SpiceJet to introduce inflight internet services

Radhika Bansal

23 May 2022

SpiceJet will induct more Boeing 737 Max aircraft over the next few months and it hopes to start broadband internet service on its planes soon, its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Ajay Singh said on Monday, May 23.

The airline has a fleet of 91 aircraft, out of which 13 are Max planes and 46 are older versions of Boeing 737 aircraft, according to its website.

"The Boeing 737 Max the flagship of our fleet has successfully returned to service and earned rave reviews from passengers. Over the next few months we will induct many more Max aircraft in our fleet with the goal to replace all our older aircraft with the Max.SpiceJet has been specially recognised for the stellar role you have all played in serving your country through the Covid crisis. We transported more than 1,00,000 oxygen concentrators to India when they were the most required. We were the first and the largest transporters of Covid vaccines in the country."Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), SpiceJet

In his email to employees on the 17th anniversary of the airline, Singh said the carrier continues to fly with the highest loads month after month and expects to soar even higher in the coming months.

SpiceXpress, the airline’s successful cargo company, will add a substantial number of freighter aircraft further strengthening and consolidating its leadership position in the industry, he mentioned.

Hope to start broadband internet service on SpiceJet aircraft soon: CMD Ajay Singh

"We will continue to add new products and new routes to our network this year. SpiceClub, our wonderful loyalty program launched our co-branded credit card recently and we hope to start a broadband internet service onboard our aircraft soon," he said.

SpiceJet’s route network will also expand to include unique and exciting new destinations in India and around the world, its CMD noted.

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SBI loan to kick off Noida International Airport dream

Admin

11 Aug 2021

Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) has raised an INR 3,725 crore loan from the State Bank of India for funding the upcoming Noida International Airport.

This financial closure, which will enable the start of construction work, is one of the largest financings for an Indian Greenfield airport. The loan is to be repaid over a period of 20 years with one-year moratorium post completion of the project.

Picture credit: Zee News

Noida Airport project is being funded on a debt-equity ratio of 65:35. Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA), a fully owned subsidiary of Flughafen Zurich AG, is the main shareholder of YIAPL and is injecting INR 2,005 crores as equity into developing the airport.

“We are delighted to have signed the financing agreements with SBI and NIA Ltd (NIAL) to develop Noida International Airport. This marks the financial close for the project, and we now eagerly look forward to the development of the airport in close collaboration with our partners, including NIAL and SBI.” YIAPL CEO Christoph Schnellmann

NIAL said it plans to make air travel more affordable for airlines and passengers by building the infrastructure sustainably and cost-effectively using renewable energy. Noida is envisaged to be India’s first net-zero emission airport. It will be a fully digital airport, enabling contactless travel.

“This will enable the team to focus on construction work for the airport development. We are eagerly waiting to build India’s leading airport that will boast of quality, efficiency, technology, and sustainability. We are excited and set to move ahead with a vision to co-create world-class aviation infrastructure”. NIAL CEO Arun Vir Singh

The Noida International Airport will be the National Capital Region’s third, after the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Ghaziabad’s Hindon. The new airport will be 100 km from the GMR Group-operated Delhi airport, the capital’s only international airport so far.

PROPOSED LOOK OF THE NOIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The second phase of The Noida International Airport (previously Jewar airport) is due to be completed by FY31 and will increase its capacity to 30 million passengers per year, while the third and fourth phases are due to be finished by FY36 and FY40, respectively, further enhancing its capacity to 50 million and 70 million passengers, respectively.

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Are VTOL capable aircrafts future of urban commute ?

Admin

11 Aug 2021

Definition

VTOL is an acronym for vertical take-off and landing. A VTOL aircraft can take-off, land and hover vertically, virtually from any terrain and this sets it apart from conventional aircrafts. While there are different modes of operations such as CTOL(conventional take off n landing), STOL(short take-off and landing) etc, VTOL is a sub classification of the V/STOL(vertical/short take off n landing). The best known example is a helicopter and the F35B fighter jet.

F35B VTOL AVIATIONBUZZWORD

Types of VTOL

VTOL aircrafts are broadly classified into two:

1. Rotary wing: Lift is generated by spinning rotor blades around a central shaft.  Examples include:

 Helicopter: The main rotor blades produce thrust vertically by spinning enabling vertical lift off. This thrust can be varied by a slight push in the desired direction, propelling the helicopter forward.

