Jet eyes Brussels Air stake

Mumbai: Last week, Jet Airways sent out invitations to the media to accompany its promoter Naresh Goyal on a trip to Brussels. The meet, the invitation read, was to showcase the airlines’ new VIP lounge at Brussels airport — the hub out of which Jet Airways runs its international operations. During the course of this visit, he also met the Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt.
The meeting with the PM has triggered intense speculation in Brussels that Jet Airways is interested in buying out a stake in Brussels Airlines.
Jet Airways recently chose Brussels as the hub for its international operations and is currently operating flights to the US and Europe via the city. The airline also has a code share agreement with Brussels Airlines to provide onward connections to various destinations in Europe and Africa.
Brussels Airlines, held by SN Airholding — a consortium of Belgian corporate giants, reported revenues of nearly a Euro 1 billion in 2006. A stake, or a significant control in Brussels Airlines would mean a larger presence for Jet across 450 destinations in Europe.
03/11/07 Mansi Kapur/Times of India

Mukesh Ambani gets Rs 245-crore 'flying office'

Mumbai: Business magnate Mukesh Ambani's new "flying office" worth nearly Rs 245 crore quietly arrived at Mumbai Airport early Friday.
The gleaming white-bodied aircraft with blue stripes, has been parked in Reliance's private hangar near Kalina, the southern end of the domestic airport.
The Airbus A-319 aircraft, described as a "flying palace" by airport officials in the know, has been given the registration number VT-IAH.
Kept under tight security, it is off bounds for all, except the concerned airport, security and Reliance personnel, the officials told IANS.
Among the top-class facilities the aircraft has been equipped with include a plush corporate office, a boardroom for holding top-level meetings in the sky, satellite communications, a master bedroom with an attached toilet, galleys and a lounge with a sky-bar.
All this has cost an estimated US $15 million (about Rs 60 crore), in addition to the aircraft cost.
The delivery of the aircraft was scheduled end-April 2007. However, aviation sources say, it was delayed mainly because of the lavish interiors that have been done.
But, it proved to be a blessing - it happily coincided with wife Nita's birthday on Thursday.
02/11/07 IANS/Sify

Domestic air fares to go up from Nov 5

New Delhi: Domestic flights will become more expensive from Monday. Jet Airways, Paramount Airways and the low-cost airline SpiceJet are to raise their fares by Rs 150 to offset the increase in price of aviation turbine fuel. This is the second successive month that the airlines are hiking the fuel surcharge.
State-owned Air India was among those yet to take a final decision on this.
In a statement, Jet Airways said that from November 5, the fuel surcharge would go up by Rs 150 on all types of fare for travel in business and economy class.
The surcharge, however, would have to be paid if the tickets are presented for any voluntary change on or after November 5, the statement adds.
02/11/07 Business Line

IndiGo, GoAir rising faster than old flyers

New Delhi: According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), while market share of Air Deccan has slipped from 18.1% in the second quarter of 2007 to 16.5% in the third quarter, Indian’s share has decreased from 21% to 19.8%. JetLite’s market share, too, has dropped, albeit marginally. In the first quarter of the year it had 8.1% of the market compared to only 7% in the second and 6.9% in the third quarter.
On the other hand, IndiGo’s market share has increased from 6.7% in the second quarter to 8.4% in the third quarter while GoAir’s share has increased by 0.3%. SpiceJet has maintained it’s share at 8.3% in both the quarters.
IndiGo is the largest gainer of market share, which can be attributed to the capacity that it’s adding. The airline is adding around one aircraft each month to its fleet. In September, it had 12 aircraft and by the end of this year, it will have 15. While increase in market share reflects capacity addition, load factors matter too.
For JetLite and Air Deccan, the number of passengers carried has decreased too. While JetLite carried 8.12 lakh passengers in the first quarter, it carried only 7.69 lakh passengers in second and 7.08 lakh passengers in the third quarter.
03/11/07 Vishakha Talreja & Nirbhay Kumar/Economic times

