NSG finds nothing suspicious on the Azur Air Moscow-Goa flight that declared a bomb threat

The National Security Guard (NSG) found nothing suspicious onboard the Moscow-Goa chartered flight, which was diverted to Gujarat's Jamnagar after Goa ATC followed an alleged bomb threat, Jamnagar Airport director informed on Tuesday, January 10.

According to the airport director, the flight will depart from Jamnagar to Goa between 10.30 am and 11 am. Meanwhile, security forces carried out an intensive search of the passengers onboard the Moscow-Goa chartered flight.

"NSG has not found anything suspicious. The flight is expected to leave from Jamnagar to Goa, sometime between 10.30 am and 11 am. All the cabin baggage has been thoroughly checked," said Jamnagar Airport Director.

The Goa-bound international flight was diverted to Jamnagar, Gujarat on Monday, January 9 evening after the crew received clearance for an emergency landing at Jamnagar airport in the wake of an alleged bomb threat, informed airport authorities.

The Goa Air Traffic Control had received an email claiming a bomb threat onboard the international flight. A bomb squad, as well as fire brigade teams, had rushed to the spot. Apart from this, CISF officials, as well as the collector and superintendent of police, also reached the airport.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vasco Salim Shaikh, said that precautionary measures are being taken, and a special force has been deployed at the airport to monitor the movement of people and track any suspicious activity.

Earlier, the security agencies cordoned off the airport for 9 hours. A total of 236 passengers and eight crew members were on the flight. They said all passengers were safely evacuated and escorted to the lounge inside the terminal building.

The Russian Embassy issued a statement saying they were alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa.

"The Embassy was alerted by Indian authorities about an alleged bomb scare on Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. Everyone on board is safe; authorities inspecting the aircraft," said the Russian Embassy in a statement.

Jamnagar District Collector Saurabh Parghi told ANI, "An intensive search was carried out by security agencies from 9.50 pm (on Monday) till the morning hours." He said security agencies were also verifying the passenger details. Checking is done through routine scanning of passengers. Non-stop work has been on for nine hours. The baggage was checked and details verified, he said.

"We received information about a bomb threat in the Moscow-Goa flight, which was diverted. The flight had 236 passengers and 8 crew members. All passengers were escorted out safely and are in the airport lounge. Bomb detection and disposal work are underway," the Jamnagar district collector had said earlier.

As IndiGo has expanded its fleet to 300 aircraft, the country's airlines' fleet is likely to add over 100 aircraft every year in the next few years as per the expected growth in the aviation sector.

Civil Aviation Ministry officials said that there were about 400 aircraft in 2013 and in 2021-22, the number increased to 700. Airlines in India are going to add 15% capacity or 100 to 110 aircraft per year and the aviation sector is looking at close to 1,200 aircraft by 2027.

Officials said that expansion of the fleet size of an airline is a commercial decision and therefore each airline decides induction of aircraft keeping in view commercial viability, traffic demand and its business plan.

Barring the Covid period, aviation traffic has witnessed consistent growth. The all-India passenger growth as projected by the Airports Authority of India for the next few years is 371 million passengers in 2023-24 and 412 million in 2024-25.

Similarly, airport infrastructure has also recorded corresponding growth in the last few years. Officials said that the total number of airports has nearly doubled from 74 in 2014 to over 141 in 2022.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the Mopa International Airport in Goa for which the foundation stone was laid in November 2016. Developed at a cost of around INR 2,870 crore, the airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure. Before this, Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar, the first Greenfield Airport of Arunachal Pradesh, was inaugurated in November 2022.

Keeping in view the growth in aviation traffic, the government has accorded in-principle approval for setting up 21 Greenfield Airports across the country.

These 21 airports include Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Oravakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Donyi Polo, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

Out of these, many Greenfield airports including Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar and Donyi Polo, Itanagar and Mopa have been operationalised.

In keeping with the growth in aircraft and passenger traffic, the aviation regulator has issued nearly 1100 commercial pilot licenses in 2022 as against 862 licenses in 2021. Officials said that there are 34 DGCA-approved Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) operating at 52 bases in the country. Of these, IGRUA at Amethi (UP) is under the Central government, eight are under state governments and 25 are in the private sector.

Officials said that the government has been promoting and facilitating the manufacturing of aircraft, including a Regional Transport Aircraft, and associated equipment by public and private enterprises in India.

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Hindustan-228 (Upgraded) civil aircraft developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is a 19-seater turboprop aircraft suitable for regional connectivity. HAL has also signed an MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) for the Design, Development and Certification of a 19-seater Light Transport Aircraft - SARAS MKII and subsequent production, marketing and lifestyle maintenance of the aircraft.

The Indian skies may soon see a new airline taking off. Fly91 will be promoted by aviation veteran Manoj Chacko and cofounded by Harsha Raghavan, former India head of Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings.

Chacko was the executive vice president of Kingfisher Airlines and chief operating officer and CEO of business travel, SOTC. Harsha was the founding managing director and former CEO of Fairbridge Capital, a wholly-owned India investment subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings.

“We have to remember two critical aspects. The first is that we are fundamentally in the transportation industry and our key focus is to ensure that we transport people from point A to B safely, comfortably and in the most economical way. The second one is to keep things brutally simple and stick to the basics and do them extremely well and not try to reinvent the wheel where not necessary.”

Manoj Chacko, Co-Founder, Fly91

Just UDO, the owner of Fly91 (91 for India’s country code), has been set up by Chacko, along with a co-founding team, according to a report by the Economic Times.

