Civil Aviation

New Delhi, 18 Nov 2021: Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minster of Civil Aviation inaugurated a curtain raiser event about Wings India, 2022 which is Asia’s largest event on Civil Aviation (Commercial, General and Business Aviation). Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri V K Singh and Secretary, Civil Aviation Shri Rajiv Bansal and senior officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation were among those present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Scindia said that the Indian Civil Aviation industry has witnessed robust growth over the years and contributes significantly to the economic development of the country. India’s civil aviation industry is the pride of the nation as it is playing a key role in connecting Indians to the remotest corners of the country and to the world. It is bringing people from across the world to discover the huge business and tourism opportunities in India, he added. The Minister said that Indian aviation industry has flown many miles, set numerous milestones, and overcome many challenges to become one of the world’s most lucrative aviation markets. The industry has grown by leaps and bounds and has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world. India today handles the third largest domestic traffic after the USA and China. He said that with a steady increase in the passenger volume, Indian airlines are charting new territories. “We all know that in this densely globalized economy, air transport is a key element in the country’s transport infrastructure and plays an important role in the Country’s economic growth”, he said. The Minister said that across all the sectors, one cannot undermine the fact that the support of Aviation industry in combating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic was great, by carrying enzymes, PPE kits, masks, medicines, and cargoes which states and union territories required. He said that the overall freight handled by the country’s airports during the first two quarters of FY-22 (combined) has recovered to more than 80% (15.36 Lakh MT during April-September, FY22) of the pre-pandemic level, despite the country being hit by a second wave in the first quarter. The Minister said that Civil Aviation is emerging as one of the major pillars providing fillip to economic growth. To bring the benefits of the Civil Aviation to the common people and provide affordable air connectivity, Government of India had announced Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (UdeDesh Ka Aam Nagrik) on 21st October 2016. As on date, 387 routes connecting 62 Airports including 6 Heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been made operational under RCS-UDAN Scheme. The minister appreciated the efforts the Civil Aviation Ministry, AAI and FICCI with the support of MEA and states government in organising this important event i.e. Wings India 2022, Hyderabad with the apt theme India@75: “New Horizon for Aviation Industry”. It aims to bring together the key stakeholders of the Global Aviation market, International regulators, States Governments and business associations as a group representing airlines, to facilitate direct interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and other players at a common platform. Courtesy: PIB

Mumbai, August 11, 2021: GO FIRST recived its 49th Airbus A320 Neo at New Delhi as part of it fleet expansion.Earlier, it has inducted two Airbus A320neo aircraft in the 1st week of May 2021. GO FIRST has placed firm orders for delivery of 144 Airbus A320neo aircraft as part of its growth plan and the aircarft received was part of the same. Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer, GO FIRST, said, “GO FIRST welcomes 49th A320neos to its fleet. We at GO FIRST, believe that the airline is uniquely placed with its ultra-low cost structure that has always stood us in good stead. GO FIRST has one of the youngest fleet globally – average fleet age of 3.7 years as of February 2021. Besides as of February 10, 2021, 82% of our fleet is predominantly fuel efficient A320neos – which are 17% to 20% more fuel-efficient than A320CEO aircraft with the lightest configuration .” As an ULCC, GO FIRST is focused towards maintaining low unit costs & operational efficiency and reliability to deliver a superior customer experience in comparison to other ULCCs and Low Cost Carriers (LCCs). As per CAPA Report on Indian Aviation Market Overview dated April 26, 2021,GO FIRST had a high aircraft utilization during the fiscal 2020, with an average utilization of 12.9 hours per day with a high load factor of 88.9%*. GO FIRST achieved the best on-time performance among the airlines in India for 15 consecutive months between the period September 2018 to November 2019. GO FIRST also had the least number of cancellations at 0.3% during the fiscal 2021 (as of January 31, 2021). It also had the lowest number of customer complaints at 0.3 per 10,000 customers (as against the industry average of 1.0 per 10,000 customers) during the fiscal 2021 (for the period up to January 31, 2021)*.