Kingfisher readies mega overseas plan

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, together with its low-fare airline affiliate Deccan, wants to fly direct flights to two dozen destinations outside India as part of an ambitious launch of international operations that are scheduled for early next year.
Deccan, the airline that Kingfisher is likely to use to fly overseas, has sought government permission to fly to the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, China, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka as well as some countries in West Asia.
State-run National Aviation Co. of India Ltd’s Air India flies to 40 international cities from India and Jet Airways (India) Ltd flies to about 10.
In September, JetLite (India) Ltd, formerly Air Sahara and now controlled by Jet, sought approvals for daily flights between Chennai and Colombo as also New Delhi and Kathmandu, besides permission to fly to Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Both Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan are not eligible to fly international routes yet. Current civil aviation rules do not allow an airline with less than five years’ domestic operations to fly overseas and a proposal to dilute that rule is still pending with a group of ministers who are scheduled to meet later this month.
02/11/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Air Deccan registers highest loss ever

Costs of an ongoing merger, a lean passenger season, and softening ticket yields have seen India’s biggest low-cost airline, Air Deccan, posting its largest ever quarterly net loss of Rs253.18 crore in July-September, its first quarter this year, nearly six times the loss in the year-ago period.
The performance signals continued financial challenges for a carrier attempting to reinvent itself after a buyout and a new chief executive took over at the helm of the airline.
The losses in the comparable period last year were just under Rs43 crore for the quarter ended September 2006, but the airline then had seen a one-time income from outside sources made on asset sales. In just this one quarter, the airline’s losses equal 55% of the company’s annual losses for the last financial year, which it ended on 30 June with about Rs419 crore in the red.
Deccan Aviation Ltd, the airline’s parent company, has been in transition after United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd bought out a 26% stake in the airline on 1 June. Since then, both Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, which is also owned by United Breweries, have worked together to improve Deccan’s performance and customer perception, which had suffered because of late flights, cancellations and the physical condition of the company’s planes.
02/11/07 Mehul Srivastava/Livemint

Now, a Jetlite evening flight from Bhubansewar to New Delhi

Bhubansewar: Private carrier Jetlite, a merged entity of Jet Airways and Air Sahara, launched its operation from the city on October 29 with a direct evening flight to New Delhi.
The Delhi flight will be in addition to the morning flight that Air Sahara operates to the national Capital.
The evening flight will leave from here at 8.30 pm and land in Delhi at 10.30 pm.
The all-new-look-airline would also begin services to Chennai and Bangalore on November 4. The flight to both the cities will operate from Kolkata. The Bangalore flight will fly four days a week and the Chennai flight thrice a week.
03/11/07 Newindpress

Assam tea on Lufthansa menu brings cheer to industry

Guwahati: German airlines Lufthansa appears set to have Assam tea on its in-flight menu, a move that has brought cheer to the northeast Indian state's massive tea industry.
"We are aware of the move and are extremely happy. Lufthansa not only can serve as a brand ambassador for Assam tea, but can give passengers a delightful experience of the high quality tea produce from the state," Dhiraj Kakaty, head of the Indian Tea Association's Assam Branch, said.
The Indian Tea Board is talking to the German airline in this connection and the response from Lufthansa has been "positive", a Tea Board official said.
The tea chosen is the best quality Assam Orthodox variety, that can compete favourably with the other well known varieties from elsewhere in India -- the delicately flavoured Darjeeling and the stronger Nilgiri teas.
Germany, Kakaty said, is already familiar with the Second Flush Orthodox tea from Assam, grown during the best tea-growing season of May-June in the state.
"Plantations in Assam are already exporting an estimated five to six million kg of Second Flush Orthodox tea to Germany. It is only a matter of time before people in Germany would endorse it as their favourite brand of tea," Kakaty said.
02/11/07 IANS/Economic Times

Jet flight grounded in Bhopal after tech snag

Bhopal: A Delhi-bound Jet Airways flight was grounded here on Friday before take-off after smoke started coming out from one of its engine, police said.
The Jet Airways flight 9W731 was ready for take-off when the snag was reported in its engine, following which the it was grounded, Bhopal inspector general of police Anil Kumar said.
All the 30 passengers on board were safely taken off from the plane, he added.
02/11/07 PTI/Newindpress

