SriLankan Airlines expands flights to India

SriLankan Airlines says it will consider lowering fuel surcharges on tickets in January if oil prices continue to fall, while it also expands further into Indian metropolitan cities this winter.
The airline increased fuel surcharges thrice this year, adding up to 80 dollars on the cost of a long haul, one way ticket and 50 dollars for a shorter run.
Meanwhile, the airline also plans to snap up new flight frequencies Sri Lanka negotiated with India under recent trade talks, to top Indian metropolitan cities.
"We are looking to include Mumbai into our winter plan into India," Brown said.
India gave Sri Lanka seven flights a week in addition to the existing seven, to top metropolitan city Mumbai immediately and to Bangalore from 2008.
21/10/06 Lanka Everything, UK

Deportees at Islamabad Airport: Indians or Pakistanis?

Islamabad: Forty-two persons who were deported from Spain on account of over staying and other minor crimes have arrived here on a special plane on Thursday morning. However It has been told that out of 42 persons, 41 belong from India.
The nationalities of the deportees is still yet to be confirmed by FIA.
Only one person is said to be a Pakistani. His name is Naseer Ahmed. The rest say that they are Indians. The Pakistani belongs from Peshawar and Pakistan has accepted him.
The Pakistani has been formally given permission of entry while the remaining are under investigation and stopped at the airport.
Pakistani officials are considering to send them back to to India or Spain, however talks are underway with the Spanish officials in this regard.
The Spanish officials were of the view that all 42 are Pakistanis as they have presented their documents and it proves that they are all Pakistanis. While on the other hand, Pakistani officials claim that the documents are all fake and they have no link with Pakistan.
20/10/06 PakTribune.com, Pakistan

Delta-Kingfisher deal: Catch Mumbai-NY flight!

New York: India's Kingfisher Airlines will carry within the country passengers of Delta Airlines of the United States, which is starting a direct non-stop flight between John F Kennedy Airport in New York to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
The Delta begins its non-stop flight on November 1 and the journey is expected to take 14 hours.
Regional Director (North America) of Kingfisher Airlines, Sudhan Thomas said a major feature of the arrangement between the two airlines is that Kingfisher's flights to Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore from Mumbai will start within two hours of the Delta flight arriving in the city. Thomas said that passengers travelling to India from the US would be able to buy tickets to Indian cities along with Delta airlines tickets.
20/10/06 PTI/Financial Express

Bangalore gets its first EMS helicopter

The Chetak helicopter at the Air Ambulance launch ceremonyScripting yet another chapter to its long list of achievements, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) launched a specially designed Chetak helicopter for emergency medical evacuation and air charter services in Bangalore on Saturday.
At a simple function, HAL Chairman Mr Ashok K. Baweja formally inaugurated the operations of Vayu Vahan at the Rotary Wing Academy situated in Bangalore Airport.
The helicopter is designed to undertake emergency evacuation of patients from areas around Bangalore to the main hospitals in the city, which are equipped with a helipad.
Lauding the efforts of the Rotary Wing Academy, the only helicopter academy in India, Mr Baweja said, with the launch of Vayu Vahan, HAL is committed towards its corporate social responsibility.
21/10/06 Rotorhub (press release), UK

Woman held with 106 blank traveller’s cheques

Mumbai: The Customs authorities have arrested a woman at Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport here with unaccounted traveller’s cheques worth more than Rs 47 lakh.
The Indian was intercepted by officers of the Air Intelligence Unit on Thursday, before she boarded a flight to Johannesburg, the Customs said.
The passenger was found in possession of 106 blank traveller’s cheques of $1000 denomination each, along with $1,642 and Rs 10,000, collectively equivalent to Rs 47,89,305, which were seized under provisions of the Customs Act.
20/10/06 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Amausi airport: AAI to decide on cess issue

Lucknow: The Amausi airport authorities have decided to refer the matter on levy of cess on aircraft landings in village panchayat jurisdictions to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) headquarters in New Delhi for further directions.
The State Cabinet on Thursday had decided to empower nagar nigams, nagar palikas and nagar panchayats to levy cess on aircraft and helicopters landing in their territory. The government has proposed that the cess is to be collected by the AAI.
“As a standard procedure any State-level decision on civil aviation matters are referred to the AAI headquarters for directions. We will await a notification from the State Government on the matter and forward it to the AAI as and when it is received by us”, Ravi Prakash, Amausi Airport director told Hindustan Times.
20/10/06 Hindustan Times

Emirates starts new service to Bangalore

Dubai: Emirates Airlines has started a new passenger service to Bangalore from October 29 bringing good news for travellers to southern India's largest city and technology hub.
The new service, operated on both the A330-200 and Boeing 777-200 aircraft, gives Emirates a full eight, non-stop, direct weekly frequencies in addition to its existing weekly freighter flight.
The expansion of cargo services to Bangalore coincides with Emirates SkyCargo's recent major fleet expansion announcements. Most recently, the carrier signed a contract for 10 Boeing 747-8s worth USD 2.8 billion and announced a commitment to purchase rights for 10 additional aircraft.
20/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

GoM set up for A-I, Indian merger

New Delhi: The government has constituted a group of ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambram to oversee the merger of state-run carriers Indian Airlines and Air India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a four-member GoM to sort out the issues relating to the merger, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said. The other members of the GoM are Law Minister HR Bharadwaj, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Patel.
While the civil aviation ministry has already asked the management of Indian and Air India to consult their staff before a final decision was taken on the merger, Patel made it clear that no employee will loose their job.
20/10/06 Business Standard

Patel tells A-I, IA: Better deliver, we’re watching

New Delhi: The celebratory mood at IGI Airport ended soon after Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel received Indian Airlines’ new Airbus A319. Patel then changed the subject — lambasting both Air India and Indian Airlines for sheer incompetence and falling short of the government’s expectations with a warning to reform or face the consequences.
Declining to elaborate on the “goings-on” in the airlines, Patel said: “I want to tell all employees of Air India and Indian Airlines that they have to come upto the expectations of both the government and the people.”
As first reported by The Indian Express, Indian Airlines has not only incurred huge losses in the first few months of the current financial year but the valuation of its total fleet has come down by around $200 million in the insurance finalised for this year. In a recent meeting to review the airline’s performance, Union Cabinet BK Chaturvedi also pulled up the airline officials, citing issues like grounding of at least 12 aircraft.
Reiterating the government’s resolve to go through with the proposed merger of both national carriers by the end of this financial year, Patel said the Prime Minister had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM), chaired by Finance Minister P Chidamabaram, to deliberate on the issue.
19/10/06 Indian Express

Air India-Indian merger put on fast track

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patil indicated that the merger of the state-run Air India and Indian may come through by the end of this current fiscal year.
"I think the merger can be completed by the end of the current fiscal year," Patel told reporters.
"A group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will oversee this merger process," he added.
The minister said the merger decision was taken in view of the growing competition in the market.
"The new entity after the merger will be a strong national carrier and will be able to compete in this dynamic market in a much more effective manner," Patel said.
19/10/06 Times of India

New entity to up revenue by Rs 1200 cr

Mumbai: The proposed merger of national flag carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines is likely to enhance the revenue of the merged entity by Rs 1,200 crore.
Consultant majors Accenture, with Ambit Corporate Finance, are advising the government on the merger of the two airlines.
“The merger will enable the airlines to enjoy synergy of values which will cut down costs substantially and increase revenue flows, sources close to the development told Business Standard.
Stamp duty exposure will be mitigated through legislative sanctions or a government ordinance. There is also a finance ministry proposal to amend Section 72 (A) of the Income Tax Act to provide carry-forward of the unabsorbed loss of depreciation of both Air-India and Indian Airlines.
According to Accenture and Ambit’s first report, the merged entity’s fleet of 120 aircraft would be larger than Emirates’ (93), Singapore Airlines’ (118) and Malaysian Airlines’ (110).
20/10/06 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

Radisson MD, son held with Rs 2.8 cr

Hyderabad: Following specific inputs from the Income Tax department’s Air Intelligence unit, officials detained Radisson Hotel’s group managing director Ramesh Kapoor and his son with Rs 2.8 crore in cash at the Rajiv Gandhi international airport here on Thursday.
Both were travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad by an Indian Airlines morning flight. They were carrying two handbags full of Rs 1,000 notes to buy property in Hyderabad.
Officials have also identified a Hyderabad-based contact person, who is still at large. Director general of Income Tax (investigation) Muntasir Ahmed said the amount recovered was the highest in airport operations, carried out by the air intelligence unit in recent times. However, no arrests have been made so far, he said.
20/10/06 Financial Express

