade of the sector, which would mean more scrutiny of airlines from India flying to the US.

Officials say that they are hopeful of staying with category I status and most of the procedures have been complied with.

A five-member team of FAA had audited safety guidelines, including the licensing of personnel and airworthiness, during their October audit.

In 2018, the FAA had raised concerns over regulatory and guidance material by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) but after it was rectified, the UN body had given the highest safety ranking for aviation watchdog in India.

The US agency had downgraded India to Category II in safety oversight capability in January 2014 over two key concerns: lack of training of officials and the absence of full-time flight operations inspectors on the DGCA's rolls.

The UN aviation body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is also expected to conduct an audit of India's air safety readiness in 2022 and will focus on aerodromes, air navigation services, certification, aircraft airworthiness, flight operations, airlines, among others.

The premier body of the Sikhs, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) condemned the recent notification by the Ministry of Civil Aviation barring Amritdhari (initiated) Sikh employees who wear their Kakaar (Kirpan) from performing duty at the Indian airports.

President Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami has termed the notification of the government as an attack on Sikh rights, in which, Sikh employees are barred from wearing Kirpan, one of the five Kakaars (symbols of faith).

SGPC takes strong notice of the ban on Sikh employees wearing kirpans at airports

While taking further the issue to the government of India, Advocate Dhami has written a letter to the Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, urging immediate withdrawal of this order issued on March 4, 2022.

"In their own country, this discrimination is a major attack on the religious freedom of the citizen Sikhs, which will never be allowed to be implemented. The government of India should never forget that the Sikhs have remained at the forefront in making sacrifices for the freedom of this country and if the culture of the country survives today it is because of the Sikhs."Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami, President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)

SGPC President said that it is unfortunate that in their own country excesses are being committed against the Sikhs, who die for the country. "The governments should refrain from adopting such policies which hurts the religious sentiments of the Sikhs", said Advocate Dhami.

As per the notification dated March 4, on page 5 Section 20 (ii)(b), it is written that exemption shall be given to Sikh passengers only, whereas no stakeholder or its employee at the airport (including Sikh) and working at any terminal, domestic or international, shall be allowed to carry a ‘kirpan’ on a person.

Sikh passengers can carry the ‘kirpan’ on Indian aircraft provided the length of its blade does not exceed six inches and its total length does not exceed nine inches.

As per the guidelines for a Sikh passenger, the ‘kirpan’ may be carried, provided the length of its blade does not exceed six inches and its total length does not exceed nine inches. It is allowed while travelling by air on Indian aircraft within India (domestic routes of fully domestic flights operating from domestic terminals only).

The issue was also raised by an NGO — Amritsar Vikas Manch. Sandeep Singh Gumtala of Amritsar Vikas Manch said: “If Sikh passengers are allowed to wear a ‘kirpan’ on domestic flights, it is hard to believe that Sikh employees pose a greater security threat after undergoing security clearances. To my knowledge, Sikh employees at airports in the UK, Canada are permitted to wear a ‘kirpan’ at the airside,” he said.

A pilot is a pilot irrespective of gender. But India got its first female offshore Pilot-in-Command.

While airlines operated flights with the all-women crew to celebrate Women’s Day, Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL), the public sector company that operates helicopters had its own quiet moment with history when its pilot Capt Mayuri Deshmukh became India’s first female offshore Pilot-in-Command.

“Capt Deshmukh has been flying Dauphin AS 365 N3 helicopter for Pawan Hans for over seven years now. She is the first woman in India to fly in command off-shore,” the helicopter operator said.

https://twitter.com/PawanHansLtd/status/1501178261660844032

“She is also the only woman in the country flying helicopters in the offshore sector transporting the ONGC officials from Mumbai to the offshore platforms and oil rigs,” Pawan Hans added. PHL has 120 pilots out of which four are women, said a PHL spokesperson.

Unlike flying for an airline though, pilots employed with PHL operate flights for oil and gas exploration companies, police personnel, VIP flights, corporate flights and passenger transport in remote, border, hilly and inaccessible areas of North and North East India.

https://twitter.com/PawanHansLtd/status/1501137721686851587

“Capt Deshmukh is a highly experienced and qualified pilot and also has immense exposure of flying across different terrains of the country which includes Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” said PHL.

Offshore helicopters transfer highly paid oil rig workers, engineers and executives to oil rigs and mobile survey vessels all over the world in the quest for "black gold". In addition, pilots of these aircraft will often have to fly in all weathers to evacuate rig workers in emergencies or for compassionate leave.

Several “fake” remote drone pilot training organisations (RPTO) — those falsely claiming to be recognised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) — have mushroomed across India as the sunrise sector holds the promise of providing jobs to a large number of trained unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) licence holders.

The regulator has now sounded an alarm over this malpractice so that people don’t get duped by those running these fake training schools.

Beware of hoax drone pilot training organisations - DGCA

“It has come to the notice of the DGCA… that numerous fake (unrecognised by DGCA) RPTOs are offering a remote pilot training programme, claiming to be approved by DGCA to lure the candidates by misleading advertisement…. be careful about such self-styled, unrecognised institutions which are functioning in contravention of Drone Rules 2021. A list of DGCA approved RPTOs is available @ https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/flight-training-organizations."Arun Kumar, Chief, DGCA

“All such (fake) organisations/persons (behind them) are warned that as per Rule 50 of Drone Rules 2021, the appropriate penalty shall be levied by DGCA if found involved in such fake activity. Further, it has come to notice that few NGOs, federations, trusts and associations are also giving misleading advertisements on their websites, claiming to be associated with DGCA/approved by DGCA and collecting membership fees from drone startups and companies in the drone Industry…. be cautious about such demand as DGCA does not support such activity,” it adds.

Information about such fake RPTO can be reported to the DGCA drone directorate on email: drone.dgca@gov.in