13.09.2023 - 06:37 UTC
Air India (AI, Mumbai International) can resume using its flight simulators to train and certify pilots after India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conditionally re-approved the carrier's training organisation (ATO) licence on September 7. This followed the DGCA suspending the airline's training licence after identifying some issues during a spot check.
The Business Standard newspaper reports that the conditional re-approval is valid for 30 days and allows Air India to resume pilots' licence renewals and certifications. The airline has an Airbus simulator at Hyderabad International, which it uses to train and certify pilots to fly its fleet of Airbus narrowbodies. A second similar at Mumbai International is used to train and certify pilots flying the airline's fleet of Boeing widebodies.
According to the newspaper, during a spot check, the DGCA inspectors discovered that the simulator’s quality manual had expired, and there was no assigned quality control officer to oversee operations. There were also problems with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for preventive maintenance checks of the simulators.
Following...
08.09.2023 - 06:10 UTC
IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International) is mulling services to Amsterdam Schiphol if the incoming A321-200NY(XLR)s can cover the distance in a single flight, according to CEO Pieter Elbers.
Speaking to the Elsevier Weekblad (EW) outlet, Elbers said he wanted to expand existing international codeshare arrangements, including with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol). "At a certain point, we have to start thinking about ourselves." The CEO expects the first of sixty-nine A321neo(XLR)s to start arriving in 2025. With a claimed maximum range of 8,700 kilometres, it puts Western European destinations within range of some Indian cities.
"Rome Fiumicino is perfectly feasible from India. Mumbai International - Amsterdam is just not possible. Depending on the final specifications, the XLR will reach Amsterdam from Delhi," he said.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, KLM and Air India (AI, Mumbai International) already fly on the Delhi - Amsterdam city pair using B787-8s and B787-9s. An existing codeshare arrangement with KLM also sees IndiGo...
06.09.2023 - 02:19 UTC
The Sri Lankan government is in talks with many private companies and airlines as it prepares to privatise SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International), including Emirates (EK, Dubai International) and the Indian conglomerates Tata Sons and Adani Group, according to Veeraperumal Ravindran, the carrier’s regional manager for India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Ravindran was speaking to the Indian broadsheet The New Indian Express to raise the airline’s profile in the Indian state of Kerala, where it is planning to increase its frequencies between Colombo and Thiruvananthapuram in the coming winter schedules from 6x to 7x weekly and to maintain its 10x weekly frequencies to Kochi International. It also plans to start flights to Kozhikode given the availability of aircraft.
There has been a steep rise in traffic from India to Sri Lanka in the last seven months, he said, adding that business at the airline is picking up as “things are becoming more normal in Sri Lanka”. However, he said nothing more about the privatisation.
As ch-aviation has previously reported,...