New cargo flights set

Manama: Air France will start freighter flights to Bahrain International Airport later this month, Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa announced yesterday.
The airline has announced that it will operate two freighter flights a week on Thursday and Saturday, from October 29.
The flights will originate from Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris and fly to Bahrain and onward to India and Southeast Asia.
Shaikh Ali acknowledged the special marketing and promotion efforts of Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) in attracting Air France to Bahrain.
He added that the special incentives offered to the airline played a crucial role in their decision to operate through Bahrain.
20/10/06 Soman Baby/Gulf Daily News

Kerala customs officials caught red-handed

Kochi: The CBI raided residences of six Customs officers here yesterday and seized Rs100,000 from the house of a superintendent, in a follow-up of the seizure of unaccounted money from the Customs area at Cochin international airport on Wednesday.
Among those whose houses were raided included Customs Superintendents George Joseph Pulladan and K G Gopalakrishnan. Rs100,000 was seized from the latter’s residence. The CBI was acting on the basis of complaints from passengers and the information available from the closed circuit television installed at various points, including the Customs area, by the Airports Authority of India.
CBI superintendent of police T Vikram said the modus operandi of the officers was to target passengers coming in with excess baggage or those carrying dutiable items and negotiate the amount of bribe for letting them off with minor payments.
20/10/06 John Mary/The Peninsula, Qatar

Airport expansion: HP to re-send its case to Centre

Shimla: After the Union Ministry for Aviation grounded the proposed airport expansion plan in Himachal Pradesh, the state government has decided to make a fresh representation before the Central government to review its decision.
The government has decided that it would apprise the Union Ministry of Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) of the fact that the upgradation of the existing airports in the state was necessary in view of the geo-economic scenario. Himachal Pradesh did not figure on the Union government’s agenda for strengthening the infrastructure of the existing airports in the country.
G S Bali, Minister for Tourism, Transport and Civil Aviation, Himachal Pradesh, said that the state government would take up the issue with the ministry and he planned to meet the Union Minister for Aviation, Praful Patel by the end of October. The Chief Minister had also written to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in this regard, he said.
19/10/06 Vikas Kahol/Chandigarh Newsline

Lufthansa to expand services

Frankfurt: Lufthansa Passenger Airline, whose operations in India have increased in recent years, is keen on expanding its services to more areas including Goa and Kochi.
Until this year's summer, the number of weekly frequencies of the airline was 42. This will go up by two in the winter with the introduction of services from Frankfurt to Kolkata. The overall number will be 45 next year.
According to a timetable drawn up by the airline for the winter, the number of weekly frequencies will be seven each in respect of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore; six in the case of Hyderabad and three for Kolkata, all with Frankfurt as the German destination.
The remaining seven will be operated between New Delhi and Munich in southern Germany. Kolkata will be the airline's first destination in the eastern part of India.
20/10/06 T. Ramakrishnan/The Hindu

Thai Airways expands in India

Thai Airways International says it will open a new route to India and increase the number of flights to meet rising demand for winter holiday travel.
The national carrier said it would launch three flights per week from Bangkok to Hyderabad, in central India, later this month, its sixth destination in the country.
The winter flight schedule, which also increases the number of flights to Asian cities such as Rangoon and Saigon, will be effective from later this month until March. AFP
20/10/06 Bangkok Post, Thailand

MoU rift hits Mumbai airport plans

The Mumbai airport expansion plans are in serious trouble thanks to the deadlock between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the GVK-SA-led consortium over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a two-phase road map to remove encroachments affecting the redevelopment.
The delay in the signing of the MoU is linked to the consortium’s indecision on selecting an alternative land in relocating the 58,000 eligible slum-dwellers from the existing 80,000 cramped in 31 slum pockets spread over 234 acres around the airport.
“They (consortium) have approached us with the MoU. But since an alternative land to rehouse the slums is not finalised, we cannot sign the same. Technically, we need 400 acres to rehouse 80,000 slums. As of now, not even four acres are being shown to us,” said T Chandrashekhar, metropolitan commissioner.
19/10/06 Smita Deshmukh/Daily News & Analysis

Thiruvananthapuram airport poised for big expansion

Thiruvananthapuram: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has big plans for expanding the facilities in Thiruvananthapuram airport, Minister in-charge of Railways M. Vijayakumar has said.
Replying to a submission, Mr. Vijayakumar said the new international terminal to be built at this airport would have nearly four times the passenger handling capacity as the existing one.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would lay the foundation for the terminal on November 1. The State had promised to provide 120 acres of land to the AAI for the planned expansion and, of this area, 27.56 acres had been acquired and handed over.
Air-India too would start work on a unit for the maintenance of aircraft in Thiruvananthapuram soon.
20/10/06 The Hindu

Diwali rush sees air fares take off

Mumbai:Airlines have a reason to rejoice this Diwali. The festival rush has shot up air fares by 100 per cent and all sectors are witnessing dense traffic as a week-long holiday begins on Friday.
"There has been a rush this year similar to what happens every Diwali. People prefer going home or visiting friends and relatives. Both the domestic and international sectors, especially the Gulf sector, are full," said Arup Sen, executive director, Cox & Kings.
Cox & Kings booked a one-way ticket on the Mumbai-Delhi sector for Rs 14,000 on Indian Airlines and Rs 9,500 on Jet Airways.
Travel agent Cosmos Agencies' Reji Philip said: "I sold an Air Deccan ticket for Rs 6 on the Mumbai-Delhi route last month. Today, I sold one for Rs 12,000."
On Diwali eve (October 20), all flights including those of Air Deccan, Indian Airlines, and SpiceJet are full on the Mumbai-Delhi route.
20/10/06 P R Sanjai/Business Standard/Rediff

Wharton forum to focus on the Indian Dream

Washington: Wharton India Economic Forum 2006 (WIEF), the premier American student-run business forum focusing on India, will be held in Philadelphia Nov 11 with the theme 'Realising the Indian Dream'.
Established in 1996, this year marks the 11th year of the conference and also coincides with the 125th anniversary of The Wharton School.
The panels are - Government: Driving India Ahead; Indian Industry: Redefining Boundaries; Gateway to India: Opportunities and Challenges; Media & Entertainment: It's Showtime!; Destination India: Entrepreneurs at Work; Investment in India: Fuelling the Growth; Indian Financial Services: Fortune in the Middle of the Pyramid.
Prominent business leaders expected to attend include Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto; Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Industries Limited; G.R. Gopinath, Founder & MD, Air Deccan; Rajat Gupta, former Worldwide Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson & MD, Biocon; and Sunil Kant Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Cycles.
20/10/06 IANS/Telugu Portal

Indian Airlines receives Airbus A 319

New Delhi: The first fresh-mint aircraft of the state-owned carrier, Indian, which has ordered 43 aircraft from the European manufacturer Airbus Industries, arrived at the IGI airport this morning.
The national carrier Indian is all set to get a makeover as it received a state-of-the-art Airbus A 319 from Airbus Industries.
Other than new upholstery the new fleet is going to be equipped with new features like personal in-flight entertainment, plasma TVs and music channel.
Indian Airlines had finalized a $2.2 billion deal with Airbus to buy 43 planes in February this year. The airline had ordered 19 A-319, 20 A-321 and 4 A-320.
According to the agreement, Indian Airlines will buy 19 A-319 planes, four A-320s and 20 A-321s.
19/10/06 NDTV.com

Employees oppose A-I, Indian merger

New Delhi: In a move that could become a major roadblock for the proposed merger of Air India and Indian, the employees of the state-owned domestic carrier have threatened to oppose the amalgamation if its ten-point demand charter was not implemented beforehand.
Describing the merger move of the government as a "unilateral decision", the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) said it would not accept the merger if problems like pay structure, seniority, career progression and other issues, faced by the employees of both airlines were not sorted out first.
"Also, if the merger remains only up to creating two separate divisions, an International Division and a Domestic Division, there is no point in merging the two airlines," ACEU General Secretary Arun Kumar said in a statement.
He said the ACEU, which represents all sections of Indian staffers, would "fight this merger tooth and nail" if it was carried out without implementing" the demands.
18/10/06 Times of India

Merger of Indian, A-I to be bloodless

Employees of Air-India and Indian -- formerly Indian Airlines -- have nothing to fear from the proposed merger of the two. The government is clear that there will be no 'rationalisation of employees', either through a voluntary retirement scheme or any other means.
Details of the proposed mega merger, announced eight months ago, have finally been worked out and presented to the civil aviation ministry. A group of ministers (GoM) will soon be formed to examine it, after which it goes before the cabinet. The merger is likely to be in two phases. In the first, to be completed before the end of the financial year, the boards of the two companies will merge to form a single entity. Senior executives of both, designated Deputy General Manager (DGM) or above, will also be integrated to form a common management team.
In the second, the remaining 35,000 employees of both the airlines will come together over a period of three years.
18/10/06 Arun Kumar and Gaurav Choudhury/Hindustan Times

