New Delhi Feb 25 PTI Virgin Atlantics Delhi-London flights will have a slightly longer flying time by 15-60 minutes as the Russian government has banned all British planes from crossing its airspaceIn response to the Russian military offensive in Ukraine the Boris Johnson government had earlier this week announced that Russian national carrier Aeroflot will not be allowed to land in the UK Consequently the Russian government on Friday announced that British planes will not be allowed to land in Russia or use Russian airspaceA Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said on Friday On Thursday evening we took the decision to start avoiding Russian airspace and our flight paths will continue to be adjusted for some Virgin Atlantic passenger services between the UK and India The spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience caused to customers by slightly longer flight timesFour Virgin Atlantic services typically overfly Russia - flights between London Heathrow and Islamabad Lahore Delhi and services between Manchester and Islamabad the spokesperson said Avoiding Russian airspace will result in slightly longer flight times by 15-60 minutes depending on the route the spokesperson addedAs ever our airport cabin crew and customer teams will support customers with any connecting flights the spokesperson mentionedThe safety and security of our customers and people always comes first and were monitoring the situation in Ukraine and Russia extremely carefully following the escalation of conflict continuing to operate in full compliance with relevant safety regulators authorities and governments the spokesperson noted PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Jan 29 PTI Union minister Gen V K Singh on Saturday called The New York Times Supari Media over its report which claimed that the Indian government bought the Pegasus spy tool in 2017 as part of a deal with IsraelThe Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the centrepieces of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017 according to the report in The New York TimesA massive controversy erupted last year when the NSO Group hit the headlines with the alleged use of its Pegasus software by some governments to spy on journalists human rights defenders politicians and others in a number of countries including India triggered concerns over issues relating to privacyReacting to NYTs report Singh Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation said on Twitter Can you trust NYT They are known Supari Media Singh is also a former Indian Army chief PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Jan 27 PTI Smart and well-groomed cabin crew members better on-time performance of flights calling passengers as guests and enhanced in-flight meal service are some of the measures the Tata Group is focusing on at Air India immediately after taking over the airline on Thursday sources saidThe employees have been told by the Tata Group that there will be a change in image attitude and perception of Air India they saidCabin crew members have been instructed to address all passengers as guests and cabin crew supervisor will have to ensure safety and service standards provided to the guests they notedThe crew members will have to be smartly dressed and well-groomed and there will be grooming executives who will be conducting checks at the airports they mentionedSince on-time performance is extremely important all endeavours will have to be made by the crew members to ensure that the doors are closed 10 minutes before the flights departure they saidA special audio message by Ratan TataChairman Emeritus of Tata Sons will also be played in flights and crew will be instructed on when and how to play it they saidAccording to the sources enhanced meal service will be provided to passengers in select flights in the initial days post the takeover This enhanced meal service will be expanded to passengers in all Air India flights in a phased manner they saidThe enhanced meal service was provided on four flights -- AI864 Mumbai-Delhi AI687 Mumbai-Delhi AI945 Mumbai-Abu Dhabi and AI639 Mumbai-Bengaluru -- on Thursday they notedThe enhanced meal service will be served on Mumbai-Newark flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights on Friday the sources saidThe government on Thursday handed over Air India to the Tata Group nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Jan 25 PTI Subedar Neeraj Chopra who created history last year by winning Indias first athletics gold medal in Olympics was awardedParam Vishisht Seva Medal on Tuesday for his distinguished serviceChopra a Subedar with the 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army had produced a second-round throw of 8758m in the javelin throw finals at Tokyo Olympics in August 2021 to win the gold medalThe Indian Army on Tuesday released a list of Army personnel awarded for their gallantry and distinguished service on the occasion of Republic Day 2022Along with Chopra 18 other serving and retired personnel of the Indian Army have been awarded Param Vishisht Seva MedalChopra was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2018 and Vishist Seva Medal VSM in 2020 for his excellence in sportsChopra was enrolled into the 4 Rajputana Rifles as a Naib Subedar on May 15 2016 After joining the Army he