PM Modi to inaugurate Deoghar Airport on July 12

In a step to provide direct connectivity to Baba Baidyanath Dham, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the Deoghar Airport today in Jharkhand. The airport has been constructed at an estimated cost of around INR 400 crore and is equipped to handle over five lakh passengers annually.

The 2,500-metre-long runway of the newly-built airport can handle the landing and takeoff of Airbus A320 planes. The 5,130 square feet terminal building and six check-in counters can cater to 200 passengers simultaneously.

Baba Baidyanath Dham is an important religious destination for devotees from all over the country and thousands visit the Hindu pilgrimage site every day. The average footfall increases dramatically during the month of Sawan, believed to be the month of Lord Shiva in Hinduism.

Runway of the newly built Deoghar airport

The Deoghar airport is ready to become operational as two flight run trials have been successful and it is set to become the second international airport in Jharkhand after the Birsa Munda international airport in Ranchi.

Last week, the civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal, Airport Authority of India chairman Sanjeev Kumar, Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, state director general of police Neeraj Sinha and other top officers took stock of the completed and ongoing works in the airport premises during the day. 

Additionally, they inspected the terminal building, ATC tower, fire station, power station, approach road, and the runway of Deoghar airport among other facilities.

PM Modi to inaugurate Deoghar Airport on July 12

The airport's design is eco-friendly and it is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities. The design of the terminal building is inspired by the spire of the famed Baba Baidyanath temple in the state.

Local tribal art, handicrafts and photographs of local tourist spots are displayed inside the airport which reflects the culture of the region.

With Shravani Mela kicking off next week, the airport will help thousands of devotees coming to Deoghar from across the nation to offer prayers at Baba Baidyanath Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.

Apart from the airport, Prime Minister Modi will launch and lay the foundation stone of various projects worth INR 16,000 crore in Deoghar. He will also perform Darshan and Pooja at Baba Baidyanath temple and will address the closing ceremony of the Centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna.

IndiGo to commence Kolkata-Deoghar flight service

IndiGo will start flights between Kolkata and Jharkhand's Deoghar from July 12. The flights will operate four times each week.

IndiGo to commence Kolkata-Deoghar flight service

Aviation regulator DGCA had on June 29 granted an aerodrome licence to the newly-built airport in Jharkhand, allowing it to handle narrow-body aircraft such as A321 and B737.

"These new flights will enhance connectivity and significantly reduce transit time between Kolkata and Deoghar, from 7.5 hours to less than 1.25 hours. The increased access to Deoghar -- home to Baba Baidyanath Temple, Trikuta Parvata, Rama Krishna Mission Vidyapith and Naulakha Mandir -- will also boost religious tourism in the region."Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo

Deoghar airport will be the second airport in the state after Ranchi. Spread in a vast area of 650 acres, the design of the terminal building is inspired by the structure of Baba Baidyanath Temple. Paintings of tribal art, handicrafts, and local tourist sites are showcased in the terminal building. 

The Ministry of Finance has clarified that jet fuel for international flights is exempted from the excise duty recently imposed by the government on petroleum products. This means domestic airlines who are refuelling aircraft for international flights will not have to pay an additional excise duty of 11% on it.

Airlines had earlier sought a clarification from the government on the additional levies which would increase the cost burden on them. Airlines are already reeling under record-high fuel prices.

Confusion arose on whether or not excise duty was leviable on domestic airlines for their foreign flights after the government slapped an INR 6 per litre special additional excise duty on the export of jet fuel from July 1.

Jet fuel for international flights exempted from excise duty

On Friday, July 8, the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance issued a corrigendum wherein it added goods “supplied as fuel to foreign going aircraft” to the list of items exempted from the excise duty.

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

“The much-awaited clarification that the exemption otherwise available on excise duty of 11% for international flights which were wrongly withdrawn is restored,” said a senior airline executive. “The notification of June 30 had left us into the huge anomaly and probable cost rise of 11% on international flights. With this clarification that fear is now set to rest,” he added.

Prices of jet fuel are revised every fortnight, and airlines have been increasing air fares with every fuel price hike.

The government, end of June, imposed additional levies on the export of petroleum products - petrol, diesel and ATF – to curb their exports and increase domestic supply.

