Malaysia Airlines resumes services from Cochin International Airport

Malaysia Airlines has resumed services from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).

CIAL managing director S. Suhas inaugurated the services. The flight from Kuala Lumpur will reach Kochi on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11.35 p.m. and will return on the days at 12.35 a.m.

At present, Air Asia and Malindo Air are operating services in the Kochi-Kuala Lumpur sector. With the resumption of services by Malaysia Airlines, there are now 20 weekly services from Kochi to Kuala Lumpur.

https://twitter.com/KochiAirport/status/1598645096253362177

CIAL director C. Dinesh Kumar, company secretary Saji K. George, and Malaysia Airlines manager Shajeer Sultan were present at the function.

https://twitter.com/KochiAirport/status/1598220351536001024

After years of undercover construction, America's newest nuclear stealth bomber made its public debut on Friday as part of the Pentagon's response to growing worries about a potential clash with China.

After being delivered to the U.S. Air Force, the B-21 currently becomes a part of the strategic triad of the country as a visible and adaptable deterrent, advancing goals for national security and providing assurance to allies and partners.

The Raider gives the Air Force extended range, excellent survivability, and mission payload flexibility when it comes to delivering America's resolve. The B-21 can deliver pinpoint strikes anywhere in the world despite the toughest defenses.

Some key facts about the B-21 bomber

1. Sixth Generation

The B-21 is prepared for the high-end threat environment because to its next-generation stealth technologies, superior networking capacities, and open systems architecture. It will be crucial in assisting the Air Force in completing some of its most difficult missions.

2. Stealth

50 years of advances in low-observable technology have gone into its development. In order to assure that the B-21 will be successful against the anti-access, area-denial systems it would encounter, Northrop Grumman continuously develops technology.

3. A Digital Bomber

It is a computerized bomber, the B-21. Modern sustainment processes are made possible by Northrop Grumman's use of agile software development, innovative manufacturing methods, and digital engineering tools, which serve to reduce production risk on the B-21 program. At the Northrop Grumman facility in Palmdale, California, six B-21 Raiders are undergoing various stages of final assembly and testing.

4. Cloud Technology

In a successful demonstration, Northrop Grumman and the Air Force moved data from the B-21 ground systems to a cloud environment. The development, deployment, and testing of B-21 data, including the B-21 digital twin, which will support B-21 operations and sustainment, were all part of this demonstration. This strong cloud-based digital infrastructure will lead to a more durable and environmentally friendly airplane with less expensive infrastructure.

5. Open Architecture

The B-21 has been built from the ground up to be quickly upgradeable in order to adapt to the changing threat environment. The B-21 will not get block improvements, in contrast to preceding generation aircraft. Agile software updates and built-in hardware flexibility will enable the seamless integration of new technology, capabilities, and weaponry. By doing this, the B-21 Raider will be able to confront the changing threat head-on for decades to come.

We needed a new bomber for the 21st Century that would allow us to take on much more complicated threats, like the threats that we fear we would one day face from China, Russia- said Deborah Lee James, the Air Force secretary when the Raider contract was announced in 2015

Other modifications include the employment of cutting-edge materials in coatings to make the bomber more difficult to detect, new techniques for controlling electronic emissions so the bomber might fool enemy radars and pass for another object, and new propulsion technology.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

In production are six Raiders. The Air Force intends to construct 100 such aircraft that can launch conventional or nuclear bombs and can operate with or without a crew. The Air Force and Northrop both emphasize the Raider's rapid development: The bomber made its debut seven years after the contract was awarded. It has taken decades for other new fighter and ship programs.

The Doolittle Raid, which took place during World War II and involved 80 airmen under the command of Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle and 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, inspired the naming of the B-21 Raider. These 80 volunteers' deeds significantly changed the tide in the Pacific theater. This designated the attack as the starting point for numerous subsequent developments in American air superiority from land or water. The B-21 Raider takes its name from the valiant character of the Doolittle Raiders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uLrGT-gfOI

SOURCE: NORTHROP GRUMMAN | APNEWS

COVER: (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Air India on Friday, December 2 said 48 new pilots and 215 cabin crew who have completed their training, will start operating the airline's A320 fleet. A total of 40 men and 8 women pilots have completed their training at Air India's training campus in Hyderabad.

