IndiGo opens booking for Delhi - Instanbul route on wet-leased Boeing 777 aircraft

Radhika Bansal

03 Jan 2023

IndiGo, the country’s largest carrier by fleet and domestic market share, has opened reservations for flights operated by the Boeing 777-300ER with the booking engine reflecting the same.

The airline will operate the wet leased aircraft between Delhi and Istanbul - the hub of Turkish Airlines, from whom the airline has been wet leased. The high density aircraft is configured with 28 business class and 372 economy class seats.

The first hint of IndiGo’s widebody plans had come up in 2017. The airline expressed its interest to acquire the international business of Air India along with Air India Express. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, including the fall of Jet Airways and the pandemic.

One of the statements that Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of IndiGo, had made was “we are generally of the view that it makes fundamental economic sense for us to enter the long-haul international market.” Gangwal is no longer a board member in IndiGo now after a fall out with co-founder Rahul Bhatia.

The airline which started in 2006 and propagated its single fleet type strategy and its benefit has since diversified into having multiple subtypes of the A320 family, the turboprop ATRs and now the wet leased operations with the widebody aircraft.

While the sub-fleet and new fleet kept getting added, the standard 180-seat configuration changed to have 78, 180, 186, 222 and 232 seats. This will be the first time there will be an addition of “Class of Travel” with the wet-leased B777s offering business class or will it, if it decides to not sell the business class and let Turkish Airlines do this part.

Widebody freeing up narrowbody

IndiGo got into a turbulence for approvals of widebody induction. Indian rules hitherto allowed wet lease for up to six months as a stop gap arrangement for proven shortage of aircraft. There indeed was a proven shortage since IndiGo was struggling to get all aircraft in the air - thanks to supply chain issues delaying replacement engines, but six months was too short a period. The rules have since been revised and IndiGo is the first beneficiary of this new rule, which allows a year of wet-lease

IndiGo’s Turkish ambitions have been stuck in bad luck. The start coincided with the closure of Pakistani airspace which meant that the non-stop flight became one-stop via Doha as the A321neo does not have the legs to fly as long. Eventually, the second flight started as well. Soon, the sector made news again for leaving behind baggage of passengers and just when everything seemed to stabilise, the pandemic hit. Starting January 1, the airline is splitting its operations between Delhi and Mumbai, with the Mumbai - Istanbul flight having a tech stop at Ras Al Khaimah.

With the Istanbul route being taken over by a widebody, it will free up one A321neo for operating elsewhere. This will also be the first time that IndiGo will offer hot meals on its flights!

The Turkish bilateral issue

Bilateral rights or Bilateral Air Services Agreement vary from country to country. Sometimes they are capped by seats, sometimes by frequencies and sometimes by a combination of both. In the case of India - Turkey bilateral, it is capped by frequencies - allowing 14 weekly frequencies from each side.

While the National Civil Aviation Policy talks about renegotiation when the Indian side reaches 80 percent mark, even with 100 percent utilisation from both sides - renegotiation has not happened. Geopolitics is partly to blame for that as Turkey has time and again taken stances at global bodies, which are detrimental to India’s interest.

With IndiGo operating widebody operations, Turkish gets a huge boost in the number of passengers since these flights are codeshare. It will take time to know how many seats on the flight are actively sold to feed the global network of Turkish Airlines via Istanbul and how many of the passengers end their journey in Turkey. One does not know if Turkish offered a sweet deal on the planes to IndiGo as this would help the airline get additional traffic and aim at salami slicing traffic from the Middle Eastern carriers.

Widebody and LCC - unproven combination yet

Low cost carriers inducting widebody aircraft has not resulted in great results thus far. From Wow Air to Norwegian - there have been a lot of skeletons. Some of the biggest carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet have stayed away from this and stuck to a single fleet type for ages.

Closer home though AirAsia, with its subsidiary AirAsiaX as well as Cebu Pacific, VietJet and Lion Air have been operating widebody aircraft. Not all of them are successful, with AirAsia X having seen closure in Indonesia and severe headwinds in its home market.India, as always, is different. The sheer volume of passengers is huge as compared to other countries in the region except China, and currently the volume is dependent on foreign carriers to a large extent. With Air India upping the game, IndiGo has to either join it now or wait for the XLRs to arrive in 2024 or beyond. The wet lease arrangement seems to be in the “everything in-between” mode of testing the waters before taking a plunge.

(With Inputs from MoneyControl)

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Brussels Airport and Brussels Airlines ring in the new year with the first delivery of SAF via the NATO pipeline

Prashant-prabhakar

02 Jan 2023

The NATO pipeline now makes it possible to transfer sustainable aviation fuels to Brussels Airport in a quick, secure, and CO2-free way (CEPS or Central Europe Pipeline System). The only airport in Belgium with complete access to this pipeline network is Brussels Airport, which has long requested the ability to use this pipeline to receive both kerosene and SAF. This has been achievable as of today because of NATO's cooperation. The first airline to use this technology to transport SAF on a flight is Brussels Airlines.