Airlines may have to fly more on commercially-unviable routes

New Delhi: Domestic airlines, such as Jet Airways, Air India, Kingfisher, Simplifly Deccan and SpiceJet, may soon be required to deploy more capacity on commercially unviable routes, such as Jorhat and Lilabari in Assam and Pasighat and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh.
The government is planning to double the mandatory capacity deployment on category-IIA routes to 2% under the new route dispersal guidelines. The government is also likely to reduce the mandatory capacity deployment on category II routes to 8% from the current 10%.
The present route dispersal guidelines require all scheduled carriers in the country to deploy 10% of the total capacity on trunk routes (category I routes) on category II sectors such as Guwahati and Srinagar and 1% of the capacity deployed on category I routes on category IIA routes such as Lakshadweep (Agatti) and Andaman and Nicobar.
The civil aviation ministry is considering a suggestion from the North East Council (NEC) to ask airlines to provide more intra-connectivity in the region, considered highly inaccessible.
03/11/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Expat Dies Aboard Flight Home

Riyadh: An Indian worker on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Jeddah to Mumbai via Riyadh died of suspected heart attack yesterday.
According to airport authorities, the 45-year-old man developed chest pain during the flight and was pronounced dead at the King Khaled International Airport when the aircraft made a scheduled landing here.
The flight, which left King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah at 2 a.m. yesterday, reached Riyadh 90 minutes after take-off. The dead man was identified as Abdullah Mohideen, a gas station worker in Yanbu. Mohideen complained of chest pain as soon as the plane was airborne. Airport police are making further inquiries into the death.
Mohideen, a father of two daughters and a son from the southern Indian state of Kerala, was traveling to India on holiday, said his sponsor.
03/11/07 Mohammed Rasooldeen/Arab News

Global Vectra Helicorp reports revenue of Rs 90cr

Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd, India's largest dedicated offshore air logistics helicopter company, today announced results for the quarter and six months ended September 30, 2007.
Financial Highlights
Six Months ended September 30, 2007
Revenue of Rs. 90.07 cr.
93% of revenues generated from long term contracts
Other income is mainly due to mark-to-market of forex loans
Net Profit of Rs. 13.90 cr.
Revenue is net of contractual deduction of Rs 48 lacs and helicopter spares consumption & maintenance includes Rs. 300 lacs pertaining to previous year
Quarter ended September 30, 2007
Revenue of Rs. 44.33 cr.
Other income is mainly due to mark-to-market of forex loans
Net Profit of Rs. 3.09 cr.
Helicopter spares consumption & maintenance includes Rs 97 lacs pertaining to previous quarter.
02/11/07 Moneycontrol.com (press release)

Dubai emerges Air India's key overseas destination

Mumbai: Dubai has emerged as one of the most important overseas destinations for Air India, which now operates 46 flights a week to the emirate from a dozen cities across India.
"No other city abroad on our network has flights from so many Indian cities," Jitender Bhargava, executive director, corporate communications, Air India, said here yesterday. The airline launched direct flights from Lucknow and Jaipur to Dubai last week, taking the total number of Indian cities - from where it operates flights to the emirate - to 12. Air India, the new merged entity following the merger of two state-owned airlines, Air India and Indian, has been enhancing operations to Dubai following the surge in demand for seats. The flights are operated by its low-cost budget subsidiary, Air India Express. According to Bhargava, the airline launched direct flights from the two north Indian cities to Dubai in its new winter schedule on a thrice-weekly basis. The airline introduced flights from other cities in India to Dubai on a similar basis, gradually increasing it to five-weekly flights, and then making them daily flights.
02/11/07 Khaleej Times/Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Jordan

American Express & Kingfisher Airlines announce partnership

India is experiencing a strong growth in affluence, spend on domestic air travel is increasing, and frequent flyers are looking for a premium experience combined with great value. Recognizing these emerging lifestyle and travel aspirations of consumers, American Express today announced a partnership with Kingfisher Airlines- to launch the first of its kind credit card- the new American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card. Given the high communication needs of frequent travelers, the Card is being launched in association with Airtel giving the customers the opportunity to convert Airtel calls into free Kingfisher Flights. The American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card members will be able to earn free flights up to 4 times faster than any other leading card in the industry while providing them the premium flying experience from Kingfisher Airlines, making it the fastest and the finest way to fly free.
Expected to set a trend in the Airline Co-brand credit card category, the new American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card allows the Card members to get 2 or more round trip flights with Kingfisher Airlines every year, simply through their everyday spend on the Card.
02/11/07 Moneycontrol.com (press release)

Air India probe head says witnesses should testify as 'civic duty'

