Category: Aviation

Emirates has announced that it will restart passenger flights to Cairo and Tunis from July 1, Glasgow (from July 15) and Malé (from July 16). This will bring Emirates’ network to 52 destinations in July, offering travellers convenient connections between the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas through its Dubai hub, while ensuring the health and safety of customers and employees on the ground and in the air. Customers from Emirates’ network can also travel to Dubai following the announcement last week that the city will be open to business and leisure visitors from July 7, with new air ... Read more

Air India has announced eight evacuation flights between India and Australia under the Vande Bharat Mission. The flights will be operated from July 1 to July 14. Bookings will begin on June 28 from 12 PM — only on the Air India website. The national carrier will operate four flights each to Melbourne and Sydney. Since May, Air India has carried out repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission. Recently,  the US, France and the UAE governments raised objections to these flights saying that India was not allowing these countries to carry out their own repatriation flights. While India was ... Read more

Dubai carrier Emirates is looking to resume another seven passenger services next month as the emirate continues to ease travel restrictions. The airline will relaunch flights to Khartoum from July 3, Osaka from July 7, Narita from July 8 and Athens, Larnaca and Rome from July 5. The latest series of resumptions means the airline will fly to 48 destinations. The Dubai carrier previously reopened routes to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Manila, Kabul, Bahrain, Manchester and Zurich. It will also restart services to Auckland, Beirut, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh from July 1 and ... Read more

American Airlines will book flights to capacity effective July 1, the company said in a press release on Friday. The airline said it will notify customers and allow them to move to more open flights if they are available at no extra price.  “As more people continue to travel, customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1,” the airline said, adding that customers can also move to another seat if space is available once boarding is complete. American has blocked off 50% of the main cabin middle seats and has been notifying customers if their flight ... Read more

Commercial international flights to and from India will continue to remain suspended till July 15, according to a government release issued on Friday. A circular released by the Director General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi said that “scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India shall remain suspended till 23:59 hours IST of 15th July, 2020.” It specified that this restriction will not apply to international cargo operations and certain flights specifically approved by the aviation regulator. The official release says some international scheduled flights on “select routes” may be allowed by the competent authorities on a case to case ... Read more

More than 30% of civilian pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly, the country’s aviation minister has revealed. Addressing Pakistan’s National Assembly, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots in the country “did not take the exam themselves” and had paid someone else to sit it on their behalf. “They don’t have flying experience,” he said. Pakistan has 860 active pilots serving its domestic airlines — including the country’s Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flagship — as well as a number of foreign carriers. PIA has grounded all its pilots who hold fake licenses, effective immediately. “PIA ... Read more

Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading US airlines, announced that its member carriers will voluntarily pledge to refund tickets for any passenger who is found to have an elevated temperature, during a screening process conducted by federal authorities prior to travel. Last month, A4A and its member carriers announced they are supporting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to begin conducting temperature screenings of the traveling public and customer-facing employees as long as necessary during the COVID-19 public health crisis. As all screening processes for the traveling public are the responsibility of the US government, having temperature checks ... Read more

The US government has restricted charter flights from India, accusing it of “unfair and discriminatory practices” by violating a treaty governing aviation between the two countries, Bloomberg has reported. Air India has been making flights to repatriate its citizens during the travel disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, but also has been selling tickets to the public, the US Department of Transportation alleged. At the same time, US airlines have been prohibited from flying to India by aviation regulators there, the department said in its order. The situation “creates a competitive disadvantage for US carriers,” the agency said in a ... Read more

Air India has introduced a “shorter working week scheme” under which its permanent employees, except pilots and cabin crew members, can opt to work for three days a week at 60% salary. This measure has been introduced in order to improve the airline’s cash flow position amid the coronavirus pandemic, news agency PTI has said. “The permanent employee who opts for such a scheme can avail this for a period of one year,” according to the airline’s senior officials. The pandemic has impacted the aviation industry significantly, and all airlines in India have taken steps like slashing salaries of employees ... Read more

Earlier this week, Garuda Indonesia had announced that its flight attendants will forego wearing face masks, thereby attempting to go in a completely different direction to that of every other airline in the world. However, on Friday, the flag carrier said it is scrapping the plan. Garuda’s boss Irfan Setiaputra had previously announced that the airline was considering face shields as an alternative to masks to ensure that customers could see the facial expressions of the cabin crew. On Friday, however, Irfan said face shields “will not replace face masks but will complement them instead”. “We are evaluating the most ... Read more

Air India Express is inviting applications from Indian citizens fulfilling requirements as on June 1, 2020, for the posts of manager (finance) grade M-4 and manager (finance) grade M-3. The jobs are located in Mumbai. Manager Finance Grade M-4 There are three posts available. Qualifications required: CA with minimum 10 years of post-qualification experience in the finance department of a large organization. Experience in finalisation, consolidation of accounts, tax audit and knowledge of SAP accounting system are musts. Exposure in coordinating with the government, audit exposure in managing and overseeing the daily operations of the accounting department, handling revenue accounting ... Read more

Air India has reintroduced its Coimbatore-New Delhi flight. The flight will be operated four days a week from June 22. The flight – number 547/548 — will depart from New Delhi at 7.40 am and land in Coimbatore at 11 am. The same flight will leave Coimbatore at noon and land in New Delhi at 3 pm.

Turkish Airlines will resume flights to China and the United States from June 19, the airline announced, after the pandemic shuttered international travel in March. The airline’s chief executive Bilal Eksi said three flights a week to Chicago and Washington D.C. will be in operation starting June 19 and to Los Angeles from June 24. The airline also announced it will start a weekly flight to Shanghai from June 19 and two weekly flights each to Hong Kong and Seoul from June 24. The airline has already restarted flights to Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Established in 1933, Turkish Airlines ... Read more

The Bombay High Court has allowed domestic and international airlines to fill up middle seats, providing some relief to the carriers. The high court, however, sought strict compliance with the May 31 circular of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requiring passengers to wear wrap-around gowns in addition to a face shield and a mask. A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on Monday passed the judgment through video-conference on a plea filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani, who alleged that national carrier Air India had violated social distancing norms while evacuating Indians ... Read more

The Kerala government has made it mandatory for those boarding chartered flights to produce a certificate stating they have tested negative for Covid-19. Over one lakh expatriates are expected to reach Kerala from West Asian countries on chartered flights in coming weeks. The state has so far given sanction for 750 chartered flights. The direction by principal secretary E Ellangovan stated that this condition applies to all flights for which consent letters have been issued earlier. For cases in which a Covid-19 patient requires urgent medical care, air ambulance provision may be availed, it stated. Norka Roots, the non-resident Keralite welfare ... Read more