Tourism Ministry for "visa on arrival" scheme

New Delhi: In a bid to facilitate travel to India, the Union Tourism Ministry is pushing for a "Visa on Arrival" scheme even as the Union Home Ministry has expressed certain security concerns before giving its nod.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said that the Ministry of External Affairs had agreed in principle to give long-term visas with multiple entries.
She added that medical visas for one year were being already granted, giving a boost to wellness and health sectors.
She said the issue regarding grant of visas was one of the most important factors related to the growth of tourism. She said that Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) to facilitate security clearances has already been introduced on pilot basis on all Air India flights landing in Delhi. The issue of long term visas for 5-10 years to every tourist from the select countries has also been agreed in principle by both the Home and External Affairs Ministries.
19/10/06 The Hindu

IA to launch low cost carriers

New Delhi: Indian Airlines in its new avatar, has decided to take the competition unleashed by the new low cost carriers head on.
With its present market share down to 24.2 per cent, IA needs to fight back, and soon. Thus it too will soon start a low frills carrier service on regional routes, with flights of durations less than 90 minutes, using smaller aircrafts like Canadian Regional Jets (CRJs), Bombardiers and ATR Turboprops.
It will be operated by its subsidiary Alliance Air and will operate on routes like Delhi- Chandigarh, Mumbai -Pune, Delhi - Jaipur, Mangalore-Bangalore etc.
The company intends to induct the aircrafts required - new six regional jets, and an equal number of ATR Turboprops over the next two months. Regional jets and Turboprops normally have a seat capacity of between 50 to 70 passengers.
18/10/06 Arun Kumar and Gaurav Choudhury/Hindustan Times

Jet Airways eyes more India-Malaysia connections

Jet Airways (India) Ltd, which flies between Kuala Lumpur and Chennai, hopes to connect more Indian destinations to Malaysia next year.
According to its Asia Pacific vice president V.Raja, the company is looking at Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi as possible new destinations.
He said response for the Kuala Lumpur and Chennai flight has been overwhelming, despite being in the Malaysian market for less than two years.
"Response have been great. We have about 70,000 passengers coming into Malaysia from India so far," V.Raja said during its first anniversary and Agents Awards Dinner.
19/10/06 Goh Thean Eu/Business Times - Malaysia

BJP MP grounded by airline staff

New Delhi: BJP MP Lakshman Singh’s hopes of representing the country at the UN General Assembly suffered a rude setback, when the Emirates Airlines refused to fly him to New York.
Emirates stated non-clearance from the FBI as the reason for grounding Singh.
Singh and his wife Rubina were to travel to New York by an early morning flight on Sunday, but on reaching the Indira Gandhi International Airport, they were not handed over the boarding passes.
The US embassy, however, has made it clear that an FBI clearance is required only in the case of those who either have a criminal record or have an Interpol notice against them.
Taken aback, Singh protested vehemently and even produced a letter from the MEA, but the airlines staff refused to budge.
18/10/06 Javed M Ansari/Daily News & Analysis

ATA names Karnik president and CEO

Indianapolis: ATA Airlines announced today that Subodh Karnik has been named ATA's President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective January 1, 2007. Mr. Karnik will replace John G. Denison who will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Prior to joining ATA, Karnik had 15 years of airline experience in a wide range of leadership roles at four airlines. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning at Delta Air Lines. A native of Mumbai, India, he is a graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Entering its 33rd year of operations, ATA offers affordable travel from destinations like Guadalajara, Cancun, Hawaii, Oakland, Chicago, New York, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Washington, DC.
19/10/06 Inside INdiana Business (press release), US

Lohegaon airport fast-track development hits land snag

Pune: The city’s struggle to get an improved airport has hit another roadblock as the civil aviation ministry has excluded it from the list of non-metro airports slated for city side development through public private partnerships (PPP). The Lohegaon airport, which is under the control of the Indian Air Force, has been removed from the list as there is no land available nearby for developing passenger facilities, according to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
This effectively means that the city will lose out on passenger facilities like hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, food courts and parking lots. In short, the city has lost out heavily on planned fast-track development that will now take place in cities like Lucknow, Indore and Nagpur.
18/10/06 Manu Pubby/Pune Newsline

Jet to start European base for expat pilots

Jet Airways is starting a European base for the expat pilots on its rolls in an attempt to save on the exorbitant costs of basing the pilots in India, reports Economic Times.
The pilots, who are mostly European, will now be based at home and will fly straight to their point of duty a day before their flight. Jet Airways has 104 expat pilots on its rolls and the pilots cost the airline double that of Indian pilots.
The airline is hoping to cut costs, particularly of the exorbitant hotel room rates in India, by basing the pilots in Europe, sources said.
19/10/06 Myiris.com

SIA launches $ 360 mn upgrade programme

New Delhi: Coinciding with its fleet expansion plan, leading global carrier Singapore Airlines has launched a $ 360 million product upgrade programme introducing luxurious travel experience in all its classes.
The airline, which will induct its first mint-fresh Boeing 777-300 ER (extended range) plane in November, plans to introduce the upgraded services from December on long-haul flights from Singapore to Paris and subsequently Zurich, its newly-appointed General Manager to India, Foo Chai Woo, told reporters here.
It would take some more time for the upgraded service to be applicable on the India route, he said.
While eight seats on the First Class would have a spacious premium cabin, upholstered leather seats with 35-inch width convertible into flat beds, the Business Class would have 30-inch full-flat seats, which are 50 per cent wider than is currently offered.
19/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

Qantas offshores to India, 340 jobs gone

Qantas will cull 340 technology jobs over the next 15 months as it offshores applications support and maintenance to Indian services companies Satyam and Tata Consulting.
Qantas chief executive officer, Geoff Dixon, said the airline could not justify the AU$100 million it would cost to develop its in-house IT skills to industry best practice standard.
The transition to Satyam and Tata will start in November.
Two-thirds of the Qantas IT work would be offshored, according to Dixon.
The announcement follows Qantas annual general meeting in Sydney.
19/10/06 Steven Deare/ZDNet Australia/Builder AU, Australia

Air India to drive long haul direct, 2006-07

Mumbai: Air India is intent on enhancing its long haul strategy with a particular focus on direct flights on key routes to North America, Africa and Europe. The imminent merger with Indian will translate into a fleet re-allocation that will enable Air India to ramp up its existing long haul routes and add new ones significantly to Mauritius, Australia and Eastern Europe besides the possibility of direct flights to New York on the ultra long haul Boeing aircraft that should be delivered next year. Air India has appointed a consortium led by Accenture as consultant for its proposed merger with Indian.
Potential regions for direct services include Mauritius and Australia while more flights to New York and more European destinations in Eastern Europe are a distinct possibility.
18/10/06 Bhisham Mansukhani/Express TravelWorld

Overbooking leaves Indian passengers stranded in Kathmandu

Kathmandu: The festival season was marred for over two dozen air passengers who found themselves the victims of overbooking by India's national carrier Indian and stranded in Kathmandu.
Even travellers holding confirmed business class tickets for flying to Kolkata from Kathmandu Wednesday were victims of the decision by the airline authorities to issue tickets to more people than there were seats at a time there is a rush on the sector with flights going full for several weeks.
Passengers with connecting flights to catch, ill passengers and a passenger whose wife is in hospital, were left in the lurch despite holding confirmed tickets and having arrived at the Kathmandu airport well in time.
Angry ticket holders shouted and threatened the Indian officials, creating chaos and watched in consternation by other airlines as well as foreign tourists.
19/10/06 Sudeshna Sarkar/IANS/Telugu Portal

Flights to Vizag cancelled due to bad weather

Vishakhapatanam: Flights to and from Vishakhapatnam were cancelled on Wednesday following inclement weather, the airport authorities said here.
The weather office informed that there was a thick blanket of fog over the city following the setting of North-east monsoon.
Three airlines -- Air Sahara, Air Deccan and Indian -- operate daily flights to Vishakhapatnam from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai.
18/10/06 Times of India

