News Analysis India

Tag: Alliance Air

  • Runway excursion in Jabalpur: DGCA suspends licenses of two Alliance Air pilots for one year

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday said it has suspended the licenses of two Alliance Air’s pilots whose actions led to their plane overshooting the runway while landing at the Jabalpur airport on March 12.

    In a statement, the regulator said the two pilots were operating an ATR-72 aircraft from Delhi to Jabalpur on March 12.

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said its probe found that during landing at the Jabalpur airport, the aircraft floated for a long period and touched down approximately 900 metres after the aiming point (touchdown point).

    “The decision of PF (pilot flying) to continue in spite of long float resulted into long landing and subsequently runway excursion. PNF (Pilot not flying) did not call out for Go-Around despite of prolonged flare,” the regulator said.

    A “Go-Around” is done when a pilot feels that the aircraft does not have a stabilised approach just before landing.

    In the statement, the DGCA said the above “action or inaction” of the crew jeopardized the safety of the aircraft and its occupants and was in violation the Aircraft Rules 1937 and Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR).

    “The privileges of the licenses held by both the operating crew have been suspended for a period of one year,” it mentioned.

  • Divorce complete with AI: Alliance Air shifts to own PSS; to sell tickets with ‘9I’ code

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Centre-run Alliance Air said it will sell tickets with “9I” code and has shifted to its own cloud-based passenger service system (PSS) from Friday onwards.

    Even though parent airline Air India’s control was shifted to the Tata Group on January 27, Alliance Air till date was using the full-service carrier’s PSS and its “AI” code to sell tickets.

    A PSS is used for various functions such as ticket reservation and flight scheduling.

    Regional carrier Alliance Air was not part of the deal when the central government sold off Air India to the Tata Group on October 8 last year.

    “Mr Vineet Sood, CEO informed that going forward with absolute efficiency, Alliance Air will now sell its tickets under Alliance Air banner under flight code 9I-XXX,” the airline’s statement said on Friday.

    Alliance Air has migrated to cloud based passenger service system from Friday, it mentioned.

    “We now have our own website www.allianceair.in and the passenger can start booking on it now,” it noted.

    “Our new call centre numbers are +91 44 4255 4255 and +91 44 3511 3511. In case of any queries passenger can also email us at helpdesk@allianceair. in,” it mentioned.

    Alliance Air operates a fleet of 18 ATR-72 aircraft, each with around 70 seats.

  • Alliance Air to operate flights between Gujarat’s Keshod to Mumbai from Saturday

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Centre-run Alliance Air on Friday said it will start operating flights between Gujarat’s Keshod to Mumbai from Saturday.

    This will be the first flight to operate from the Keshod airport, it stated.

    The Mumbai-Keshod-Mumbai flight will operate three times a week on a 70-seater ATR-72 aircraft, the airline’s statement said.

    Keshod is an upcoming tourist destination located in Junagarh District of western Gujarat and is surrounded by the Arabian sea and beautiful forests.

  • Alliance Air breaks free from Air India

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Alliance Air, an independently held government airline, will be booking and handling all other services of its airline on its own beginning tomorrow.

    Until now, Air India was booking tickets on their behalf. After Tata’s brought over Air India –the three companies that came with it were Air India, Air India Express, and AI SATS (ground handling and cargo)– Alliance Air remained with the government. However, Air India was handling their bookings until now.

    Air India had issued a notification today that said,  “Alliance Air is no longer a subsidiary of Air India. Passengers holding tickets of Air India with a four-digit flight number starting with `9’ or three digit flight number starting with `91’ may please be informed that these bookings belong to Alliance Air.  Bookings/queries related to Alliance Air will not be handled by Air India from 15th April.’’

    “We have our own designated website for bookings from now on and passengers seeking to fly with us will have to book with us,’’ said a spokesperson of Alliance Air.

