Recent News

New Delhi, 26 November 2021: Vistara, the Indian full-service carrier will be resuming flights between Singapore and Mumbai starting 29 November 2021. The flights will be operated under Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL)thatallows quarantine-free travel to Singapore for fully vaccinated travellers.Vistara will operate its Airbus A320neo/A321neo,five times a week between the two cities. Vistara’s A321neo offers a three-cabin class configuration, world-class interiors and features that offer an unmatched travel experience. All seats feature 4-way adjustable headrests and movable armrests for a genuinely comfortable journey. Bookings for these flights are open on all channels including the Vistara website, Vistara’s iOS and Android mobile apps, through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and travel agents.

25 NOVEMBER, 2021Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications, today announced the first installation of its award-winning GX Aviation inflight broadband solution by Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), a wholly-owned AirAsia Group subsidiary and leading provider of engineering services in Southeast Asia. The installation, completed onboard an AirAsia Airbus A320 aircraft, marks an important milestone that supports ADE’s ambitions to become a GX Aviation installation partner for other airlines in Southeast Asia. The company will also establish a one-stop shop for airlines that want to operate a fully connected fleet, combining its vast expertise in end-to-end engineering and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) with Inmarsat’s market-leading connectivity solutions. ADE was established in September 2020, after AirAsia Group consolidated its engineering and MRO assets to provide a centralised support service, not only for its own aircraft fleet, but also for other commercial airlines in the region. With a unique focus on data and technology, ADE has successfully leveraged, and continues to build on, AirAsia Group’s 19 years of combined experience in operating and maintaining a large fleet of more than 250 Airbus A320 and A330 family aircraft. Chris Rogerson, Inmarsat Aviation’s Vice President of Global Sales, said: “AirAsia Group is the largest customer for our GX Aviation inflight broadband solution in the Asia Pacific region, and one of the largest in the world. Our partnership has been a hugely successful one, based on a common passion about the exciting opportunities that digitalisation and connectivity provide to passengers and the aviation industry, especially as airlines recover from the pandemic. We are delighted, therefore, to now collaborate on GX Aviation installations for AirAsia and other airlines in the region, bringing together the combined experience and expertise of Inmarsat, ADE and the rest of the AirAsia Group.” Mahesh Kumar, CEO of Asia Digital Engineering, said: “ADE has made significant progress since launching our services in the midst of the pandemic last year. We are delighted about the success of our first GX Aviation installation and look forward to continuing the rollout across AirAsia Group’s fleet, as well as bringing our world-class engineering and MRO expertise to other airlines. By working with partners such as Inmarsat, we are building ADE into a market-leader that provides high quality and best value services, with a focus on using the latest technologies to increase satisfaction, productivity and efficiency.” ADE, based in AirAsia Group’s RedQ global headquarters in Malaysia, has already received base maintenance approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, with approval from five additional authorities expected before the end of 2021. On 21 December, 2021 Inmarsat will add to its satellite fleet for the region, launching I-6 F1 from Japan. The satellite is Inmarsat’s first dual payload satellite, with both Ka-band (Global Xpress) and L-band (ELERA) onboard.

Abu Dhabi, UAE – 25 November 2021: The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), part of ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies, is taking the next step in its business diversification strategy with the strategic assets transfer of tourism business unit from Etihad Airways to ADNEC Group. Etihad Holidays will be acquired by Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (ADNEC) to expand their footprint in tourism. Etihad Holidays will integrate with Tourism 365, being the ADNEC tourism promotion business. The decision will further support the UAE’s tourism sector, given ADNEC’s extensive experience and capabilities across tourism industry. Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, said: “ADNEC is proud to welcome this important business entity into its portfolio. We hold a long-term investor perspective in identifying and acquiring key assets in developed markets. This move will strengthen the Group’s competitiveness and will increase direct and indirect economic contributions to the UAE’s tourism sectors. “This decision further reinforces our commitment to investment in growth opportunities which will deliver long term returns to the Group. ADNEC Group has wide-ranging experience in overseeing successful tourism and hospitality assets and will bring the same insights and strategic focus to ensure the continued success of this important entity.” Tourism 365 will operate Etihad Holidays, taking it from a platform focused on the local market to a fully-fledged tour operator supplying online and traditional travel agencies with Etihad network holiday packages from key source markets. Capital Experience, Tourism 365’s destination management arm, will be the exclusive supplier of Etihad Holidays across the UAE when it comes to hotels, transfers and attractions. Etihad Holidays offering will combine Etihad Airways’ outstanding product with packages in different source markets to key destinations including Abu Dhabi, the wider UAE, Thailand, Seychelles, Maldives and many others. Roula Jouny, Executive Director of Tourism 365, commented: “We are thrilled with this move. This new development solidifies our strategic role in strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a destination and bolstering the incredible efforts of the UAE’s wider tourism industry. This asset transfer will significantly expand Etihad Holidays’ presence in key source markets especially from a B2B tour operator standpoint. As part of Tourism 365’s vision to become the number one choice for travel and tourism professionals, we look forward to further highlighting Abu Dhabi to tourists from far and wide, whilst also showcasing the unmissable offerings of the Emirates.”