Cox & Kings tie-up with Indian for Direct Reservation Interface

Mumbai : Cox & Kings (C & K) has tied up with Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) for a direct online interface wherein the tour operator major's portal will have real time access to the airline's inventory. This, John Nair, national head, business development and sales, says will be a considerable value add for C&K's business travel clientele as well as help Indian shore up distribution costs. Additionally, Karan Anand, director contracting, C&K told ETW that C&K was to open offices in Taiwan and Singapore in light of the growing business on the inbound and outbound front. C&K's direct online interface with Indian will give C&K clientele direct real time access to latest, updated IC fares as opposed to the time lag it usually takes on the GDS. C&K is also talking to other domestic carriers about a similar, direct interface.
18/10/06 Bhisham Mansukhani Mumbai/Express TravelWorld

Record CEO response to Aviation Outlook Summit in Singapore in November

A record number of Asia Pacific airline and airport CEOs have confirmed their attendance at the Aviation Outlook Summit on 9/10 November 2006 and Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner in Singapore. The Summit programme includes 8 hours of CEO panels – in a unique, powerpoint-free question and answer format.
“The strength of the response from CEO-level delegates will ensure one of the best Outlook Summits to date. We look forward to a robust discussion on the key strategic issues facing the sector, including the outlook for fuel, human resources shortages, the pace of liberalisation, short and long-haul competition, airport charges and the growth markets of China and India”, said the Centre’s Executive Chairman, Peter Harbison.
19/10/06 ASIATravelTips.com, Thailand

Korean Air to continue paying commissions on fuel surcharge, taxes

Seoul: Korean Air will continue to pay commissions on fuel surcharge to agents. According to Elroy Lobo, manager (Passenger Sales), Korean Air, while Korean Air flights are priced a little higher than its competition, its fuel surcharge component is commissionable while that of its competition is not.
Apart from this, the airline will also drive inbound tourism to Korea from India. It sees potential in converting the scores of Indians who travel to Korea to conduct business. The opportunity of convincing Indian tourists and business travellers flying to the American west coast via Korea is also a market that the airline will consider.
A series of major trade agreements are expected to be signed between the Indian and the Korean governments that should lead to an increase in traffic and perhaps an increase in bilaterals, allowing Korean Air to add more capacity. Indians also like to fly to America's west coast including San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago as well as Canada via Korea and a direct flight from Korea to Las Vegas was also recently launched, Lobo adds.
18/10/06 Express TravelWorld

Jet Airways wins Avion global Awards

Mumbai: Jet Airways has won three Avion global Awards for in-flight Entertainment, given by the World Airline Entertainment Association for its in-flight entertainment system.
The airline has won for the Best Overall In-Flight Entertainment and Best Single In-Flight Audio Programme.
Jet Airways was judged the "best overall" airline for in-flight entertainment in the Small Fleet Category based on number of aircraft.
The runners up were Hawaiian Airlines and Sri Lanka Airlines. The airline has just launched the in-flight entertainment in its domestic flights.
19/10/06 NDTV.com

Travel2agent to offer low cost online distribution

Mumbai: Travel distribution company, Travel2agent.com, seeks to offer domestic airlines, both scheduled and low-cost, the option of low cost inventory distribution through Global Business Suite or GBS with the prospect of international airline reservations.
The company also plans to develop a similar suite for inter-state bus transport. The GBS, the company claims, will be beneficial both for the principal and the agent. Here, the latter will have a single terminal for access to all inventories irrespective of category while airlines will be able to trim online inventory distribution costs by up to 40 per cent. The unique proposition, according to the company, is its low cost of distribution that opens up the low-cost carrier and the burgeoning budget hotel markets.
18/10/06 Bhisham Mansukhani/Express TravelWorld

Rush at airports: Govt grounds new flights

New Delhi: Congestion at airports has led to the government turning down requests from airlines to launch new flights to Bangalore and Pune airports.
Similarly, peak hour congestion at Mumbai airports has resulted in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) refusing permission to new flights between 6-10 am and 4-7 pm.
Airlines seeking landing slots at these airports have been advised by the civil aviation ministry to look at alternative airports.
According to ministry sources, a start-up carrier which wanted permission to operate a 6 am flight between Mumbai and Delhi had been denied permission. It has been asked to schedule the landing at 5 am.
18/10/06 Bipin Chandran/Business Standard

GHIAL to invest Rs5.23bn more in airport project

Mumbai: GMR Infrastructure Ltd on Tuesday said that GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a subsidiary of the Company, which is developing the international airport in Shamshabad, has decided to provide additional facilities at the new Airport for catering upto 12mn passengers to meet the growing demand for air travel.
The company said that for meeting this additional expenditure, GHIAL has decided to inject an additional investment of Rs5.23bn including the investment in fuel farm facilities. The company intends to raise the amount for the additional investment by way of 100% debt from leading banks. With the infusion of this additional investment, the total project cost will now be Rs22.83bn.
18/10/06 India Infoline.com

Budget airlines prevent fare hike

New Delhi: At the first meeting of the CEOs of 11 airlines in Mumbai on Monday evening, the LCCs with able support from liquor baron-turned-aviator Vijay Mallya shot down a proposal by some full-service carriers to impose another hike in fuel surcharge on domestic air tickets.
The legacy carriers were of the view that the industry players must come together and effect another hike and a sizable one at that in fuel surcharge in an effort to trim industry losses.
One of the models presented was that a fuel surcharge of Rs 750 should be charged on any air journey of upto 1 hour. For air journey of between 1 and 2 hours, the fuel surcharge was proposed to be at Rs 1,000, and over Rs 1,000 for any journey that takes over 2 hours.
The proposal was immediately shot down by the low-cost carriers and by full-service Kingfisher Airline operator Vijay Mallya, who felt that such a hike doesn't make sense at a time when fuel prices are dropping, sources close to the development said.
18/10/06 Byas Anand/Times of India

Air Slovakia's Punjabi owner returns home

Chandigarh: Air Slovakia's Punjabi owner, Harjinder Singh Sidhu, landed at Amritsar's Raja Sansi Airport recently with nearly 100 passengers.
The flight came in from Cologne in Germany. Passengers were thrilled to experience the Punjabi fare onboard, including Slovakian airhostesses articulating fluently in Punjabi.Senior Akali leaders from Amritsar warmly welcomed the passengers at the airport. A team of Bhangra dancers greeted the passengers with a performance on their arrival. Air Slovakia now has three planes-two Boeing 757s and one Boeing 737.
Sidhu is a typical rags to riches story. He says he used to sell Air Slovakia's tickets before becoming its financial director and then its owner. He says he migrated to London when he was 16 and worked in a Ford company. After performing a few odd jobs he brought his first petrol pump and eventually went on getting more and became the owner of more than 30 petrol pumps.
17/10/06 M.M.Khanna, C/O Services India/TravelVideo.tv (press release)

$300 mn Russian pledge for Zimbabwe mystery

Moscow: An announcement last week by Zimbabwe government officials in Harare that a Russian group has signed a pledge to invest $300 million in Zimbabwe's mining, power, and aviation sectors is unsupported by the Russian side, and may even be a hoax. On the other hand, the past history of Russian visitors to Harare suggests that RusAviaTrade may be the camouflage for something more serious that is yet to be disclosed.
Russian Aviation Company (RusAvia) told Mineweb that, despite the similarity in name, it has never heard of RusAviaTrade. RusAvia says it operates only within Russia, repairing World War II-vintage aircraft, and publishing books and magazines for Russian plane enthusiasts. A company source said RusAvia has a representative in India, but it has never been in Zimbabwe.
17/10/06 John Helmer/Mineweb, South Africa

Bird hits Indian flight at Dabolim

Vasco: A major tragedy was averted due to alertness on the part of the pilot, after a bird hit an Indian flight - IC 567, while landing on the Dabolim airport runway today. The pilot managed to land the aircraft safely without any injuries to any passenger or crew.
According to sources, a bird hit the engine of the Indian Airlines flight- IC 567 (Kuwait-Cochin via Goa), while landing at Dabolim airport. The incident took place at around 9 a.m.
Sources, said that the aircraft would have gone out of control while landing, however the alert pilot landed the aircraft safely with 145 passengers on-board.
The Indian flight, which was supposed to take-off from Dabolim airport to go to Cochin, was delayed for about half an hour. The damage caused to the aircraft was not known.
Meanwhile, another Indian flight IC- 866 was grounded at Dabolim airport this morning due to technical snag.
17/10/06 Navhind Times

Bird hits IA flight after take-off, passengers crew safe

Jaipur: An Indian Airlines flight from Dubai to Mumbai via Jaipur today was birdhit while taking off from Sanganer airport on the city outskirts, two days after passengers on a plane over Jodhpur had a narrow shave.
None of the 80-odd passengers and crew on board IC 896, were injured, an official said.
She said the aircraft was immediately grounded and many of the passengers later caught another flight by a private airline 'Go Air', an official said.
The plane was sent for inspection as its engine might have suffered some damage, the official said.
16/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

