Civil Aviation

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) has been awarded Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020 under the category “Innovation (General) – Central”. The award was given away by the Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia to UDAN team lead by Smt Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA in presence of Secretary, MoCA, Shri Rajiv Bansal and Chairman, Airport Authority of India, Shri Sanjeev Kumar. Government of India has initiated this award to acknowledge, recognize and reward extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts and Organizations of State/Government. This scheme emphasises on Good Governance, Qualitative achievements, and last mile connectivity rather than only on achievement of quantitative targets. The award consists of a trophy, scroll and an incentive of Rs 10 lakhs. Launched in 2016, UDAN scheme aims to fulfil the aspirations of the common man by following the vision of UdeDeshkaAamNagrik, with an enhanced aviation infrastructure and air connectivity in tier II and III cities. In a short span of 5 years, today 419 UDAN routes connect 67 underserved/unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes, and over 92 lakh people have benefited from it. More than 1 lakh 79 thousand flights have flown under this scheme. UDAN scheme has immensely benefitted several sectors pan-India including Hilly States, North-Eastern region, and Islands.

SalamAir to fly from Salalah to Calicut, Muscat to Jaipur, Lucknow, Trivandrum Muscat, 31st March 2022: Sultanate’s fastest-growing value-for-money airline, SalamAir, has announced non-stop flights to four Indian cities – from Salalah to Calicut and from Muscat to Jaipur, Lucknow, and Trivandrum. The flights from Salalah to Calicut will operate on Friday and Sunday starting from 3rd April. Flights from Muscat to Jaipur will operate daily except Sunday, Lucknow double daily, and Trivandrum daily except Monday. While the Salalah to Calicut route is new, previously, SalamAir operated special flights to these Indian destinations as part of the COVID-19 pandemic related air bubble pact between India and Oman, now with the launch of the scheduled flights from Muscat to Jaipur, Lucknow, and Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), SalamAir has expanded its network in the Indian Subcontinent.Capt. Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir, said, “In line with our network expansion plan, it is with great pleasure that we announce our direct flights to India. Our aim is always to provide our customers with greater connectivity and convenience, and the addition of these routes will cater to the expat population, business travellers, and tourists. Our strategic cooperation with Oman Air enables us to serve the Indian market and augment demand and traffic volume, thus fulfilling the Oman Vision 2040”. SalamAir recently announced its strategic cooperation with Oman Air, which expanded the codeshare agreement to facilitate dynamic and smooth passengers’ movement to the Sultanate to promote tourism growth. He added, As part of our network expansion goals, we plan to introduce non-stop flights from Suhar to Calicut; the groundwork for these flights is currently being done to have four flights a week on this route, which we hope to announce soon. He continued, While Oman is home to a large Indian community, India is one of the top trading partners of Oman. During the pandemic, we operated multiple charter flights; and we hope to continue our service to the community and hope our flights will continue to facilitate and strengthen these strong ties and bilateral relationships in the future.

TEL AVIV, 10th FEB 2022: In a major milestone, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has completed the conversion of the 100th B767-300 aircraft, becoming the world leader in conversions of this model. This achievement highlights IAI’s leading role in the cargo conversion industry for over four decades, and is a testament to IAI’s advanced capabilities, robust pace, and expanding capacity to provide customers worldwide with the most optimal freighter solution. The 100th B767-300 freighter was converted at IAI’s cargo conversion facility in Tel Aviv, Israel, prior to being delivered to the customer. IAI began operating the B767-300 conversion line in Israel in 2007 together with M&B Conversions, a joint venture with Mitsui, and received the STC (Supplementary Type Certificate) in 2009. In 2017, IAI opened an additional B767-300 conversion facility in Mexico, increasing operations to meet global demand for the converted widebody aircraft. The converted B767-300 aircraft provides a competitive and cost-effective solution for customers seeking to increase their cargo fleet, and as air cargo traffic doubles in the next two decades and e-commerce continues rising, IAI will continue providing the best solution on the market.

London,18th January2022: Flypop Airlines, UK based LCC is gradually expanding its fleet size with addition of one more aircraft on Monday. The aircraft is currently pressed into service for cargo operations. Flypop has been partnering with Hi Fly airline for zero LOPA cargo operations over the past few months to meet the growing international demand for cargo flights. (Nino) Navdip Singh Judge, CEO & Principal of flypop, commented,“Fantastic to see our second flypop aircraft in the skies and especially here at our UK base at London Stansted Airport and flying over my house! flypop is now a revenue generating airline and we look forward to continuing to grow our fleet of aircraft throughout 2022 for both cargo and passenger operations.” Over the weekend the Airbus A330 flew into London Stansted Airport, flypop’s headquarters where the team celebrated the airline’s growing fleet with a party in theDiamond Hangar. Over the next few months flypop will bring two more of its fleet of aircraft into service for cargo duties and plan to launch passenger flights in the summer to meet the pent-up demand of the Indian diaspora communities living in the UK and their visiting friends and relatives. “We expect a surge in demand for low-cost flights to India from the UK from Q2 onwards.”added Nino. The flypop team are currently considering several destinations on the Indian subcontinent including Amritsar, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Chandigarh.

