Russia considers increasing the production of commercial aircraft in response to sanctions

Radhika Bansal

17 Aug 2022

Challenged by western sanctions that have hit the civil aviation sector hard, Russia plans to drastically increase the production of commercial aircraft, from the current capacity of 40 planes annually to 120, the President of its largest aerospace company, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has said.

Russia is facing a crippling shortage of passenger aircraft as the Boeing and Airbus fleets operated by its airlines have been cut off from support and service. This had inhibited its ability to operate international flights, bringing domestic programs like the Sukhoi SuperJet and MC 21 into focus.

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Russia considers increasing the production of civilian aircraft in response to sanctions

At least one Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 and an Airbus A350, both operated by Aeroflot, are currently grounded and being disassembled.

ALSO READ - Russian flights banned from American airspace; Boeing halts maintenance support

“Our main task is to substitute foreign aircraft with Russian developed and manufactured aircraft. Right now we are making 40 aircraft per year and are aiming for a three-fold increase as early as possible.Our main task is to jointly work with the (Russian) Ministry of Defence to ensure stable operation of the fleet that we have to maintain and also to continue producing new aircraft for government orders."Yuri Slusar, President, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)

The Russian company is also looking to eliminate its dependency on foreign parts and systems for domestically manufactured aircraft. On the military front, the senior executive said that the main challenge is to ensure that aircraft availability for the special military operation’ continues.

Slusar said that plans are in place to visit India in the nearest future’ to discuss upgrade programs for the Russian fighter fleet in service with the air force.

India has been looking to upgrade its Su 30MKI fighter fleet

India has been looking to upgrade its Su 30MKI fighter fleet and has had discussions with Russia for procurement of additional MiG 29 and Su 30MKI combat aircraft.

The UAC President also made a strong pitch for the MiG 35 fighter jet for an Indian requirement for new multi-role combat aircraft, claiming that only Russia could meet the requirements of more than 60% technology transfer and local production of the jets.

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

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India starts the development of 5th Generation AMCA fighter jets

Radhika Bansal

17 Aug 2022

India still lacks a 5th Gen fighter jet, which is considered the most advanced fighter jet in the world and only a few countries in the world have this type of aircraft.

The Indian Air Force is one of the most advanced defence forces in the world with a fleet that can put any country to shame. IAF has the most advanced fighter jet fleet in the region and also in the world.

To give an insight, the United States has Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, while China has Chengdu J-20 and Russia has Sukhoi Su-57. These are the only three countries with the advanced 5th generation fighter jet.

Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II are one of the most advanced fighter jets.

On the other hand, India is readying its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme to rival these nations. 

ALSO READ - DRDO builds an R&D facility in a “record” 45 days for the AMCA project

Former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria announced that the development of 5th Generation advanced multi-role combat aircraft has been launched.

Recently a tweet revealed the wind tunnel model of the AMCA, highlighting the design of the fighter jet. As seen in the image, the jet will get a dual engine configuration.

https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1555889850255118337

If we see the current fleet of the Indian Air Force, India has mostly foreign-sourced fighter jets, leaving aside HAL-made Tejas LCA, which will serve as the first line of defence for India and will replace the ageing MiG-21 Bison.

However, among the most advanced planes with the IAF is the French-made Dassault Rafale, which is a 4.5 Gen plane at best.

While India can get the Russia-made Sukhoi Su-57 as its most advanced fighter jet, IAF has pitched strongly for indigenous weapons platforms and will rely on the supersonic AMCA, being developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Development of 5th Generation advanced multi-role combat aircraft launched

The prime features are the Diverterless Supersonic Inlet (DSI) and a 3D ‘bump’ that prevent radar waves from bouncing off the engine blades/turbines, making it a Stealth jet.

The jet is seen sporting an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) above the nose cone along with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, used to enhance medium and long-range detection of targets.

The AMCA will be IAF's backbone in the coming decades, and the Indian Air Force is not looking to induct a foreign-made 5th Gen jet till the AMCA is made. A naval version of the 5th Generation fighter will also be developed for the Indian Navy.

A naval version of the 5th Generation fighter will also be developed for the Indian Navy.

