Category Archives: Aviation

Akasa Air introduces in-flight safety manual in Braille

Akasa Air introduced its in-flight safety manual in Braille for persons with visual impairments. In keeping with the airline’s core value of empathy and ensuring that each of their customers have a warm and consistent experience, the Braille in-flight safety manual provides an explanation of the safety instructions, in English and Hindi. Akasa Air has partnered with The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) to develop this Braille in-flight safety manual.

According to the release, the Braille in-flight safety manual provided to passengers onboard upon request, covers detailed instructions on seatbelt operation, location of emergency exits and life jackets, tactile diagrams that help orient passengers to aircraft and aircraft positions and other essential safety information.

Commenting on the launch, Belson Coutinho, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing & Experience Officer, Akasa Air, said, “We are committed to being socially cohesive with a focus on being dependable, warm, efficient, and reliable and our Braille in-flight safety manual is a testimony to this commitment. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Sam Taraporevala and the entire team at XRCVC for their guidance and constant support in our endeavour towards inclusive travel.”

Dr. Sam Taraporevala, Executive Director, XRCVC, who helped develop the manual, said, “The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC), a department of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai (www.xrcvc.org), is a national level support and advocacy centre for persons with disabilities. XRCVC was set up in 2003 as an Assistive Technology support centre for students with visual impairment in higher education. Akasa Air’s Braille in-flight safety manual is an example of an airline taking a step towards social inclusion.”

Disappointed with restrictions for travellers from China: IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said it is disappointing to see restrictions on travellers from China since it believes barriers to travel make no difference to spread of infections.

“Several countries are introducing COVID-19 testing and other measures for travellers from China, even though the virus is already circulating widely within their borders. It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years.

Research undertaken around the arrival of the Omicron variant concluded that putting barriers in the way of travel made no difference to the peak spread of infections. At most, restrictions delayed that peak by a few days. If a new variant emerges in any part of the world, the same situation would be expected.

That’s why governments should listen to the advice of experts, including the WHO, that advise against travel restrictions. We have the tools to manage COVID-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that cut off international connectivity, damage economies and destroy jobs. Governments must base their decisions on ‘science facts’ rather than ‘science politics’,” said Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA.

 

 

Domestic passenger traffic reaches 12mn in December; highest since pre-pandemic

India’s domestic air passenger traffic was at 12.9 million in December, the highest since January 2020, according to government data.

Domestic air passenger traffic was at 13 million and 12.78 million in December 2019 and in January 2020, respectively. In February and March 2020, passenger traffic had fallen to 12.37 million and 7.76 million, respectively. Subsequently, air travel was shut for two months before resuming in May 2020.

India witnessed a record number of air travellers on 24 December, as 435,500 people took to the skies on 2,904 flights. This was also higher than the daily average of 2,900 flight departures and 400,000 air passengers in the pre-covid year of 2019.

Traditionally, the October-December period is a strong quarter due to the festive holiday season.

Kerala Govt issues order to acquire 2570 acres of land for Sabarimala airport

The Kerala government has accorded sanction for the acquisition of 1039.876 Hectares (2570 acres) of land in Erumeli South and Manimala of Kottayam district for the construction of a greenfield airport at Sabarimala.

The proposed plan of the state government is to construct the airport at Cheruvally Estate near Erumeli. In addition, 370 acres outside the estate will also be acquired as per the new order.

The order has been issued subject to two conditions. The social impact assessment conducted under the ambit of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, shall be examined by an expert committee and the director general of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India approve that the identified site is fit for construction. These two conditions have been clearly mentioned in the order issued by additional chief secretary A Jayathilak.
The airport will have a 3,500 metres runway and will be located about 45km away from the temple town. Though a dispute over the ownership of the Cheruvally Estate in Manimala village is pending before the court, the government has decided to go ahead with the project on the belief that the airport will get the Centre’s nod. (Source TOI)

Karnataka makes 7-day quarantine essential for travellers from six countries

As per a latest development, the Karnataka state government has now made home quarantine mandatory for seven days for passengers arriving at the Bengaluru airport from six countries, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. This move comes in the wake of rising COVID cases in other countries. Meanwhile, the Centre has already announced that RT-PCR tests will be a must for those travelling from designated high-risk countries.

As per Karnataka’s revised guidelines, passengers arriving from these countries will have to provide COVID negative report before they are allowed to leave airport premises. Further, as per the guidelines, if any of the international passengers from the said countries are found symptomatic, they shall be isolated immediately, and will be transferred to the designated medical facility. Meanwhile, their samples should be collected and submitted for RT-PCR testing and genome sequencing.

However, asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to leave the airport, but will be advised to self-monitor their health for COVID symptoms, and strictly follow COVID appropriate behaviour, like wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing, practice hand hygiene, and remain under home quarantine for next seven days.
If, in any case, they develop symptoms like cough, cold, fever, body ache, loss of taste and smell, breathing difficulty, and diarrhoea, they would need to self-isolate and report to the local surveillance team for testing.

In case the genome sequencing report shows BF.7 (after seven days) or confirms any new sub variant, another sample will be taken for the RT-PCR test, whereas the person will be expected to follow all the COVID protocols strictly. (Source TOI)

ITA Airways signs agreement with IICCI for preferred corporate fares

ITA Airways has signed an important agreement with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI) to ensure the connectivity to over 750 companies and IICCI members based in India.

Through this agreement, the Italian flagship carrier will offer preferred fares for employees of those enterprises flying with ITA Airways between India and Italy, thus meeting the corporate travel needs of IICCI member companies.

The partnership further strengthens ITA Airways’ commitment to the integration and development of relations between the two Countries, which was enhanced with the opening of the New Delhi – Rome Fiumicino route on December 4, 2022. The direct flight is operated three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday departing from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 3:50 am and arriving in Rome Fiumicino at 8:10 am. The return flight is departing every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 2:10 pm from Rome Fiumicino with arrival in New Delhi the following day at 2:00 am local time.

Trade and investment between India and Italy are growing significantly. The direct connection from New Delhi to Rome and the partnership with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will ensure a strategic contribution to the promotion of economic relations and cooperation between the two Countries.

In addition, thanks to the flight from New Delhi to Rome, passengers from India will be able to reach not only Italy but all of Europe, the Mediterranean, South and North America, with convenient connections offered by ITA Airways’ Rome Fiumicino hub.