The Airports Authority of India (AAI) Thursday issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recommencement of domestic flight operations, a day after the Centre said it will reopen the airspace from May 25. Among the key guidelines include mandatory use of Aarogya Setu app for those above 14 years, sanitation of baggage by airport operators before […]
Category: Civil Aviation
Coronavirus India Updates, 21 May: Airport Authority of India announces SOPs for domestic flights; Railway passenger train bookings begin today
Coronavirus India Updates: With 5,609 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the total case count in India reached 1,12,359, including 3,435 fatalities, on Thursday. The country is reporting a daily rise of over 5000 cases everyday since Sunday. Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state with over 37,000 cases, accounting for about […]
Merkel Says Lufthansa deal close as airline warns on urgency
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany’s talks to bail out Deutsche Lufthansa AG are nearing completion, providing hope for positive resolution just as the embattled airline’s management warned that a multibillion-euro rescue was becoming urgent. “A decision can be expected shortly,” Merkel said late Wednesday in Berlin, adding that “intensive talks” were ongoing with the company […]
Domestic flight services to resume from Monday
Domestic Flights Resume in India: The Centre on Wednesday said domestic flight services would resume from Monday in a “calibrated manner”, laying the ground for gradual resumption of scheduled commercial flight operations that have been shut since March 25. “Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday May 25, 2020. All […]
Curbs on flights hurt IMD’s weather data collection, IndiGo steps in to help
The mass cancellations of commercial flight operations across the world may have impacted travellers, but with most of the country’s aircraft grounded on account of the lockdown, there’s an unexpected casualty. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has been left deprived of crucial weather data that it used to receive from flying airplanes. India’s largest airline […]
Some airlines start bookings for June travel: Report
Some airlines have started bookings for flights from June onwards, sources said amid commercial flight services remaining suspended till May 31 due to the coronavirus lockdown. A SpiceJet spokesperson, however, said its international bookings are closed till June 15. Commercial flights have been suspended since March 25 when the country-wide lockdown began to curb the […]
140 stranded Afghan nationals to return home today
About 140 stranded Afghan nationals, including cadets at the National Defence Academy (NDA), will return home on Sunday afternoon in a special flight arranged by the Afghan government with the help of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. “Afghanistan’s KAM airlines will arrive on Sunday at around 12 pm… The same flight will return from […]
Govt’s push for reforms in civil aviation: Easing of airspace restrictions, auction of 6 airports and more
In a move that is expected to bring about Rs 1000 crores per year for the aviation sector, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday announced that restrictions on utilisation of the Indian airspace will be eased so that civilian flying becomes more efficient. Unveiling the fourth tranche of the Covid economic measures as part of […]
If flights resume: study estimates outbreak risk
Air travel is currently on hold to check the spread of Covid-19, but a new study of 1,364 airports worldwide has found that if flights resume, cases could spread unevenly across the globe, with many of the airports in India and China posing the highest risk for the spread. The study says India’s population density […]
Canada, U.S. are likely to extend travel restrictions until June 21
Canada and the United States appear likely to extend a ban on non-essential travel until June 21 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a Canadian government source and a top U.S. official said on Wednesday. The two neighbors had agreed on April 18 to extend border restrictions until May 21 as cases of the disease continued […]
Rajasthan social justice minister airlifted to Gurgaon hospital
Rajasthan’s Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Bhanwarlal Meghwal was on Friday airlifted to a private hospital in Gurgaon for further treatment. A special plane took off for Gurgaon from Jaipur Airport on Friday morning. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and health minister Raghu Sharma were present at the airport when the flight departed. Gehlot has […]
Aviation sector needs support from government to take off again
The Centre’s Rs 20 lakh crore economic relief package is very welcome. I hope it has a sector-specific package for the country’s air transport business, which is the worst affected industry in this crisis. The aviation sector contributes significantly to the Indian economy: The air transport industry, including airlines and its supply chain, is estimated […]