Indian airlines and airport operators are on their way to introducing the latest aviation technologies, including self-service check-in kiosks to facilitate easy travel for passengers, enhance security at airports and save money for airlines.

NEW DELHI — India has selected the Swiss Pilatus PC-7 aircraft as its beginning trainer for Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots. The Swiss aircraft, along with Grob’s G-120 TP, Embraer’s EMB-312 Super Tucano, Finmeccanica’s M-311, Hawker Beechcraft’s T-6C Texan-II and Korean Aerospace’s KT-1, participated in the flight trials last year. “Of the three short-listed firms from the U.S., Korea and Switzerland, the bid made by Pilatus has emerged the lowest,” says India’s chief of air staff, Air Marshal P.V. Naik.

NEW DELHI — India would be unlikely to entertain a bid by Lockheed Martin to offer the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and re-enter the roughly $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition, as such a move could significantly raise the cost and delay the procurement, several Indian officials and observers tell Aviation Week.