26 July, 2021, Dubai: Following the much-awaited resumption of its Dubai route in May, Cathay Pacific customers can now experience and travel the popular – Premium Economy cabin on-board the Airbus A350-900. Starting 06 August, 2021, passengers can experience luxury on one of Cathay Pacific’s most modern long-haul fleets. The technologically advanced Airbus A350-900 provides travellers with an unsurpassed cabin environment on its Dubai – Hong Kong route. The aircraft is configured in a three-class layout with 280 seats, comprising of 38 Business Class, 28 Premium Economy and 214 Economy seats. Each state-of-the-art cabin class on the A350-900 provides a whole new experience for passengers, with its extra-wide cabins including new seats, innovative inflight entertainment interface, inflight connectivity, and, where passengers can bask in a new level of comfort and convenience when travelling. “We are thrilled to not only announce the operation of the Airbus A350-900 to the UAE, which will allow us to cater to the wider cargo and passenger demand, but also the introduction of a brand new cabin class on this route,” Vishnu Rajendran, Area Manager, Middle East, said. “Given the current situation, we would like to give our customers a choice to travel in a more spacious cabin, while also providing a premium product with features such as an immersive inflight entertainment system, LED mood lighting, 50 per cent quieter cabins, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity, enabling our guests to have a luxurious and worry-free travel experience.”

New Delhi, 07th July 2021 In a major reshuffle of the union cabinet , Jyotiraditya Scindia has been appointed as new Civil Aviation Minister of India. The previous minister Hardeep Puri will now head Urban Development and Petroleum Ministry. As part of the cabinet reshuffle, Narendra Modi govt removed many heavyweight ministers and handedover top profiles to many new age politicians.Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the government on Wednesday in a reboot of the Union cabinet in which 36 new ministers including these two joined the government and seven got promoted. “I express my gratitude to all the senior leaders for giving me this opportunity. I will try to keep intact the belief that they have shown in me,” Scindia said after taking the ministerial oath. The Civil Aviation Ministry’s last monthly report published in May this year showed that passengers carried by domestic airlines from January to April this year were 291 lakh compared to 329 lakh during the same period last year – a fall by 11.65 per cent. At a time when aviation sector globally is going towards headwinds, it will be really challenging for the new minister to priorities his action towards development of the sector.

