15.04.2021 - 14:40 UTC
All passenger flights to, from, and within Bangladesh remain suspended until April 20, 2021, as the country entered another strict COVID-19 lockdown on April 14, 2021.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) announced all international passenger flights, as well as all sorts of domestic flights, were grounded with effect from 0001L (1801Z) on April 14 until 2359L (0559Z) on April, 20 April.
Only cargo, medevac, humanitarian/relief, and flights cleared under special consideration would be allowed to operate. Standard disinfection, sanitisation, and social distancing procedures for passengers, crew, equipment, and aircraft (inflight or on the ground) were mandatory for flights permitted to operate.
The regulations affect Bangladesh's scheduled carriers, Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka), NovoAir (VQ, Dhaka), and US-Bangla Airlines (BS, Dhaka). National carrier Biman Bangladesh carried the CAAB notices on its website, while US Bangla Airlines on Facebook announced it was temporarily halting services in line with the government-announced lockdown. Dormant Regent Airways (RX, Dhaka) made no announcement.
Apart from their domestic services, Biman and...
15.04.2021 - 03:44 UTC
India’s government has invited shortlisted entities to submit financial bids to acquire Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l), local media reported, and the interested bidders have been given access to a “virtual data room” with full access to the heavily indebted flag carrier’s accounts.
“The request for proposal for financial bids for the Air India sale has been issued. A share purchase agreement for the Air India deal is likely to have been shared with the interested entities,” a source told the financial news channel CNBC TV18.
The shortlisted bidders - understood to be the conglomerate Tata Sons and SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int'l) owner Ajay Singh - may be given until early July to submit their financial bids, after which an evaluation process may take three to four months so that completion is unlikely before September, the channel reported.
The privatisation, which includes 100% of loss-making Air India and its Air India Express (IX, Mumbai Int'l) subsidiary as well as a 50% stake in groundhandler Air India Airport Services, has encountered repeated...
09.04.2021 - 16:20 UTC
Barely a week after the New York-based investment firm Interups bought a 49% stake in TruJet (2T, Hyderabad Int'l), the regional carrier is reportedly in talks with both Airbus and Embraer to acquire fifty-four A220s and fifty-four E190-E2s, orders that are expected to be finalised by the end of May.
Laxmi Prasad, the chairman of Interups, which claims to manage assets worth USD10 billion in the US, told the Indian online business news site Moneycontrol that the airline aims to expand its network across India and overseas while also venturing into other segments as part of what he claimed was a USD1.9 billion plan for the airline.
“We plan to expand services to the length and breadth of the country, overseas, and get into segments such as cargo, private charters, and helicopter ambulance services. We will be operating at full scale,” he said.
“We had set aside USD1.89 billion for the planned investment in Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l). That is not happening now. We would like to put that money...
05.04.2021 - 11:26 UTC
Interups, a New York-based investment firm which is backed by non-resident Indians (NRIs), has struck a deal to buy a 49% stake in TruJet (2T, Hyderabad Int'l), the regional carrier revealed in a statement on April 1. The transaction details were not disclosed.
Interups has had its eye on India’s aviation sector for some time. In late December 2020, it withdrew an Expression of Interest it had submitted to buy Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) in the flag carrier’s ongoing privatisation process due to concerns it may be disqualified on formal grounds, although it continued to support a group of Air India employees in their bid until they themselves were disqualified.
According to this new deal with Trujet, Interups will acquire a 49% shareholding in Turbo Megha Airways (Turbo Aviation), which owns and operates the regional carrier and which called itself in its statement “the only successful operator in UDAN routes,” referring to Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik, the Indian government’s regional air connectivity development scheme.
Trujet has “garnered 49% foreign...