In a release, the Tatas-owned Air India said its maiden batch of cabin crew trainees and a significant batch of new pilots since privatisation, have graduated. The batch of 215 cabin crew and 48 pilots, all Indian nationals, received their wings following extensive training, and are now cleared to operate as fully-qualified crew.

"We are delighted to welcome these new Air Indians to the team, handpicked from India’s growing pool of talent.  Air India is hiring across all business areas, and from all parts of the country, to support our transformation and ambitions growth plans. Attracting and developing enthusiastic and capable people is an important and crucial part of our Vihaan.AI transformation program."

Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director, Air India

The Tata group took control of Air India in January this year. According to the release, the new pilots, comprising 40 men and 8 women, will commence operating the Airbus A320 fleet.

The batch of 215 cabin crew trainees was selected from more than 13,000 candidates. The cabin crew trainees cleared a 15-week programme imparting safety and service skills, and were coached to exemplify the best of Indian hospitality and Tata group culture.

ALSO READ - Air India hits with Pilot & Cabin Crew shortage as it plans to expand internationally

Air India graduates the first batch of cabin crew trainees & pilots; ready to take off on the A320 fleet

The programme included extensive classroom and in-flight training at the airline's training facility in Mumbai as well as familiarisation flights, the release said.

ALSO READ - Air India issues new grooming guidelines for Cabin Crew

Last week, Air India has updated its ‘Cabin Crew Handbook’, a 39-page dossier on the dos and don’ts for its crew members.

As part of its instructions, Air India asked its male crew members with deep receding hairlines and balding patches to switch to a clean shaved or bald look. Beards are a strict no-no and male members must carry a shaving kit on every flight. Any spot of grey hair must be removed and dyed a natural shade or ‘company ruled colours’.

Air India has updated its ‘Cabin Crew Handbook’, a 39-page dossier on the dos and don’ts for its crew members.

For female crew members, high top knots, low buns and pearl earrings are banned. These requirements are part of the effort to construct a new image of the airline, which recently turned private.

As part of expanding its operations, Air India has announced direct flights between various Indian cities and destinations like Doha, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Birmingham. Besides, the airline is set to commence direct flights from Delhi to key European cities like Milan, Vienna and Copenhagen, and from Mumbai to New York, Paris and Frankfurt.

ALSO READ - Air India to broaden its network in the US

EaseMyTrip increased 7.22% to Rs 67.55 after the business disclosed that it had signed a binding deal to buy a 75% stake in Nutana Aviation Capital IFSC.

According to the Crisil Report-Assessment of the OTA Industry in India, February 2021, Easy Trip Planners (EaseMyTrip) is one of the largest online travel platforms in India in terms of booking airline tickets. It provides "End to End" travel options, including train and bus tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages, and flight tickets.

Nutana Aviation is Gujarat’s GIFT city-based charter solutions company that offers charter solutions to clients in India and abroad and leases charter aircraft within and outside India.

Nutana Aviation offers charter solutions to clients in India and abroad and leases charter aircraft within and outside India

According to Easy Trip Planners, the acquisition of Nutana Aviation is a strategic choice that is consistent with its long-term diversification ambitions of creating a complete travel ecosystem. EaseMyTrip also stated that it wanted to increase its footprint in international areas while concentrating on inorganic growth and profitability.

Also read: EaseMyTrip forms an exclusive partnership with Flybig

EaseMyTrip would own the majority of Nutana aviation as part of the agreement. Following EaseMyTrip's investment, Nutana Aviation will carry on as a stand-alone business.