This is an important milestone in making aviation more sustainable at Brussels Airport. Having sustainable aviation fuels available at the airport has been a priority for us and we are delighted that, thanks to NATO's support, we can already achieve this at such short notice. As an airport, within the framework of our European Stargate program, we have expressed the ambition to aim for 5% SAF on total kerosene imports by 2026. That is faster than the European target, but we want to fully commit to this together with our airline partners. The fact that our home carrier Brussels Airlines is already taking the lead with a first order of SAF is a great start to realizing this ambition- said Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport

The term SAF, or Sustainable Aviation Fuel, refers to a variety of sustainable aviation fuels. Compared to using fossil aviation fuel, SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%* throughout the course of its lifetime. Brussels Airlines' Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is made from 100 percent renewable, sustainably generated waste and leftover raw materials, including used cooking oil and animal fat waste.

Representative | Honeywell

To achieve our climate goals, we will have to drastically increase the use of alternatives to fossil fuels in the coming years. Next to fleet renewal, sustainable aviation fuel is the most effective tool currently available to reduce emissions from air travel. Together with the Lufthansa Group, we have already invested in the production and use of SAF for several years. The fact that we can now transport the sustainable aviation fuel from the blending facility all the way to our aircraft at Brussels Airport in a fast and environmentally friendly way is an important step to increase the use of this type of fuel in the near future- said Peter Gerber, CEO of Brussels Airlines

For this trial operation, Brussels Airlines ordered 2,000 barrels of 1,000 liters each with a blend of 38% SAF. In order to enable Brussels Airlines to conduct its inaugural flights with SAF on January 1, the sustainable aviation fuel was carried by Brussels Airlines from Neste's blending facilities in Ghent via the CEPS pipeline to the fuel storage facility at Brussels Airport immediately after midnight.

Sustainable aviation fuel is the most effective tool currently available to reduce the emissions of air travel. Neste is working with partners like Brussels Airlines and the Lufthansa Group, airports and logistics providers to make SAF available across Europe and globally. Following permission by NATO to transport SAF on the CEPS pipeline system, we are proud to be the first to deliver SAF into the pipeline to Brussels airport. We look forward to using the largest pipeline system in Europe to supply other airports in the near future. Pipelines are the most efficient way to supply as Neste is scaling up SAF production capacity to 1.5 million tons annually in 2023- said Jonathan Wood, Vice President Europe, Renewable Aviation at Neste

SAF is a crucial tool for reducing aviation's environmental impact. Brussels Airport and its partners in the Stargate project are aiming for 5% SAF by 2026, while the European Commission (ReFuelEU) is working toward a requirement of 2% SAF from 2025 and 5% from 2030. It is a substantial supply optimization to have SAF readily available through the NATO pipeline and the previously existing infrastructure at the airport.

Representative | ecac-seac

A demographic survey and sensitization campaign will be employed as part of the Stargate project to educate and raise public awareness about the need to collect more leftover frying oil for SAF manufacturing. The use of SAF at Brussels Airport will continue to be pushed within Stargate. Now that a large-scale blending plant was no longer required, partners will suggest that smaller-scale biofuel and kerosene blending be researched and developed instead, with high mix ratios.

SOURCE: press.brusselairlines.com

COVER: Brussel Airlines

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Air India to get a fresh brand identity with a revamped website and mobile app

Radhika Bansal

02 Jan 2023

Air India will get a fresh brand identity with a revamped website and mobile app, Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said in a year-end note to employees.

“We are at the business end of Q4 now and it has been quite a year. Notably, we launched Vihaan.AI -- our transformation roadmap in September and we’ve been firing on all cylinders ever since. We are currently taxiing as planned with 22 initiatives on our agenda in various stages of progress. Thanks to our collective efforts, we are well on schedule,” he said about the Tata group airline.

“It will take us a few years before we attain the world-class heights to which we aspire. But we have made a fantastic start, and you can all be proud of what has been achieved so far,” Wilson said.

He listed brand refresh as an upcoming milestone for the airline. He also mentioned that the airline has onboarded world-class brand and product design agencies but did not divulge further details. The airline’s owner, Tata Sons, has roped in UK-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands to devise a new brand strategy for its airline, a media report said earlier this month. Futurebrands has worked on the rebranding of carriers, such as American Airlines, and this initiative is being planned alongside the integration of group airlines.

Wilson, a New Zealander, took charge of Air India in July and he leads the airline's five-year plan called Vihaan. The plan includes fleet and network growth and improvements in customer service to increase market share and put the airline “on a path to sustained growth, profitability, and market leadership”.