ALSO READ - Ground-breaking achievement for India as the country’s first stealth-fighter prototype kicks off production

The aircraft will have a high degree of stealth, the ability to carry weapons internally as well as externally, internal fuel capacity, supercruise and perform the role of both air-to-air to air-to-ground attacks.

With the AMCA will primarily engage targets beyond visual range, it will also have a powerful thrust-vectoring engine for super manoeuvrability for better dogfighting capabilities.

(With Inputs from Zee News)

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DGCA imposes INR 5 lakh penalty on 5 helicopter operators at Kedarnath

Jinen Gada

17 Aug 2022

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a penalty of ?5 lakh each on five helicopter operators ferrying pilgrims to Kedarnath shrine over irregularities in flying records, officials mentioned.

The incident happened at a time when the Char Dham pilgrimage was in full swing in Uttarakhand. So far, at least 450,000 pilgrims have embarked on the pilgrimage since its re-opening on May 6 after a gap of 2 years due to the pandemic.

The irregularities and violations came to light during an audit conducted in June, days after a chopper ferrying pilgrims to the high-altitude shrine made a hard landing on May 31.

DGCA imposes INR 5 lakh penalty on 5 helicopter operators at Kedarnath

On May 31, at about 01:30 PM, a Thambi Aviation Pvt Ltd Bell 407 helicopter executed an un-stabilized approach in marginal weather, resulting in a very hard landing with consequent uncontrolled yaw for about 270 degrees.

ALSO READ - DGCA begins probe of a helicopter bouncing and turning 270 degrees while landing at Kedarnath

The director general of DGCA formed a team for spot check of the choppers involved in shuttle operations in Kedarnath, an official in Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) said.

“On June 7th and 8th, the team conducted a spot check in which serious violations came to light, prompting it to hold a detailed audit of all operators undertaking the shuttle operations,” the official added.

DGCA also suspended officials of two other operators for three months over violation of safety regulations.

DGCA has also issued an operational advisory to all operators for strict compliance to safety standards as per the joint SOP issued for these operations.

The advisory has asked pilots to exercise caution about tailwinds during approaches at the four high-altitude shrines, especially at Kedarnath which faces a constraint of a one-way approach.

"During the audit that had taken place between June 13 and June 16, it was discovered that five operators were not keeping accurate flying records in their technical log books."Arun Kumar, Director General of DGCA

Two more people were discovered to have broken the joint standard operating procedure's rules. DGCA opted not to release the operators' names.

ALSO READ - Chopper makes ‘dangerously’ close landing on Amarnath Yatra route

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Indian charter aircraft lands in Karachi; reason not apparent

Radhika Bansal

17 Aug 2022

A charter airplane from India with 12 passengers on board landed at Pakistan's Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Monday, August 15 reported Geo News.

According to the media reports, the flight took off from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and landed at Karachi airport at 12:10 PM. However, it departed from Karachi after a short while. The reason for the landing is not yet clear.

A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed the development and said the international charter flight had flown in from India and it had no connection whatsoever with the country other than that.

Indian charter aircraft lands in Karachi; reason not apparent

The latest incident comes after two planes from India landed in Karachi last month due to technical issues. SpiceJet Delhi-Dubai flight suffered a mid-air malfunction in its fuel indicator and was diverted to Karachi on July 5.

IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was delayed to Karachi as a precaution on July 17 after pilots observed a defect in one of the engines.

Following the Balakot strike in February 2019, Pakistan initiated a months-long closure of its airspace that was finally lifted in the middle of July 2019.

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Air India selects RateGain for real-time airfare pricing intelligence

Jinen Gada

17 Aug 2022

Air India has selected RateGain's - AirGain product to dynamically adjust prices with real-time, accurate, and high-quality airfare data to compete globally with leading airlines.

AirGain is an innovative SaaS-based airfare pricing intelligence product designed to enhance the revenue & operational efficiency of the airlines. It offers vital pricing insights & real-time competitive intelligence data that would enable the airlines to come up with a robust revenue strategy with the latest market insights.

Air India offers connections to close to 90 destinations in over 30 countries.