By Mark D Martin MRAeS General George S Patton once said, “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom”, and this at best sums up Go Air’s Journey so far. In the 15 year span of GoAir’s presence, the airline has borne witness to Kingfisher, Jet, Air Costa and Paramount Airways start and cease; and at the same time scrutinize nearly four attempts of SpiceJet’s near collapse and resurrection – and why Go Air lives on is of that it’s strategy has been centered on fleet sizing that’s not aggressive, a revenue model that proxies with Group Companies, a long term ROI window, losses and expenses that can still be managed by promotors and a fundamentally flat, ‘fish-bowl’ organization. GoAir’s product offering also has played a role with improving the airline’s survivability; it’s practically ‘see-through’, No-Nonsense, Plain Vanilla “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get”/WYSIWYG Service Invention has paid off with creating a USP benefiting its corporate bulk booking customers and, diametrically opposing Holiday Maker segment. In hindsight, GoAir’s network reminds one of how Indian Airlines operated back in the day. Offer flight times and connections that are driven by what the traveler wants, and not by competition – as back when Indian Airlines was around, there no competition. I do believe the Wadia family too has had a role to play with the product and network offering, and in particular insightful inputs from Ms. Maureen Wadia, which stems from her experiences of working with airlines. Back in the 60’s and the 70’s, Maureen was Flight Stewardess with air India so clearly there resides understanding of the basics with what Indian travelers need. And that explains the unique timings of their flights. Go Air flies when others do not. For instance, the 10:45 PM departure for Delhi from Mumbai allows one to finish work, have dinner, a few drinks and fly home in ‘high-spirits’(very thoughtfully Parsi!), whilst the 11AM morning departure from Mumbai to Delhi allows on to wake up not too early, breakfast at leisure to catch a pleasantly timed ride back to to join office at half day making for a very comfortable overall, travel experience. And that goes too for how terrific the Sunday 12noon Mumbai Delhi Flight is. After running two airlines in my career, restructured one and having lived through the 2008 Financial crisis, for an airline the size of GoAir subsisting through the COVID 19 imbroglio is both a ‘walk in the Park’ and a ‘tight rope act’. And I’ll tell you why. In 2008, accrued debt as part of the lending wave that began from 2004 up until 2007 had gotten so bad that airlines were stuck with overcapacity and arid cash reserves whilst flying empty seats at a time when the price of oil spiked to nearly $160. The only logical steps left then was to aggressively downsize, amortize lending or close. The Situation Now 2021 and COVID presents a diametrically opposing situation. Cash accrued as part of profits made from previous years and working capital budgeted from FY2019-2020 apportioned for FY2020-2021 matches up to Zero income/earnings with P&L being frozen on account of the widespread flight restriction and ban on operating airline revenue services. Unlike 2008, 2020’s predicament presents the shocking reality of fixed and variable operating expenses staring Airline CEO’s and promotors with the only option left being an aggressive cost cut. Not the smartest thing to do. GoAir pulling through the COVID19 crunch centers on its ability to Optimize its operations and Network, Fixed and variable fleet lease expenses and focus on trimming the expense ‘flab’ that has crept into its operating structure over the years. A good starting point to this should commence with a Comprehensive Carbon Footprint and Fuel Burn Optimization Plan, Maintenance operations Cost Review, Micro and Macro Crew Operations and Safety Exceedance Cost Impact, Dissecting its entire Airport and Ground Operations costs and right align its Network Operations cost to effectively Augment its Revenue and earnings. Kaushik Khona at GoAir is possibly the most agile and aggressive step the Wadia’s could have done in the direction of Cost Optimization more so since Kaushik unlike anyone else before knows the Management and functioning DNA of the Wadia group extremely well. Kaushik’s approach with GoAir centers on his powerful understanding of Airline Financials, P&L and Revenue and Returns and this has worked exceptionally well for GoAir in the past. Kaushik during his previous tenure at Go Air ran a very tight ship with firm process and operation controls and this has paid off. GoAir’s challenge has been finding the right leader that can understand airline balance sheets and ensure revenues are optimized to ensure operations continuity, which sadly didn’t happen before except for showmanship being attached to the brand as big-spenders that eventually proved to be “all bang-no-buck” for the Wadia’s. As promotors, the Wadia’s are awfully sentimental, emotional and over possessive with all its ventures, and their somewhat harsh and irrational aggression with internal matters in particular at Go Air stems from this approach, that they believe pays back with their experiences from their textile, Fashion Apparel, Retail and FMCG Businesses. In all this, the Wadia’s could not have found a better manager than Kaushik as he understands both the Wadia’s temperament, sentiments, and emotions extremely well. The GoAir of 2021 with Khona unlike before with flashy, swish, glitterati CEO’s that didn’t do much of a value add except splash and splurge promotor money on marketing with little or no fundamental knowledge of airline financials or technical acquaintance of running a successful one – gets replaced with a “hard-wired” operational and financial control that’s directly linked to efficiency. GoAir prior to COVID 19 had its focus set on International Operations, therefore any plans for network expansion should have become infructuous, with what being left to do now would be to align and structure costs and P&L, which Kaushik is a “Jedi Master” at doing. Although I’m not too optimistic with the success of Go Air’s IPO given the current

