Low-Cost Carriers IndiGo & Air Asia India are the only 2
Indian Airlines to make it to the top 20 most punctual airlines in the world in
2018.
Among airports, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Bhubaneshwar
feature in the top 20 list of the most punctual airports across the globe.
The report published by OAG Punctuality League ,a UK-based
air travel intelligence firm, analysed 58 million flight records in 2018 to
create a ranking of the best on-time performance (OTP) for the world’s largest
airlines and airports.
On-Time Performance (OTP) is the percentage of flights that
depart or arrive within 15 minutes of schedule. Airports handling at least 25
lakh passengers have been ranked according to their punctuality.
IndiGo, India’s largest airline by passengers carried and
fleet size, was ranked at number six under ‘Mega Airline’ list and at number
seven in ‘Low-Cost Carrier’ list for punctuality. It also took the tenth spot
in Asia Pacific region for best punctuality.
AirAsia India was ranked at number 12 in low-cost carrier
list for punctuality.
Under large airports with best punctual or on-time
performance, Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports took the number 13 and 16 spots
respectively. Airports with 10-20 million passengers in a year were identified
in this category.
Bhubaneshwar Airport also secured a place at number 20 in
the small airport list with annual passenger traffic of 2.5 to 5 million.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport was ranked
at 13 in the list of mega airports for punctuality, which has over 30 million
passengers departing every year. It is currently the seventh busiest airports
in Asia and among the top 20 busiest airports in the world.
A mid-air new year celebration party has landed SpiceJet into
trouble with Indian aviation regulators Directorate General Of Civil
Aviation(DGCA).
On December 31 last year, the private airline decided to
celebrate the arrival of 2019 onboard. The crew wore colourful wigs and carried
pompoms while greeting passengers in their seats.
What irked the DGCA was a video on social media that showed
passengers dancing on board a mid-air flight. The regulator has summoned the
airline officials seeking an explanation.
Here are the details of the incident:
The video was taken inside flight SG 282 flying
from Amritsar to Goa.
In the video, it is seen that while the aircraft
was mid-air, many passengers were moving around the aisle dancing, clicking
photos, and even posing with the cabin crew.
According to DGCA this is a violation of
cabin-safety requirements. Use of cell phones to take pictures mid-air is also
a violation of safety rules.
The regulator is probing whether crew members joined in the
celebration and if it was an incident inside only one aircraft. However, SpiceJet
said no protocols were violated and the airline crew did not participate in the
dancing.
According to SpiceJet, On one specific flight, after
completion of service and prior to the seat belt sign coming, they got some of their
cabin crew members to greet passengers while walking down the aisle.
“The people seen dancing were passengers who got momentarily
carried away. The crew immediately requested the passengers to be seated. The
captain also put on the seat belt sign and appropriate announcements were made.”
This is not the first time that the regulator has taken a
strict stance against a mid-air bash inside an aircraft.
In 2014, the DGCA had sent a show-cause notice to SpiceJet
for holding a 10-minute dance show inside an aircraft. In 2016, the regulator
had also grounded the crew of Jet Airways after singer Sonu Nigam was allowed
to perform mid-air over the public announcement device inside an aircraft.
Mid-air bashes, however, are common as airlines regularly
use them to attract flyers and improve their brand image. Airlines such as
Finnair and AirAsia have conducted dance and birthday celebrations onboard
their flights.
Passengers boarding airplanes for destinations like Kolkata, Srinagar, Pune and Mumbai had to stay put at the airport for over four hours as eight flights were delayed from the Chandigarh International airport due to poor visibility.
An Air India official said that the Alliance Air morning
flight got delayed by around two hours owing to poor visibility. The ones
majorly affected were flights arriving from Delhi as three of seven flights got
delayed.
The flight scheduled to depart at 8:20 am, departed at 9:52
am, post the delay of 1 hour 32 minutes. He also said that the flight had a
delayed departure from Delhi at 7 am while the scheduled time was 5:55 am.
IndiGo flight from Kolkata, which was supposed to arrive at
7:30 am, arrived at 12:30 pm because of the delayed departure. It departed at
9.20 am while it was scheduled to leave at 4:50 am.
The IndiGo flight from Srinagar got delayed as well, making
its arrival at 3:23 against its scheduled arrival time of 10.45 am. The flight
departed late at 2.15 pm against its scheduled departure of 9.30 am from
Srinagar.
The Air India flight from Pune, who’s scheduled arrival time
was 2:55 pm, was delayed by 1 hour 14 minutes and arrived at 4.09 pm.
Likewise, the flights departing from Chandigarh departed
late. Flights of Air Asia from Bengaluru, IndiGo from Mumbai and Bengaluru, Air
India from Delhi, and Jet Airways from Delhi were delayed between 45 minutes an
hour and a half.