AIRBUS H135 HELICOPTER

Gyrodyne: Essentially a compound helicopter with the same rotor system but with a separate forward thrust mechanism.Cyclogyro: Very similar when compared to a conventional wing, the rotary wings' axis and surface remain sideways to the airflow.

FUTURISTIC CYCLOGYRO PINTEREST

2.Powered lift aircraft: Aircrafts with fixed-wing design who take-off/land vertically but behave differently while in level flight.

Convertiplane: As the name suggests, this type relies on rotors for take-off thrust and switches to fixed-wing mode for level flight.

Gfycat

Tiltrotor: The main wing remains fixed while the tiltrotors tilt its rotors vertically to achieve VTOL. Once airborne, it tilts them forward for horizontal fly configuration.

Tailsitter: A tailsitter aircraft basically sits on its tail to achieve vertical take-off and once airborne, tilts forward for horizontal flight.

1954 Lockheed XFV-1 prototype tailsitter aircraft

Most VTOL aircrafts have the additional capability of switching to CTL and STOL too although helicopters are restricted only to VTOL due to the lack of landing gear required for horizontal movement.

Advantages

eVTOL aircrafts use batteries/electric motors instead of conventional fuel. This minimizes noise pollution and gas emissions while at the same time reducing maintenance costs as well.VTOL technology allows aircrafts to perform from literally any terrain which would otherwise be impossible for conventional aircrafts.With VTOL technology in place, focus can be shifted towards producing more energy efficient wings, as VTOL is independent of wing design.

Brief history

Since the 1940s, up until today, only 4 V/STOL have been manufactured although many(around 40) have been tested. Attempts were made in the 1960s to produce a commercial air with VTOL capabilities but to they failed owing to production and feasibility issues.

Past, Present and the Future

Back in 2014, the company "Opener" began testing a lightweight, electric personal aerial vehicle(PAV), named- "Blackfly". It is the world's first eVTOL aircraft introducing the concept of 3D personal transportation.

flyigcarsmarket

At the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Airbus showcased a prototype flying hybrid car. The car, once airborne, would disconnect from its wheels and pick up on a set of rotors for level flying.

Techcrunch

The battery-powered GL-10, produced by NASA, works on VTOL technology and flies just as efficiently as a conventional plane.

Greased Lighning (GL10) project 10 engine electric prototype remote control plane. Photo taken 8/14/14 by David C. Bowman

The " UberAir" project, spearheaded by the transportation company Uber, had earlier planned to launch its first flying taxis in 2020.

Currently, helicopters are the only VTOL crafts in civilian use. Majority of the VTOL aircrafts are in military service like the Boeing V22 osprey helicopter. The British harrier jet and the F35B use thrust vectoring to accomplish VTOL.

Boeing V22 OSPREY nationaldefensemagazine

More recently, drones have come to the forefront, utilising VTOL technology. With companies all over the world in a race to make the best UAV, the E-commerce giant, Amazon is also in talks to adopt drones as a potential delivery method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW28Mb1YvwY

F35 THRUST VECTORING

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Government's dream of making India an Aircraft leasing hub takes flight

Admin

07 Aug 2021

An Airbus H125 helicopter has been leased from Gujarat's GIFT City in the first such transaction after the relaxation of leasing norms in the country.

Summary

On Friday (August 6, 2021), Vman announced the leasing of an Airbus H125 helicopter to Thumby Aviation, a non-scheduled operator which pioneered the heli taxi service in Bengaluru. The company also has operations in Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and North East states.

In her budget speech, this year union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced tax incentives for leasing companies setting up operations in the GIFT City. This was a part of the government initiatives to make India a hub for aircraft leasing.

https://twitter.com/Vman_aero/status/1423674945607897095

Vman is the first company to start operations from International Financial Services Centre in GIFT City. Last month it signed a purchase agreement for one Airbus H125 helicopter.

“IFSC in India is enabling various structures and businesses which otherwise were served from global financial centres; this transaction is a great demonstration for onshoring the offshore financial services. We are seeing great traction from potential lessors to set up base at IFSC to serve both India as well as global markets,” said Dipesh Shah, head development, IFSC Authority.

