India leads the world in hungry people. In the recently released Global Hunger Index, India dropped to rank 102 out of 117 countries, placing it below its impoverished neighbours Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. About 15% of India’s population is either malnourished or undernourished. About 194 million Indians go hungry each day, and regretably a large percentage are children. The government …
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The saga of Jet Airways has been analysed to death. The situation is turning in to a tale of “could have, should have, would have……..”. In this scenario, we opine the best option, for now, is to ground Jet Airways, and suspend all operations. It is a radical opinion, but do read on. The current situation The proposed funds infusion …
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Over the last year, the media has covered the various challenges AirAsia India is facing. Ranging from executive level departures late in 2017 onwards, to filing a First Information Report (FIR i.e. a criminal complaint) against former officers of the airline, to CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) investigations of its director. In this analysis, we explore how the hyper-competitive Indian …
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Bloomberg is reporting that the Tata Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara has selected the Boeing 787 Dreamliner over the Airbus A330neo as its wide-body aircraft for long distance international operations. Why did Vistara choose the 787 Just some of the reasons for Vistara choosing the 787 over the A330neo are: The 787 is a newer generation aircraft compared to the …
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In the weeks leading upto the Emirates A380 order there was much speculation on the future of the A380 program and if this glorious aircraft would continue to be produced. As the largest operator of the fleet type Emirates was central to the debate. Things came to a pass when at the Dubai Airshow Emirates ordered 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners …
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The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently announced revisions to the Regional Connectivity Scheme better known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik). The revisions and other industry developments show that the scheme has failed to takeoff. This is also reflects the hurried way in which the scheme was put out and the lack of consensus building and consultation. As a …
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The DGCA has put out a circular with guidelines on avoiding confusing call-signs by operators. Presumably this comes about after a handful of incidents where callsigns were confused. However, this move by the regulator that fails to address the real issue. Full document may be accessed at: http://dgca.nic.in/aic/AIC02_2017.pdf Thoroughly confusing and impractical guildelines The guidelines have a bullet list of provisions. Who is …
Read More »When it comes to airlines, Air India seems to always be at the receiving end. A fear of saying anything leaves the corporate communications department uncommunicative, making the national carrier the target of speculation. Add to this, naive at best, slip-shod at worst, reporting in the mainstream Indian media, many a time lacking the most basic of common sense, and …
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Global aviation leaders at the Farnborough international air show 2014 termed India’s decision to levy service tax of 12.36% on aircraft lease charges as a regressive step which will only hurt India’s already over-taxed airlines. As per a report in The Mint, the maiden Union budget of the Narendra Modi led NDA government proposes to levy the service tax effective …
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Yesterday, June 22, 2014, marked the 30 year anniversary of Virgin Atlantic’s first flight. Apart from being an inspirational article, a piece in The Telegraph by the maverick founder of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, give us insight to his motivations, his business acumen and key differentiators that make the Virgin airlines’ group a household name today. (scroll below video …
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AirAsia India has been granted its air operating permit (AOP) by India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). AirAsia (India) Pvt Ltd is a joint venture between the Tatas, Telestra, and AirAsia. Commencing the process in April, AirAsia received a no objection certificate (NOC) from the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) in September 2013. As the …
Read More »That Indian politicians and their cohorts make unreasonable demands of the national carrier Air India is a well known fact. But now, it appears this disease is afflicting the common passenger as well. Last week some of the 50 passengers on board Air India’s flight AI-433, a 250km 20 minute hop from Gaya to Varanasi, went on a rampage clashing …
Read More »Last the week the newswires were abuzz with stories about Indian budget carrier SpiceJet ordering up to 40 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. While the ordering of the new fuel efficient MAXs is a foregone conclusion, given the airline’s need to continue its growth, the timing is not certain. What is certain is the airline’s precarious financial position. For the second …
Read More »by Devesh Agarwal Through non-official channels a promotional video by Air India of their new Boeing 787. Now that the airline has a new toy to play with, all the 777s procured just a few years ago lie forgotten and rotting on the tarmac. Read my op-ed piece here. You can also see our cabin walk-though pictures and video here.
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The announcement that AirAsia is joining hands with the Tatas and Bhatias with the intention to start a new airline in India will put the a significant policy dilemma in front of the Government of India related to foreign direct investment (FDI) in civil aviation by foreign airlines, and might just land-up derailing the goals of the fledging policy. While …
Read More »The past couple of years have not been kind to the global aviation industry. Whether it’s the European union implementing a misguided carbon taxation scheme, the Indian government crushing its nascent airline industry under the weight of oppressive regulations and heavy fuel taxation, increased “NIMBY” (not-in-my-backyard : a term used to describe local residents who oppose aviation development near their …
Read More »Late last week, a report published in the Business Standard suggested that India’s erstwhile Ministry of Civil Aviation may finally loosen its rules governing Air Service Agreements (ASAs – or bilateral) by removing the aircraft type clauses from such agreements and restricting only seats, frequencies, and route pairs allowed. What this means in effect, is that there would no longer …
Read More »After much delay Air India has finally taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline has taken out full page advertisements in most major newspapers across the nation, extolling the virtues of the aircraft. There are many short-comings at the airline that need correcting. The most important being political and bureaucratic meddling and micro-management of airline operation. …
Read More »The topic of the week is the on-going pilot’s strike at national carrier Air India by members of the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) which began last month on the 7th making this strike almost a month old. The strike has caused estimated losses exceeding Rs.350 Crore ($64 million) to airline. This at a time when the airline is on life …
Read More »The newly travelling youngsters may not have the pathos, but the Maharaja of national carrier Air India is a brand cherished by most persons of my age, with ties to India. We remember, with pride, the fact that Air India was the first all jet airline in the world; one of the earliest adopters of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet …
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Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation