Indian travellers must have a Schengen visa to fly to the UK on EU carriers post Brexit

Radhika Bansal

15 Apr 2022

With the resumption of regular international flights, a new phenomenon has emerged. If Indians do not have a transit/regular Schengen visa, they will be denied boarding at the origin in India on European Union (EU) carriers such as Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM, who are supposed to travel to the UK via these airlines' hubs in Frankfurt/Munich, Paris, and Amsterdam, respectively.

According to top airline officials, this is because, following Brexit, the EU has decided to "punish" the UK by requiring non-EU citizens to obtain a transit Schengen visa in order to fly to the UK on transit flights operated by its carriers. Switzerland, despite not being a member of the EU, is exempt from this rule for its airline Swiss.

Indian travellers must have a Schengen visa to fly to the UK on EU carriers post Brexit

On one-stop flights from India to the United Kingdom, passengers can pass through the Gulf and Switzerland without needing a transit visa. Nonstop flights from Air India, Vistara, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic are the other option.

The change took place on January 1, 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. India had a bubble system for international connectivity at the time, with strict rules about which nationalities could travel on which flights and how many one-stops they could make.

The bubble system was designed primarily for point-to-point travel between India and other countries, with some conditional connections permitted.

Switzerland, despite not being a member of the EU, is exempt from this rule for its airline Swiss.

So at that time, travel between India and the UK happened mainly on direct flights or via places like the Gulf whose airlines did not strictly follow the no-transit rule for Indian travellers.

Now as regular flights resumed, many travellers — those without transit Schengen visas and booked on Lufthansa, Air France-KLM to fly from India to the UK — are being caught off guard when denied boarding at the origin airport in India.

“Passengers should be aware of the travel requirements, so refund depends on the conditions of the ticket bought,” said an EU airline official. Afraid of losing business, some EU carriers are learnt to have requested foreign governments to raise this issue with the Union.

Afraid of losing business, some EU carriers are learnt to have requested foreign governments to raise this issue with the Union.

After the resumption of scheduled international flights by India, foreign airlines can again offer one-stops between India and the rest of the world. This one-stop business has substantially gone up in the India-US-India sector after Russia’s war on Ukraine.

ALSO READ - United Airlines halts 2 Indian routes as it ends using the Russian airspace

Due to longer routes and expensive jet fuel, US carrier United has reduced India non-stops by half; Delta has not resumed India flights it had suspended in March 2020 and American Airlinea has only one daily (Delhi-New York).

ALSO READ - Tata negotiating aircraft order for Air India with Airbus and Boeing

Till its fleet is augmented, Air India says it can’t add more non-stops to the US. As a result, the Gulf and European are getting a lot of business for this route.

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020.

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. It had been a member state of the union and its predecessor the European Communities (EC) since 1 January 1973.

Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws, except in select areas in relation to Northern Ireland. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can now amend or repeal.

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Jyotiraditya Scindia requests the finance ministry to rationalise excise on jet fuel

Radhika Bansal

15 Apr 2022

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday, April 14 that while he is in constant touch with the 12 state governments that still levy VAT in the range of 10-30%, he has requested the finance ministry to rationalise excise on jet fuel.

Prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, have risen "inexorably" in recent times and are putting a "tremendous amount of pressure" on Indian carriers.

The high base price of ATF - it kept rising even as politically sensitive petrol and diesel was untouched during the recent state election times - coupled with even higher rates of VAT and excise duty has made jet fuel for domestic flights in India among the most expensive globally.

Jyotiraditya Scindia requests the finance ministry to rationalise excise on jet fuel

"Till a few months back, 11 states charged VAT ranging 1-4% on ATF, while 25 did so in the range of 10-30%. Our efforts have now led to a reversal of the situation where today 24 states charge 1-4% and 12 charges 10-30%. We are working on the remaining states also," Scindia said.

