08 Apr 2019

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 8 April

ATF should be brought under GST to provide level playing field to airlines, says Union Minister Suresh Prabhu Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) should be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime as it will ensure a level playing field for the domestic airline industry, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said. The minister said input costs should be competitive for any sector and the ministry has been of the strong view that the fuel should be brought under the GST regime. Each state has different rates of taxes in states pushes the price of ATF. Bhubaneswar Airport Creates Record With 4.5 Million Passengers In 2018-19 The Biju Patnaik International (BPI) Airport in Bhubaneswar has achieved a new feat as it surpassed its earlier record of handling 3.2 million local and international passengers, by registering a 41% passenger growth this year. Boeing 737 Max grounding led to steep rise in airfares in India: Fitch Fitch Ratings said the impact on the airline industry in Asia from the grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets has been muted so far but may worsen in the second quarter of 2019 due to seasonally low demand in the first quarter. The Indian aviation market, however, has seen a sharp rise in air fares in the recent months due to tight supply, partly worsened by the suspension of the 737 MAX, said Fitch. GHIAL successfully priced offering of $300million bond to increase Airport Capacity GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Airports Limited and a step down subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited (GMR Group), announced that it has successfully priced an offering of $300 million bond in the international bond market.

Green honour for Mumbai International airport

The Mumbai International Airport has bagged the gold award given by the Airports Council International (ACI). Called the Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2019, the award was given to Mumbai airport for completing several projects to address the challenges of climate change under environment management, said a statement issued by MIAL. India's domestic air passenger traffic records double-digit growth in February: IATA India registered double-digit growth in domestic air passenger traffic for the 54th consecutive month in February announced IATA. Noting that India and Russia also posted double-digit annual growth in February, the grouping said the two markets continue to perform strongly. IndiGo seeks space at Bhopal airport for cargo operation Buoyed by the exponential growth in air cargo, IndiGo has requested AAI to allot space to commence their cargo operation at Raja Bhoj airport. SpiceJet to fly Mumbai-Bangkok sector from May SpiceJet will commence a daily direct flight connecting Mumbai with Bangkok from 17^th May. According to the airline, Bangkok is the second international destination after Dubai that it will connect with a direct flight from Mumbai. The airline already operates non-stop flights from Bangkok to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Delhi and Kolkata. Three designs on board for Kolkata airport expansion Airport planners and designers have prepared three different proposals for the second-phase expansion of Kolkata airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) management will take final decision Speaking to TOI, Kolkata airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee said the expansion will involve extending only the security hold area (SHA) in the domestic wing as the facility in the existing terminal will get saturated next year. Acumen Aviation © 8 April 2019 All Rights Reserved.