Air Deccan starts Delhi-Kullu flights

Shimla: India's low-cost carrier Air Deccan started daily flights connecting New Delhi and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh Tuesday.
The air service targets high-end tourists travelling to the scenic hill stations of Kullu and Manali.
"We are flying a 48-seater aircraft for the benefit of high-end foreign and Indian tourists who wish to visit Kullu and Manali," said G.R. Gopinath, an Air Deccan official.
Until now, only Jagson Airlines operated flights thrice a week from New Delhi.
Deccan's tariffs are considerably low at Rs.2700 one way. But Jagson too has lowered their fare to Rs.1,000 one way for all incoming flights from New Delhi, though the outgoing flights continue to be high-priced.
The first Air Deccan trial flight was inaugurated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Monday in Kullu.
17/10/06 IANS/Telugu Portal

Israeli tourist's case to be decided

An Indian court was expected to rule on Tuesday whether Noa Haviv, the Israeli tourist who was arrested three weeks ago after customs officials at the Mumbai airport found an ammunition clip in her backpack, will receive her passport back and be allowed to return to Israel.
Haviv's father, Moshe, told Army Radio that the family was hopeful. "We hope for a decision within 24 hours, maybe even on the spot," he said.
Haviv was arrested on September 20 and spent nearly a week in jail before being released on bail. Indian officials confiscated her passport, and Haviv was allowed to continue her travels in the country, but not return to Israel.
17/10/06 Jerusalem Post, Israel

Decks cleared for Agra airport

Lucknow: Decks have been cleared for an international airport at Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, it was officially disclosed in Lucknow.
"In principle, the union government has accepted our proposal for an international airport at Agra," Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Kaukab Hameed said. "A team of experts is shortly being sent from New Delhi to prepare a techno-feasibility report," he added.
"A large chunk of 1,700 acres of land has already been earmarked on the Agra-Mathura road for the international airport; we hope to commence work on it by the end of December," he said.
The proposed airport is expected to be built with joint participation of the public and private sector. "Leading private players have already evinced great interest in the project," he said.
17/10/06 IANS/Hindustan Times

Jet Airways continues to be in red, Q2 loss at Rs 55 cr

New Delhi: India`s leading private carrier Jet Airways failed to fly out of losses for the second consecutive quarter this fiscal, posting a loss of Rs 55 crore in the three-month period ended September 30.
While domestic operations resulted in a pre-tax loss of Rs 122.6 crore, the international operations suffered a pre-tax loss of Rs 111.4 crore -- the reasons for this being high fuel costs, discounted fares and increase in staff strength among others.
However, the overall revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 1,820 crore, up 38 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.
Jet Airways said it planned to induct six more aircraft in its fleet by march next year to take the total to 63 planes.
17/10/06 Zee News

Air-India unveils new emblem to mark 75th year of operations

New Delhi: State-owned carrier Air-India today said it aims to become the largest international carrier in Asia with the acquisition of 68 new planes.
Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas Thulasidas said the carrier continues in its endeavour to provide the highest level of customer services since the maiden flight by J R D Tata on October 15, 1932.
The public sector carrier, which has entered its 75th year of operations, also launched a new emblem to mark platinum jubilee celebrations, a airline release said.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel complimented the airline for tackling the challenges despite stiff competition from international players in the country.
Patel unveiled the new emblem, which would replace the Centaur, a stylish version of star constellation Sagittarius which was Air-India's logo.
17/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

Maran briefs Karat on Chennai airport facelift

New Delhi: IT and telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran met CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday to explain why the DMK government in Tamil Nadu was keen that a private company undertake modernisation of Chennai airport.
Considering that Left and DMK made common cause against the disinvestment of Neyveli Lignite, the latter's stand against modernisation by the Airports Authority of India, a PSU, is not likely to cut much ice with the CPM leadership.
It is believed Maran told Karat that like airports of two metros Delhi and Mumbai modernisation of Chennai airport should be given to a private company while non-metro airports could be modernised by the AAI. Karat is believed to have reiterated the Left's stand that apart from Delhi and Mumbai, it wants modernisation in all other airports to be done solely by the AAI.
18/10/06 Akshaya Mukul/Times of India

Tyre of Air Deccan aircraft deflates after landing

Bangalore: A tyre of a Hubli-bound Air Deccan aircraft deflated after it landed at Belgaum Airport without causing any injury to the 33 passengers onboard, the airline sources said.
The ATR aircraft on the Bangalore-Belgaum-Hubli flight left here this morning and landed at Belgaum airport and it was noticed that the tyre had deflated after the engines were switched off, sources told PTI.
"The aircraft had taxied into the bay and the passengers did not even realise that the tyre had deflated until it was announced to them", they said. "Nothing untoward happened".
17/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

Oz honour for Indian 'bee man'

Canberra: A scientist who spent 23 years studying bees and helped develop automated space craft for use on Mars has won Australia's top science prize.
Mandyam Srinivasan, a professor of biological science at the Australian National University, has spent his career examining how insects and bees move, combining his interests in biology and engineering.
His discoveries on how bees use visual clues to regulate flight speed and control landings has led to new robotic technology and the development of automatic systems for helicopters and micro robotic aircraft for use in space exploration.
"Designs for robots are often expensive and complex. A bee can take off, find targets, fly through tunnels, navigate home, and land without any of that complexity," Prime Minister John Howard said, announcing Srinivasan's award on Monday.
17/10/06 Times of India

C&C Constructions files DRHP with Sebi

C&C Constructions, an infrastructure project development company, has filed its draft red herring prospectus, DRHP with Sebi for its forthcoming initial public offer, IPO. The company proposes to make an initial public offer through 100% book building issue, as per press release.
The public offer will constitute 54,77,634 equity shares of Rs 10 each. The issue shall constitute 30% of the fully diluted post-issue capital of the company.
C&C Constructions Ltd. has been involved in transportation engineering projects including roads, bridges, flyovers and airport runways. The company’s clients include names like National Highway Authority of India, Airport Authority of India, Public Works Department of various State Govts, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board, PWD Afghanistan, RITES Limited etc.
17/10/06 Moneycontrol.com

Indian travel entrepreneur bags award

Kathmandu: A travel agency run by an Indian entrepreneur was today given Nepal Tourism Board's award for earning highest foreign exchange.
Nepal's Culture and Civil Aviation Minister Pradeep Gyawali presented the award to Jyoti Lal Khanna, Managing Director of Yeti Travels at a function here for its outstanding performance.
Awards were also given to best hotel, best trekking agency, best airlines and travel writers who contributed for growth of tourism in Nepal.
On an average Nepal receives 740 tourists by air and 200 of them are Indians, according to data released by the NTB.
17/10/06 PTI/The Hindu

SpiceJet to connect more cities

Augmenting its operations from Ahmedabad, low-cost airline SpiceJet Ltd today announced new flights to Goa and Chennai from October 25, with an additional flight to Mumbai, and unveiled its plans to connect Ahmedabad to Jaipur, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad by December this year with the induction of more aircraft to the fleet.
Announcing the consolidation-cum-expansion plans, the SpiceJet Chairman, Mr Siddhanta Sharma, said here the airline recently added two new-generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its existing fleet of six aircraft, making it one of the fastest growing airlines in the country.
18/10/06 Moneycontrol.com

Airlines set up joint pressure group

Mumbai: In a first-of-its kind move, 10 domestic passenger and freight airlines have formed a national federation that will address their problems and create a platform to work together.
Called the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), it will be headed by Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas and will act as a joint pressure group to convince the government about the infrastructure problems faced by most airlines.
The association will also appoint a director-general. “We will appoint a head-hunter to identify one,” said Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya.
The initial corpus of the federation will be Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 lakh per airline). The contribution in the subsequent years would depend on the budget and the federation’s needs but the minimum would be Rs 10 lakh.
Contrary to popular perception, Thulasidas said pricing would not be part of the federation’s agenda.
17/10/06 Business Standard

Violence hits Deccan Lanka's plans

New Delhi: The growing violence in Sri Lanka has forced Capt GR Gopinath to ground plans to start a low-cost airline in the island nation.
Deccan Lanka, in which Deccan Aviation holds a minority 48% stake, was among the three private airlines to have been approved by Sri Lankan government to operate international flights. Set up on the lines of Air Deccan, Deccan Lanka has been designated as an international airline to operate flights to points in India, besides Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.
Initially, Deccan Lanka planned to operate flights from Colombo to Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Madurai and Coimbatore.
17/10/06 Byas Anand/Times of India