People should come forward and agree to testify out of civic duty, not simply because they have enough assurances from police or lawyers, the head of the Air India inquiry said Thursday.
Commissioner John Major said all citizens have an obligation to cooperate with police regardless of the fact they may be facing some threats.
The inquiry into the June 23, 1985 bombing has heard that many witnesses are reluctant to testify -- particularly in terrorism and organized-crime cases -- out of concern for their personal safety and that of their families.
When Jacques Shore, a lawyer for the Air India victims' families, suggested Thursday the RCMP should provide legal counsel to someone considering entering the witness protection program, Major interjected.
"All of us as part of the community have an obligation and it is easier to say you should come forward when you witness something without being comforted by legal advice and witness protection," Major said.
"For society to survive, we have to take on certain risks and responsibilities. Though we are trying to minimize it, we surely can't reach the stage where every person who might be involved is suddenly provided with legal counsel at the expense of the state to do something he should do anyhow."
Major said there is obvious public sympathy for an innocent bystander thrust into a criminal case.
But, he said, most who enter the federal Witness Protection Program are criminals cooperating with police, often to avoid lengthier sentences.
02/11/07 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun, Canada

Europe’s flight trainer plans facility in India

New Delhi: Driven by the aviation boom in India, GCAT Flight Academy, one of the largest flight training schools in the world in terms of customers, proposes to begin operations in India, a market that has been expanding rapidly for three years and is ranked next only to China, two Swedish government officials, who did not wish to be named, said. Read On >>

Flight simulator institute to take-off

Pune: On the eve of the formal launch of the state-of-the-art flight simulator at the Jeet Aerospace Foundation (JAF), Wing Commander (retd) Anil Gadgil and his wife Kavita have lamented lack of civic infrastructure, including rampant power failures, as reasons for worry. Read On >>

Sansriti run over by drunk driver, say forensic reports

New Delhi: Aeronautical engineer Sansriti Sinha, 26, who was found dead on the tarmac at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) about 10 days ago, was first hit by a vehicle, tossed in the air and then run over by it after she fell, forensic reports have revealed.
The police believe the miscreant must have been in a highly inebriated state.
The police said the vehicle was being driven at a very high speed and the driver did not stop even after hitting Sansriti. Instead, it moved on, crushing her head under the wheels.
The police have come to this conclusion after conducting forensic tests on more than 30 vehicles plying within the airport.
Sansriti was working for Deccan Airlines. According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at the IGI airport, Sansriti’s manager Kavita Yadav informed the police about her death on October 22.
No one had seen Sansriti’s body lying on the tarmac until a pilot of Spicejet Airlines saw her body just before he was taking off and informed Air Traffic Control (ATC). ATC officials informed the airport authorities and they soon found out that the woman lying dead on the tarmac was an employee of Deccan Airlines.
The police said they have specific clues into the case and are very close to solving the case.
The police said no eyewitness has come forward and that when they reached the spot, the blood stains had been wiped off.
A case of rash and negligent driving, death due to negligence and destruction of evidence has been registered at the Palam airport police station.
02/11/07 Vijaita Singh/Hindustan Times

New airport policy is far from take-off

It will be some time before the new greenfield airport policy sees the light of day. The Committee on Infrastructure (CoI), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has sought the views of the finance and company affairs ministries, besides the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission before finalising the policy.
Once approved, the policy would pave the way for private participation in airport development and dispense with the Centre's mandatory approval for setting up greenfield airports.
While no time-frame has been provided for the respective ministries to provide inputs to the draft policy, an official spokesperson said that it would now be taken up by the cabinet - and not by the CoI again.
If the policy is approved, it would force the government-owned Airports Authority of India to form joint ventures for several of its existing airports in the wake of competition from private developers.
It could also lead to a new breed of developers setting up greenfield airports and seeking to develop a full-fledged township in the periphery.
02/11/07 Sindhu Bhattacharya/DNA Money/Sify.com

Medical Evaluation Centre for civilian pilots soon

Bangalore: Emphasising the need for aviation medicine to be expanded to cover civil aviation needs, Chief of the Air Staff F.H. Major on Wednesday said a new Medical Evaluation Centre was being set up at the Air India complex in Mumbai for commercial pilots.
To be headed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) person, the centre will give pilots one more facility to complete their crucial fitness test. Earlier, civilian pilots had to depend only on the Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) in Bangalore and similar centres in Delhi and Jorhat in Assam for their medical evaluation.
The Air Chief was in the city to inaugurate the 47th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine.
Deccan Executive Chairman G.R. Gopinath, in his keynote address, said the problems of alienation in the country could be best addressed through better air connectivity.
On the significance of air safety and aviation medicine in the civil aviation sector, Capt. Gopinath reiterated the need for more centres for aircrew fitness evaluation.
01/11/07 The Hindu