ALSO READ - Jyotiraditya Scindia pitches for rationalisation of tax rates on jet fuel

However, states with the biggest metro hubs like Delhi and Mumbai are yet to lower their taxes. If those states are not agreeing, then why does the Centre not reduce excise on ATF, a demand constantly raised by struggling-to-survive airlines?

"We have met with the finance minister. It is under her active consideration (reduction of excise)," he said. Seven bimonthly hikes so far this calendar year have led to ATF prices increasing by almost 50% to all-time highs.

In Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, for instance, ATF cost INR 1.1-1.2 lakh per kilolitre (1,000 litres)

In Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, for instance, ATF cost INR 1.1-1.2 lakh per kilolitre (1,000 litres) for domestic flights as of Thursday, April 14.

On the other hand, domestic fare bands, decided by the aviation ministry, have not been revised upwards for many months, despite the relentless hike in jet fuel prices.

Asked if the domestic fare bands are being done away with and why they have not kept pace with ATF, the minister said, "The fare bands have a low and upper-end of fares. The range is still large enough to (factor in enhanced operating cost due to ATF)."

ill the six metros reduce ATF price, not much will change for airlines in terms of survivability

While no Indian airline (except IndiGo) had a healthy balance sheet in the past few years, the pandemic's crippling blow has left them all struggling to survive. Russia's war on Ukraine - leading to fuel price hikes and weakening of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar - has added to woes.

"Airlines are not a cost-plus industry. We have hardly passed on half of the enhanced increase in operating cost to passengers. Due to increased fares, recovery in domestic traffic has taken a hit. Till the six metros reduce ATF price, not much will change for airlines in terms of survivability," said an airline official.

"The rupee weakening against the dollar by every INR 1 means an enhanced expense of INR 75-80 crore for a mid-sized airline and INR 150-200 crore for a large airline in India. About 65-70% of our costs are dollar-denominated like aircraft lease/maintenance, foreign stations and GDS," said another airline official.

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Air India prohibited from transporting dangerous goods to and from Delhi airport by DGCA

Radhika Bansal

14 Apr 2022

Air India has been barred from flying dangerous goods in and out of Delhi for a fortnight from April 7 after lapses were found during a recent audit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at the airline’s IGI Airport cargo facility.

“A routine DGCA audit was carried out for various departments at Delhi. The regulator has some observations regarding our domestic cargo unit in Delhi. The same is being complied with,” said an Air India spokesperson.

Air India was prohibited from transporting dangerous goods to and from Delhi airport by DGCA

Sources said the DGCA inspection had found that “the handling of dangerous goods was not in order and as per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN’s aviation agency, requirements mandated in its technical instructions”.

Among the lapses were the non-availability of storage space with proper facilities to segregate dangerous goods and radioactive materials, untrained staff for accepting cargo other than dangerous goods, and the non-availability of the emergency management system and ground emergency drills at cargo facilities, they added.

"Dangerous goods can be carried safely by air transport providing certain principles are adopted. These principles have been used in developing technical instructions. They are intended to facilitate transport while providing a level of safety such that dangerous goods can be carried without placing an aircraft or its occupants at risk, providing all the requirements are fulfilled. They try to ensure that should an incident occur it cannot lead to an accident. Dangerous goods are carried regularly and routinely by air all over the world. To ensure they do not put an aircraft and its occupants at risk there are international Standards which each State, under the provisions of the Chicago Convention, are required to introduce into national legislation. This system ensures governmental control over the carriage of dangerous goods by air and gives world-wide harmonisation of safety standards."International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

Air India now has 15 days, from April 7 to April 23, to correct the mistakes found in the audit and apply for its suspension to be lifted. The airline will likely fix its issues, given how such a ban could impact the lucrative cargo shipments on its flights.

ALSO READ - SpiceJet’s licence to transport dangerous commodities provisionally suspended by the DGCA

In October 2021, DGCA had suspended a private budget airline’s licence to carry dangerous goods across its network for 30 days after finding a violation of norms in the handling of such cargo.