Air India, has stated to temporarily withdraw its morning
Delhi-Chandigarh-Delhi flight owing to poor visibility at the airport.
Also, the Air India Kullu-Chandigarh-Kullu flight has also
been withdrawn till January 15 due to bad weather conditions at the Bhunter and
Chandigarh airports
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards
airports across the country, has raised concerns over increase in incidents of
people entering airports using fake E-tickets.
The CISF has said that 140 such incidents had been recorded
in 2018 while 111 cases were registered in 2017.
The issue assumes significance as incidents of people
entering airports illegally have increases every year. In 2015 and 2016, number
of such cases was less than 100.
Though the CISF does not suspect any terror angle with
regard to such cases, but the force considers it as a major threat to security
of airports. It suspects that such incidents may lead to some major incident if
not curbed.
They say most of the cases involved individuals who
illegally entered the airport terminal to see off family members or friends.
Others using fake e-tickets were attributed to ignorance of the rules.
Those entering the airport illegally using these method seem
to have taken advantage of the present CISF practice of checking the date and
departure time of the flight and match the name on the ticket to a photo ID
card.
Considering the threat, the CISF and the Civil Aviation
Ministry both want to implement a new entry system for airports using a uniform
identity. The CISF is pressing for implementation of biometric system for
travellers to enter airports and the concept of DigiYatra.
The passenger would be asked to either create or use the
unique identity at the time of the booking of the ticket. Officials say this
method would be optional, as would be the choice of which ID the passenger
wants to use, including Aadhaar.
Officials are also mulling the use of barcodes or QR codes
to authenticate tickets and verify the identities of the individuals presenting
them at the gates to the terminals.
However, with the programme not rolled out yet, it remains
to be see what methods the CISF and other security agencies are likely to use.
There were plenty incidents in the world of Travel & leisure
this year that made headlines around the world.
Incidences like the Lion Air flight 610 crash in October &
the US Supreme Court’s decision in favour of Trumps travel ban shocked people
globally.
But there was good news too & plenty of it!
As the year comes to an end, here’s a look at all things good in 2018 that made us believe that travel is becoming better each passing year.
1.Saudi Arabia Opens Up To The World
Saudi Arabia for a long time was off limits for leisure
travellers, however, this year they started
issuing tourist visas.
Earlier, one could only visit the country on pilgrimage,
business and on being invited by family members who are residents in the
country. It also finally allowed its women to get behind the wheel.
2.In-flight Connectivity Will Soon Become A Reality In India
In December, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) finally allowed the use of internet and calling services on airplanes under the Indian Flight and Maritime Connectivity Rules (IFMC), 2018.
The Government’s “In-flight Connectivity Scheme” will allow
flyers to make calls and access internet through their phones during air travel
within Indian territory.
It is still unclear as to how airlines will implement this and what will be the cost, however with this decision, Indian aviation took a step forward in making life easier for travellers.
3.Sikkim Gets Its 1st Airport, India’s 100th
The Beautiful north eastern state got its 1st
airport and India got its 100th airport. An absolute stunner,
Pakyong Airport is built into the side of lush green cliff at a height of
4,500ft above sea.
The airport wears a boutique charm, helped by the fact that
it can only accept about 50 passengers at a time who will arrive in tiny ATR
aircraft.
4.India’s 1st Domestic Luxury Cruise Sets Sail
Angriya, India’s first domestic luxury cruise set sail from
the Purple Gate of Mumbai’s Indira Docks to Mormugao in South Goa.
If the sweeping views aren’t enough, the cruise boasts six
decks, 104 cabins and an infinity pool, and has the capacity to ferry 399
passengers.
5.Singapore Airlines Relaunches The World’s Longest Flight
The race to fly the world’s longest flight was won by
Singapore Airlines, when it introduced a non-stop, 18-hr-30-min Singapore-New
York flight.
Since the time in the air can feel long, the aircraft has
done away with Economy class, and has only Business and Premium Economy.
6.Heli-Taxis Took Off In India
If you’ve stayed in this southern city you’d know that Bengaluru’s
traffic is so bad and its airport so far, it makes sense to fly from the
airport.
Well this became a reality as south India’s first commercial
heli-taxi service took off. The service from the airport to Electronics City
replaces the two-hour drive with a 15-minute flight.
Up north, another heli taxi service allows you to cover the
120km or three-hour journey from Chandigarh to Shimla in just 20 minutes now.
7.Some Indians Can Now Go To Pakistan Without A Visa
Sikh devotees will not have to offer their prayers from the
other side of border anymore.