In addition, AirGain’s ability to track historical trends and track fare changes on the most-profitable routes makes it easy for Revenue and Commercial teams to stay on top of every market development.

AirGain offers actionable insights to quickly react to market price change and stay ahead of the competition through its scalable and intuitive analytical capabilities. Airlines gain competitive intelligence by analyzing market data in real-time.

AirGain is RateGain’s dedicated next-gen SaaS solution for airlines with market-leading analytics capabilities for competitor benchmarking.

Shares of RateGain Travel Technologies Limited gained over 2% in early trade.

Powered by industry-leading technology and data from 200+ airlines across 700+ demand partner channels, AirGain is the solution of choice for the world’s fastest-growing airlines to help them power revenue growth with unlimited, accurate, actionable intelligence.

As fuel prices and inflation continue to increase costs for airlines, travellers are becoming cost conscious and looking for the best airfares.

"Air India is focused on becoming one of the most competitive airlines in the world and technology will play a big role in it. RateGain is known for helping the world's largest travel companies, and is expected to be playing a role in making Air India the preferred choice for travellers."Aruna Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Air India

This pressure on costs as well as traveller preference is creating a need for pricing data that will allow Air India to accurately understand market shifts, monitor competitive strategy and understand the right price each time.

The company said AirGain offers actionable insights to quickly react to market price change and stay ahead of the competition through its scalable and intuitive analytical capabilities

ALSO READ - Revenue of Air India rose 64% in FY22; net loss swelled by a third

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Ground handling & engineering units of Air India to be sold soon, EoI invitation by November

Radhika Bansal

19 Sep 2022

The government is planning to invite expressions of interest (EoI) for the erstwhile ground-handling and engineering units of Air India by November as it aims to complete the transaction this fiscal, business daily the Economic Times reported.

The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) last week started roadshows to scout for buyers for Air India Airport Services (AIASL) and Air India Engineering Services (AIESL) to scale bidders’ interest. Consultancy firm EY is the transaction adviser for the process, the report said.

ALSO READ - Air India subsidiaries to be privatised soon

Ground handling & engineering units of Air India to be sold soon, EoI invitation by November

The roadshows saw participation from Indian companies such as the Bird group and Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group which now owns Air India, for the ground handling unit. Major international companies such as Swiss ground handling company Swissport and Turkish firm Celebi Aviation Holding also showed interest.

ALSO READ – Celebi Aviation interested in bidding for Air India’s ground handling unit

The roadshow for AI engineering services also saw participation from Tata Sons and the Adani group. The roadshows are being conducted to take feedback from the industry so that the expression of interests (EoIs), the initial step to get the process going, can be designed in a way to get more responses.

As part of Air India’s divestment process, four of its former subsidiaries including Airline Allied Services of Alliance Air were transferred to AI Assets Holdings as a special purpose vehicle.

“We want to incorporate the feedback from the industry so that the sale process is simple and fast. The companies have been profitable and are very attractive with presence across India and ready-made trained workforce,” a government official told ET.

As part of the process, two agencies have been appointed to verify and tag the assets of the two companies that lie across airports in India.

As part of the share purchase agreement entered into between Tata Sons and the government during the disinvestment of Air India, there is a lock-in period of three years during which Air India is required to continue its business with the ground handling and engineering unit.

ALSO READ - Centre begins work on privatisation of Alliance Air & other Air India subsidiaries

The autos-to-steel conglomerate completed its purchase of Air India in January 2022.

As part of Air India’s divestment process, four of its former subsidiaries – AI Air Airport Services, Airline Allied Services of Alliance Air, AI Engineering Services and Hotel Corporation of India – along with non-core assets and other non-operating assets, were transferred to AI Assets Holdings as a special purpose vehicle.

The autos-to-steel conglomerate completed its purchase of Air India in January 2022.

ALSO READ - Air India unveils Vihaan – a comprehensive 5-year transformation plan

Air India recently said it was aiming to increase its domestic market share by more than over 30% and also expand its international presence. Releasing a transformation plan titled “Vihaan.AI”, the company on September 15 spelt out its objectives for the next five years.

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

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