Archive for July, 2010

India’s civil aviation sector has grown by 22 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar.

Two months after 158 people were killed in the Air India Express crash at Mangalore, India’s aviation regulator now wants airlines to enhance their safety standards.

There’s very little that’s official about Captain G R Gopinath, the former chairman of the erstwhile Air Deccan and also the pioneer of low-cost airline business in India. We hesitated to spell out his full name because it sounded so official. So it’s either Gopi or Captain as everybody calls him.

Led by their respective state-run agencies, India and Pakistan are exhibiting their aviation wares at the Farnborough International Airshow that got underway on Monday at Farnborough, some 55 km from southwest of London.

There is something for the aviation industry to smile about. Jet Airways has declared profits for the last two quarters, after suffering losses for long.

Emirates Airline flew in the first Airbus A-380 super jumbo with 517 passengers on a scheduled commercial operation into India Thursday, and was welcomed at the spanking new Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport through arching jets of water in an aviation industry salute.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday confirmed India’s topmost category status on aviation safety and said the country was considered a “role model” in this field for other nations to follow.

The Indian aviation story is flying high. Last month saw 45.7 lakh domestic flyers, which was 21.4% higher than the 37.6 lakh people who took to the skies in June 2009.

In an ambitious turnaround plan Air India is looking to reduce losses by75% over the next 18 months.

Jet Airways Ltd, India’s top private carrier, said it entered into a code sharing agreement with Kenya Airways, in a move aimed at increasing air traffic between India and Africa.