The Finance Ministry's clarification that excise duty would not be applicable on domestic carriers for foreign flights brings them back at par with foreign airlines for which the fuel is exempt from duty as per the Chicago convention. 

Private fuel companies including Reliance Industries and Rosneft-owned Nayara Energy had begun to export fuel in large quantities, taking advantage of a global fuel shortage created by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The government, end of June, imposed additional levies on the export of petroleum products - petrol, diesel and ATF – to curb their exports and increase domestic supply.

This had in turn created a crunch in domestic supply with fuel pumps running dry across Indian cities. Now, under the new duty structure, Indian carriers feared that refuelling for international flights would attract an additional excise duty of 11%, according to senior executives at airlines and oil marketing companies.

In absolute terms, this would have translated to an additional charge of INR 12,000-13,000/kilolitre of ATF purchased for international flights. Prices of jet fuel have been soaring.

In June, oil companies hiked prices by 16% to record highs. Prices of jet fuel are revised every fortnight, and airlines have been increasing air fares with every fuel price hike.

GMR Group on Friday, July 8 said its joint venture Angkasa Pura Aviasi has started operating the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia. Angkasa Pura Aviasi (APA) is a joint venture between GMR Airports Ltd and Indonesia's state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II.

With the project, GMR Airports, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, has entered the growing Indonesian aviation market and the project will cover a cooperation period of 25 years, according to a release.

GMR Group's joint venture Angkasa Pura Aviasi has started operating the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia

The joint venture formally took over the operations of Medan airport in the presence of Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation; Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises; Edy Rachmayadi, Governor of North Sumatra, and Muhammad Awaluddin - President Director, Angkasa Pura II, the release said. Currently, GMR Group is operating Delhi, and Hyderabad airports as well as the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the Philippines.

It also recently finished the construction of Clark Airport in the Philippines and is also coming up with a new airport at Crete in Greece.

GMR Airports had bid for the development and operation of Medan airport and the international selection process was conducted by PT Angkasa Pura II to select a strategic partner.

GMR Airports officially took over the operations of Indonesia's Medan airport

ALSO READ - GMR to develop and operate Indonesia’s Medan Airport

In November 2021, GMR Airports was announced as the winning bidder. The Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with PT Angkasa Pura II were signed in December 2021.

For the project, GMR had entered into a 49:51 partnership with PT Angkasa Pura II.

"We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to transforming Medan airport into the western international hub of Indonesia and contributing to the overall infrastructure development of the country. Our participation in the project is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Look East' policy and President Jokowi's commitment to developing infrastructure in Indonesia."Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman of Energy & International Airports, GMR Group

GMR Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi. The group was founded in 1978 by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (G M Rao) and comprises several companies including GMR Infrastructure, GMR Energy, GMR Airports, and GMR Enterprises.

Employing the public-private partnership model, the Group has implemented several infrastructure projects in India. The Group also has a global presence with infrastructure operating assets and projects in several countries including Nepal, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Greece.

GMR, the largest private airport operator in Asia and fourth-largest globally, handles over 17.2 crore passengers annually in pre-Covid times.

GMR Group entered the airports' development space in 2003. GMR, the largest private airport operator in Asia and fourth-largest globally, handles over 17.2 crore passengers annually in pre-Covid times.

Its operational airport portfolio includes India’s busiest IGIA in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu, Philippines. GMR is currently developing three major greenfield airports at Goa, Visakhapatnam and Crete in Greece.

The Taliban and the United Arab Emirates are poised to strike a deal for the Gulf nation to run Kabul airport and several others in Afghanistan that could be announced within weeks, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The Taliban, whose government remains an international pariah without formal recognition, have courted regional powers, including Qatar and Turkey, to operate Kabul airport, landlocked Afghanistan’s main air link with the world, and others.

But after months of back-and-forth talks, and at one point raising the possibility of a joint UAE-Turkey-Qatar deal, the Taliban is set to hand the operations in their entirety to the UAE, who had previously run Afghan airports, the sources said.

UAE to run Kabul airport in a new agreement with the Taliban

An agreement would help the Islamist militants ease their isolation from the outside world as they govern an impoverished country beset by drought, widespread hunger and economic crisis. It would also hand Abu Dhabi a win in its diplomatic tussle with Qatar for influence.

Under the deal with the UAE, Afghans will be employed at the airports, including in security roles, crucial for the Taliban who want to show they can create jobs but also because they staunchly oppose the presence of foreign forces, sources said.

