08 Jan 2018

India Aviation Industry Newsletter 8 January

Boeing to Set Up P-8I Training Facility in India Boeing will set up its third global P-8I reconnaissance plane training facility at INS Rajali, an Indian naval air base in Tamil Nadu after government cleared its contract. "This will be only the second facility anywhere globally after Australia," a Boeing spokesperson said. US already has a similar facility. The first P-8I aircraft was inducted in Indian Navy in 2013 and as of date, eight aircraft, based at INS Rajali, have been fully integrated into Indian Naval operations. In 2016, India placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8Is, the delivery of which will begin in 2020. Dabolim airport plans to increase capacity Keeping in mind the annual 15% growth in domestic passengers, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to increase the capacity of Goa International Airport to handle 7 million or 70 lakh passengers per year. The work to extend the integrated airport terminal is estimated at Rs 240 crore and will benefit domestic passengers and tourists. India Permits Domestic Private Carriers to Perform Ground Handling In a move to promote domestic airline operators, including helicopter service providers, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has allowed all scheduled domestic operators to do self-handling at all domestic airports. While reiterating the decision to allow third-party ground handling at all airports, the Ministry said with a minimum of three operators at airports, it will result into catering to at least 10 million passengers per annum. Indigo to begin flights to Sri Lanka Indigo Airlines will begin direct flights to Sri Lanka's capital Colombo from 20 January becoming Indigo's 49th overall destination. The airline will operate daily direct flights from India's southern cities of Chennai and Bengaluru. "It gives us immense pleasure to add Colombo to our growing network, which will not only help us cater to the growing tourist potential of the city, but also provide affordable travel options to the Indian workforce who can now look forward to visiting the city more frequently," Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer. More flights likely from Trivandrum airport Trivandrum International Airport is likely to get more flights after the commissioning of newly constructed Parallel Taxi track (PTT). With the opening of PTT, the runway capacity has been increased from 20 flights per hour to 25 flights, allowing operators to introduce more flights. Chairman of Airports Authority of India Guruprasad Mohapatra commissioned the project. He said AAI was planning to double its expenditure on infrastructure development keeping in view the future growth in air traffic. AAI has been demanding more land for the construction of rapid-exit taxiways which allows aircrafts to leave the runway at higher speeds. Boeing Co. will set up its third global P-8I reconnaissance plane training facility at INS Rajali, an Indian naval air base in Tamil Nadu after government cleared its contract on Thursday. "This will be only the second facility anywhere globally after Australia," a Boeing spokesperson said. US already has a similar facility. Acumen Aviation © 8 January All Rights Reserved.