Weapons discovery at airport may lead to charges, deportation

It was, depending on your interpretation, a serious breach of security at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — or much ado about very little.
Two men, both Indian nationals, now face state weapons charges after one was stopped at a security screening point with a folding knife and steak knives in his carry-on luggage. His traveling companion was pulled from a flight and found with a razor blade in his possession.
Federal officials questioned the two and found no connection to any terrorist activity and no criminal intent aboard their Oct. 25 Atlanta-to-New York flight. The feds did not file charges, and the men could be kicked out of the country before they are prosecuted by the state.
"We did not get any indication they had planned any overt act on the plane," said FBI spokesman Steve Emmett. "We are deferring to local charges."
Federal officials say they have no idea why Chhaganbhai Patel, 60, or Shakarabhai Patel, 64, had knives and razor blades. Chhaganbhai Patel has been charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon and Shakarabhai Patel has been charged with a felony for having prohibited items on or around an aircraft.
The men were booked on a Delta Air Lines flight from Hartsfield-Jackson to JFK in New York and then a connecting flight to Mumbai, India.
Transportation Security Administration officers discovered a double-bladed folding knife, 20 steak knives wrapped in foil and several old-fashioned razor blades in their original wrappers concealed in the battery compartment of a toy car when Chhaganbhai Patel passed through a security screening gate. TSA officers immediately interviewed him and discovered his traveling companion had already been through the security area and boarded the plane.
Officers removed Shakarabhai Patel from the plane, which was still parked at the gate, and searched his baggage, said Lt. Jim Carlino, the evening airport watch commander for the Atlanta City Police Department.
"He got on the plane with one of those razor blades," Carlino said. "It was in one of the bags."
Carlino said Shakarabhai Patel also carried $5,000 in cash.
The 4 p.m. flight was delayed about 5 hours after the incident because passengers were removed from the plane and rescreened "out of an abundance of caution," said Atlanta-based TSA spokesman Jon Allen.
11/02/07 Jim Tharpe/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA

Spain woos Kingfisher for Madrid European hub

New Delhi: Spain is in advanced talks with Indian private carrier Kingfisher Airlines to make Madrid its European hub for onward flights to the US and South American destinations, an official said Thursday.
"We are in advanced talks with Kingfisher and hope to see progress," Enrique Ruiz e Lera, director of the Spain Tourism Board for India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, told IANS here.
"We had previously spoken to Jet Airways to make Madrid its European hub. Brussels offered them a better deal but we hope for better luck with Kingfisher," the official added.
Based in Singapore, Ruiz e Lera is also the tourism counsellor of the Spanish embassy here. He is in India with a 19-member Spanish delegation for meetings and workshops with travel agents and tour operators to increase tourist inflows from this country.
The delegation participated in a "very successful" four-day workshop in Goa last month that some 88 Indian companies attended.
02/11/07 IANS/Mangalorean.com

Air India Mulls Financing Offers For Second Lot Of Boeing Jets

New Delhi: Air India, the country's flag carrier, Thursday said it is evaluating offers to finance the second lot of aircraft which are scheduled to be delivered by Boeing Co. (BA) from early 2008.
Other financing options, such as sale and lease back, are also being considered, Air India said in a statement, without identifying the parties who made the financing offers.
It also said that the National Aviation Co. of India Ltd., which controls Air India, has tied up with KFW Bank for the financing of 22 Airbus aircraft which are valued at about $1.1 billion.
"The U.S. Exim Bank will also be refinancing in the first week of November other aircraft which have already been bought by Air India and 10 B737-800 aircraft acquired by Air India Express," the statement said.
01/11/07 Dow Jones/CNNMoney.com

Calcutta airport confident it will still attract overseas interest

Calcutta airport is getting a Christmas present — a duty-free shop that it does not need to be ashamed of.
Come December, sought-after brands like Gucci and Cartier will be available at the city airport, which will get its first proper duty-free shop. The Dubai-based Flemingo International, selected through bidding, will set up a shop each in the arrival and departure lounges.
The airport used to have an apology of a duty-free store earlier, but that, too, was shut down in July after the contract with ITDC expired. The store, set up in 1968, often ran out of stocks and the monthly turnover had dropped from Rs 40 lakh in 2006-end to Rs 10 lakh at the time of closure.
The company runs duty-free shops in 13 Indian airports, including Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, but none in eastern India. It does, however, have an outlet at Haldia port.
02/11/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