SpiceJet to raise $80 mn from overseas

New Delhi: Low-cost air carrier Spicejet will raise about $80 million from overseas markets to fund its expansion and fleet induction initiatives. The airline has engaged UK-based global investment banking firm Morgan Stanley to prepare a detailed plan for the fresh fund-raising exercise.
Investment banking sources tracking the development said the funds would be raised through a combination of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and issue of fresh equities.
“The fresh equity issued could either be in the form of a rights issue or preference shares, and is expected to be floated by December,” a merchant banking source told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.
Spicejet officials refused to comment citing regulatory guidelines.
16/10/06 Gaurav Choudhury/Hindustan Times

Pilots’ forum tells its members to shun senior colleague

Mumbai: Indian Airlines, is now dealing with a scandal surrounding its General Manager (Operations) in Mumbai, Captain N R Phatak, who also holds the highest administrative position in the western region as officiating executive director.
On October 10, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) issued a directive to its 400-plus pilot members in all regions: no dealing with Captain Phatak in any managerial/administrative capacity; no flights, no checks, no instructional training in aircraft or simulators with him.
The ICPA, which is the only recognised union of pilots in the country, has accused Phatak of repeatedly using ‘‘unparliamentary language’’ in the cockpit, harassing and attempting to physically assault co-pilots, threatening women pilots, even going on ‘‘additional flights with certain female pilots’’.
As GM (Operations), Phatak is in charge of all IA pilots at the airline’s Mumbai base. He told Newsline that the allegations were baseless.
16/10/06 Lekha Agarwal/Expressindia.com

Indian airline cos' high pay lures Indonesian pilots

Surabaya: Indian airline companies are attracting more and more Indonesian pilots by giving them two-three fold higher salary than what their country gives.
More >>

Australia's Opposition seeks inquiry into pilot licence proposals

The Federal Opposition has called for a Senate inquiry into a new type of pilot's licence.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is considering using a new licence for co-pilots, including those on jumbo jets.
More >>

Jet staff held for gold theft from cargo

New Delhi: A jet airways employee was arrested by police yesterday on charges of stealing a consignment of gold ornaments, worth Rs 40 lakh, from the aircraft’s cargo.
The police also claimed to have recovered the stolen ornaments, weighing 4.5 kg. The accused, Santosh Prasad, was working with the Jet Airways Security Unit.
According to the police, the gold consignment, meant for a Delhi-based jeweller, was sent by a Mumbai jewellery store in Zaveri Bazar on October 8 through flight 9W2 305 of Jet Airways.
Prasad, according to the police, was arrested from Anand Vihar Bus Stand yesterday as he was trying to leave Delhi with the ornaments.
16/10/06 Delhi Newsline

Air-India Plane Hits Turbulence; Ten Injured

Jeddah: An Air-India plane landed at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz International Airport on Sunday night with eight passengers and two crewmembers injured in midair turbulence.
Of the injured, a 60-year-old woman has been hospitalized with a fracture of the hipbone.
In all 69 passengers and 10 crew members were on board the Airbus 310 Bombay-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight, which landed here about 10 minutes behind schedule. T. Vijayakumar, Air-India’s customer relations and senior airport manager said that while flying over Muscat around 6 p.m., the plane suddenly entered an air pocket that prompted the captain to lower the altitude. It was so sudden that the captain had no time to alert the passengers. The seatbelt sign was immediately switched on, but passengers who were mostly in or around the toilets were hurt.
17/10/06 K.S. Ramkumar/Arab News

Reliance to set up ATF business at 25 airports

Mumbai: Reliance Industries has reportedly received the go ahead from Airports Authority of India for setting up aviation turbine fuel business, which had for long been the domain of public sector companies. The company is being allocated land for establishing the infrastructure needed for storing and retailing ATF at 25 non-metro airports.
According to reports Reliance has received clearance for 12 airports and negotiations for the rest are nearing completion. The company also intends to start supplying ATF at metro airports in the future.
17/10/06 India Infoline.com

Proposal for new airport watchdog referred to GoM

New Delhi: In a bid to avoid ambiguities and overlap of jurisdiction while setting up the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), the Union Cabinet on Monday referred the AERA proposal to a group of ministers (GoM).
The civil aviation, finance and defence ministers are part of the GoM.
Taking about the functioning of the GoM, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said it would look into aeronautical charges, methods and demarcation of defence enclave.
Civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad had earlier said the Bill to set up the regulatory authority would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.
The proposed authority aims to create a level playing field and promote healthy competition between airports, encourage investments for building airport facilities, regulate tariffs of overhaul services.
16/10/06 Financial Express

Kotak pvt equity fund invests in Paramount Airways

Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra has invested about 30 per cent of its $160 million private equity fund in seven high-potential companies in India, even as it is in the final stages of making investments in two more companies.
Nitin Deshmukh, head of private equity at Kotak, said the group is bullish on the alternative asset classes in India, which, in addition to private equity, also include real estate and venture capital, among others.
The PE investments by Kotak include home textiles company Sabre International, CNC machines maker Bharat Fritz Werner, agri-biotech company Metahelix Life Sciences, software product company Four Soft, power control equipment firm Dynaspede Integrated and south-based full-service airline Paramount Airways.
17/10/06 Rajesh Abraham/Business Standard

Jet Airways Q2 net loss seen at Rs 25.1cr

Jet Airways is to announce its Q2 results. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, the company's net loss is seen at Rs 25.1 crore (Rs 251 million) versus Rs 68.6 crore (Rs 686 million), year-on-year, YoY.
Its operating revenues are expected to go up 24.7% to Rs 1595 crore (Rs 15.95 billion) from Rs 1279.6 crore (Rs 12.79 billion).
The operating revenues are seen going down 3.1% to Rs 1595 crore (Rs 15.95 billion) from 1646.5 crore (Rs 16.46) QoQ.
The company's net loss is seen at Rs 25.1 crore (Rs 251 million) against loss of Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million).
16/10/06 Moneycontrol.com

Duty-free shops: ITDC seeks private participation

New Delhi: ITDC wants private participation in turning its airport duty-free shops into world beaters.
India Tourism Development Corporation’s (ITDC) boring old duty-free shops have been around for ages. But can they jazz themselves up to move with global trends? The state-owned corporation certainly thinks so.
“ITDC is prepared to go into a joint venture with a private party,” says a senior ITDC official, adding though that “there is no question of selling a stake in our duty-free business.”
Are private players interested? Oh, yes. Atul Ahuja, director, Flemingo International, one of the other duty-free players in India, for example, says that it is avidly looking out for all possible duty-free opportunities in India. Flemingo has shops at 12 airports across India at the moment.
17/10/06 Ravi Teja Sharma/Business Standard

Global body conducts safety audit of IGI Airport

New Delhi: An International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) team of experts conducted a safety audit of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Monday.
The report of the audit, which is done under ICAO's "Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme", will be submitted within a fortnight. This is the first time that the ICAO is doing such a comprehensive safety audit in India.
The ICAO team is conducting a ten-day-long safety audit of India's Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The audit will end on October 19.
The team, accompanied by several DGCA and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) officials spent five hours at the Delhi airport before leaving for Mumbai.
One member of the team, assisted by a senior DGCA official surveyed the aerodrome. The other three checked the Air Traffic Controller's (ATC) tower.
16/10/09 Archis Mohan/Hindustan Times

Indian aviation under strain

India's surge in passengers - 20 per cent growth in each of the last two years - is stretching the country's aviation infrastructure. Some 18 million passengers flew on internal flights, plus a similar number on international routes, in 2005.
Airports Authority of India executive director Sujan Kumar Saraswati forecasts the trend will continue for the next two to three years. "This traffic growth over the last couple of years is putting a lot of strain on both the aerodrome infrastructure as well as the air traffic services, in particular as a result of the increase in the number of aircraft movements."
Among urgent infrastructure needs, priority projects include construction of about 100 additional parking bays at key airports. "We are also upgrading air traffic procedures," says Saraswati.
16/10/06 Jane's, UK

Indian court refuses to send Israeli tourist home

Noa Haviv, the Israeli tourist who was arrested in India three weeks ago after customs officials at the Mumbai airport discovered an ammunition clip in her backpack, will not yet be allowed to return to Israel, an Indian court ruled on Monday.
The ammunition clip belonged to Haviv's brother, who had used the backpack while on reserve duty.
16/10/06 Jerusalem Post, Israel