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AAI provides ambulift service to Divyang passengers at 14 airports

Radhika Bansal

14 Apr 2022

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has equipped its 14 airports with ambulift facilities to help flyers with reduced mobility in boarding an aircraft.

Made-in-India ambulifts have been deployed at these airports as they do not have aerobridge facilities, the AAI said in a statement on Wednesday, April 13.

Ambulifts can cater to six wheelchairs as well as two stretchers along with an attendant at a time and are fitted with heating, ventilation and AC system

The 14 airports where this facility is available are Dehradun, Gorakhpur, Patna, Bagdogra, Darbhanga, Imphal, Vijayawada, Port Blair, Jodhpur, Belgaum, Silchar, Jharsuguda, Rajkot and Hubli, it mentioned.

Airports in Dimapur, Jorhat, Leh, Jamnagar, Bhuj and Kanpur will have this facility by the end of this month, it stated.

"The ambulifts can cater to six wheelchairs and two stretchers with an attendant at a time and is fitted with heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system," it mentioned.

AAI provides ambulift service to Divyang passengers at 14 airports

According to the authority, the ambulifts can cater to six wheelchairs as well as two stretchers along with an attendant at a time and are fitted with heating, ventilation and AC system. Procured for INR 63 lakh per unit, the AAI is providing ambulift facility at a nominal token charge to the operating airlines, it noted.

“The government of India has been working to take forward the vision of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan to ensure fully accessible public infrastructure, including airports, railways stations and public transport systems. This new addition of Ambulift at various AAI airports will strengthen Transportation System Accessibility, which is an important vertical of the Accessible India Campaign,” it said.

Made-in-India ambulifts have been deployed at these airports as they do not have aerobridge facilities

The AAI has taken the initiative of providing ambulifts under the central government's Accessible India campaign to facilitate passengers with reduced mobility, divyang travellers on wheelchairs and passengers on stretchers during their air travel, it mentioned.

Ambulift is a medical high loader or highlifter, Passenger Boarding Lift (PBL), also called ambulance lift or ambilift, used as a boarding vehicle for disabled passengers (pax), passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) or disabled air-travellers, mainly people using wheelchairs (WCHC) or elderly people with difficulties in climbing stairs.

The ambilift vehicle is used by the special assistance or mobility service for passengers with reduced mobility or handicapped air travellers at the airport.

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Srinagar airport registers a record number of passengers with 102 flights in 24 hours

Radhika Bansal

13 Apr 2022

The Srinagar airport handled its highest number of per day passengers at nearly 15,200 on Monday, April 11 with 7,305 arrivals, officials said. They highlighted that the number of flights has increased to the only civilian airport in Kashmir due to an influx of tourists who are escaping the heat of the plains.

"This (15,199) is the highest number of per day passengers and (102) flights handled at the Srinagar airport on any given day," an official said.

The officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said 7,305 passengers arrived at the Srinagar airport on Monday, April 11 on 51 flights while 7,894 passengers flew out on the same number of flights.

https://twitter.com/SrinagarAirport/status/1513547240861691904

While the number of flights has been increasing steadily over the past two weeks, the airport had registered its busiest day in terms of passengers on March 29 when 15,014 persons travelled through the airport.

Due to an influx of tourists in Kashmir from different parts of the country the Srinagar airport is handling an average of 90 flights daily. On Tuesday, April 12 the airport handled 88 flights and 12,768 passengers.

The airport design can handle less than 7,000 passengers per day. The airport officials said that the challenge has been to thwart congestion.

“Our concern is to ensure there is no congestion at the airport. We are upgrading the infrastructure and placing help desks at several places to ensure each passenger is facilitated."

Srinagar airport registers a record number of passengers with 102 flights in 24 hours

The number of flights at Srinagar Airport has been increasing over the past few weeks due to a rise in the number of tourists who are escaping the heat of the plains.

