28 Sep 2020

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 28 September

Festive season to propel air travel, 60% capacity by Diwali: IndiGo CEO Low cost carrier IndiGo forecasts a faster pace of traffic pick-up on the back of upcoming festive season as well as capacity augmentation. In a conversation with IANS, Ronojoy Dutta Director and CEO acknowledged the a green shoots' of traffic recovery. He stated "We have analysed the traffic every few days and the trends are up and it is encouraging that the demand is sustaining now, with the travel trend going up in terms of unit revenue and future bookings. The demand has certainly picked up after July and we are bullish that it will further augment during the festive season." India’s AAI to upgrade runways at seven airports The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which maintains the country’s civil aviation infrastructure, has announced plans to upgrade runways at seven airports. The seven airports are Jammu, Kolhapur, Jabalpur, Barapani, Kadapa, Tirupati and Tuticorin according to PTI. Jio offers mobile services on 22 international flights Reliance Jio has started offering mobile services on 22 flights on international routes, with plans starting at Rs 499 per day. The company's partner airlines include Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Euro Wings, Lufthansa, Malindo Air, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and Alitalia. Over 1 crore domestic passengers, India moving towards pre-COVID levels, says Hardeep Singh Puri Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation said that India’s domestic air passenger numbers are “moving towards” pre-COVID-19 levels, adding that more than one crore passengers travelled on 108,210 flights since domestic operations resumed. In a tweet on September 25, Puri stated “More than one crore passengers on 108,210 flights since recommencement of domestic operations on May 25. Moving towards Pre-COVID figures. Congratulations to all stakeholders on achieving this milestone! We continue our journey towards creating an #AatmaNirbharBharat.” Patna airport will be able to handle 8 million passengers a year: Hardeep Singh Puri The Patna airport will have the capacity to handle eight million passengers per annum once the construction of its new terminal is completed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri last week Tweeted "LNJP (Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan) Airport in Patna, which currently handles 4.53 million passengers per annum, is all set for further upgradation & expansion. Construction of a new terminal is being undertaken by the AAI with state-of-the-art technology and facilities at Patna with an investment of Rs 1200cr.” Two new airlines in final stages of certification by DGCA Two new air operators are in the final stages of certification by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and once the process has been completed, they may foray in the regional airlines space. With the government putting focus on regional connectivity scheme (RCS) under its Udey Desh ka Aam Naagarik (UDAN) scheme, the two operators are also likely to fly on regional routes only. UDAN 4.0: Get ready to fly from Dibrugarh in Upper Assam to Shillong The people from Dibrugarh in Upper Assam will be able to reach Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya, within hours as aircraft will soon connect the two places under UDAN 4.0 scheme. Announcing the news Airport Authority of India (AAI) on its Twitter handle stated “UDAN 4.0 brings regions close, destinations closer! The connectivity between Dibrugarh, an emerging industrial hub of North East India and Shillong, a fast emerging education hub for the entire North East region, will open new horizons for these two places.” Acumen Aviation © 28 September 2020 All Rights Reserved.