was selected for training at the Mission Olympics Wing as well as at the Army Sports Institute PuneThe Mission Olympics Wing is an initiative by the Indian Army to identify and train promising sportspersons in 11 disciplines for various national and international competitions PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Jan 19 PTI Around 112 crore domestic passengers travelled by air in December approximately 67 per cent higher than the 105 crore who travelled in November the countrys aviation regulator said on WednesdayOverall 838 crore people travelled on domestic flights in 2021 as compared to 63 crore in 2020 showing a jump of 33 per cent the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA stated in its monthly statementIndiGo -- Indias largest carrier -- carried 6141 lakh passengers in December a 548 per cent share of the domestic market it mentionedGo First previously known as GoAir flew 1193 lakh passengers and SpiceJet flew 1151 lakh passengers in December 2021 according to the data shared by DGCAAir India Vistara AirAsia India and Alliance Air carried 989 lakh 861 lakh 701 lakh 125 lakh passengers respectively in December 2021 the data showedThe occupancy rate or load factor for SpiceJet was 86 per cent in December the DGCA notedThe occupancy rates for IndiGo Vistara Go First Air India and AirAsia India were 802 per cent 781 per cent 79 per cent 782 per cent and 742 per cent respectively in December 2021 it addedThe aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the pandemicIndia resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 2020 after a gap of two months due to coronavirusThe DGCA data mentioned that in December 2021 IndiGo had the best on-time performance OTP of 835 per cent at four metro airports - Bengaluru Delhi Hyderabad and MumbaiIn a statement an IndiGo spokesperson said the airline is pleased to deliver our promise of OTP consistently even during the most challenging times IndiGo has been the leader in OTP for 10 out of 12 months in 2021 with an average of on-time performance over 935 per cent across key metro cities through the year the spokesperson addedAccording to the DGCA Go First and Vistara were at the second and third positions at the aforementioned four metro airports in December with 83 per cent and 815 per cent OTP respectivelyDuring the last two years all airlines in India have opted for cost-reducing measures such as pay cuts leave without pay and layoffs in order to tide over the coronavirus-induced crisis PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Jan 19 PTI Two IndiGo planes averted mid-air collision over the Bengaluru airport just after their take-off on the morning of January 9 senior officials of aviation regulator DGCA said on WednesdayThe incident was not logged in any logbook and it was not reported by the Airports Authority of India AAI either they saidMeanwhile DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI that the regulator is investigating the incident and shall take strictest action against those found delinquentIndiGo and the AAI did not respond to PTIs request for a statement on this matterOfficials of Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA said that the two IndiGo planes -- 6E455 Bengaluru to Kolkata and 6E246 Bengaluru to Bhubaneswar -- were involved in breach of separation at Bengaluru airportBreach of separation happens when two aircraft cross the minimum mandatory vertical or horizontal distance in an airspaceBoth these aircraft departed from the Bengaluru airport within a span of approximately 5 minutes on the morning of January 9 the officials mentionedBoth aircraft after departure were on converging heading ie moving towards each other Approach radar controller gave diverging heading and avoided mid-air collision one of the officials noted PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Dec 23 PTI The Indian aviation industry was able to breathe a little easier in 2021 as domestic flight operations reached their pre-pandemic levels even though international services continued to remain curtailed due to Covid-related travel restrictionsAir Indias sale to the Tata Group and arrival of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa Air in 2021 are likely to introduce more competition and change the dynamics of the Indian aviation sector in the coming yearsWhile the Ministry of Civil Aviation MoCA removed all capacity restriction on scheduled domestic flights on October 18 the lower and upper limits on domestic air fares continue to remain in placeBoth -- capacity restriction and fare limits -- were imposed by the MoCA from May 25 2020 when scheduled domestic flights resumed after a two-month-long suspension due to COVID-19Though the MoCA announced on November 26 that scheduled international flights would resume from December 15 the decision was suspended on December 1 in the wake of spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirusScheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 2020 Currently special passenger flights have been operating between India and approximately 32 countries on the basis of air bubble arrangements signed with themWith US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing making all necessary software rectifications in 737 Max plane to the satisfaction of Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA