Tag: #flights

GUIDELINES FOR COMPENSATING AIR PASSENGERS DUE TO CANCELLATION AND DELAY IN FLIGHT

 The airline has to facilitate affected passengers due to cancellation & delay in flight in accordance with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section 3, Series M, Part IV titled as “Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights”.

Under the provisions of said CAR, the airline has to provide following:

I.  In case of cancellation, the airlines shall either provide alternate flight or provide compensation in addition to the full refund of air ticket. Additionally, the airline shall provide meals and refreshments to the passengers who have already reported for their original flight at the airport while waiting for the alternate flight.

II. In case of delay in flight, the airline is required to provide meals and refreshments, an alternate flight/full refund of ticket to the passenger or hotel accommodation (including transfers) depending on the total flight delay.

Airline shall not be obliged to compensate in cases where the cancellation & delay is caused by a force majeure event i.e. extraordinary circumstance(s) beyond the control of the airline.

Facilities to be offered to the affected passengers in case of flight disruption are already available on public domain in form of Passenger Charter published on Ministry’s website, CARS on DGCA website & on respective airline website.

Adequate provisions to safeguard the interests of passengers are already in place.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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Billionaire Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Plans Ultra-Low Cost Airline

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is planning on having 70 aircraft within four years for a new airline he wants to set up in India on optimism more people will travel by air.

Mr Jhunjhunwala, who is considering investing $35 million and would own 40% of the carrier, expects to get a no-objection certificate from India’s aviation ministry in the next 15 days, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview Wednesday.

The ultra-low cost airline will be called Akasa Air and the team, which includes a former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc., is looking at planes that can carry 180 passengers, he said.

It’s a bold bet by Mr Jhunjhunwala, who’s known locally as India’s Warren Buffett, in a market that has seen some airlines collapse in the face of intense fare wars and high costs. Still, what was once the world’s fastest-growing aviation market holds an allure and Jhunjhunwala is looking at opportunities to woo flyers with a brand new carrier offering low fares.

“For the culture of a company to be frugal you’ve to start off fresh,” Mr Jhunjhunwala said. “I’m very, very bullish on India’s aviation sector in terms of demand.”

Even before the pandemic, airlines in India were struggling. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., once the country’s second-largest domestic carrier, ended operations in 2012, and Jet Airways India Ltd., which was recently approved to fly again, collapsed in 2019.

While demand for air travel has been hit globally, India’s aviation industry is at greater risk of delayed recovery as the threat of a third wave of infections looms. Airlines are feeling the impact.

Vistara, which Singapore Airlines Ltd. jointly owns with conglomerate Tata Group, is in discussions with Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to delay aircraft deliveries and make changes to the payment timetables. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, reported a wider-than-anticipated loss as Covid disruption crimped its revenue.

That’s not deterring Mr Jhunjhunwala, who according to Forbes has an estimated net worth of about $4.6 billion.

“I think some of the increment players may not recover,” he said. “I’ve got some of the best airline people in the world as my partners.”