Archive for October, 2009

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is planning to set up a separate body called the Civil Aviation Authority of India to lay down the administrative guidelines for the industry.

Diwali seems to have brought the much-needed cheer to the aviation industry, which was worrying about dwindling passenger loads. Travel industry experts say bookings for the festive season have shown an upswing compared to last year. With Christmas and winter holidays lined ahead, industry observers hope the aviation sector is on the road to recovery.

The government has asked state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) to prune its capital expenditure for it to improve finances and eventually list on the stock exchanges, but the move could undermine the agency’s efforts to modernise the country’s airports.

The aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is investigating whether foreign airlines that refused to pay commission to travel agents have violated its norms, a senior official said Tuesday.

Foreign airlines, especially from the Gulf and Southeast Asia, have now deployed single aisle planes to fly out of a large number of Indian cities.

Air India, which needs to generate an additional Rs 2,000 crore in revenues according to its revival plan, is squeezing every penny to earn income.

Emirates Airline has announced plans to increase frequencies from Dubai to Kozhikode in India’s southern state of Kerala to 11 flights a week by December.

The news that Cox and Kings, one of the leading travel and tourism operators in India, is entering the capital market is bound to generate some market buzz around travel companies already listed on the bourses.

Senior aviation executives from India and the U.S. are set to gather in Washington, D.C., Dec. 7-9 for the 2009 U.S.-India Aviation Partnership Summit.

Air India’s woes just do not seem to end. Even when the airline is struggling to implement any kind of salary restructuring to bring down costs, its management has sought Rs 3,000 crore of additional working capital from the government.