IndiGo becomes 1st airline to land aircraft using navigation system GAGAN

 

IndiGo turned into the primary carrier in the country to set down airplane utilizing the native route framework GAGAN, as indicated by an explanation gave on Thursday.

The flight was led utilizing an ATR-72 airplanes and arrived at the Kishangarh air terminal in Rajasthan on Wednesday morning, utilizing GPS-supported geo-expanded route (GAGAN), which has been mutually evolved by the Center-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the assertion gave by IndiGo said.

GAGAN is utilized to give sidelong and vertical direction when an airplane is moving toward a runway for landing. Its accuracy is particularly valuable at little air terminals where the instrument arrival framework (ILS) has not been introduced.

"In India's affable avionics area, GAGAN will modernize the airspace, lessen flight delays, save fuel and further develop flight wellbeing," the assertion said....Know More

IndiGo gives profit warning following dip in bookings over Coronavirus

Current Affairs
IndiGo expects the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency and devaluation of the rupee to hit benefit in the final quarter. IndiGo, the biggest household carrier by piece of the pie, has given the benefit cautioning following a plunge in appointments as a result of the spread of COVID-19 in the nation.
"We dropped our flights to China and Hong Kong and diminished recurrence to certain other Southeast Asian markets. This limit was redeployed in different markets without materially affecting our incomes. In the course of recent days, nonetheless, week-on-week, we have seen a 15-20 percent decrease in our day by day appointments. We anticipate that our quarterly profit should be physically affected in light of these elements," the aircraft said in a stock trade warning on Wednesday.
It included that sharp devaluation in rupee, as well, would adversy affect its dollar-named liabilities, fundamentally by virtue of promoted working leases.
Flight inhabitance dropped on residential courses as people and organizations dropped occasions and delayed travel. Very late admissions, as well, have declined 20-25 percent on key metro courses over a plunge popular. While the dive in unrefined petroleum value benefits the carrier, the help could be constrained gratitude to lazy interest.
InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo, had announced a triple increment in its pre-charge benefit to Rs 556 crore in the second from last quarter of money related year 2019-20 (FY20) on solid income development.

In a financial specialist telephone call after the outcomes, it had said change of its Airbus A320neo motors would be finished by May, however showed a difficult final quarter in view of lean season and COVID-19 danger...Read More

Business class at budget price: How Indigo plans to lure Europe-Asia fliers

Company News

Low-cost airlines, the pioneers of brief discomfort at bargain prices, have struggled to master long-haul flights. Now one of the world’s most successful budget carriers is considering cut-price business class seats as a way into the Europe-Asia market.

India’s IndiGo, which currently flies as far as Istanbul, is mapping out an ambitious long-distance network. The airline aims to start one-stop trips further into Europe within six months, Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in an interview in New Delhi last week.

IndiGo has captured almost half the Indian market in just over a decade by offering cheap, punctual flights -- and charging extra for almost anything else. Dutta’s long-haul plans are forcing a product overhaul to help passengers endure longer flights and he’s considering everything from extra snacks to a brand-new business class.

“Once you get to six, seven, eight hours, the body gets tired, people need to use the washrooms more, people need to eat more frequently, all of those things change,” Dutta said. “We have to redesign our product. Is it more pitch, is it more food, is it more hot towels, is it a business class?”

Patchy legacy

Success could upend a long-haul market between Asia and Europe that’s long been the preserve of full-service carriers from Singapore Airlines Ltd. and British Airways to Emirates Airline and Cathay Pacific Airways. While IndiGo has become Asia’s largest low-cost carrier by market value, other no-frills rivals that have tried to go long-haul have left a hit-and-miss legacy.


 Discount carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which launched services on intercontinental routes, has been weighed down by losses after a rapid expansion.

India-Pak tensions: Vistara waives cancellation fee for Leh, 3 other cities

Companies News:

Vistara airlines stated that no cancellation fee would be charged if a ticket has been booked to or from Amritsar, Jammu, Srinagar or Leh for travel up to March 31.