New Delhi, 21 October 2021: Vistara, the full-service carrier, today introduced new inflight meals across cabins on its domestic network. The airline has also resumed serving hot vegetarian meals in Economy Class on flights within India. The airlines had temporarily replaced hot meals with pre-packaged snacks in economy class as part of the service modifications (in line with the regulatory guidelines) introduced to maintain the highest standards of safety and hygiene, and to contribute towards controlling the spread of COVID-19. The inflight menu will be refreshed every three days and include several scrumptious options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks that are customer favourites. Vistara had received customer feedback received in recent times suggests that travellers are becoming more confident about consuming meals on board.

New Delhi, 1st September 2021: Making use of technological advancements to bring in higher efficiency, Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management, the joint venture between DIAL and Çelebi Ground Handling today announced that it has been accredited with IATA CEIV Pharma certification for its cargo and warehouse operations. Given the current scenario, the air cargo industry is calling for higher standards when transporting temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals. To cope with the growing expectation for standardization, the certification ensures international and national compliance to safeguard product integrity to its destination. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Çelebi has done import and export of various types of vaccines, pharma, medical aid, and oxygen containers. Vaccine transfers require a controlled temperature and without delay to ensure the quality of the product in line with international regulatory requirements. Now, with this CEIV certification Celebi will be capable of building additional certified temperature control rooms as required. Kamesh Peri, CEO, Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management said, “This is a prestigious certification to have, especially in present times with the highest standards expected in handling temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. We have achieved it after a thorough audit process performed by IATA who assessed and found our quality systems, infrastructure, procedures, and policies to be in absolute compliance. This was made possible by our committed team and I am very proud of their tireless & brilliant efforts.” Çelebi has a state-of-the art Pharmaceutical Logistics Centre spread over 1200 sqm area. The Centre has a pre-cool facility and four chambers within the range of +15⁰c and -20⁰c, with a capacity of 72,000 MT annually. Recently, Çelebi also achieved GDP (Good Distribution Practice) certification for its Exports Pharma Logistics Centre and Pharma Processing Facility in Import for Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal.

New Delhi. 25th August: SriLankan Airlines after the govt. decison to reopen the island nation to fully vaccinated Indian tourists has opened its booking for such travellers.Currently, India accounts for over 120 million fully vaccinated citizens, which can be a huge potential tourist segment for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will accept tourist with all vaccines including Covaxin and there will be no quarantine for travellers who test Covid negative on arrival in Sri Lanka. One just needs to be fully vaccinated, with the second shot taken at least 14 days before the trip. A mandatory RT-PCR test will be conducted in the hotel and if anyone tests positive will be taken to health care centers run from hotels. All global Covid protocols like social distancing, & hand sanitation will be strictly followed. SriLankan Airlines currently operates four flights a week from Chennai, three flights a week from Mumbai, and once a week from Bangalore to its hub in Colombo. To strengthen ongoing operations, SriLankan will be introducing a host of frequency enhancements out of key Indian cities into Colombo effective September 1, 2021. The airline will be resuming services between Colombo and the Indian points; Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum and Cochin with flights once a week, whilst Hyderabad and New Delhi will be connected to Colombo with twice-weekly flights. Further, the Airlines’ operations out of Chennai and Mumbai will expand up to five times a week whilst its Bangalore-Colombo services will be enhanced to flights three times a week. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Airline operated an extensive network out of 11 Indian cities over 120 flights a week to Colombo, connecting travellers to the resplendent island and beyond.

