CATEGORIES

LCCs Find Solace In Cargo

IndiGo and SpiceJet have been focusing on boosting cargo and have witnessed success. Today, quite a large percentage of cargo – domestic and international – is being handled by the two carriers. A report.

Jaffna airport becomes operational

The first international flight to land at Jaffna airport was an Alliance Air flight from Chennai.

Drought In The Time Of Plenty

How do you explain the Indian aviation market when you have the country’s largest airline declare a huge, more than anticipated loss and just a week later make one of its biggest-ever aircraft acquisitions of 300 single-aisle Airbus planes worth more than $33 billion at list prices?

Betting Big On The ‘Profit Hunter'

Brazil’s Embraer is all set to become Boeing Brazil. And, when that does happen, Boeing could well brush away the MAX worries and look at better times.

Indian MROs Long Wait For Good Times

The Indian MRO industry has been waiting for ‘achchey din’ for a long time. Given the fact that the country is inching towards the world’s third largest aviation market in a couple of years, the MRO sector has immense potential. That, however, will take a long time to fructify, writes C SANTHOSH, if the government does not take proactive steps.

A Level Down For An Upgraded Experience

The race to innovate the cargo hold of airplanes – remember Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s Project Sunrise with its bunk beds and gym – has brought to the forefront Florian Barjot, an aeronautical engineer based in Toulouse, the home of Airbus.

Hyderabad Adds Spicexpress Services

The freighter service will connect Hyderabad with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai

Colours Of Freedom– The Airbaltic Way

On August 23, 1989, a unique and peaceful political demonstration took place.

Zunum Zooms Out?

Founded by Ashish Kumar a former Googler, Zunum Aero had ambitious plans for its ZA10 hybrid-electric airliner. It would be a gamechanger in aviation: operating at $250 per flight hour with carbon emissions less than 80 per cent of regional aircraft. All that is now over with the company’s two top investors – Boeing and JetBlue – backing out. Does that mean an end to such cutting edge technology in aviation?

BizAv's Green Revolution?

Improving environmental performance is becoming one of industry’s top priority and General Aviation is no exception. The industry has been working on green solutions, including sustainable fuel alternatives — and not just recently.

A Landmark Journey By Qantas

The 30th anniversary of Qantas’ record-holding Boeing 747-400 VH-OJA jumbo jet continuous flight from London to Sydney — a marathon journey featuring specially-made fuel and covert planning — was recently marked with a special flight.

A Scorcher Of A Show

The 2018 edition of the Farnborough Airshow once again delivered in terms of record deals for jetliners. It once again underlined the fact that the commercial aircraft industry remains in good health.

India Spiced Up

Ajay Singh has had a dream run with SpiceJet. The low-cost carrier has become a showpiece for the world: on its way to higher skies with improved performance on all fronts. K SRINIVASAN pieces the SpiceJet saga.

Ability Of Q400 To Carry More Passengers Is A Big Advantage

Speaking to Cruising HeigHts on the sidelines of the Farnborough Airshow, Francois Cognard, Vice President, Sales, Asia-Pacific, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft pointed out that the Q400 was the best suited for India’s aviation needs.

Saab Sees A Huge Potential For Its Remote ATCs In India

As the country invests substantially in upgrading its infrastructure in all domains – with the focus on smaller, regional airports – Saab’s remote tower concept is being widely discussed by both the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Saab believes its technology will provide the perfect solution that can help AAI operationalise airports in far-flung areas. JOHAN LANDIN, Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions and VARUN VIJAY SINGH, Marketing Director, Air Defence and ATM from India Office talked to Cruising HeigHts. Excerpts from the conversation:

GA Wishlist: Pit Stops And More

Business jet operators clearly want smaller airports to stay open longer and be better equipped in terms of refuelling facilities and parking bays. But are we ready?

Will Slower Growth Be The Norm Now?

IATA data for air cargo in May showed that the growth trend had come down and cited three reasons for that.

Acquisition Season

It can be a major jolt to Airbus! Carriers are opting Boeing for their long haul plans. Vistara is eyeing to buy B787 Max whereas IndiGo, an Airbus dominated airline is ready to induct B777s, 787s for its expansion plans.

Fewer Indian Bizjet Fliers in 2018

Unlike the world over, the business jet market saw its best quarter since 2015 with aircraft deliveries increasing 1.5 per cent. In India, however, business was slow with little use of general aviation aircraft.

Ready For The Future

The recent International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit could not have been in a more perfect location than Sydney. With the city preparing to become the hub for ultra-long haul flights in Qantas’ CEO ‘Project Sunrise’ programme, it also saw some candid assessments about the future of the industry and active debates on gender equality in the aviation business. Highlights:

Down, down, down…

That is the way airline stocks have been going over the last few months. Most of these aviation stocks have been in the spotlight after global brokerage firm HSBC initiated coverage on major stocks.

Is Udan Ready For International Skies?

The UDAN or regional connectivity scheme remains virtually on paper. Regular operation of regional flights continue to lag behind due to a variety of reasons. And even as these issues continue to trouble the scheme, the government has unveiled a draft scheme to extend the ‘affordable’ UDAN air travel programme to international destinations.

First Dedicated Cargo Airport No Longer A Dream

Andhra Pradesh ties up with SCL-Turbo Consortium to set up a dedicated cargo airport at Nellore.

IATA Prescribes Three-pronged Approach

Countering the gloomy future, the IATA chief outlined three priorities that would help air cargo to gain some growth: Modernisation, enforcing Global Standards and opening borders for trade. A report

A Bird, A Tiger, A Shark? No, It's A Plane

Spanning the three worlds – Earth, Water and Sky – Embraer’s ‘Profit Hunters’ fly around looking for new markets.

Boeing Has Plenty On Its Plate

2018 has been a tough year for Boeing. The trade war with China, the cancelled Iran deal, the regulatory woes over the Embraer deal and the Lion Air Max crash have all come back to back. A special report on the issues.

GMR's CSR arm pledges to create tomorrow together

The GMR Varalakshmi Foundation ends its Silver Jubilee year with promises to continue its services for the under-served communities of India.

Network Planning Team Size

However, having an aircraft is not cheap and an airline cannot afford multiple types of planes. Over a period of time, as airlines have moved to dual categories of planes, they have started adjusting the flights. Take the case of indigo.

Will Trump's tariffs affect Indian pharma?

As the international pharma market grows at a steady pace, Indian suppliers could be affected if US imposes tariffs on air cargo.

Challenges In The Sky, Countered On The Ground @FSTC

If there is one organisation that has been working over the last few years to keep Indian carriers in the air, it is Flight Simulation Technique Centre (FSTC). Having trained more than 1100 pilots – both Indian and foreign – the Centre feels that the government should help out and reduce taxes to enable it to be competitive, as TIRTHANKAR GHOSH found out.