Proof of visa submitted at airport must for travel

Mumbai: Immigration authorities here have begun asking air passengers for a letter or proof indicating that their original visa papers have been submitted to the immigration authorities in the foreign country.
This follows an increasing number of Gulf-bound labourers being deported from airports abroad as their original visas were not deposited with the concerned authorities.
Those who apply for visas abroad now have to send a copy to the passenger with a stamp indicating that the visa has been submitted at the airport.
"The Immigration Department here decided to introduce this strong measure a month ago and since then we have found that deportation has come to the lowest level now," an immigration official, not wanting to be named, told Gulf News.
17/10/06 Pamela Raghunath/Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

Survey outlines trends in travel agents across Asia

Travelport Asia released the findings of the Asia Retail Travel Agent Benchmarking Survey. The objective of the survey was to clarify a travel agent’s core business functions, establish industry benchmarks and identify areas to enhance performance and customer service.
The Asia Retail Benchmarking Project, sponsored by Travelport and TTG Asia and conducted by Marketshare, a market research firm, surveyed 445 retail travel agencies throughout the Asia Pacific region in an online survey. Travel agents from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam answered questions on a range of issues.
Travelport and TTG Asia have co-sponsored this research to help agents understand where they need to change and focus in the future to counter the substantial competitive threats they now face.
16/10/06 Travel Daily News International, Greece

Online credit: Buy now, pay never

Patna: Debashish Ghosh got a shock of his life on October 15 when his bank informed him of an online purchase of an air ticket through his credit card. Ghosh had never lost his card and never used it for any online transaction.
" I was told the ticket costing Rs 13,700 were for an Air Sahara connection between Delhi and Chennai," he said, adding he tried his best to convince the bank that he had not made the purchase. "They asked for an application requesting for blocking my credit card which I did promptly," he said.
Actually it does not take much to use someone else's card to make online purchases. All you need is the 16-digit card number and the three-digit security pin on the reverse of the card. Certain websites also ask for the date of birth.
Ghosh has also lodged a complaint with the police but it is to be seen how does the state police's economic offences wing (EOW), which does not have the technical expertise to deal with cyber crime, crack this case.
17/10/06 Radhika D Srivastava/Times of India

Indiatimes, Air Deccan in pact

New Delhi: Low-cost carrier Air Deccan has joined hands with Indiatimes Shopping, to make available exclusive low cost shopping deals to its passengers.
Under this exercise, passengers who buy tickets on Air Deccan's website will automatically be offered an electronic gift certificate worth Rs 150 free of charge. This certificate can be redeemed to purchase any product from Indiatimes Shopping.
Indiatimes Shopping has created an exclusive store — the Simplibuy Zone (www.simplibuyzone.indiatimes.com) — which will offer deals across product categories such as apparel, electronics & gadgets, jewellery, household items, flowers, perfumes, toys etc.
17/10/06 Times of India

Gamco wins Kingfisher Airlines deal

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) yesterday announced it has won a contract from India's Kingfisher Airlines to provide maintenance for 10 aircraft.
Gamco will undertake maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the 10 aircraft, components and engines. The contract value was not disclosed.
17/10/06 Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

New airport regulator proposed

Mumbai: The Government proposes to appoint a new airport regulator which will control issues related to airport functions.
Speaking on the sidelines of a function to launch the platinum jubilee of the national carrier Air India here on Sunday, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said the proposal would be placed before the Cabinet on Monday.
The Airport Economic Regulatory Council would be in addition to the current regulator, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Asked whether the Government had proposed to bring in any entry barriers for newer airlines, Mr. Patel said, "we never said anything about bringing in entry barriers. We are only tightening the norms for entry of new players."
16/10/06 The Hindu

IA, A-I merger may get a special tax dispensation

New Delhi: The government may promulgate an Ordinance for according a special dispensation to the proposed merger of Indian Airlines and Air-India and allowing the new entity claim income tax benefits on carry forward of accumulated losses.
According to government sources, section 72A of the Income Tax Act allows accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation of a sick industrial undertaking to be set off against the profits of a healthy company after a merger. At present, the Act does not specifically extend the set-off benefits to airline mergers.
Accenture, a global consultant evaluating the proposed merger of the two airlines, had studied all options, including even a de-merger. Two of the options being discussed by the Indian Airlines and Air-India boards are: floating a third company, to which the assets of IA and A-I can be leased, and merging IA into A-I.
If a new company is floated, A-I and IA can retain their assets or even lease them to the new company at nominal rates, thus avoiding payment of stamp duty. For a merger, the two companies will have to go through the rigmarole of paying stamp duty to various states, where their fixed assets are located. A re-valuation of assets before merger is also bound to increase their value significantly, forcing the two companies to pay huge stamp duties.
16/10/06 P. Vaidyanathan Iyer & Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

Indian, AI told to seek staff feedback on merger

The Union Government has suggested that the top brass of Air India and Indian jointly consult with their staff before a final decision is taken on the merger of the two State-owned airlines.
At a meeting here , the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, asked the Chairman and Managing Director Air India and Indian to jointly meet with senior level management of the two airlines not only to ascertain their views but also explain the human resources and other matters connected with the merger.
The need to specify that there would be no job losses due to the merger was reinforced at the meeting. The airlines have been asked to complete the interaction in time for including the feedback in the Cabinet note that is to be prepared.
16/10/06 Moneycontrol.com

Indian flight crash-lands in Muscat

New Delhi: A Mumbai-bound Air India flight from Jeddah made a crash-landing in Muscat after developing mid-air turbulence.
Eight passengers aboard the AI-865 Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah plane reportedly suffered injuries, but seven of them were discharged after being administered first aid.
However, one of the passengers is still admitted in Kandra Hospital in Jeddah.
The flight had taken off from the Jeddah Airport at 0000 hrs (IST) for Hyderabad, Air India officials said.
This is the second such instance involving an Air India plane in the last week.
On last Thursday Air India’s plane, Boeing 747-400, with 434 passengers on board was grounded after 20 minutes of its taking off from the Heathrow Airport, after it reported a bird hit.
16/10/06 CNN-IBN

60 hrs late, flight AI-112 from London hits IGI

New Delhi: A bird-hit, an engine snag and two days at Heathrow later, the stranded Air India AI-112 flight finally touched down at the IGI Airport around Sunday noon, taking over 60 hours for what should have been nine.
What the New York-London-Delhi-Mumbai flight also unloaded was a torrent of accusation by 338 passengers, many of whom vowed never to set foot on an A-I flight.
The Boeing 747-400, with 434 passengers on board, took off from London’s Heathrow airport on Thursday night and returned within 20 minutes following a bird-hit. With no suitable replacement for the flawed engine available in London, the flight could take off from Heathrow only after the engine was sent from here on Friday. The flight that carried the substitute engine came back with a lucky few — 96 passengers, who came back yesterday.
Sandeep Gill, who took the flight with her father Jeet Singh from London, had the message from the 338 passengers left back: “Never board an Air-India flight.”
15/10/06 Harleen Bhatti/Delhi Newsline

High drama likely at airlines meet

The top brass of all of the country's airlines will meet in Mumbai on Monday to thrash out the broad contours of a common industry-wide turnaround strategy. Aviation analysts, however, expected that the meeting might see a division within the industry on the contentious issue of a price war unleashed by the new low-cost airlines (LCCs).
There are expectations that full service airlines such as Jet Airways, Sahara and Indian (IA) might pitch for a partial restriction on predatory fare cuts. Globally, there is no evidence of airlines getting together to decide on matters of fare and tariffs.
The meeting is also expected to take up the issue of capacity addition, which is cited by many as the primary reason for the bleeding balance sheets of airlines, as they try to boost market share and brand value to maintain volumes that help long-term viability.
Significantly, Air India (AI) chairman and managing director V Thulasidas has convened the meeting.
The invitation sent out by Thulasidas to all airline CEOs says that the meeting will address "a collaborative growth agenda for the airline industry in India."
15/10/06 Gaurav Choudhury/Hindustan Times

George re-elected employees’ guild general secretary

Nedumbassery (Kochi): George Abraham, has been re-elected general secretary of Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG).
AIEG which is affiliated to Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), having 12,000 members, represents both technical and non-technical categories of the ground staff of Air India, spread all over the country.
Around 800 candidates took part in the keenly-contested election for various posts held in Mumbai on Friday.
George who won with a huge margin, has been holding the key post for the past ten years.
George is the member of the International Labour Organisation Civil Aviation Committee from India.He is also the chairman of the International Transport Federation of Asia Pacific Region. George had also served in the Corporation of Mumbai as its Standing Committee Chairman.
16/10/06 Newindpress