New Delhi, 25th August 2021: Strengthening of aviation infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar & Chhattisgarh The Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has written to the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, requesting their personal intervention to instruct the concerned officers to initiate action for expediting the various matters like land allocation, deposition of funds with Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust (RACFT), VGF support for International UDAN operations etc. for strengthening of aviation infrastructure in the respective states. AAI has embarked upon development and expansion of airports in the country at a cost of Rs. 20,000 Crore in the next 4-5 years in order to meet the growing passenger demand in the country. In the letter written to Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh  Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Scindia has mentioned that the State Government has already handed over the quantum of land in most of the airports. However, some portion of lands viz 14.31 acre at Tirupati required for extension of runway and other operational requirements, 10.25 acre at Rajahmundry for construction of residential colony and 50 acre at Kadapa for extension of runway and Approach Lighting System are yet to be handed over to AAI by the State Government. In addition to that, the Minister highlighted that the diversion of Eluru canal needs to be undertaken by the State Government for extension of runway upto 4000 m at Vijaywada airport along with approach lighting system. Further, the Minister observed that an amount of Rs.14.64 Crore needs to be deposited with Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust (RACFT) at the earliest by the Andhra Pradesh Government (20% of VGF share for UDAN flights till 31.07.2021 in the State). The Minister stated, “State Govt may give their consent to provide 100% VGF support for International UDAN operations (Vishakhapatnam – Dubai). On receipt of the consent of the State Government for 100% VGF support, routes will be put to bidding for the airlines.” Similarly, the Shri Scindia has written to Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh seeking his intervention in land acquisition for various aviation sector projects which includes land requirements of 5.5 acre for installation of Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) and Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) protection area and construction of Residential Colony for airport staff at Tezu Airport. Another 70 acres at Dirang, 34.3 acres at Daporijo, 2.3 acres at Passighat, 7 acres at Along and 10.6 acres at Ziro. He said that the State Government needs to immediately operationalize heliports at Daparizo, Itanagar, Tuting, Walong, Yinghiong and Ziro, for which Budget of Rs. 8.44 crores per heliport has already been allocated by this Ministry under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)- UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik). Civil Aviation Minister  has also written to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma drawing his attention to matter of land requirements of 78.5 acres at Dibrugarh Airport, 109 acres at Lilabari Airport, 116,5 acre at Silchar Airport & 50 acres at Jorhat Airport. He mentioned that the land required at Dibrugarh Airport will be utilized for future expansion of the Airport and necessary runway strip, while that at Lilabari Airport will be used for construction of Isolation bay, necessary runway strip and development of a new Aviation Manpower Training Institute. The land requested at Silchar Airport will be used to develop city side infrastructure and land at Jorhat Airport will be used for development of a New Civil Endlave. Out of the total projected land only 8.5 acre of land has been handed over at Dibrugarh Airport, and rest of the land parcels are yet to be handed over by the State Government. Scindia has written to the Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar, underscoring the land requirements of 49.5 acre at Patna airport for runway extension, Parallel taxi track, Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) equipment, Isolation Bay and Glide Path, 50 acre at Purnia Airport for development of New Civil Enclave, 121 acre at Raxaul to develop the airport for ATR-72 type of Aircraft, 475 acre at Muzaffarpur airport to develop it for operation of A-320 type of aircraft, 78 acre at Darbhanga for development of new civil enclave along with CAT I approach light system. He said that Bihar should also take into consideration the scope for international connectivity and consequently viability of operation of a wide body aircraft. Ministry has requested the State Government to consider the provision of 100% VGF support for commencing International UDAN operations from Patna and Gaya (Gaya – Bangkok, Gaya – Kathmandu, Gaya – Yangon, Patna – Kathmandu & Patna – Dubai). On receipt of the consent of the State Govt for 100% VGF support, routes will be put for bidding for the airlines. While writing to the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Shri Scindia highlighted the matters related to land requirement of 569 acre at Raigarh for development of the airport to make it suitable for operations of ATR72/Q400 type of aircraft in Phase-l and AB-320 type of Aircraft in Phase-II. Further, the Minister observed that restoration of airport land in favour of AAI by the State Govt. is also pending at the end of the State Govt. In addition, the Minister mentioned that an amount of Rs.0.60 Crore needs to be deposited with Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust (RACFT) at the earliest by the State Govt. as 20% of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) share for Ude Desh ka Aaam Nagrik (UDAN) flights till 31.07.2021 in the State. He also urged the Chief Minister to intervene and expedite the development of Ambikapur airport for 3C operations under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN operations for which a budget of Rs. 90 Crore has been allocated.

New Delhi, 25th August 2021: *Rationalization of VAT to give impetus to air travel: Minsiter urges to make it within the range of 1% to 4% *To enable a multiplier effect with regard to air connectivity and economic development In order to give impetus to air travel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation ,Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia has written letter to 22 States/ UTs urging them to rationalize VAT on ATF across all airports in States within the range of 1% to 4%. He has asked them to take forward common intention to boost air travel and connectivity in State with a view to accelerate its economic development. The price of ATF is a major component of the operating cost of airlines with that, the tax on ATF contributes significantly to the ATF price. Addressing this issue would enable a force multiplier effect with regard to air connectivity in states. Citing examples of progressive states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Telangana , the Minister wrote that they have brought down the VAT to one percent and even below. As a result, they have seen a substantial jump in the number of aircraft movements in their states. For example, the Government of Kerala has brought down VAT on ATF from 25% to 1%. Subsequently, the number of aircraft movements at Thiruvananthapuram airport increased from 21,516 flights to 23,566 flights in a span of 6 months ie an increase of 2050 aircraft movements post reduction of VAT. Similarly, aircraft movements at Hyderabad saw a rise from 76,954 flights to 86,842 flights in a span of 6 months i.e. an increase of 9888 aircraft movements after the reduction of VAT on ATF from 16% to 1%. Many other states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab and Sikkim have followed suit. The Minister brought to attention of the states that air connectivity directly promotes tourism growth, output growth and employment generation, in addition to various indirect benefits to the economy. In fact, the aviation sector has a high output multiplier of 3.25 and employment multiplier of 6.1. Presently, there is a huge disparity between States, and even within States, in terms of VAT being levied on ATF. Given the challenges that have arisen due to COVID-19. Hence ,the Minister emphasised on the need to reduce the existing VAT/Sales Tax on ATF to 1%-4% at all airports with immediate effect. Besides, it is worth noting that the revenue collected by the State on account of VAT on ATF is an insignificant proportion of the overall State finances. In any case, this will be more than offset by the positive impact of the air connectivity to the State through the flow of economic activities. The 22 states/UTs to which the Minister wrote include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Ladakh, Andaman Nicobar, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.