The airline has announced it will lease 36 planes and add three new routes, with 10 more in the pipeline. It has hired more than 1,200 employees across functions for its expansion. It is negotiating with both Airbus and Boeing for planes.

The Tata group is integrating its four airlines into two: Air India and Air India Express.

Wilson said upcoming milestones for the airline include a future-ready organisation structure and team co-location in new offices. It has already initiated the process of rolling out digital HR solutions for employees. An employee survey is being carried out to get feedback on Vistara’s integration with Air India. Vistara is a full-service carrier co-owned by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

Earlier in the year, it was announced that Air India, Air India Express, and AirAsia India offices will shift to a new facility in Gurugram by March 2023. The move to consolidate workplaces is an integral part of the transformation agenda by improving collaboration among staff and more easily adopting technology, the airline said.

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DGCA took 305 enforcement actions against airlines, individuals in 2022

Radhika Bansal

02 Jan 2023

Aviation safety regulator DGCA took 305 enforcement actions, including imposing financial penalties against various operators and individuals, among others for non-compliance with various norms during 2022, an official statement said on Sunday, January 1.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is mandated to enforce civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards. The regulator took 305 enforcement actions during the year, the DGCA said in the statement.

These enforcement actions were taken against various airlines, including scheduled as well as non-scheduled operators, airport operators and flying training organisations for failing to adhere to laid down safety standards and norms and compromising the safety of aircraft operations, the DGCA said.

DGCA took 305 enforcement actions against airlines and individuals in 2022

Actions were also taken against erring pilots, cabin crew, air traffic controllers (ATCOs), aircraft maintenance engineers and various post holders for non-compliance to laid down regulations and SOPs, it added.

According to the DGCA, the main reasons included actions of the flight crew and ATCOs leading to serious incidents and accidents, improper aircraft maintenance, inadequate airport facilities and failure to clear breath analyser tests by them, including the AMEs. These also included lapses on part of various flying training organisations to follow laid-down SOPs and safety standards.

Besides, during 2022, the DGCA said it also levied financial penalties in 39 cases to the tune of INR 1.975 crore on various airlines, airport operators and FTOs. This includes a penalty imposed on no-frills carrier IndiGo for wrongfully offloading a differently-abled person and on the now Tata Group-owned Air India for not paying compensation to passengers against denied boarding.

Actions were also taken against erring pilots, cabin crew, air traffic controllers (ATCOs), aircraft maintenance engineers and various post holders for non-compliance to laid down regulations and SOPs.

At the same time, SpiceJet was penalised for using a simulator with an unserviceable warning system for training pilots while a penalty on Vistara was levied for non-compliance with route dispersal guidelines, the DGCA said.

A penalty was also imposed on five non-scheduled operators for violation of NSOPs / over logging of flying hours during Kedarnath yatra operations, the statement said and added that the national airport operator AAI was penalised for non-compliance of runway light requirements at Bhavnagar airport.

As many as 17 organisations including Go First were also penalised for non-adherence to laid down guidelines on breath analyser checks, the regulator said in the statement.

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eVTOL Concept Cabin Crash tests by NASA to study passenger safety

Prashant-prabhakar

01 Jan 2023

NASA recently crashed a dummy eVTOL aircraft cabin full of crash-test dummies into the ground as part of its ongoing research into the safety of new advanced air mobility technology to learn what would happen to the occupants in the case of an emergency landing. The organization published a video that features multiple perspectives of the test article collapsing into the ground as its above structure gives way.

nasa.gov

At the Landing and Impact Research facility at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, a full-scale crash was performed by NASA. The aircraft cabin was created as a test article by NASA's Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project, which conducts research and makes investments in the technologies that will allow the introduction of new aerial vehicles linked to advanced air mobility, such as eVTOL aircraft that can transport people or cargo in areas that are currently unserviced by aviation.

NASA fitted six anthropomorphic test devices, sometimes known as "crash test dummies," into an eVTOL cabin without a wing or propellers for the crash test. To simulate the rotor, battery, and wing structure, a mass was put overhead. The impact of a crash on passengers of various ages was examined using dummies of varied sizes. New energy-absorbing stroking seats and an agency-developed energy-absorbing composite flooring were also tested during the experiment by NASA.

nasa.gov

When looking at crash conditions for these types of vehicles, it’s important to note the structural weight and distribution that must be made when examining a specific design. The test was a great success for the crash-worthiness team at Langley. We successfully tested the eVTOL vehicle concept representing a six-passenger, high wing, overhead mass, multiple rotor vehicle, obtaining more than 200 channels of data, and collecting over 20 onboard and off-board camera views - said Justin Littell, a research assistant for NASA Langley’s Structural Dynamics Branch

The completely occupied cabin was raised several meters into the air, its supporting wires were destroyed with explosives, and it was swung toward the ground at an angle to simulate how an eVTOL aircraft may fall in the event of a propulsion failure or other emergency. NASA has determined that the experiment was successful despite the cabin appearing to have suffered significant damage in the collision.

