HAL facility to convert Boeings into freighter

Mumbai: India will soon have a dedicated global facility to convert passenger airplanes to cargo planes, with state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) planning a full fledged conversion centre for Boeing aircraft. This proposed facility will cater to the requirements of the international market as well as domestic demands.
HAL Managing Director A K Saxena said: “We are planning to set up this conversion facility as a part of our proposed maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) project. HAL will be aiming at converting Boeing passenger airplanes such as B737 and B747 for international market.”
Industry analysts pointed out this aircraft conversion project is labour intensive and HAL can gain on low cost labour advantage in the country.
Singapore Technologies, Israel Aircraft Industries and other subsidiaries of Airbus and Boeing are leading conversion majors in the world.
24/12/06 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

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Backpacker Daisy appeals to court

The mother of jailed Bournemouth backpacker Daisy Angus says she hopes this will be the last Christmas her daughter spends behind bars in India.
Daisy, 26, is serving a 10-year jail sentence after being found guilty of smuggling 10kg of cannabis in a secret compartment of her suitcase.
The former Littledown Leisure Centre fitness instructor was stopped by customs officers at Mumbai airport on November 8, 2002, as she caught a flight to Amsterdam on what was supposed to be her dream trip around the world.
Daisy spent four years in jail before hearing of her fate and will have to serve a further six before she is freed.
Her mother Nadine has just returned from India where she managed to see Daisy a couple of times during visits arranged by the British Embassy.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, Nadine said: "She is looking well, still holding on in that hell of a place. Her transfer to Pune's jail has been very hard and stressful for her.
In October Nadine, of Belle Vue Road, Southbourne, lodged an appeal with the Indian High Court and is now waiting for a date which is not expected to be much before the summer.
23/12/06 Paula Roberts/Dorset Echo, UK

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DGCA to relax norms for flight take off during fog

New Delhi: Directorate General of Civil Aviation is considering relaxing flight take-off norms during fog season, allowing flights to fly even at low runway visibility range from next week.
According to industry sources, in a meeting held this weekend, the DGCA has yielded to a request from major airline operators, like Jet Airways, Air India and Spicejet, to relax the existing norms.
"Subject to meeting certain conditions, the DGCA has agreed to relax the low take-off minima (LTM) norms, thereby allowing qualified airlines to take off at a runway visibility range (RVR) of 150 metres," the sources said.
As per the current norms airlines are allowed to take off at a RVR of 500 metres.
The sources, however, said in order to avail the relaxed norms, airlines would have to meet the criteria set by the DGCA, including crew training and pilot qualification.
24/12/06 Press Trust of India/Hindustan Times

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DGCA puts airlines on mat

New Delhi: Fog alone is not responsible for the mess at IGI airport. Apart from failing to train enough pilots to use CAT III-B instrument landing system, most domestic airlines are drawing Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ire on other fronts. On Saturday, director-general K Gohain — who flew in from Mumbai and saw how bad things are — had a meeting with airlines to examine why passenger woes are mounting.
Gohain is learnt to have lashed out and rejected pleas of low-cost carriers that they can’t afford to provide services to delayed passengers — especially since DGCA found that many trained pilots are out of India on international sectors.
24/12/06 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Air-India to go in for fog risk cover

Mumbai: National flag carrier Air-India has floated a tender for fog insurance seeking coverage from leading insurance companies which underwrite similar weather-related risks. Sources said, including public sector and private companies, over a dozen insurance majors had submitted their bid to Air-India.
Confirming the development, Air-India Executive Director (Finance) S Venkat said this is as part of its corporate strategy to minimise the risk from poor weather conditions.
"We are planning to extend this weather-related risk cover to airports of Europe and the US, where the fog and snow impact operations. The risk over may include re-routing of flights, hotel accommodation and other losses. We will award the fog insurance contract shortly," Venkat said.
Fog results in low visibility conditions disrupting the take-off and landing of aircraft, which causes huge losses for airline companies.
24/12/06 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

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Fog wreaks havoc with holiday season traffic

New Delhi: Airline traffic faced widespread disruption across the country as fog affected flight schedules at the Delhi airport on Saturday morning. Consequential delays led to harassment for passengers flying out from other cities too as peak holiday season traffic thronged most metro airports.
Despite warnings from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and preparations by airlines, the Delhi airport –– the second busiest in the country –– had no answer for fog. Thousands of people were stranded at the airport for several hours on as thick fog delayed dozens of departures. Poor visibility causes delays of up to four hours and the cancellation of some domestic flights, the sources said.
Air services at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) were suspended on Saturday morning as runway visibility range (RVR) dipped to below 50 metres at 7 am forcing suspension of flights, airport sources said. This is the first winter season after the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) took up management of the airport.
24/12/06 Economic Times

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Srinagar-Jeddah Flight Cancelled Due to Snag