Oil PSUs hike jet fuel prices by 4%

Mumbai: Indian Oil Corporation, oil marketing firm and the country's largest refiner, along with other state-run counterparts today raised jet fuel prices by as much as 4%. This is the eight time this year that oil firms have effected a hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices.
The price in of jet fuel in country's financial capital, Mumbai rose by Rs 1,691.25 a kilolitre (4.1%) to Rs 42,796.74 The country's oil refiners revise jet fuel prices once a month which makes up a significant chunk of costs for air carriers.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange, shares of Jet Airways traded at Rs 857.90 at 1223 hrs, down 2.09%, whereas those of Deccan Aviation traded at Rs 150, down 1.77%.
01/11/07 Business Standard

Smoke emission from aircraft engine; passengers alight safely

Thiruvananthapuram: Emission of smoke from the engine of Male-Thiruvananthapuram Indian flight, which touched down at the airport here on Thursday carrying 150 passengers and crew, created panic briefly but the aircraft was stowed away to the parking bay.
The people on board the IC 964 flight disembarked safely, airport sources said.
On detection of the smoke, the aircraft's engine was immediately stopped before it was stowed away. According to the sources, the smoke was caused by leakage of hydraulic oil. The aircraft's onward journey to Chennai as IC 932 has been cancelled.
01/11/07 PTI/Times of India

'Safety oversight prog' introduced to avoid airline incidents

New Delhi: With incidents of near collisions between planes on the increase, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has introduced a "safety oversight programme" to curb these occurences.
Revealing that 70 per cent of incidents involving airplanes are due to pilot error and most are due to non-compliance of procedures which are "avoidable", Kanu Gohain, the Director General of DGCA, said the aviation regulatory body has stepped up measures to ensure strict compliance of operational procedures.
"CVR and ATC type monitoring systems are all in place to check compliance of procedures," he said, adding operators are encouraged to observe "self quality control, self audit and self surveillance".
RNP/RNAV services, which allow aircrafts to fly in precise flight paths, have also been introduced, he said at an international conference on aviation here. These computerised avionics systems can reduce flight distance, reduce noise emissions, and above all, increase safety.
Also, the space-based augmented navigation system GAGAN, jointly developed by AAI and the ISRO, underwent ground trial recently, with "significant accuracy obtained", Gohain said.
01/11/07 PTI/Economic Times

Finnair profits surge on Asia traffic

Helsinki: Operating profit for Finnish flag carrier Finnair surged 74 per cent for third quarter 2007, the group said Thursday, citing strong developments in its traffic to Asia. Operating profit, excluding capital gains and changes in derivative values, for third quarter 2007 totalled 39.2 million euros (56.6 million dollars), compared to 22.5 million euros reported for the corresponding business period in 2006.
Turnover increased almost 6 per cent for the quarter to 545 million euros.
"The growth of demand has been particularly strong in Asia and South America. Finnair's growth comes from Europe-Asia traffic," Chief Executive Jukka Hienon said in a statement.
During the quarter, Finnair subsidiary Fly Nordic was sold to Norwegian Air Shuttle, generating a one-time operating profit of 14 million euros.
In its outlook, Finnair said it would continue to focus on traffic between Asia and Europe, noting that China and India were growth markets.
The carrier operates 59 non-stop flights a week to 10 Asian destinations.
01/11/07 DPA/Earthtimes, UK

EADS sets up sourcing centres in India

Bangalore: Aerospace and defence major European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) has launched its sourcing centres in Bangalore and Delhi. Read On >>

Over1,500 foreign pilots cleared to fly

New Delhi: A total of 1,490 foreign pilots have been cleared by the government to work for Indian civil aviation sector to make up for the acute shortage faced by the booming industry. Read On >>