Aircraft leasing at the most economical cost will help transform people's lives, added Vishok Mansingh, CEO of Vman.

First aircraft order

The firm placed an order for an Airbus H125 Helicopter to start the first lease transaction onshore. Vman, the first aviation leasing company in GIFT city, started its business transaction on Wednesday, when it signed an agreement to order an Airbus H125 Helicopter.

Vman had placed an order for an Airbus H125 Helicopter to kickstart its onshore lease transaction business. H125 has proven to be a preferred choice for Heli-pilgrimage, urban air mobility, rescue, air ambulance and aerial work missions in India and globally.

AIRBUS H125 AND H130

Financial conundrum

The Indian aviation industry has been dominated by lessors from Ireland and Hong Kong because it’s 48% more expensive to do this from India than from Ireland.

GIFT City is supposed to act like a single-window approval platform for the lessors willing to invest. This year’s budget from the Finance Ministry had also provided incentives like 10-year tax holidays, waiver of capital gain taxes on aircraft disposal during the tax-holiday period, and waiver of basic custom duty, stamp duty and withholding tax on interest payments on royalty for non-residents.

About GIFT City

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is an Under-construction business district near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. It is India's first operational smart city and international financial services centre, which the Government of Gujarat promoted as a greenfield project, The city is located on the banks of the Sabarmati River and is around 12 km (7.5 mi) from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The city is designed in such a way that residents can walk to work, and includes commercial and residential complexes.

Abundance of interest

Ireland's Acumen Aviation, India-based Vman Aero, financing services company Investec and business charter operator JetSetGo have shown an interest in starting aircraft leasing business at the GIFT City.

Dornier 228

Apart from that, low-cost airline SpiceJet plans to lease seaplanes from India and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will explore the possibility of channelising a lease agreement--being discussed with Alliance Air for two Dornier 228 aircraft through the IFSC.

Legal decks have been cleared for aircraft leasing businesses to take wings out of Indian shores (GIFT IFSC in Gujarat) with the GIFT City regulator International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) on Friday issuing a ‘ Framework for Aircraft Operating Leases’.

The government believes that the relaxation and tax waivers will enable the aircraft operating lease businesses to be set up in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) and address the projected market size of more than $ 50 billion for aircraft leasing in the country. Currently, India has only one operational aircraft leasing company in the GIFT City.

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Skytrax has released 2021 Airport rankings, find out where are Indian biggies placed

Admin

06 Aug 2021

Overview

The World Airport Awards began in 1999, when Skytrax launched its first global, Airport customer satisfaction survey. They are regarded as a quality benchmark for the world airport industry, assessing customer service and facilities across over 500 airports.

Hamad international doha

Skytrax doesn't charge any fee from the participating airports or anyone else as a matter of fact. The survey and awards process is fully funded by its own resources. The company claims to have assessed responses from over 100 customer nationalities during the period starting from August 2020 to July 2021.

Top ranked

In the rankings released by Skytrax for 2021, 7 out of the Top 10 airports are from the Asia-Middle east region and the remaining 3 are from Europe. Interestingly, Japanese airports alone have occupied 3 positions in the Top 10.

RANKAIRPORT NAMECOUNTRY1Doha HamadQatar2Tokyo HanedaJapan3Singapore ChangiSingapore4Seoul IncheonSouth Korea5Tokyo NaritaJapan6MunichGermany7ZurichSwitzerland8London HeathrowUnited kingdom9KansaiJapan10Hong KongChina SAR45IGI New DelhiIndia64RGI HyderabadIndia65CSI MumbaiIndia71BIAL BengaluruIndiaSKYTRAX

tokyo haneda

Survey Methodology used

The data is collected through an online survey with all entries screened to identify each IP / user information, with duplicate or ineligible entries deleted. The survey evaluates traveller experiences across different airport service and product key performance indicators - from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate. The survey also contained a specific COVID-19 section.