Srinagar: Haj pilgrims on Saturday, had to defer their journey to the holy city of Makkah as the Srinagar-Jeddah flight was cancelled due to the aircraft developing a technical snag at Sharjah. "The aircraft which was scheduled to take pilgrims from here to Jeddah developed some technical problem at Sharjah.
"There would be no Haj flight today," Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Basharat Ahmad Dhar said.
He said the pilgrims would now be flown tomorrow (Sunday) and the remaining ones would catch the flight on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Haj pilgrims from Srinagar district who have not yet proceeded to Jeddah but have received passports and other travel documents, have been directed to report to Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar office to get themselves registered for departure.
23/12/06 Kashmir Observer

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Fog delays President Kalam's Mumbai trip

Mumbai: President A P J Kalam's visit to the city today was delayed after fog at the Delhi airport disrupted flight schedules.
The President, who was to arrive in the city in the morning, is likely to arrive only by the afternoon, officials said.
The President is on a day-long visit to the city where he will be addressing a summit organised by alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology and also inaugurating new facilities at the Jaslok Hospital in south Mumbai.
Dense fog at the Delhi airport led to flight delays early this morning with visibility dipping to 75 metres early this morning, forcing activation of CAT-III instrument landing system.
23/12/06 Chennai Online

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AAI's fire station to be modernised soon

Thiruvananthapuram: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) would modernise its fire station functioning on the premises of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to handle any exigencies within the airport and for aircraft.
The Rs.1.5 crore modernisation project for the fire station has been approved by the AAI headquarters and the tender process to award the work have started, Airport Director K. Natarajan told The Hindu .
Under the expansion project, the AAI fire station functioning from near Shanghumughom side will get a new building adjacent to the existing building. A casualty centre will also be set up in the fire station.
Modern vehicles will be procured in addition to the existing vehicles for fire fighting and rescue operations. Improvised version of crash fire tenders, water tenders and ambulances would be added to the existing fleet.
23/12/06 S. Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu

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Rolls-Royce continues to make good progress

Rolls-Royce, a world-leading provider of power systems and services, continued to make good progress during the fourth quarter of 2006.
The Group began the process of considering options for potential new facilities to meet growth opportunities across its global business sectors. As part of this evaluation process, it has issued requests for qualification to eight US states. Other locations around the world will also be asked to compete.
In India, Rolls-Royce built on 50 years of collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. with an agreement to pursue collaboration on engine component design and manufacturing in India.
22/12/06 Prdomain Business Register (press release)

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Qatar Airways adds two more India destinations

Doha: Qatar Airways yesterday announced a major expansion of its operations across India with the unveiling of two new routes and the introduction of additional capacity on existing services.
Beginning April 2007, Chennai in southern India, and Ahmedabad, in western India, will join Qatar Airways' expanding Indian network, which already includes non-stop services from Doha to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Cochin and Trivandrum.
Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, and the Gujarat capital of Ahmedabad, will each be served with seven flights a week from the start of the Summer 2007 flying season.
With immediate effect, Qatar Airways has been granted rights by the Indian government to increase capacity to the country's commercial capital of Mumbai and the southern city of Trivandrum with its bigger, state-of-the-art Airbus A330 aircraft - almost doubling the number of seats on both routes, each served daily.
The Cochin and Hyderabad flights will see frequency increase by two and three flights, respectively, to give both cities a daily operation, and each served with a two-class Airbus A321.
24/12/06 Peninsula On-line, Qatar

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Nepal Airlines short of pilots

Planes run by Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) may be grounded anytime soon as more and more pilots are quitting their job due to low salary and perks, local Nepal Samacharpatra daily reported Sunday.
Captain K.B. Limbu, president of Nepal Airlines Pilot Association, left the NAC to work for Air U.K. and pilot Bishal Dewan also started working in an Indian airline company after leaving the NAC.
Both were experienced pilots and were boarding the international flights of the national flag carrier airline.
The number of pilots working for international flights has decreased to 40 from 42 following their departure whereas the number of pilots boarding domestic flights is just 10 who have to board three planes of NAC.
24/12/06 People's Daily Online

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Cleartrip.Com now offers Air Deccan flights

Cleartrip the travel portal announced the integration of Air Deccan on its travel booking platform, and will be extending the ability to search and book Air Deccan flights to its consumers from the 21st of December, 2006.
Cleartrip and Air Deccan have entered this relationship, with an aim to leverage the Cleartrip.com technology platform to offer a superior value proposition to consumers, in terms of price and convenience of user interface. A marriage of these brands will allow the consumers increased options of travel while already providing options for stay. The endeavour is to make Cleartrip one stop shop for travelers across all price points.
Cleartrip, which has been functional for over 5 months since its launch in July, also offers flights on Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Air India, Indian, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet and Indigo.
23/12/06 Moneycontrol.com (press release)

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