30 December 2021, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s ultra-low-fare national airline, the joint venture established between ADQ and Wizz Air Holdings plc, today announced its outstanding operational results for 2021. During its first operational year, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi launched more than 34 destinations including Alexandria (Egypt), Athens (Greece), Baku (Azerbaijan), Bahrain, Belgrade (Serbia), Kutaisi (Georgia), Kyiv (Ukraine), Muscat (Oman), Odesa (Ukraine), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Sohag (Egypt), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Tirana (Albania) and Yerevan (Armenia) among others. The airline has successfully operated more than 1,080 flights since its launch in January 2021, with 506 flights taking place in the fourth quarter of the year. Kees Van Schaick, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi commented: “We are proud of what has been achieved since launching our operations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Through collaboration with key stakeholders, we have been able to grow and expand our network to more than 34 destinations despite all the challenges we have faced. This has helped us play our role in attracting tourists into the emirate and build on our ambitions to expand our network to even many more destinations. Our aim is to serve a large segment of travellers and provide them with affordable packages with great memories and experiences to remember. We look forward to continuing our contribution to enhancing the development of the aviation and tourism sectors in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and achieving many more successful milestones in the coming years,” Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has introduced a new segment of travel in the UAE in line with its socio-economic vision. The launch of the airline highlighted the importance of bringing in a bold new frontier for ultra-low fare travel in the region. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has contributed to supporting the UAE and Abu Dhabi’s efforts towards the post-pandemic tourism recovery and driving the UAE capital’s ongoing economic diversification strategy. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi provides ultra-low fare, hassle-free and efficient travel options for people looking to explore a wide range of attractive destinations in the UAE and abroad. The airline has a young fleet composed of four brand new state-of-the-art Airbus A321neo aircraft, offering the lowest fuel burn, emissions and noise footprint. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has the lowest environmental footprint among its competitors in the region, supporting long-term sustainability.

*Carriers today announce that they have plans to further extend their Joint Business to offer customers a greater choice of destinations and routing options *News follows British Airways’ return to Doha, with its first flight from Gatwick since the start of the pandemic *This winter, the two airlines are operating up to six daily flights to Doha from London Heathrow and London Gatwick New Delhi,16th December: British Airways and Qatar Airways mark the next milestone in their Joint Business Partnership, as they announce their intent to extend their Joint Business. The news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick last week, giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections from Doha to over 100 destinations across the world. The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft featuring three cabins – Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy). This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha – five from London Heathrow and one from London Gatwick. Following on from this milestone in their partnership, the two airlines announce that they intend to further expand their joint business and offer customers access to more destinations on their respective networks. The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi. It will also improve access to destinations across Europe such as Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Expanding our Joint Business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivalled product.” Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The launch of our first flight from Gatwick to Doha was an important milestone in our existing joint business with Qatar Airways. The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections. We know customers are always looking for more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles, and this expansion will allow them to do just that.” The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded Joint Business proposition in the first half of 2022”

November 25, New Delhi: SriLankan Airlines assured to Indian travellers that the Airline is committed to increase the flights to destinations that were temporarily halted due to the pandemic, restore operations to pre-COVID-19 levels, and offer Indian travelers a wide range of connections to Sri Lanka.SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman, Ashok Pathirage, said “India is our biggest market, and we are dedicated to re-establish operations to full scale where the Indian market is concerned. We continued to operate both passenger and cargo flights to and from India even during periods of lockdown and despite many global travel restrictions. . “ It is an ideal time to create awareness about SriLankan Airlines’ operations in the Indian market and build confidence among travelers to book with the Airline as lockdowns are being lifted and global travel restrictions are eased, added Mr. Pathirage. “The inflow of tourists from India to Sri Lanka has increased considerably in the last few months, with Sri Lanka being one of the first few countries to open borders and welcome fully vaccinated Indian travelers including those who have taken Covaxin. India continues to be one of Sri Lanka’s most significant source markets for international travelers, “he said. “The Airline was able to adapt to meet the changing needs of the industry as the pandemic raged on and played a key role in bridging countries and facilitating the movement of people and critical supplies, including between India and Sri Lanka,” stated Richard Nuttall, Chief Commercial Officer of SriLankan Airlines. Accordingly, Cargo operations emerged as a key activity in the Airline’s business model, and SriLankan plans to introduce more dedicated Cargo flights to its operation. SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Worldwide Sales and Distribution, Dimuthu Tennakoon, said that the Airline is now forging ahead with plans and investments to reestablish its presence in the Indian market. “Recently, the Airline flew down a group of Indian media personnel for a familiarization (FAM) tour of Sri Lanka, so that they could be updated on the current environment in the country for Indian tourists in terms of facilities to ensure a COVID-Safe holiday. He added, “Likewise, we conducted several media FAM tours including a recently concluded major FAM tour for fifty top brand influencers from India who go to experience the diverse culture and heritage of Sri Lanka, which in turn they would promote to their audiences in India. Additionally, there is a pan-India brand campaign in progress at the moment.” When global aviation was at its lowest point, SriLankan Airlines continued to launch flights to new destinations including to Nairobi; Korea; Moscow; Frankfurt; Sydney; Kathmandu; and Paris during 2020 and 2021, with more destination in the pipeline. SriLankan Airlines’ global network expanded significantly, and all new destinations were introduced after thorough studies of factors such as demand, frequency and response. The new routes are indicative of the Airline’s continuous commitment to enhance its network and the travel options available to its passengers worldwide. SriLankan currently operates out of the following Indian cities: Chennai; Tiruchirappalli; Madurai; Bangalore; Hyderabad; Trivandrum; Kochi; Delhi and Mumbai. The Airline introduced a special “buy one and get one free” offer to Indian travelers in the past four months to entice them to travel to Colombo and beyond on SriLankan Airlines. The offer was timed along with the Sri Lankan Government’s announcement to reopen the island to fully vaccinated Indian tourists and was very successful. Furthermore, the Airline increased its frequency of flights from and to India to bring about greater convenience and choice to Indian passengers. Currently, SriLankan Airlines operates flights from 9 cities in India with 54 weekly flights.