Some of the popular topics covered in the survey are listed below:-

Getting to and from the Airport, Ease of AccessPublic transport options, efficiency and pricesAvailability of luggage trolleys (airside & landside)Terminal comfort, cleanliness, ambience and designImmigration - queuing times / system & staff attitudeWaiting times at Security screening and efficiencyCheck-In facilities, Wayfinding and Terminal signageFlight Info Screens - clarity / quality of informationChoice of bars, cafes and restaurants, its pricesSmoking policy / Smoking lounges, ATM facility

Sinagapore changi

COVID-19 Survey additions:-

COVID-19 information signage, face mask usageVisibility and availability of hand sanitiserTerminal and washroom cleanliness, social distancingSpot testing facility, quarantine, Hygiene procedures

Strategic Governmental expenditure

Among the Indian airports, only Indira Gandhi International of New Delhi has been able to climb in the ratings significantly but is still very far from the podium. With new airports in Jewar and Navi Mumbai planned to be operational in the next 2-3 years, Indian aviation enthusiasts will be hoping for higher rankings in the future.

Igi delhi

As per a written statement by Gen. V.K. Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Airport Authority of India have decided to invest about Rs 25,000 crores in next 4-5 years into Indian airports for expansion and modifications. Also there is clear shift of focus towards sustainable development as government will be supporting to build 21 Greenfield airports across country, until now there are just six.

navi mumbai airport (under construction)

India's greenfield airport project schedule is among the world's most robust. Moreover, India's annual civil aviation sector growth rate currently sits at nine percent (disregarding interruption due to the current pandemic), but is expected to reach into the double digits for the coming years. Over the next two decades, the number of airports is expected to increase from 133 to 500. Of these, 367 are slated to be greenfield airports.

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Akasa to receive first aircraft in mid-June, commercial operations by July

Radhika Bansal

24 May 2022

New airline Akasa Air on Monday, May 23 said it is on track to receive its first Boeing 737 Max plane by mid-June and launch commercial operations by July.

ALSO READ - Flight operations of Akasa Air pushed to July

The airline on Monday, May 23 released the photographs of its first Max plane from the Boeing production facility in the USA's Portland as it gets ready for delivery.

The aircraft will undergo its first flight — by pilots from Boeing — followed by a few more. The last flight is called the customer acceptance flight and is done with representatives of the airline on board.

The aircraft will undergo its first flight — by pilots from Boeing — followed by a few more.

The airline pilots will verify all the systems: engine performance, fuel indicators, flow of fuel from one fuel tank to another, flaps, slats cruise and climb performance are all re-checked in the presence of airline pilots before landing.

The aircraft will make its long journey home to India from Seattle. Customs clearances will be done in India with the DGCA inducting the airline on its register with a “VT” prefix and registration.

This is followed by a Main Base Inspection (MBI) where the authorities check readiness, and a conference room exercise where flight readiness is tested before the proving flights can start

Akasa is to receive the first aircraft in mid-June, commercial operations by July

"The airline recently reaffirmed its commitment of being on track to receive its first aircraft in India by mid-June and launch commercial operations in India by July 2022," its statement mentioned.

It plans to fly 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 across domestic routes in the country, focusing on the metro to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, it noted.

The airline, which is backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh, received the no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in August 2021 to launch commercial flight operations.

ALSO READ - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air signs deal for 72 Boeing 737 Max planes

Akasa Air signed a USD 9 billion deal with Boeing on November 26, 2021, to purchase 72 Max planes.

With the Directorate General of Civil Aviation giving the green light to Boeing 737 Max aircraft in late August last year, Akasa Air signed a USD 9 billion deal with Boeing on November 26, 2021, to purchase 72 Max planes.

ALSO READ - Akasa Air picks CFM’s LEAP-1B engines for its Boeing 737Max planes

Akasa Air on Monday said the Max aircraft will be powered by the highly fuel-efficient CFM LEAP B engine. Akasa Air earlier announced its airline code – “QP”.

ALSO READ - Akasa Air announced “QP” as its airline code

Akasa Air said the Max aircraft will be powered by the highly fuel-efficient CFM LEAP B engine.

"Providing the lowest seat-mile costs for a single-aisle airplane and high dispatch reliability and an enhanced passenger experience, the 737 Max is one of the strategic factors that will give Akasa Air a competitive edge in its dynamic home market," it mentioned.

India's growing economy and expanding population will fuel strong demand for commercial flights, driving the need for an estimated 1,000 new airplanes in India over the next 20 years, the airline said.

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