For those passengers who could not make it to the airport to fly "to or from" the aforementioned cities on Wednesday, the airline said it is waiving the no-show fees and providing full refund.

"For customers booked to or from Amritsar, Jammu, Srinagar or Leh for travel up to March 31, 2019, we are offering free cancellation with full refund," Vistara said in a Twitter post on Wednesday night.
"For those who want to cancel their bookings to or from these cities for travel up to March 31, please email your request along with PNR details and phone contact...We will strive to respond to all such requests within 4 hours, between the hours of 7am and 11pm," the airline said.

Vistara said it would be entertaining cancellation with full-refund requests only. "We will not be accepting any date change requests for these flights within the period specified."

Due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) earlier on Wednesday, saying flight operations at the airports in Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Shimla, Kangra, Kullu Manali and Pithoragarh would remain shut from February 27-May 27.


 IndiGo tweeted that it would take zero-cancellation fee for all Indian soldiers who are on leave and have been asked to resume their duties.

Indigo to China Airlines: Worsening pilot shortage sours Asia's travel boom

Companies News:

An unprecedented travel boom in Asia has spawned new budget carriers and millions of first-time fliers, but a shortage of pilots is threatening to choke that demand.

Bamboo Airways Co. in Vietnam was the latest low-cost carrier to start services this year and more are expected to join the race. In Southeast Asia alone, LCCs have about 1,400 aircraft on order, compared with fewer than 400 for full-service carriers, according to CAPA Centre for Aviation. With the supply of pilots lagging behind, the airlines will struggle to find skilled cockpit crew.

“There’s a real crunch coming,” Peter Harbison, executive chairman of Sydney-based CAPA said in Singapore. “For new airlines, it’s much, much harder and it’s going to be a real struggle.”

Global traffic is set to double in the next two decades with the biggest increase expected in the Asia-Pacific region, where almost 4 billion passenger journeys are expected, according to the International Air Transport Association. Boeing Co. forecasts the region needs 16,930 new planes and about 261,000 pilots through 2037. That means the current fleets and the number of pilots will need to double during that period, according to the planemaker.

The strain is already showing. IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget carrier by market value, last month decided to scrap dozens of flights every day through March after many of its pilots exhausted their annual limit on flying hours. Taiwan’s China Airlines Ltd. averted a crisis this month by agreeing to improve working conditions at an annual cost of almost $4 million after the pilots union, citing fatigue among other complaints, went on a seven-day strike.


 Even some outside Asia are running into problems: Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said in April that a shortage of pilots forced it to cut flights...Read More

Indigo crisis: India facing pilot shortage; 2,000 more needed this year

Economy & Policy:

The cancellation of over 30 flights by IndiGo has bought the growing shortage of pilots to the fore, especially when airlines are expanding their fleet.
According to industry estimates, more than 100 new planes will be added in the next 12 months, a bulk of which will come from IndiGo alone, currently adding nine planes every month. As a result, around 1,500-2,000 additional pilots will be required in 2018-19 to fly new aircraft and tide over the existing crisis in the cockpit.

Despite more flights in operation, the number of additional commanders being recruited is slowing down. Aviation industry estimates the number of additional commanders recruited by carriers fell by around 10 per cent in 2017-18 over 2016-17. This was despite domestic carriers scrambling for more expatriates to make up for the dwindling pool of qualified home-grown commanders.

According to CAPA Research, the country has over 7,963 pilots and will require an additional 17,000 pilots in the next 10 years, of which 9,000 first officers will be upgraded to commanders.
IndiGo currently has 3,100 pilots on its payroll. The carrier constitutes for 38 per cent of pilots recruited by domestic airlines. It also has a domestic market share of 41 per cent and is planning an aggressive overseas flightpath. It has over 1,250 captains, which effectively constitutes for over 31 per cent of the 4,000 commanders in service.


According to an airline executive, the ballpark figure of five to six commanders and an equal number of co-pilots, or a total of 12 per aircraft, is needed. “It also takes four to five years for a pilot to become a commander,” he said.