In December, Pakistan inaugurated work on the Kartarpur
Corridor, which will give some Indian citizens visa-free access to Gurudwara
Darbar Sahib in Punjab, Pakistan, from Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur
district.
8. Myanmar and Zimbabwe Open Visa On Arrival For Indian Citizens
The next time you crave khao suey or wish to go on a safari
for that matter, you can just get on a flight, as Myanmar and Zimbabwe began
rolling out visas on arrival to Indian travellers.
Getting visas to Oman, Uzbekistan and UAE also became a bit
easier.
9. No more Elephant Rides In Jim Corbett & Rajaji Tiger Reserve
In August, the Uttarakhand High Court banned the use of
elephants for safaris and joy rides, stating that the government should not be
a mute spectator to such exploitation.
The court also ordered a cap on the number of vehicles
deployed on safaris to keep the sanctity of the reserve intact.
10.India Officially Becomes The Fastest Growing Aviation Hub In The World
A report given by International Air Transportation
Association (IATA) shows that India’s air connectivity grew the fastest at 114
percent in the five-year period from 2013-2018.
In recent years, many foreign as well as Indian carriers have commenced flights to and from various Indian cities, making it the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world as well.
The Government has directed all airports to make public
announcements in local language first, followed by Hindi and English.
This decision has been taken by civil aviation minister Mr.
Suresh Prabhu.
Officials said that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has
issued a directive to all aerodromes under its control to start making public
announcements in the local language in addition to Hindi and English.
The civil aviation ministry has also sent out a
communication to private airport operators regarding public announcements to be
made in the local language.
The directions would not be applicable for silent airports,
where public announcements are not made, they added.
In 2016, the AAI had issued a circular asking airports under
its control to make public announcements in the local language followed by
Hindi and English.
In another similar directive, Indian aviation watchdog
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory stating that
airlines may consider using local language for in-flight announcements.
Announcements in local language would be in addition to the
ones made in Hindi and English.
Plus, to enhance awareness about cultural heritage of India,
pilots can make in-flight announcement about the important monument or site
(such as the Taj Mahal, the Konark Temple, the Ajanta Ellora, the Statue of
Unity etc.), which are enroute the flight.
To spare passengers from physical frisking at security
checks, airports in India will install body scanners from 2019.
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) will soon come out
with technical specifications of these scanners and then airports can install
the machines.
Although full body scanners are new to India, this
technology is widely used abroad, especially in the US.
This is expected to speed up the security check process for
the Indian airports lacking adequate infrastructure and restrict the escalating
manpower costs to provide security at the terminals.
Passengers will also have better travel experience following
the installation of ful-body scanners.
he full-body scanners to be used in all airports are called
“millimetre wave” machines, which bounce electromagnetic waves off
the traveller to provide an animated image where a suspicious item might be
located.
Central Industrial Security force (CISF) which handles
security at India Gandhi International Airport revealed that as per a trial in
December 2016, the machine was not able to adapt to the Indian way of dressing
and gave false alarms whenever a woman wearing a sari passed through it. The
scanner also found it difficult to detect objects concealed in footwear.
Post these several trails were conducted after modifying
several specifications.
According to BCAS Chief Kumar Rajesh Chandra, they will be issuing the specifications and regulations for active and passive millimeter wave body scanners by early next year. This is being done after the trial runs were conducted successfully.
The scanners will be customised so that they can penetrate
layers of clothes, such as the chunnat (front fold) of a sari, lungi and
pallus.
While the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
insists on using the full body scanners to protect the country from terror
attacks, critics challenge the use of devices over privacy and health concerns.
TSA deployed the machines and now uses 793 full-body
scanners at 157 airports in 2016.US airports have been using full-body scanners
since May 2013.
Ambala is one of the 13 cities to be finalised for a domestic
airport under UDAN III scheme of the ministry of civil aviation, which comes as
a New Year’s gift for its residents.
A team from Airports Authority of India (AAI) has identified
land in Barnala village, adjacent to the Indian Air Force station boundary of
the Ambala Cantonment, for the airport.
The team had visited the site on Monday and submitted its
report to officials.
Haryana’s health, sports and youth welfare minister Anil Vij
said that the proposed airport will not only add to the growth of Ambala
Cantonment and Ambala City but will also help in employment opportunities to
local youth.
He also thanked the current government for adding Ambala to
the list of 13 cities under for the Udan Scheme. Most of the formalities have
been completed hence, he is certain that this airport project will become a
reality.
The announcement has come at a time when the international
airport at Chandigarh is gradually attracting more passengers.
The airport is just 40 km from Ambala. It is the third
domestic airport sanctioned for Haryana. The ministry had already given the
go-ahead for Karnal and Hisar airports.