“As an acquiring party, EaseMyTrip always tries to buy stakes in companies that have the capability to establish an exemplary operations model in the future. Nutana Aviation brings a very novel idea to realization with its services. With India’s ever-growing demand for aircraft charters in the foreseeable future, we see Nutana shaping a reliable, robust, and profitable channel. We are extremely excited to see what the future holds for Nutana Aviation as a part of the EaseMyTrip brand.”

–Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-founder, EaseMyTrip

Nishant Pitti, CEO of EaseMyTrip predicts that demands for corporate travel will increase in the coming year

He predicts that demand will come from business travel.

“We see a brilliant opportunity in this segment. By the end of this fiscal, we will sell and lease back three aircraft, and in the next fiscal will invest in 10 aircraft. We believe that this segment will have the potential to contribute up to Rs 10 crore in the next financial year.”

-Nishant Pitti added.

He said that EaseMyTrip will be the only site for purchasing tickets for the charter services. The business will also make money from ticket sales as a commission.

“It’s our great pleasure to enter into a joint venture with EaseMyTrip which is India’s one of largest travel platforms. It will not only support its organic growth in the travel industry but also support a number of opportunities related to booking charter and leasing air services immersed with technology across the globe. Our combined experience in the aviation sector would usher into a new era of aviation.”

–Sanjay Mandavia, Founder, Nutana Aviation

EaseMyTrip announced record gross booking revenue for the second quarter of FY23, which was $1,977.7 crore, the highest ever for any period. In Q2FY23, the company generated operating revenue of 108.5 crores, up from 56.65 crores in the same quarter last year, on a consolidated basis. To $112.07 crore, net income increased 87.5% year over year.

Following the announcement, EaseMyTrip stock today increased on the exchanges. The stock increased nearly 5% from Wednesday's close to close today on the BSE, closing at INR 66.

Following the Nutana Aviation acquisition announcement, EaseMyTrip stock today increased on the exchanges

EaseMyTrip's performance has been most remarkable in 2022, despite a persistently negative attitude toward new-age IT firms. Prior to two weeks ago, when they began trading ex-bonus and ex-split, their shares reached their highest circuit on the BSE.

A network outage on Thursday, November 1, at Mumbai Airport's Terminal 2 briefly interfered with regular operations at the airport. 

Mumbai Airport was shut down for around two hours on Thursday due to a fibre cable cut at a metro construction site, which rendered the country's second busiest airport's server inoperable and hampered boarding and check-in procedures.

Operations at Mumbai Airport were shut down for around two hours on Thursday due to a fibre cable cut

Chaos erupted at the airport and several flights were affected after the internet server crashed, prompting airlines to issue boarding passes manually. 

Also read: Mumbai airport to close its runways for 6 hours

“The systems went off at around 5 pm and were restored completely at 6.35 pm.”

–Mumbai Airport Official

The airport staff worked with the airlines to be able to facilitate and address concerns. All systems were restored and functional by 7:20 pm.

“There was a network interruption resulting from a cable cut during some construction work in the city. This interrupted the various ticketing systems. All systems are now restored and working.”

–In a statement issued later in the day, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said.

https://twitter.com/CSMIA_Official/status/1598321244977467393

DIG Shrikant Kishore of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had told HT that the optic fibre cable breakage was to blame for the system breakdown.

Also read: Mumbai Airport’s air traffic control faces numerous glitches due to outdated equipment

Social media was inundated with images showing long lines at all baggage drop desks during the downtime. The CISF stated in a statement that the "crowd is slightly more than normal" as chaos broke out as people vented their frustrations on social media as a result of the server crash. As manual passes were being distributed, it stated that the crowd is being managed effectively and there is no mayhem.

https://twitter.com/MirrorNow/status/1598291619824140289

“Our teams are present on the ground and manual processing has been initiated to facilitate all passengers. We sincerely regret the inconvenience and thank our passengers for their understanding.”

–Mumbai International Airport spokesperson said

All airlines were affected, a Vistara representative informed HT. A representative for Akasa Air concurred with this and added that the airport operators were addressing the impact on airline services. According to the demands of the travellers, they were providing assistance. 