Demand for international airport at Agra grows

Agra: From a city that is home to the Taj Mahal and gets around 12,000 tourists a day comes the growing demand for an international airport. Tourism industry leaders, in fact, are crying foul that such a facility is coming up in the relatively unknown area of Jewar nearby.
They say for one reason or the other, political decision makers have been ignoring or deliberately shelving Agra's claim for an international airport.
The Indian government last year cleared the Taj international airport project at Jewar in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, midway between Greater Noida and Agra.
Those in the aviation business say any new airport should be at least 150 km away from the existing airport.
This makes Agra the ideal venue for an airport that can handle international air traffic, says exporter Har Vijay Singh Bahia, who is a frequent globetrotter.
Foreign tourists are astonished that Agra doesn't have flights.
02/11/07 Brij Khandelwal/Khabrein.info

Plea to upgrade Agartala airport

Agartala: The Agartala airport's status has been proposed to be elevated to that of an international one for the North-east's engagement with South East Asia. India operates about 100 flights to Thailand a week, which is proposed to be increased.
Tripura chief minister Mr Manik Sarkar has on behalf of the Northeast states given proposals to the Centre to improve regional trade and communication with South East Asia. In foreign minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee's discussion with North-east chief ministers in New Delhi on the implementation of the Look East Policy yesterday, Mr Sarkar stressed an understanding with Bangladesh in view of the country's strategic location and resource potentials.
Mr Sarkar wanted New Delhi to persuade Dhaka to allow the landlocked North-east to avail of the benefits of the Chittagong port for transshipment of material and the Ashuganj river port near Brahmanbaria to be declared the “port of call”.
01/11/07 The Statesman

New aviation policy next year

New Delhi: The government will notify its new aviation policy by the first quarter of 2008 to facilitate creation of six regional airports by next year and 500 mega airports in the next 10 years.
The policy will prescribe guidelines to the state governments, private investors and Airport Authority of India (AAI) for building the airports, said civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Wednesday.
“The government is formulating a policy which would allow entrepreneurs to set up merchant airports supported by the concept of aerotropolis. The matter was sent to the committee on infrastructure, which later referred it to the inter-ministerial group (IMG). The IMG had later prepared a broad set of guidelines for the policy,” Mr Patel told mediapersons at a conference organised by industry body Assocham.
The guidelines of the IMG have been sent to the committee on infrastructure which is headed by the prime minister. The policy would be sent to the cabinet once it is cleared and this entire process will take around 2-3 months, the minister said. The new policy would have provisions to build 10 aerotropolis in 10 major metros and establish air linkages for passengers.
01/11/07 Economic Times

Mallya joins Deccan board as Vice Chairman

Mumbai: Deccan Aviation Ltd, which runs budget airline Air Deccan, on Wednesday said Vijay Mallya has been co-opted as an additional director and vice-chairman of the board of the company.
Mallya's UB Group had acquired a 26-per cent stake in Deccan Aviation in May this year, which it raised to 46 per cent through an open offer that ended earlier this month.
Deccan Aviation said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange today that at the board meeting held today decided to induct Vijay Mallya, A K Ravi Nedungadi and Hitesh Harshad Patel as Additional Directors with immediate effect to hold office until the ensuing Annual General Meeting.
01/11/07 PTI/Economic Times

AI looks for exclusive terminals

Air India wants to have exclusive terminals at major metro airports in the country. Chairman and MD V Thulasidas said the company is in talks with airport developers of Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad for dedicated terminal facilities and, if need be, it will not hesitate to acquire equity in these airports in order to get such rights.
"We have already spoken to airport developers at Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad on this and would soon be holding talks with Bangalore airport people on the same subject," Thulasidas said.
He declined to elaborate on how much stake Air India was looking to buy.
Then, the state carrier is also in the midst of deciding on fleet expansion for its requirements beyond 2011.
It has already ordered 111 aircraft (43 Airbus and 68 Boeing) for fleet expansion, of which 15 Boeings and 6 Airbus planes have been delivered. But these requirements would be exhausted by 2011, given the explosive growth rate in the Indian aviation sector.
01/11/07 Sindhu Bhattacharya/DNA Money/Sify.com

A ticket for all modes of transport in EU

New Delhi: In a move that could create new business opportunities for Indian carriers flying abroad, the Centre has asked European Union to allow airlines to offer multi-modal transport facilities to passengers. If allowed, airlines in India would be able to tie up with rail or bus operators in Europe, get bulk tickets and offer better prices to the passengers. So, for passengers, different modes of transport would be covered by one ticket issued by the airline. In return, European airlines would also get this facility on Indian Railways.
This was one of the three suggestions that an Indian delegation led by aviation minister Praful Patel made to the European Commission at Brussels recently in response to the latter's longtime request for scrapping bilateral agreements with 24 countries of EU states in favour of an umbrella pact.
If India goes in for an umbrella pact with EU, it would allow a European carrier to fly to India from anywhere in the continent. "India has asked for allowing its airlines to give combined tickets for different modes of transport like train and buses in Europe. Our airlines can tie up with local operators, get bulk tickets at competitive rates; pass on the advantage to passengers," said a source.
01/10/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Drunk Jet airhostess grounded for 3 months