Dubai, UAE, 17 June, 2021: Emirates is ramping up its operations and expanding services across its network to meet strong leisure travel demand over the summer, as entry restrictions ease for travellers. The airline has been gradually and safely rebuilding its route network and advancing its strategy to optimise its presence in key markets to serve leisure and growing business travel demand, as well as segments of travellers visiting friends and relatives. Today, Emirates serves 115 global passenger destinations, and by the end of July, it will have recovered close to 90% of its pre-pandemic network, operating 880 weekly services across 124 cities. The airline will resume services to seven cities in July including: Venice on 1 July; Phuket, Nice, Orlando and Mexico City on 2 July; Lyon on 9 July and Malta on 14 July. Emirates will also launch flights to Florida’s second largest city and one of the world’s most popular holiday spots, Miami, starting 22 July. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive said: “Emirates is committed to keeping Dubai, businesses and communities around the world connected and we are working hard to rebuild our network and secure access to more destinations in partnership with various authorities and stakeholders. We are encouraged by the latest developments as many countries have begun to turn the page and reopen for international visitors, and we are seeing strong signs of pent-up demand wherever restrictions have eased. Emirates is nimbly matching up flight services and identifying opportunities to grow our footprint, and provide customers more opportunities to safely get where they want to go this summer, offering best-in-class service, greater convenience and more choice.” More flights to top destinations Across its network, the airline will boost capacity and expand its schedules by layering on frequencies for the summer, connecting more customers with popular destinations and adding more choice and convenience as they plan their long-awaited holidays. Emirates will be adding frequencies to 12 cities across Europe, Africa and North America as more destinations re-open for international visitors, and offer quarantine free travel. Emirates destinations with enhanced schedules for July and August include: German cities Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg; Zurich; Vienna; Prague; Madrid; Stockholm; Brussels; Lisbon; Chicago and Tunis. In Europe, the airline currently flies to more than 30 cities in 20 countries including popular holiday destinations Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Malta, which offer quarantine free arrivals. In the United States, with rapid vaccine rollouts and the reopening of air travel at a rate outpacing the world, Emirates will continue to build its presence. With the addition of Miami to its network in July, Emirates will operate over 70 weekly flights to the US, offering over 26,000 seats across 12 gateways including Boston, Chicago, New York (JFK and Newark), Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC and Orlando. The airline is also ramping up its trans-Atlantic operations Milan-New York and Athens-Newark to meet large passenger volumes and high demand across its premium cabins. An expanded A380 summer network Emirates will also boost its A380 network this summer to 15 cities on 129 weekly services. During the summer, the airline plans to activate over 30 of its A380s to augment its 151 strong fleet of Boeing 777s. The Emirates A380 experience continues to be sought after by customers, with many going out of their way to book their travel on an Emirates A380 for its signature products, spaciousness, quietness and unmatched levels of comfort. Emirates will be deploying the A380 to the following cities during the summer period: Cairo, Jeddah, Amman, Guangzhou, London Heathrow, Manchester, Frankfurt, Vienna, Paris, Munich, Moscow, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Toronto. Stepping up of deployment of the A380 demonstrates the importance of the aircraft to Emirates’ recovery and growth strategy. The A380 ensures the efficient use of capacity on high demand routes, and enables Emirates to deliver its sought-after A380 experience to more customers, helping the airline to maintain its leadership position in key cities across its network.

Mumbai, June 14, 2021: GO FIRST (formerly known as GoAir) has partnered with DreamFolks, the tech-driven global airport service provider, to offer Departure Lounge service across select airports in India.Lounge services are available across 30 domestic terminals and 12 international terminals. The amenities available in Departure Lounge services include food & beverages, entertainment, free Wi-Fi, business centre facilities etc. Customers can book lounge access during flight booking or post-booking through GO FIRST’s website (www.flygofirst.com) and mobile app. Kaushik Khona, CEO, GO FIRST, said, “Customer delight has always been of paramount importance to us. With the introduction of Departure Lounge, we intend to create a service that provides optimum comfort while facilitating productivity for business travellers. We are confident that our well-differentiated product and exceptional focus on service, together with greater comfort, convenience and seamless connectivity will find strong resonance with passengers.” Recently Go Air changed its logo to Go First with its motto of “You Come First” and the inclusive nature of its customer-centricity.

New Delhi, 15 June 2021: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Civil Aviation for development of Sea Plane services in India was signed today. Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mansukh Mandaviya and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri were present at the occassion while respective officials signed the MoU. Signing of this MoU is a major milestone for making seaplanes project a reality very soon. This MoU envisages development of Non Scheduled/Scheduled operation of seaplane services within territorial jurisdiction of India under RCS-UDAN scheme of government of India. As per MoU, a Co-ordination Committee with officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) and Ministry of Tourism (MoT) is to be set up for timely completion of operationalisation of Seaplane services at various locations. MoCA, MoPSW, SDCL will consider operationalising of Seaplane operating routes as identified/suggested by all agencies. MoPSW would identify and develop water front infrastructure of Aerodromes/ locations and obtain required statutory clearances /approvals in coordination with MoCA, DGCA and AAI by defining the timelines for all activities involved in the development of facilities for starting seaplanes operations. MoCA would carry out bidding and select potential airlines operators based on their commercial consideration through bidding process, incorporate the locations/routes as identified by MoPSW & routes identified through bidding process in UDAN scheme document. MoCA is also obliged to provide funds/financial support in respect of water aerodromes awarded under RCS-UDAN scheme and coordinate with Chief Secretaries of all States for the Seaplanes operations. Hardeep S Puri stated that this MoU between the two Ministries will help in expediting the development of new water aerodromes and also operationalization of new seaplane routes in India. He further stated that this will give a big fillip to the provision of a new kind of tourism service in India. Mansukh Mandaviya quoted this MoU to be as game changer both for Indian Maritime and Civil Aviation sector as it will not only enhance seamless connectivity across the nation by promoting eco-friendly transportation through Seaplanes but also give a boost to the tourism industry”.

