Women to be inducted as army pilots: Indian Army Chief

Women will be inducted as pilots in the Army Aviation Corps from next year, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said on Tuesday.

Till now, women are only part of ground duties in the Army Aviation Corps.

Women pilots would be flying helicopters to forward locations and be part of operations at the borders, the Army Chief said, adding that the proposal has been cleared.

The Indian Air Force has 10 women fighter pilots. In the Indian Navy, women pilots are flying the Dornier aircraft and also as observers on board helicopters and P8I surveillance aircraft.

Other than the 10 fighter pilots, the IAF has 111 women pilots who fly transport planes and choppers.

During his annual press conference in New Delhi, General Naravane said: "Last month, I had initiated a proposal that women officers can be recruited to Army Aviation. The next course which will begin in July this year, will induct women for training purposes in flying branch and after one year they will be able to join in operational duties."

The Indian Army raised the Army Aviation Corps on November 1, 1986 and it comprises helicopters that fly in conflict and peace zones.

The Aviation Corps is critical for the Indian Army as it is pressed into action for the evacuation of injured troops during operations or health emergencies in high altitude areas.

Army Aviation Corps choppers are also used for reconnaissance, observation, casualty evacuation, essential load drops, and combat search and rescue.

The helicopters participate in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations across the country. The corps has played an important role in the past in operations like Kargil but has also been at the forefront carrying out varied tasks during the ongoing India-China military standoff in Ladakh. Source: https://southasiamonitor.org/

Read More........ → January 13, 2021

Aviation in a ‘purple patch’ amid new plane crunch, AirAsia says

Malaysia-based AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes remains bullish on air travel. MUST CREDIT: Richard Humphries/Bloomberg

The aviation industry is experiencing a “purple patch” with demand for seats far outstripping capacity amid a long wait for new aircraft and a shortage of pilots further discouraging any fresh competition, Tony Fernandes, the founder of low-cost carrier AirAsia, said. Malaysia-based AirAsia for its part is set to witness its “best ever period” with most of the carrier’s 240 planes back in the sky and “airfares at their best,” Fernandes said during an interview near Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on Monday. “I’ve never been this bullish before,” Fernandes, who started AirAsia 23 years ago, said. “Southeast Asia is going through a renaissance period of sensible economics, and that’s a good thing.” On the back of that, AirAsia plans to raise as much as $600 million in coming months, Fernandes said, as he tries to pull off a merger between his two aviation businesses – long-haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd. and short-haul airline AirAsia, which is currently a unit under Fernandes’ more diversified company Capital A Bhd. Following the merger, which is expected to conclude mid-year, the new entity will look to raise up to $400 million via selling equity, Fernandes said. Citigroup Inc. and US advisory bank Evercore Inc. have been appointed to lead the capital raising. A $200 million revenue bond, securitized against revenue from new routes, is also expected to be finalized soon, he said. Fernandes said the merger of the two airlines will create a new firm called AirAsia Group that will subsequently take over AirAsia X’s listing on Bursa Malaysia. The company may also do away with its AirAsia X branding as the aviation businesses consolidate. AirAsia has ambitions to expand its footprint from a predominately Asian airline to a global low-cost carrier with a more extensive network. It plans to start flying to Kazakhstan, its first route in Central Asia, later this year. Fernandes, who has previously spoken about succession at the company he founded, said Monday that he would retain an advisory role at AirAsia Group following the merger. He’ll remain chief executive of Capital A, his other listed company that will ultimately hold all the non-aviation businesses he’s started. Those include Teleport, a logistics company, and Move, an online travel agency that also operates a ride-hailing business. Move is finalizing a $30 million capital raising while Teleport has raised $35 million in debt, he said. The company’s aircraft-maintenance arm, Asia Digital Engineering, has also managed to raise $100 million, Fernandes said. The Financial Times reported in October that Capital A is seeking to raise more than $1 billion in debt and equity and list some of its businesses through a blank-check company in New York. The company said in November that it will seek a Nasdaq listing via a special purpose acquisition company merger with Aetherium Acquisition Corp.“2024 will be a very good year. 2025 will be an amazing year,” Fernandes said. “There’s a lot of growth for us. Aviation in a ‘purple patch’ amid new plane crunch, AirAsia says

Read More........ → March 22, 2024

Confident of future of India's aviation industry: Airbus South Asia president

Strong local fundamentals will aide the revival of India's aviation sector, believes Airbus South Asia President, Remi Maillard.

In a conversation with IANS, Remi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia, expressed confidence in the industry's potential along with its revival prospects on the back of strong fundamentals.