An Emirati state-linked contractor had been contracted to provide security services, which should be announced soon, while negotiations over airspace management are ongoing, they said.

The militants in May awarded the ground services contract to UAE state-linked GAAC, which was involved in running security and ground handling services at Afghan airports

The militants in May awarded the ground services contract to UAE state-linked GAAC, which was involved in running security and ground handling services at Afghan airports before the Taliban takeover, shortly after Taliban officials had visited Abu Dhabi.

The Afghan economy collapsed after August 2021, as millions of people lost salaries when the US, World Bank, and other donors stripped the Central Bank of Afghanistan of its foreign assets and access to financial assistance.

Security contract

Meanwhile, Qatar and Turkey’s joint negotiations with the Taliban broke down around the same time, sources said. Emirati officials had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. GAAC did not respond to a request for comment.

Qatar and Turkey’s joint negotiations with the Taliban broke down around the same time

A Taliban transport ministry spokesman confirmed an aviation security contract had already been signed with the UAE but said the air traffic contract was not finalised or confirmed yet.

There is little direct commercial benefit in the airport operations, but Kabul airport would provide a key source of intelligence on movements in and out of the country, Western officials say.

The sources said UAE airlines, which have not flown to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021, were expected to resume flights to Kabul and possibly other Afghan airports after the deal was finalised.

UAE airlines, which have not flown to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021, were expected to resume flights to Kabul

Other airlines, who too have stayed away, could also again operate flights if the UAE deal can address substantial security concerns, including the threat posed by the Afghan branch of the Islamic State whose targets have included the Taliban.

In the months leading up to the ground services being awarded to the UAE, the Taliban repeatedly made unexplained changes to its team negotiating with Qatar and Turkey, the sources said.

Then the Taliban sought to alter agreed terms by upping airport fees and taxes and weaken Qatar and Turkey’s control over revenue collection, they added.

A Qatari official had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed talks with the Taliban had stopped “some time ago”.

Other airlines, who too have stayed away, could also again operate flights if the UAE deal can address substantial security concerns

The UAE’S efforts are part of a quiet but assertive push by Abu Dhabi to expand longstanding ties with the Taliban that have included government aid and diplomatic efforts in the months since the hardline militants took power in August.

Gulf rivalries

Western officials say Abu Dhabi sees Afghanistan, which shares a large land border with UAE’s Gulf neighbour Iran, as part of its wider backyard and so believes it has legitimate interests in the country’s political and economic stability.

But those officials also say the UAE is keen to counter the influence in Afghanistan of Qatar, a Gulf state lauded by Western nations for serving as the gateway to the Taliban but a rival of Abu Dhabi’s in a contest for regional influence.

Western officials worry that rivalry is now playing out in Afghanistan. The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, cut ties with Qatar from 2017 until 2021 as part of a long-running, bitter dispute between the two rich Gulf states that was largely resolved in 2021.

Qatar also helped run Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport after the collapse of the Western-backed government in 2021.

Qatar has hosted the Taliban’s political office in Doha, long one of few places to meet the militants and where the United States negotiated with the militants to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Qatar also helped run Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport after the collapse of the Western-backed government in 2021. Its state-owned Qatar Airways operated charter flights and Qatari special forces provided security on the ground.

But Qatar’s relationship with the Taliban now appears strained, according to Western officials who say the militants have become wary of being too dependent on any one nation.

ALSO READ - Taliban requests the resumption of commercial flights from Afghanistan to India

ALSO READ - Ariana Afghan Airlines will soon resume flight operations to India

(With Inputs from Reuters)

Heart Aerospace, a Swedish startup company developing electric aircraft, has been developing the ES-19, an all-electric, 19-passenger regional aircraft for quite some time now. The company is only four-year-old and dedicated entirely to developing electric aircraft. It is also one of the founding members of the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation-the country plans to make all of its short-haul flights electric by 2024.

The ES-19 (tech and specs)

New Atlas

 Specifically designed to meet the future demands of the market in sustainable aviation, the 19-seater is equipped with a 400 kW electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. According to the company, this motor is 20 times less expensive than conventional turboprops of the same size, with maintenance costs that are 100 times lower.