Air India responded to several users on Twitter by stating that their team was "diligently" working to minimise the inconvenience.

https://twitter.com/airindiain/status/1598301861332848642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The second-busiest airport in India, Mumbai, receives passenger handling technology from Geneva-based SITA. Along with self-service kiosks and a baggage reconciliation system that makes sure the proper bag is on the right plane with the appropriate passenger, it also offers common-use check-in and boarding.

In order to better serve the passengers, the airport has requested that travellers allow more time for check-in. While there have been no cancellations as a result of the IT-enabled flight operations being stopped, flight delays were noted as a result of the check-in procedure being interrupted.

One single delay causes a spillover effect, and it will likely take some time for flight operations to resume normally because the metro airport, the second busiest airport in the nation, manages substantial air traffic. 

An airport representative said that people flying out of Mumbai airport should check the timing of their flights and allow extra time before leaving for the airport.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)

No-frills airline IndiGo has launched a digital e-logbook for pilots and the facility will allow the transfer of pilots' flight data directly to aviation regulator DGCA.

In a release on Thursday, December 1 IndiGo said it had become the first Indian airline to launch a digital e-logbook for pilots.

"In collaboration with DGCA, the e-logbook will provide direct flight data transfer service to pilots from IndiGo systems to eGCA logbooks, effective December 1, 2022," it said.

IndiGo introduces a digitised e-logbook for pilots

ALSO READ - Civil aviation services get Digital, DGCA launched eGCA

eGCA is an online platform for various processes under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With the automated process, the flying hours entered in the eGCA e-logbook will have the consistency of data and format for all the stakeholders, increasing safety and efficiency in operations.

This will also offer real-time availability of flying hours data for pilots in compliance with rule 67A of Aircraft rules, and enable data accuracy and timely submission of issuance, renewals, and endorsement of licences by removal of multi-layer data validation.

“We are proud to partner with DGCA to become the country’s first airline to introduce Digital e-logbook, taking a leap towards digitalisation in Indian aviation. This initiative is the beginning of a new era to enhance operational efficiency and easing of complexity and workload for pilots. This step is in line with the Government’s vision of “e-Governance and Digital India” and our philosophy of providing a hassle-free experience to our pilots. I would also like to thank DGCA, team of eGCA, and TCS to turn this into a reality and to all the leadership pilots and e-logbook verifiers for their immense contribution.”

Ashim Mitra, Senior Vice President: Flight Operations, IndiGo

This process will allow pilots to devote more time towards their skill enhancement and improve their quality of life by freeing up time required for work manual log filling.

IndiGo isn't the only Indian carrier going digital. Vistara will also adopt electronic logbook software and go completely paperless in its operations in some time. The airline has selected US-based Ultramain Systems for the job and is testing the product before implementing it officially.

The electronic logbook software will replace the traditional paper-based aircraft paper technical log, cabin log, journey log, damage log, and fueling log. According to the airline, the new system will provide a validated electronic Certificate of Release to Service (e-CRS) on flights operated by Vistara.

IndiGo isn't the only Indian carrier going digital. Vistara will also adopt electronic logbook software and go completely paperless in its operations in some time.

ALSO READ - Vistara to launch electronic logbook; partners with Ultramain ELB for paperless operations

The carrier had earlier stated that the ELB application will be used by flight and cabin crew and engineers on iOS devices to provide integrated workflows with Vistara's maintenance and operational systems. The software will be used for various live processes like Aircraft Maintenance and Operational Support (AMOS), Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), and Aviation Resource Management System (ARMS).

The government is also pushing for the digitization of other areas of the aviation sector with the Ministry of Civil Aviation launching DigiYatra to ensure a seamless entry and embarkment process for air travellers. Currently, the service is for just three airports, Delhi, Varanasi, and Bangalore.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia affirmed that the data of passengers will be safe and will be stored in an encrypted format in a decentralized manner.