25 Feb 2019

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 25 February

Boeing preparing to pitch 777X to Indian airlines Flightglobal reported 20 February Boeing intends to begin talks with Indian airlines shortly as it looks to win business for the 777X as a replacement for ageing widebodies. Boeing sees Indian airlines focusing on profit over growth Flightglobal 20 February reported Boeing says that airlines in India are beginning to better balance capacity with demand, and are seeing better yields. “Air fares in the last 30 days have gone up and growth (in capacity) has actually come down by 2%,” says Dinesh Keskar, Boeing’s senior vice-president, Asia-Pacific and India sales. India’s airlines lead the way on female pilot recruitment Runway Girl Network reported 19 February Indian airlines have some of the highest percentages of female pilots in the world, aided by generous maternity benefits which some employee representatives in other countries are keen to replicate. According to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISWAP), 5.18% of pilots globally are women. In India, the proportion rises to 12.4%. India needs 2,300 civil aircraft by 2040 As India races to be the front-runner in the civil aviation sector, the country would need 2,300 new planes over the next 20 years, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu “We are drawing an action plan to build an ecosystem for making civil aircraft in the country, as we need 2,300 new planes to fly thousands of more passengers and ship tonnes of cargo,” The growing civil aviation ecosystem has the potential to attract an investment of $65 billion, he added. Japan Airlines and Vistara enter Codeshare Partnership Japan Airlines (JAL) and Vistara entered a codeshare partnership that will open up more routes between India and Tokyo. With the signing of this agreement, Vistara becomes the only codeshare partner for Japan Airlines in India. The sale of tickets open on 26 February on all channels and major GDS systems, for travel from 28 February. As part of the agreement, Japan Airlines will add its ‘JL’ designator code to approximately 32 Vistara-operated flights each day across India covering seven Indian cities, namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. JAL and Vistara already have an interline/through check-in partnership New Office for Liebherr-Aerospace in India Liebherr-Aerospace has recently inaugurated its new and bigger regional office in M.G. (Mahatma Gandhi) Road in Bangalore. The move had become necessary due to the company’s increase of activities and growth of the team on site. The office is proof of the aviation system supplier’s long-term strategy to enlarge its footprint in India. Russia Finds Indian Suppliers for Light Utility Helicopter As India gets closer to signing a contract with Russian Helicopters Holding Company (part of State Corporation Rostec) for 200 light utility helicopters, Russian Helicopters signed Memoranda of Understanding at Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru with manufacturers to include assemblies such as fuselage, blades, and landing gear. The government-to-government project will be done in partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Safran to build a new plant in India to make parts for the LEAP engine During a visit to India for the Aero India Show, Philippe Petitcolin, Chief Executive Officer of Safran, and Shri K.Chandrashekar Rao, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Telangana, announced that Safran Aircraft Engines would build a new plant in Hyderabad to make parts for the LEAP turbofan engine. Supported by the Telangana State, Safran will invest €36 million in this new plant, which will cover 13,000 square meters (140,400 sq ft), including 8,000 square meters (86,400 sq ft) of workshops, in the Special Economic Zone of GMR near the airport. Construction is set to kick off in June 2019, and will aim at delivering the building and producing the first parts in early 2020. Acumen Aviation © 25 February 2019 All Rights Reserved.