the ban on the aircrafts commercial flight operations was lifted after 27 monthsAll Max planes were grounded in India by DGCA on March 13 2019 three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane near Addis Ababa which had killed 157 people including four IndiansAkasa Air -- the new airline backed by ace investor Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Aditya Ghosh and Vinay Dube -- got the no-objection certificate NOC from the MoCA to launch commercial flight operations in the first half of AugustWith the DGCA giving its green light to Max aircraft in late August Akasa Air signed a deal with Boeing on November 26 to purchase 72 Max planesAviation consultancy firm CAPA said last month that the disruption in the Indian aviation sector due to Akasa Air will possibly be felt from 2024-25 onwards once it has scale and achieves a competitive cost baseSpiceJet reported a net loss of Rs 935 crore and Rs 998 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively In the first six months of the current financial year the airline has posted a net loss of Rs 1290 croreSections of SpiceJets employees went on strike outside the Delhi airport on September 3 and November 2 protesting against reduced salaries and its irregular disbursementSpiceJet chairperson and managing director Ajay Singh had told PTI in October that employees were being paid their full salaries on time and all issues related to their pays have been resolvedSpiceJet is the only airline in India that has Max planes -- 13 of them -- in its fleet currently In November the budget carrier said it had entered into an agreement with Boeing to settle outstanding claims related to the grounding of 737 Max aircraft and its return to serviceCAPA said that risks for SpiceJet would remain elevated without serious recapitalisation and long-term stability could be achieved with recapitulationAfter much effort over the years the Narendra Modi government was finally able to successfully able to sell debt-laden Air India in 2021 to a private entityOn October 8 the Centre announced that Talace Private Limited -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- has beaten a consortium led by Ajay Singh by offering Rs 18000 crore to win the bid to acquire Air IndiaAir India is expected to be finally handed over to the Tata group in the first quarter of 2022Tata Group already own and operate two airlines -- Vistara and Air Asia -- in India It is unclear if Vistara would be merged with Air India or notSimilarly it is unclear whether Air India Express -- Air Indias wholly owned subsidiary that operates narrow-body aircraft only -- will be merged with budget carrier AirAsia India or notOn July 8 Jyotiraditya Scindia took charge as the Civil Aviation Minister replacing Hardeep Singh PuriUnder Scindias charge the MoCA has given a big push to the drone industryThe MoCA on September 15 approved a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial yearsThe PLI scheme came up as a follow-through of the liberalised Drone Rules 2021 released by the MoCA on August 25The Indian drone industry will have a total turnover of up to Rs 15000 crore by 2026 as the government has given a major boost to the sector with the PLI scheme and the liberalised rules Scindia had said on September 16The National Company Law Tribunal NCLT in June approved the Jalan Kalrock Consortiums resolution plan for Jet Airways two years after the once-storied full-service carrier went into insolvency proceedingsEarlier this month the winning consortium of Jet Airways said it wants to infuse funds in the airline and has approached the NCLT to fast-track implementation of the resolution plan approved by the insolvency court in June this yearThe consortium in a statement also said it plans to restart domestic operations at the earliest in 2022 as a full-service carrier PTI DSP ZMN

New Delhi Oct 21 PTI Procuring advanced surveillance systems that can help India keep an eye on its land borders and oceans is the topmost priority of the armed forces right now Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat said on ThursdayHe also said that after surveillance capabilities India needs to focus on boosting its cyber capabilitiesOur first and foremost priority is surveillance We need anything that can help is in maintaining surveillance on our land borders and on our oceans This is our fist priority he said at a defence conclave here when asked what are Indian armed forces requirements that should be the focus of private industryWe want to jump the cyber from lower priority to higher priority because we find that our adversary is developing cyber capabilities at a very fast pace he also saidIf you are not able to match the adversary then no matter how good or sophisticated your systems are if they are going to be affected through cyber attacks they will be no use to us he asserted Gen Rawat said a very rapid transformation is taking place in the international domain And accordingly our own region is also undergoing rapid changes and we can see the way the dynamics of international relations in our own vicinity is taking shape he added It is both a major advantage to us in the manner in which there is collaboration taking place amongst like-minded nations and it will also pose a big challenge in the future he said PTI DSP ZMN