Aviation sector

The ministry of civil aviation on Monday said in the Rajya Sabha that the upgradation or modernisation of airports, including provision of night landing facility is a continuous process and is undertaken by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other airport operators from time to time depending on the availability of land, commercial viability, socio- economic considerations, traffic demand and willingness of airlines to operate to/from such airports etc.

"Aircraft were lying idle during the Covid period of nearly two years. Many airlines resorted to cost cutting and retrenchment was part of it. Now, after a sudden surge in demand, a large number of aircraft have been deployed whereas many airlines have not recruited enough manpower to handle the pressure. New staff are there at many places, but they need to be synchronised with the system and require reorientation," he said.

Many Airlines currently charge a fee of Rs 200 if a passenger wants the boarding pass to be issued at the check-in counter instead of going for web check-in. "It has come to the notice of the MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) that airlines are charging additional amount from the passengers for issuing boarding passes," the ministry said. This additional amount is not in accordance with the provisions of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, it said.

Many Airlines currently charge a fee of Rs 200 if a passenger wants the boarding pass to be issued at the check-in counter instead of going for web check-in. "It has come to the notice of the MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) that airlines are charging additional amount from the passengers for issuing boarding passes," the ministry said.

The directive has come following a series of technical snag related occurrences in planes in the last few days. The DGCA said that after frequent reports of engineering related occurrences in several airlines, it has conducted several spot checks in order to ensure that airlines are adhering to the laid down standards.

Hyderabad-based AZAD Engineering on Wednesday announced that it had delivered the first consignment of aviation parts to global aerospace major Boeing. The parts were delivered as part of its contract with Boeing for manufacturing and supplying aviation parts and components. AZAD, a strategic supplier to Boeing, had won the contract in July 2021. A dedicated facility was set up in record time and it delivered the first batch of aviation parts on February 24, the company said.

It now has over 200 aircraft and over 80 domestic and international destinations. Notably, the group has two full-service carriers -- Vistara and Air India -- along with two low-cost airlines -- Air India Express and AirAsia India -- and a ground and cargo handling company, AISATS. According to sources, it plans to pilot synergies between all its airlines to compete in various market segments.

According to Ronojoy Dutta, Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, civil aviation provides efficient infrastructure critical for economic growth and employment in the country. "Yet civil aviation pays 21 per cent of its revenues to the government in indirect taxes with very little input credit. It is an unreasonable proposition to expect that the industry should earn a 21 per cent margin just to pay taxes to the government," Dutta said.

The company entered into these agreements on Thursday with Angkasa Pura II (AP II), the state-owned enterprise and the bidding authority for the airport. On the same day, the company received the letter of award for the project, GMR Group said in a statement on Friday.

The aircraft is reinstated after a gap of around two-and-a-half years and the airline has conducted proper recertification by the aviation regulator DGCA using European standards. At present, the budget-friendly airline is the only operator of the 737 MAX in the country. SpiceJet had signed a deal with Boeing for 205 aircraft in 2017 worth $22 billion and currently has 13 of these planes in its fleet.