The ES-19 is planned to have a 400-kilometre (250 mi) range and be able to charge in less than 40 minutes. Furthermore, the current battery pack is expected to grow over time as battery technology continues to evolve.

Mentour Pilot

The Garmin G3000 avionics suite will be installed with custom functions related to managing the aircraft's electronic systems and a lightweight, high-resolution flight display.

Garmin G3000 Integrated Flight Deck | Representative | Aviation Today

The company has developed its propulsion system in-house and is using automotive industry batteries as its power source. MT-Propeller is providing the ES-19’s seven-blade propellers. It is also in talks with several aerospace groups with a view to source cockpit systems and flight controls.

The company hit a major milestone on December 17 last year, when a scale-model of the plane took its first flight at the Heart Aerospace HQ at Säve Airport in Gothenburg, Sweden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u-rC9vEjVg

Heart Aerospace

The most dramatic thing about the test flight was how undramatic it was. The plane performed exactly as we predicted-soaring effortlessly through the air, with a precision take-off and landing. This test flight validated what we already knew- that the ES-19 aerodynamic design is inherently stable and safe.says Anders Forslund, founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace

Anders Forslund | Heart Aerospace

The test flight took four and a half minutes. The aircraft flew with an average speed of 125km/h (77mph/68 kn) and a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph/ 80 kn). The takeoff andlanding speed was 85 km/h (53mph/45 kn).

While the full-scale ES-19 will be made primarily from aluminium, the subscale model was constructed from a mix of carbon fiber and fibreglass composites.

Reportedly, the company will change the certification basis for its first aircraft, the ES-19, to EASA Certification Specification CS-25 from CS-23, which will enable the optimization of the product, reduce regulatory risk, and increase the accessible market.

Furthermore, this change will also apply to international certification validations, including the FAA concurrent certification application, which will be for 14 CFR Part 25 instead of 14 CFR Part 23.

In September 2020, Sounds Air of New Zealand signed a letter of intent to purchase ES-19 aircraft. Heart signed a letter of interest with Finnair in March 2021, which would allow the airline to purchase up to 20 ES-19 aircraft. In July 2021, United Airlines announced its intention to purchase 100 ES-19 aircraft to be operated on United Express routes by Mesa Airlines.

Heart Aerospace

The first Swedish all-electric ES-19 aircraft is set to enter service by 2026.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: SoyaCincau

British Airways on Wednesday, July 6 axed 10,300 short-haul flights through the end of October, with the aviation sector battling staff shortages and booming demand as the pandemic recedes.

"The whole aviation industry continues to face significant challenges and we're completely focussed on building resilience into our operation to give customers the certainty they deserve," the airline said in a statement, having already announced hundreds of flight cancellations this summer.

The airline said it would now reduce its April-October schedule by 11%, having said in May the cuts would amount to 10%.

British Airways cancels 10,300 flights; to cut more flights during the summer holiday months

The cancellations are all short-haul with long-haul unaffected in this new round of cancellations which takes the total for the summer to 13%. The carrier is also facing disruption from planned strikes later this month.

British Airways will cut more flights during the crucial summer holiday months, as airlines and airports across Europe struggle to keep up with strong post-pandemic demand from holidaymakers.

“The Government recently decided to give the whole industry slot alleviation to minimise potential disruption this summer. While taking further action is not where we wanted to be, it’s the right thing to do for our customers and our colleagues. While most of our flights are unaffected and the majority of customers will get away as planned, we don’t underestimate the impact this will have and we’re doing everything we can to get their travel plans back on track. We’re in touch to apologise and offer rebooking options for new flights with us or another airline as soon as possible or issue a full refund."British Airways

Britain last month temporarily relaxed rules around airport slots to allow airlines to devise realistic flight schedules and avoid last-minute cancellations in light of staff shortages.

Airlines and airports across Europe are struggling to keep up with strong post-pandemic demand from holidaymakers, causing chaos for travellers and forcing Heathrow and Gatwick to impose their limits on capacity.

The airline said it would now reduce its April-October schedule by 11%, having said in May the cuts would amount to 10%.

The British government called on airlines last week to run "realistic" summer schedules to ensure they avoid a repeat of recent chaotic scenes at airports during the upcoming holiday season.

"This new flexibility means that we can further reduce our schedule and consolidate some of our quieter services so that we can protect as many of our holiday flights as possible," a BA spokesperson said in an email.