    Alliance Air operates air services to 47 destinations with a fleet of 18 ATR 72-600 (70-72 seater) aircraft. They recently inducted their 19th aircraft which was an Indian-made Dornier 17-seater aircraft. This aircraft made its maiden flight from Dibrugarh to Lilabari via Pasighat two days back.

    Alliance Air flights operate on 47 destinations in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. 

    “The flight schedule of Alliance Air is structured in a manner which enables easy connections to and from smaller cities via the hubs of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

  • Alliance Air flight skids off runway at Jabalpur airport, passengers safe

    By IANS

    BHOPAL: A major accident was averted in Madhya Pradesh after an Alliance Air aircraft with 55 passengers on board skidded off the runway at Jabalpur airport on Saturday.

    As per the information received, an Alliance Air ATR-72 aircraft skidded off the runaway while landing, but fortunately no injury was caused to any crew member or passenger.

    In an official statement, Alliance Air said the aircraft shot off the runway by 10 metres. Flight ATR72-600 was scheduled to land in Jabalpur at around 1:15 pm, bringing 55 passengers and five crew members from Delhi.

    “We are grateful that all passengers and crew of the flight are safe. Our first priority is to evacuate the passengers without compromising their safety. While we follow the laid down policies as per the regulatory authorities and have strict checks in place in order to ensure complete safety of our passengers and crew, we regret the unfortunate incident,” said Alliance Air in a statement.

    It further said action has been initiated in the matter and cockpit crew members have been de-roasted.

    “Taking a strict note of the incident, an investigation has been initiated. The findings of the same shall be shared with the regulatory authorities, and we shall ensure that all required corrective actions are put in place,” it added.

    The flight left onlookers and passengers scared on Saturday after it had a runway excursion while landing at the Dumna Airport in Jabalpur.

    As per the information received, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also ordered an probe into the matter.

    A runaway excursion is when an aircraft skids off the runway during take-off or landing. The aircraft can veer off its route while speeding up on the ground due to several factors, including weather circumstances, technical issues, or even a miscalculated approach to the runway.

  • Alliance Air Mumbai-Bhuj flight flies without engine cover, DGCA launches probe

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: An Alliance Air flight from Mumbai to Bhuj, carrying 70 passengers, flew without engine cover that was later retrieved from the runway at the city airport on Wednesday, prompting aviation regulator DGCA to start a probe into the incident, according to an official.

    The ATR aircraft landed safely at Bhuj in Gujarat. Alliance Air said that it has initiated a probe into the incident. The incident happened on Wednesday morning and was brought to the notice of airport authorities by a Mumbai Air Traffic Controller (ATC).

    Subsequently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) started an investigation into the incident. “Mumbai ATC informed the airport that Alliance Air ATR aircraft, operating flight 91-625 (Mumbai-Bhuj) took off without the left engine cowling (cover),” the official said.

    Later, the airline’s engineering team reached the site and retrieved the engine cover from the runway. During the operation of Alliance Air flight 9I-625 from Mumbai to Bhuj on February 9, the panel of the engine cowl was found on the runway post take off, Alliance Air said in a statement.

    “We have taken strict note of the incident and a thorough investigation has been initiated. The findings of the same shall be shared with the regulatory authorities and we shall ensure that all required corrective actions are put in place,” the government-owned airline said.

    It also said that “we are grateful that all passengers and crew onboard the flight safely landed and there was no damage to the aircraft due to this unfortunate incident”.

    Expressing “regret” at the “unfortunate” incident, Alliance Air said, it follows laid down policies/ procedures as per the regulatory authorities. Alliance Air said in the statement said that the airline has strict checks in place – both pre and post flight operations in order to ensure complete safety of its passengers and crew.

    Flying without engine cowling may have an aerodynamic effect leading to marginal deterioration in the aircraft’s performance, the official said. Besides, it could have an impact on engine components as well because of the exposure to the airflow, the official said, adding that, however, in this case, the aircraft landed safely at the destination.

    According to the official, no one has been grounded so far but appropriate action will be taken after DGCA receives the preliminary report, the official added.