"I remain confident about the future of the Indian aviation industry because of the strong local fundamentals," Maillard said.

"That is why, in parallel to our efforts of catalysing a safe traffic recovery, we need to work on further strengthening the foundations for India to become a world leader in the civil aviation industry. This implies further developing the domestic market, turning India into an international hub, growing the MRO and training eco-systems as well as stimulating the helicopter business," he added.

Notably, the sector has been heavily battered by the coronavirus outbreak and its cascading impact on the overall travel industry.

Maillard termed the pandemic as the 'gravest crisis' that industry has ever faced.

"There is not one single player in the market that is immune to the crisis, be it an airline, a lessor, an MRO, a training center, an airport, an equipment supplier or an aircraft manufacturer. It is a long-term crisis," he elaborated.

"Given how deep the crisis is, a full recovery in aviation will take years specifically when it comes to international flights," he added.

Nevertheless, Maillard pointed out that with the economy opening up gradually, demand for air travel has started to pick-up.

"We have now started seeing a gradual increase in air travel as the domestic flights have increased in a phased manner," he said.

"We are hopeful passenger demand will further pick up during the festival season. Now the situation remains very fluid and uncertain and we predict that 2021 will remain a difficult year for the industry. This is why we need to continue adapting ourselves to navigate the crisis," he added.

According to him, the regional connectivity scheme, Udan, will play a major role in the growth of the domestic market.

Besides, the aerospace major is aiding its airline partners to fully utilise the potential of its cargo business.

"Indian carriers have started focusing on international markets in the recent past and the induction of wide-body aircraft will be a key strategy for consideration in their growth plans," he said.

"India's civil helicopter market has a large runway for growth. The emergence of new segments like urban air connectivity as well as the launching of next generation helicopter plat-forms such as the recently certified H160 and the 5-bladed H145 will also further drive growth," he said.

(IANS) Source: https://southasiamonitor.org

Read More........ → October 25, 2020

Pak airlines may face ban in 188 countries

The Airlines that are being operated in Pakistan may face a ban from flying to 188 countries as the country has failed in their pilot licensing issue and to meet international standards as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a report of the Express Tribune said on Sunday. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) could ban PIA airlines and pilots from 188 countries for failing to comply with the rules, the report stated that. 

The ICAO issued a serious warning to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) over the safety concerns.

In a letter on November 3, the ICAO stated that PCAA had failed to meet the international standards regarding the personnel licensing and training in relation to the licensing process for pilot.

Regarding the warning, a Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (Palpa) spokesperson said: "This will have serious consequences and could be a total disaster for Pakistan's aviation industry."

Palpa alleged that it had been raising this issue since June 2020 but unfortunately it was neglected by the authorities concerned.Earlier, due to the licence scam, flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has already been barred from flying to the UK and the European Union. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/

Read More........ → November 26, 2020

Domestic air passengers to triple to 218 mn by 2025: report

The number of air travellers in the country is estimated to rise more than three-fold to 218 million by 2025 from 70 million in 2015 while the domestic fleet strength to rise more than threefold to 1,084 by 2025 from 394 in 2015 and further to 2,564 by 2035. Incoming international traffic to the country would go up to 120 million by 2025, up from 51 million by the turn of 2015, and would further jump to 254 million by 2035, according to the report commissioned by Vistara airline and conducted by industry body Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The domestic passenger traffic load would stand at 527 million by 2035. This would mean the existing airports in the metros would not be able to meet the rising demand. Each metro would then require a second greenfield airport to handle the traffic, the report says. According to the report, aviation can contribute 5 per cent to the country's GDP or $250 billion by 2025. The report called for increasing investment in airport infrastructure, airspace management and skill development as the sector is going to witness massive demand by 2025, which would necessitate that each of the major metros would have to have a new second airport. It said the incremental domestic traffic handled in the past 10 years was almost three times greater than in the previous 50 years. The Vistara-CAPA report, titled Maximising the contribution of aviation to the economy, projected employment generation of over 2.3 million (both direct and indirect) by 2050. While the aviation sector today contributes just $23 billion to the GDP of the country, which is a tad over $2 trillion, it is close to 6 per cent of GDP in the US and over 27 per cent of Dubai's GDP, the report said. However, the report calls for the setting up of an airports approval commission to determine what kind of airports the country requires, when and where they are required, how much capacity is necessary and the level of capex that should be invested in order to avoid an air traffic logjam with most of the existing metro airport infrastructure getting saturated in the next five years. Source: Article, Imag: flickr.com

Read More........ → November 10, 2015