The tourism sector in the country was badly affected for almost two years due to COVID-19 restrictions. As soon as the restrictions were relaxed, the travellers are rushing toward the country’s popular tourist spots.

During the recent visit of the Civil Aviation Minister, he pitched for the upgrade of infrastructure facilities at the airport which is of the preferred tourist destinations in the country.

The number of flights at Srinagar Airport has been increasing over the past few weeks due to a rise in the number of tourists who are escaping the heat of the plains.

The requirement for enhancement was felt because the airport has a smaller parking area for aircraft landings and take-offs. AAI two years back said they are going to set in motion the upgradation of the airport.

The expansion of the airport was planned after the Union Tourism ministry recommended its upgradation, stating that failure to upgrade its facilities would lead to “bad publicity of Kashmir tourism sector”.

Under the expansion plan, the floor area of the airport was supposed to be doubled to around 33,000 sq m from the existing 16,700 sq m. To accommodate more flights, the airport would have also two new aircraft stands.

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China denies internet speculations that blamed the co-pilot for the plane crash

Radhika Bansal

13 Apr 2022

The cause of recent passenger plane crash in China which killed 132 people remains under investigation, a Chinese aviation official has said, rejecting online speculation that the co-pilot may be responsible for the tragic accident.

The Chinese passenger plane crashed in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 21, killing all 132 people on board including the nine crew members.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, which flew from Kunming to Guangzhou, plunged into the mountains in Tengxian County in the city of Wuzhou.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines crashed in the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region killing all 132 people on board including 9 crew members.

ALSO READ - China Eastern B737-800 crash – here’s what is known so far

Rumours have been doing rounds online that the co-pilot "might be responsible" for the crash, attributing it to the data from black boxes, with some believing that the CAAC will require flight crews to undergo mental health monitoring, the state-run Global Times reported.

China's civil aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), refuted such rumours over the co-pilot's involvement in the crash of China Eastern flight MU5375, saying the accident is still under investigation, and no conclusions have been drawn on the cause and nature of the accident yet.

The "rumours", claimed to be sourced from some public security departments are misleading, would undermine public confidence in the ongoing investigation, and may represent a violation of the law, said Wu Shijie, a CAAC official told the official media.

China denies internet speculations that blamed the co-pilot for the plane crash

"We will try our best to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible and release the relevant information according to the law and procedures," he said.

Wu said the crash has had an impact on the welfare of frontline civil aviation workers, and some employees have suffered from emotional strain, particularly younger workers.

The CAAC attaches great importance to the mental well-being of aviation workers and requested that airlines take measures to support pilots, flight attendants and safety officers in managing their psychological pressure.

Airline safety management is focused on the mental state and health of all aircrew, including pilots, and it is a key function of the regulation

Early this month a working group sent by the US National Transportation Safety Board arrived in China to help investigate the crash of the China Eastern Airlines aircraft.

The seven-member panel, consisting of authorised representatives and technical advisors, will participate in the investigation organised by the CAAC. Airline safety management is focused on the mental state and health of all aircrew, including pilots, and it is a key function of the regulation.

The aviation industry recently held a two-week-long safety review, stating that it had addressed a number of safety hazards, after the fatal crash of Flight MU5375, killing all 132 persons onboard, the Global Times reported.

The captain had 6,709 hours of flying experience, and the first and second officers had 31,769 hours and 556 hours respectively.

Concrete measures should be taken to strengthen the investigation of hidden dangers concerning aircraft maintenance, flight weather conditions, personnel qualifications and technical ability, China's civil aviation regulator said.

China's aviation officials have said that there had not been any weather or other hazards endured by the flight on its route path. China Eastern said the plane, less than seven years old, had also passed all pre-flight checks.

There were three pilots, China Eastern officials said. The captain had 6,709 hours of flying experience, and the first and second officers had 31,769 hours and 556 hours respectively.

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