While we are still going through the data and video, and these results are preliminary, we see that there are two main events that occurred during this test-  Littell added

Littell was referring to the overhead structure collapsing soon after the hit as the second occurrence. The scenario in the back seat doesn't appear as favorable, despite the fact that the fake passengers in the front of the plane don't appear to have been crushed by the airframe.

According to NASA, the information gathered from this crash test will help to enhance and realistically enhance these models. The information will also be used by researchers to help design the agency's upcoming eVTOL drop test, which is planned for late 2023.

Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project Overview

nasa.gov

Vertical lift vehicles are increasingly being examined for usage in novel ways that go well beyond those envisioned when thinking about typical helicopters. These new uses are made possible by their unique capacity to take off and land from any area as well as hover in position.

With the help of partners in the government, business, and academia, NASA's Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) project is developing vital technologies that will enable a host of ground-breaking new air travel options, particularly those related to Advanced Air Mobility like large cargo-carrying vehicles and passenger-carrying air taxis.

The vertical lift industry's capacity to safely develop and certify novel new technologies, reduce operating costs, and meet acceptable neighborhood noise levels will be crucial in opening these new markets, which are expected to grow quickly over the next ten years.

SOURCE: futureflight.aero | nasa.gov

COVER: NASA Langley | David C. Bowman

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Noida & Greater Noida authorities to allocate about Rs 1800 crore for NIA

Sakshi Jain

30 Dec 2022

Noida and the Greater Noida authorities have consented to release Rs 1,800 crore towards the Noida International Airport (NIA) construction.

The Greenfield airport is being built as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project, with the Noida Authority and the Greater Noida Authority owning 37.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively, of the project. In addition to them, the Yamuna Expressway Authority owns a 12.5 per cent investment in the project, and the Uttar Pradesh government holds a 37.5 per cent stake.

NIA is developing in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Jewar neighbourhood, around 75 kilometres from Delhi.

On Wednesday, December 28, the board meetings of the Noida Authority and the Greater Noida Authority decided to disburse the cash. In the presence of Ritu Maheshwari, the CEO of both authorities, Arvind Kumar, the Uttar Pradesh Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner, presided over the discussions.

“For the establishment of the Noida International Airport, it was decided by the Noida Authority to give the balance due amount of Rs 1359,12,80,170. Prior to this, a total amount of Rs 1830,23,92,865 has been released by the Noida Authority against its shareholding.”

–Statement, Noida Authority

The Greater Noida Authority said in a separate statement that it would make a fund release of Rs 453 crore towards the airport's development.

“The first installment of Rs 113 crore from this fund will be released shortly. The remaining money would be released once the authority gets a loan from banks.”

–Statement, Noida Authority

The construction of the Noida International Airport, which when finished would be the largest airport in India, is now under process. The airport is developing in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Jewar neighbourhood, around 75 kilometres from Delhi. The Gautam Buddha Nagar district's future greenfield airport would improve domestic and international connectivity to and from Delhi-NCR, Noida, and Western Uttar Pradesh.

The Noida International Airport is currently being built; if complete, it would be India's largest airport.

An official stated that the airport's first phase should be finished by September 2024. About 20% of the work of phase 1 is completed.

The airport, which will be the biggest in India when it is finished, will be built in four stages and, once finished, will have a capacity for 70 million passengers annually, two terminal buildings, and a land area of 5,000 acres.

“The 17 km boundary wall around the airport site has been completed and the electricity substation with 11 kVA capacity is ready. The work progress is on schedule. Some work on the runway, air traffic control building, and the terminal building has been completed.”

–Arun Vir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL)

According to the concession agreement, the first phase, which will accommodate 12 million passengers annually, must be finished and operational by September 2024.

Also read: Noida International Airport partners with ICAD for Master Systems Integrator consultancy

The first phase, which can accommodate 12 million people annually, must be completed and functioning by September 2024, as per the concession agreement.

The second phase of the airport's construction has already started thanks to the efforts of the Uttar Pradesh administration, headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The Uttar Pradesh state government received a proposal from the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration in November for the purchase of land for the NIA's second phase.

The contract to develop and run the airport was awarded to the Swiss airport operator Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) in November of last year.

Also read: Noida International Airport to be built by Tata Projects

The airport's developer, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a division of the Swiss company ZAIA, recently said that the first phase of the massive aviation project is proceeding according to plan. Tata Projects Ltd. has been chosen by YIAPL to carry out the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of Noida International Airport.

Source: CNBC TV-18

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