Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Oct 2019 AerospaceRaes

Category 1 status will benefit Air India and Jet Airways--the two Indian carriers that fly to the US. (Photo: Neelam Mathews) Neelam Mathews April 8, 2015 The  U.S.  Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) has restored India’s aviation safety ranking to Category 1 under its International Aviation Safety Assessment ( IASA ) program.  U.S.  Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx made the announcement on Wednesday during a meeting with India’s Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju. After 14 months of enduring  Category 2 restrictions , India now complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ). Foxx commended the government of India “for taking corrective action to address the safety oversight issues identified during the  IASA  process.” The major hurdle faced by Indian regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) centered on hiring additional flight-safety ...

Mehair flies its Cessna 208 in the Andaman Islands and recently started services in Mumbai and nearby cities in the state of Maharashtra. (Photo: Mehair) Neelam Mathews Nov 14, 2014 In an effort to encourage regional airline connectivity, a new aviation policy in India set for release in January will no longer distinguish commercial airlines from charter services operating under Non Scheduled Operators Permits ( NSOP s). According to the new guidelines,   NSOP   operators will have the option to convert themselves into Scheduled Commuter Airlines ( SCA ), allowing them access to tax exemptions enjoyed by the country’s commercial airlines. Those that do not opt for   SCA   status will now fly under the category called Air Charter Operators. Already, state governments have sought to benefit from the policy. While Madhya Pradesh in central India became the first to appoint an operator for air-taxi services three years ago, the western state of Gujarat recent...

Asia-Pacific Aviation Daily Dec 22 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews India is suffering from a shortage of capacity as traffic from January through November rose by 19% over the same period last year. Domestic passengers carried by scheduled airlines in November 2010 was 4.8 million, compared with 4.6 million the previous month. For the first 11 months, domestic airlines carried about 47 million passengers. In November, Air India fell below IndiGo in terms of market share, wtih Air India capturing about 17.1% to IndiGo’s 17.3%. Jet Airways and subsidiary JetLite led in market share at 26.2%, followed by Kingfisher Airlines at 19.1%, says the Ministry of Civil Aviation. IndiGo had the highest seat load factor at 91% and Air India the lowest at 70% in November. IndiGo also had the lowest cancellation rate of 0.4% and Air India, the highest at 2.5%. Analysis of capacity through available seat kilometers and demand m...

News AWIN First Jun 16 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Loads are up in India, with domestic airlines carrying 22% more passengers in May -- 4.78 million -- compared with 3.92 million in the same 2009 month, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Some carriers took aircraft out of service last year and also deferred deliveries. Budget carriers continue to lead the pack: IndiGo posted a load factor of 92.3% in May, up from 85% last year; SpiceJet followed with 90.4%, up from 79.1%, and JetLite with 85.4%, up from 77.4%. All-business carrier Paramount Airways, no longer flying as a result of having to return aircraft after defaulting on lease payments, had a load factor of 86.6%. Legacy carrier Kingfisher reported a load factor of 83.2%, up from 72.9% last May, and Jet Airways posted 82.5%, compared with 69.2%. Air India was close behind with 77.8%, up from 69%. Analysis of traffic data on a year-over-year basis indicates that the trend ...