Raghavan will co-found the airline through his investment firm Convergent Finance to anchor Fly91’s initial investment of INR 200 crore, as per the report. The promoter company, Just UDO, had last week applied for the initial no-objection certificate (NOC) with the civil aviation ministry.

Fly91 will operate a fleet of leased 70-seater ATR 72-600 turboprop jets.

The airline would be based in Goa. Fly91 will operate a fleet of leased 70-seater ATR 72-600 turboprop jets. The company is in the advanced stages of discussions with plane leasing companies. The airline aims to start operations in September with two aircraft, scale it up to six in the first year of operations and 32 planes in five years.

Fly91 will operate in the short-haul segment – flights of 45 to 90 minutes duration. The airline will be based in its Goa hub and aim to connect underserved airports (from where 30% of India’s domestic traffic originates) as per the Centre’s Regional Connectivity scheme.

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

All passes issued to employees and visitors of airports across the country have been withdrawn by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) after it was found that a "distorted" map of India was printed on them, officials said.

Map images of Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern region, Rajasthan and Gujarat were wrongly depicted in the passes issued at all Airports Authority of India operated airports and six Adani group-run airports -- Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Mangaluru. After it was found that the images were "distorted", the BCAS has withdrawn the passes, an official privy to the development said.

In a communication to the chairman of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the BCAS said the embedded hologram roll being used is not according to the sample hologram approved by the BCAS.

"Keeping in view the seriousness of the issue, it is hereby directed that all Aerodrome Entry Permits (AEPs) issued with holograms shall be withdrawn and further printing with these hologram rolls shall be stopped with immediate effect," the letter said.

The BCAS also conveyed that the AAI will conduct an inquiry into the matter, find out at which level the lapses occurred, who is responsible for procuring these hologram rolls and take appropriate action against the responsible officers. The AAI has been directed to submit an action-taken report on the issue to the BCAS at the earliest, it said.

A person, who is not a passenger with a valid ticket, requires an AEP that is issued by the airport. The AEP application form, which is issued by the BCAS, mentions 13 zones that a person can enter. The permitted areas include the arrival halls, the departure halls, the terminal building, the apron area, the security hold area, cargo terminal among others.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy withdrew from the Supreme Court his 2013 plea seeking the quashing of an alliance between Jet Airways and the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.

"I wish to withdraw this, it is the Jet-Etihad matter. Now there is no Jet, no Etihad," Swamy told a bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar. The court then remarked in a lighter vein, "We do not know who is responsible for that."

Taking note of his submissions, the top court allowed Swamy to withdraw his plea. "The petitioner seeks permission to withdraw given subsequent developments. The petitioner stands dismissed as withdrawn," the bench said while granting him liberty to file a fresh application if there is any new cause of action.

Subramanian Swamy withdrew a 2013 plea seeking the quashing of the Jet Airways - Etihad alliance

The apex court had issued notices to the Centre, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and others in the case.

Swamy had submitted that the deal was against public interest as there has been squandering of natural resources i.e. the sky and air space. He claimed that the deal was cleared against the advice of the Parliament Select Committee and other advisory bodies. Swamy had also submitted that even the CAG has found that there has been a reckless allocation of air space to foreign airlines.

Jet Airways had on April 24, 2013, announced plans to sell 24% equity to Etihad Airways for about INR 2,058 crore as part of a strategic alliance that would lead to a significant expansion in their global network.

Jet Airways had on April 24, 2013, announced plans to sell 24% equity to Etihad Airways for about INR 2,058 crore

Swamy had in his PIL sought "a direction to set aside and revoke any action or decision or grant of any further approvals/permissions/permits, etc. by the respondent(govt) authorities, based upon, relying upon or in furtherance of the impugned bilateral dated April 24. The petitioner challenges such arbitrary, irrational and malafide act of grant of largesse in the form of bilateral/MoU dated April 24 and by way of the present petition seeks an investigation under the supervision of this Court into the matters of national and public interest," he had said in his petition.

He had also sought a CBI probe against government officials who had cleared the deal. Swamy had questioned the Centre's decision to execute the agreement in favour of Abu Dhabi under the existing air service agreement between the governments of India and the United Arab Emirates.

"The actions of authorities from the execution of the bilateral to the unprecedented haste to assist the realisation of wrongful gains by the facilitator are writ large with acts of collusion and abuse of position," the petition had contended.

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IndiGo on Friday announced that its fleet now consists of 300 aircraft. Currently, IndiGo operates the Airbus A320 CEO and NEO, the A321 NEO, and the ATR 72-600 aircraft. Speaking on the occasion, Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo said: "We are excited to announce that our fleet size now stands at 300 aircraft, giving wings to our ambitions. We have recently expanded operations across west, east, and north-east India as well as the middle east. "The strong fleet will help us cater to emerging travel demands with the addition of capacity across domestic and international destination shores. We will strive to stay true to our promise of affordable fares, on-time performance, courteous and hassle-free service across a wide network." The 300 aircraft strong fleet will help in catering to the growing passenger volume, as Indian aviation marks recovery and growth in 2023. The seating capacity on the A320 CEO fleet is 180, A320 NEO fleet is 180 /186, the A321 fleet is 222/232 and ATR Fleet is 78. IndiGo is amongst the fastest-growing low-cost carriers in the world. With its fleet of 300 aircraft, the airline is operating over 1,600 plus daily flights and connecting 76 domestic destinations and 26 international destinations. Indigo on Thursday had said that the airline will operate 168 weekly flights between Mopa and 8 domestic destinations like Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad right from the start on the first day of operations. The new network will cater to the increasing demand owing to the popularity of Goa as a preferred leisure travel destination and will provide more options to the customers, making travel more affordable and enhancing direct connectivity to North Goa.