Alitalia needs privatisation, extra cash; prefers partners in Asia

Milan: Italy's deputy prime minister Francesco Rutelli said that the troubled airline Alitalia SpA, in which the government has a 49.9 pct stake, has to be privatised and needs extra cash.
In an interview with the daily La Repubblica, Rutelli said that Alitalia can be saved because of a 'serious' business plan drafted by the government and a change of management.
Rutelli added that as well as private investors and additional financial resources, Alitalia needs to find an international partner, and he reiterated he would prefer an Asian partner to a European one.
Italy is seeking a business partner for Alitalia 'in the Gulf, Asia, India, China or Thailand', he said. 'Asia has money and planes but it lacks routes and stopover points,' he said. 'Others, such as the French or Germans, could be less generous allies.'
15/10/06 AFX/Forbes, US

Air-India flies into platinum jubilee year

Mumbai: Pioneer aviator JRD Tata launched what is now known as Air-India in 1932 to end the British monopoly on the Indian skies, but as the flag carrier enters its platinum jubilee year today it faces a familiar challenge to its dominance of the heavens.
Official celebrations were launched here to mark the 75th anniversary of Air-India, in the backdrop of a government proposal to merge the carrier with another state-controlled airline Indian to create a monolith airliner.
The history of Indian aviation starts with Air-India. "Not many airlines in the world have got such a long history. This is a time when the airlines across the world are facing big challenges. The history of Air-India is the history of Indian civil aviation as well," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told PTI.
15/10/05 PTI/The Hindu

Alliance Air plane suffers bird hit in Jodhpur

Jodhpur: All the 60 passengers of an Alliance Air Boeing 737 plane, including Supreme Court judge Mr Justice P P Navelkar and senior Congress leader, Mr Abhishek Singhvi, today had a miraculous escape when it suffered a bird hit soon after take off from here and landed at the airport here under emergency conditions.
The IC-7474 flight from Mumbai to Delhi via Jodhpur took off from here at around 17.05 p.m and a vulture hit the turbine of the plane, official sources said.
The pilot immediately decided to make an emergency landing which was successfully executed.
All the passengers as also the six crew members onboard were safe, an Indian Airlines official in Jaipur said.
15/10/06 PTI/Navhind Times

Qantas lifts prices, cuts fuel surcharge

Qantas yesterday denied that a 3 per cent average increase in domestic ticket prices was designed to offset a planned reduction in fuel surcharges.
The airline confirmed it was reviewing its unpopular fuel surcharge after other carriers, including main rival Singapore Airlines, announced cuts in the wake of falling fuel prices.
Qantas would not say how much the fuel surcharges would drop. However, Singapore Airlines cut its levy by 10 per cent from today, reducing it from $80 to $72 a sector on flights from Australia. This reduces the surcharge on a Singapore flight to Europe to $144, compared with $185 on Qantas.
Other Qantas surcharges are $31 on a domestic flight, $24 on a Jetstar flight and $65 across the Tasman, $145 to North America, South Africa and India and $115 to Southeast Asia and Hawaii.
16/10/06 Steve Creedy/The Australian, Australia

Ex-hijacker keeps his word, visits pilot

Mumbai: Three unlikely people met on Saturday. One was a former mercenary and the other two were part of the crew of the civilian aeroplane he had tried to hijack in 1981.
Peter Daffy had threatened to kill Air-India pilot Umesh Saxena and 79 other passengers on November 25, 1981, when he hijacked a Boeing 707 from the Seychelles airport.
Daffy said: “I told him (Saxena) we will meet again and we did,” he said. “We Scots do not go back on promises.”
Daffy said events overtook the 50-odd mercenaries on the night of the hijack, when they discovered the Seychelles military had a stronger base just outside the airport.
He claimed that they took over the passenger plane purely as an escape attempt after everything went horribly wrong.
“And we even paid for our drinks on board with our travellers' cheques,” he said. Ulka confirmed: “They did offer us payment but we, as a goodwill gesture, did not charge them.”
Daffy served a 21-month term for “man-stealing” and air piracy after Saxena deposed in a special court at Seychelles. But the hijacker does not hold any grudges.
“He did what he thought was morally correct. He was a fine professional — even told us the exact number of vacant seats in the flight and how many mercenaries he could carry,” Daffy said.
15/10/06 Aditya Ghosh/Hindustan Times

HAL launches helicopter ambulance service

Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Saturday launched a specially designed Chetak helicopter for emergency medical evacuation and air charter services.
At a function here, HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja formally inaugurated the operations of Vayu Vahan at the Rotary Wing Academy situated in Bangalore Airport,a company release said.
The helicopter is designed to undertake emergency evacuation of patients from areas around Bangalore to the main hospitals in the city which are equipped with a helipad.
"We are extending this facility to all persons, organisations and hospitals," Baweja said.
Baweja said the launch of the air ambulance service was in keeping with the unparalleled growth in the aviation sector.
14/10/06 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Air India flight hit by bird, grounded at Heathrow

Mumbai: An Air India flight with 434 passengers has been grounded for three days at London's Heathrow Airport after it was hit by a bird, Air India sources said here today.
The aircraft has been grounded at Heathrow since Thursday, the sources said.
The Boeing 747-400 was grounded due to heavy ingestion in one of its engines after it was hit by the bird, the sources said.
Immediately after the incident, flight AI-112 returned to Heathrow, they said.
Another aircraft was rushed to London yesterday with a replacement engine and the damaged engine is being changed, an airline spokesperson told a news agency.
"Ninety six passengers have been transferred to the relief aircraft that has reached New Delhi via Ahmedabad. The remaining 338 passengers have been accommodated at various hotels near Heathrow Airport," the spokesperson said.
14/10/06 Zee News

First Punjabi-owned flight lands at Amritsar

Amritsar: The first flight of an airline owned by a Punjabi settled in Britain arrived in this Sikh holy city Saturday from London.
The inaugural flight carried 56-year-old Harjinder Singh Sidhu, the owner of Air Slovakia, from London via Cologne city in Germany. There were 97 passengers on board the Boeing 757 airliner when it landed at Amritsar's Rajasansi international airport.
"We will soon have an all Punjabi experience on our flights to and from Amritsar. This will include Punjabi food, music, air-hostesses and ambience," Sidhu said on arrival.
He formally bought the Air Slovakia airline only last week after starting acquisition proceedings in May.
Sidhu, who hails from Nabha town, near Patiala, made it big in Britain after migrating there in 1972.
14/10/06 IANS/Telugu Portal

Airport upgradation: Chandigarh identifies land

Chandigarh: In an important step towards the acquisition of an upgraded airport, Chandigarh has identified land it will allot to the Army and the Air Force in exchange for tracts it wants from them. The authorities, having chosen six acres occupied by the Army and 2.86 acres in possession of the Air Force, are to make complementary offerings as they try to expand the city’s airport. Meetings on this have been held by senior Union Territory officials and officers of the Army and the Air Force, separately.
Mr SK Sandhu, finance secretary, confirmed it, claiming positive responses from either side. The Airports Authority of India is ready to fund the expansion besides taking the matter up with the ministry of defence. Sources said the exchanges would be a mere formality given that the ground-level assessment had been completed.
14/10/06 The Statesman

Air India Express to link Chennai, Singapore soon

Chennai: Air India Express (AIE), the wholly owned subsidiary airline of Air India, will be introducing flights to Singapore and Dubai from Chennai.
Giving details of AIE's official launch on October 29 from Anna International Terminal (AIT), P. Senthil Kumar, Air India's Commercial Manager-Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu here on Thursday that while Singapore would be linked five-times-a-week, the Dubai operation would be a tri-weekly service.
Mr. Kumar explained that the AIE service to Singapore would depart Chennai at 11-55 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and reach Singapore's Changi Airport at 6-20 p.m. (local time). In the return direction, it will leave Singapore at 7-30 p.m. (local time) and arrive Chennai at 8-55 p.m. (local time). The Chennai-Dubai service would leave Chennai on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9-40 p.m. and reach Dubai 15 minutes past midnight. In the return direction, it will depart Dubai at 2-40 p.m. and arrive Chennai at 8-40 p.m.
14/10/06 T.S. Shankar/The Hindu

American firm roped in for airport upgradation

New Delhi: Taking the modernisation process of Delhi airport a step further, the Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) has appointed Parsons Brinckerhoff International project management consultants for the project. Based in America, Parsons Brinckerhoff has been involved as consultant at a number of international airports including Hong Kong International Airport, London Heathrow as well as Terminal I at JFK Airport.
Bringing together a team of international and Indian experts, the company will help DIAL establish project control systems, procedure manuals, communication platforms and protocols. It will also help them in creating report formats and computer systems. The company will assist DIAL in reviewing design, contract management as well as construction management of the Passenger Terminal Building.
14/10/06 The Hindu