New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI): The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday announced the country's first National Aero Sports Policy (NSAP, 2022) with an aim to see India as one of the top aerial sporting nations by 2030.

New Delhi [India], April 11 (ANI): In a bid to boost air connectivity of the North Eastern Region with the rest of the country, Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, will inaugurate the first flight from Dibrugarh to Pasighat on Tuesday under the scheme "Providing air connectivity and aviation infrastructure in North Eastern Region (NER)", as per a press release by Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Kolkata Dec 30 PTI The West Bengal government said on Thursday it is suspending all direct flights from the UK and those emanating from other high-risk countries from January 3 amid growing scare over the rise in number of Covid cases of the omicron variant an official said States Home Secretary B P Gopalika wrote to the Union civil aviation ministry informing it about the states decision due to the rising number of patients detected with the omicron strain of the contagion West Bengal has so far reported 11 cases of the omicron variant In view of the rising number of omicron cases globally and as well as within the country the state government has decided to temporarily and until further orders suspended all direct flights from United Kingdom to Kolkata from January 3 2022 Flights which is an at risk country as notified notified by MOHFW Government of India will not be allowed in the state and any NOCs which have been issued stand withdrawn he wrote in a letter to Rajiv Bansal Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation PTI SCH SK SK SK

New Delhi Nov 24 PTI Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal on Wednesday said international flight services are expected to be normalised by the end of this year Scheduled international passenger flights to and from India remain suspended since March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic India has air bubble arrangements with more than 25 countries for operating international flights On resumption of normal services to global destinations Bansal said international flight services are expected to be normalised very soon and by the end of this year Under an air bubble arrangement between the two countries international passenger flights can be operated by their respective carriers into each others territories subject to certain conditions PTI RAM MKJ

New Delhi [India], November 24 (ANI): The Union government is making "all efforts" to hand over all operations of Air India to Tata Sons by the end of December, said Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation Rajiv Bansal on Wednesday.

New Delhi Oct 24 PTI The high-level panel which is examining the recommendations made by the AAIB in its Kozhikode plane crash report is discussing corrective actions that need to be taken and will submit the report within the given time frame according to a senior official Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal the committee was set up in September after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau AAIB submitted its report to the civil aviation ministry on the deadly Air India Express plane crash that happened last year at Kozhikode airport in Kerala The panel has also been asked to look into the status of the implementation of the AAIBs recommendations following its probe into the plane crash at Mangalore airport in May 2010 Bansal said that two meetings of the panel have happened and corrective actions that need to be taken are being discussed The committee has been given two months time and one month is over We will submit the report within the time frame he said He spoke to PTI on the sidelines after the inauguration of the Kushinagar international airport in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday In the crash involving a Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Air India Express from Dubai to Kozhikode 21 people including the two pilots were killed and several others were injured As many as 43 safety recommendations were made by the AAIB in its Kozhikode crash probe report which was made public on September 11 According to the report the crash at the Kozhikode airport on August 7 2020 replicated the Mangalore crash on May 22 2010 A total of 158 people were killed in the Mangalore accident When the panel was set up it was chaired by Pradeep Singh Kharola who was then the Civil Aviation Secretary After his retirement Bansal who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India took over as the secretary on October 1 The Co-Chairman of the panel is Air Chief Marshal Retd Fali Homi Major Other members of the panel include DGCA chief Arun Kumar AAI Chairman Sanjeev Kumar AAIB Director General A Handa and former AAI Member ANS Vineet Gulati Ex-ICAO expert Arun Rao and a representative of the IMD are also part of the panel According to the AAIB report the events of the plane crash at Kozhikode replicated the Mangalore crash of 2010 Ten years later on 7 August 2020 it was once again a similar tabletop aerodrome the same airline the same type of aircraft that landed off an Un-stabilised Approach and touched down past half the runway and resulted in another major disaster In the probe report on the Kozhikode crash the AAIB said the pilots non-adherence to the standard operating procedure was the probable cause of the plane crash but also noted that the role of the systemic failures as a contributory factor cannot be overlooked in the accident The AAIB also mentioned about systemic failures Air India Expresss poor crew resource management to possibility of visual illusions due to low visibility and sub-optimal performance of the PICs Pilot-In-Command windshield wiper as various other causes that contributed to the crash PTI RAM MKJ

New Delhi Oct 21 PTI The government is unlikely to lift the restrictions on international flights immediately a senior civil aviation ministry official has indicated saying current frequencies under air bubble arrangements are adequate to meet the demand Scheduled international passenger flights to and from India remain suspended since March last year amid the coronavirus pandemic India has air bubble arrangements with more than 25 countries for operating international flights Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal told PTI that the current frequencies available under the air bubble arrangements are adequate to meet the demand and there is not much demand for international routes as the visa regime is very restrictive He also noted that on certain sectors such as US and Canada airlines have 30 to 40 per cent load factors for mid-December 2021 We can surely consider opening once demand nears pre-COVID levels Speaking on the sidelines after the inauguration of the Kushinagar international airport in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday Bansal also said that if there is a need then air bubble arrangements can be expanded Under an air bubble arrangement between two countries international passenger flights can be operated by their respective carriers into each others territories subject to certain conditions Currently India has air bubble arrangements with 28 countries including the US the UK Germany and Japan To a query on when fare bands are likely to be removed Bansal said a call would be taken once demand returns to pre-COVID levels Domestic air services resumed after two months on May 25 2020 PTI RAM ABM ABM

New Delhi [India], October 15 (ANI): After Tata Sons won the bid to acquire national carrier Air India, the acting Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the national carrier has issued an order for the management to control the expenses, till the divestment exercise is complete.

New Delhi [India], October 8 (ANI): The government said on Friday that Tata Sons, which won the bid to acquire Air India, will retain all employees for one year and the group will need to offer a voluntary retirement scheme if it decides on retrenchment after the period.

New Delhi Sep 22 PTI Air India Chairman Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as the new aviation secretary as part of a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Wednesday K Rajaraman Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs has been appointed as Secretary Department of Telecommunications a Personnel Ministry order said Rajaraman will take over the charge from Anshu Prakash who is due to superannuate on September 30 Bansal a 1988 batch lAS officer of Nagaland cadre will replace Pradeep Singh Kharola upon his retirement this month-end Steel Secretary Pradip Kumar Tripathi has been appointed as the Secretary Department of Personnel and Training DoPT it said Govind Mohan Additional Secretary in the Department of Home will be Secretary Ministry of Culture the order said Anurag Jain Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority has been appointed as the Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Ministry of Commerce and Industry K Sanjay Murthy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited will be Secretary Department of Higher Education the order said Murthy a 1989 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre will take over the charge from Amit Khare who retires on September 30 Devendra Kumar Singh Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises will be Secretary Ministry of Cooperation Sunil Barthwal who is currently Central Provident Fund Commissioner in the Employees Provident Fund Organisation has been appointed as the Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment Anuradha Prasad Special Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment will be Secretary Inter State Council Secretariat Ministry of Home Affairs the order said Ansuli Arya Administrator Universal Service Obligation Fund will be Secretary Department of Official Language it said Rajesh Aggarwal currently Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will be Secretary Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship the order said Lok Ranjan and Sujata Chaturvedi both working as additional secretaries in the DoPT will be Secretary of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Department of Sports respectively The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet ACC has also approved in-situ upgradation of nine officers to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India the order said Accordingly V Srinivas Additional Secretary Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions will be Special Secretary in the same department Katikithala Srinivas Director Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration has been given the rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India Arun Kumar Director General in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also been given the rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India the order said PTI AKV AAR