AVIATION WORLD FEATURE Dr. Rajee Olaganathan, faculty at the College of Aeronautics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide, USA,and a Fellow Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society has researched the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the airline industry. It was published in the Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances in its April issue. The title of the paper is“Impact of COVID-19 on airline industry and strategic plan for its recovery with special reference to data analytics technology.” The aviation industry is the pillar of the world’s social and economic development. This research paper highlights how the aviation industry was affected by the global pandemic, how the industry responded in the race against the virus worldwide and provides recommendations concerning going forward how the aviation industry and its stakeholders should be resilient to bring the industry back to normal. AVIATION WORLD is publishing the feature which highlights the significance of this research paper for readers’ interest. Air travel is a lifeline of the world transportation sector. The current coronavirus outbreak is creating havoc on the day-to-day life of people around the world. The initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world was slow and the airline industry operated as per its normal schedule till the majority of the countries prioritized public health over economic growth. This affected the aviation industry severely through increased flight cancellations, grounding of aircraft, travel bans, and closure of international borders. Both the aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues were negatively impacted. According to data from the International Civil Aviation Organization, passenger traffic decreased by 60 percent in 2020. Dr. Rajee Olaganathan, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide who also consults actively on Avionics Sales and Services recently outlined her research findings. She mentions “Like other business sectors, the airline industry is also susceptible to external threats like natural disasters, economic recession, oil crisis, terrorism, and disease occurrences. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the value of the airline industry decreased to an unprecedented level in 2020 with a USD 371 billion loss of gross passenger operating revenues. The research findings of her paper can help the airline industry to recover from the impact of the pandemic, and might help to prepare it for the post-COVID-19 era.” The data from Dr.Olaganathan’s research study showed that the Asia-Pacific region including India was severely impacted with a loss of 120 billion USD. The European and Asia/Pacific region together accounted for around 70% of the world’s international traffic in 2020. The impact of the pandemic is stronger on the international route than the domestic route. This study applied the PEST analysis to identify the factors that affect the global airline industry and suggested that the airline industry has to consider the political, economic, social, and technological aspects into consideration and keep airlines working to make their ecosystem as safe as possible. To recover from the impact of the pandemic and to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era, Dr. Olaganathan recommends “to utilize data analysis to identify the opportunities by tracking the COVID-19 progress and recovery at a global and regional scale analysis, flight demand analysis by identifying the air route for reactivation, tracking the demand for global air travel and customer-specific air travel demand tracking through e-commerce.” This research report also suggested that the greater use of data and digital technologies must be an essential part of the airline industry’s recovery and resilience planning. It also recommended other proactive technology and strategic plans to address covid-19 issues. The results of this study will benefit the global airline industry. Likewise, Dr. Olaganathan emphasizes that the industry needs a new perspective by adopting an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating business, management, and big data analytics technology for the recovery of the airline industry and its preparedness for the post-COVID-19 era. This needs strong coordination, cooperation, and effective communication between different data analytics teams (internal and external), between all the departments within airlines, and the stakeholders of the aviation industry.” This type of interdisciplinary research which has a practical application is essential for the recovery of the airline industry. Reference Olaganathan, R. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on airline industry and strategic plan for its recovery with special reference to data analytics technology. Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 07(01), 033–046. https://doi.org/10.30574 /gjeta.2021.7.1.0050