Delhi: An airhostess of a Mumbai bound Jet Airways flight tested alcohol positive during preflight testing at the Chennai airport on October 28. The airline has grounded the airhostess for three months.
The airhostess was part of the cabin crew of an early morning Jet Airway flight (9W482), which was taking off from Chennai airport. Confirming the incident, a Mumbai based spokesperson of Jet Airways said : "She tested positive during the alcohol test in Chennai airport. As per the rules of the airline she has been grounded for three months."
The airline's spokesperson added: "It was a routine matter. According to the rules anyone, whether cabin crew or a pilot, testing alcohol positive for the first time is grounded. Testing positive a second time during the service would lead to strict disciplinary action like the termination of the service contract."
A Jet Airways executive admitted that Shweta Reedy had been tested alcohol positive for the first time.
31/10/07 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

Rush, air tickets are getting costlier

Forget flying cheap if you are still planning a vacation on Diwali — or even Christmas. The holiday rush began while you were sleeping and all domestic airlines have sold out their discount tickets till yearend. Only high-end tickets — not too many of them — are available.
“Almost all our flights are full for the season and we have finished all discount tickets. Now only about five to ten tickets are left on all flights,” said a senior official of Indian (now part of Air India).
About 1.5 lakh passengers will be flying on Diwali across the country, according to figures of various airlines. The hottest destinations this season are the usual suspects — Goa, Kerala and Kathmandu.
A Kingfisher Airlines spokeswoman said there has been an increase in the number of passengers this year. “Tickets for all sectors are completely sold out and only higher end tickets are left,” she said.
01/11/07 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

Malaysia to give 'best deals' to Indian tourists

New Delhi: India is a 'major target' country for Malaysian tourism and its tourist board says it is ready to present its 'best deals' to Indian travelers.
Commenting on the growing potential of the Indian market, Christopher Yek, the South Asia Regional Manager of Malaysia Airlines, who was present here for the launch of the Golden Holiday packages in Malaysia, said: 'The overall growth of the number of Indian tourists in Malaysia has increased by 66 per cent and from last year it has increased by 28 percent. Therefore, we see this country as our major target and we are willing to present our best deals to them.'
Malaysia brings out the best holidaying options with diversified cuisines and provides a platform for adventure sports lovers. From snorkelling to scuba diving to mountaineering, the country is a hot favourite among travellers across the world.
Tourism is the second largest revenue earner in Malaysia after the manufacturing sector.
31/10/07 Indo-Asian News Service/Monsters and Critics.com, UK

Hurdles to getting air cargo moving

Trade members associated with air cargo have expressed concern over the decision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to reduce the free period for cargo clearance at airports to three days, from five, effective October 1.
They say it will be difficult to clear cargo in three days, given the infrastructure bottleneck at airports and delays in getting clearances. The reduction only helps private airport operators and not the trade.
With the increase in cargo volume, the trade was planning to ask for an increase in free time, to seven days from five. The reduction has come as a shock, said a trade source.
Recently, trade members took up the issue with the Director-General of Foreign Trade at a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations in Chennai. They argued that the reduction in free period was done without improving the infrastructure at airports.
31/10/07 Business Line

'Sikh service for Air India mastermind wrong'

Vancouver: A man whose daughter died in the 1985 Air India bombing says it's wrong to honour a man considered the mastermind of the blast that also claimed 328 other lives.
Rattan Singh Kalsi said Wednesday that a Sikh religious service, known as an akhand path, should not be used to memorialize someone connected to such a heinous crime.
But the president of the Sikh temple in suburban Surrey where the event was held said he can't deny people's requests to hold such services.
The memorial for Talwinder Singh Parmar, who is believed to have plotted the terrorist bombing to retaliate against the government-owned airline, was held at a Surrey, B.C., Sikh temple earlier this month.
"That's wrong, that's very wrong," said Kalsi, from his home in London, Ont. "He should not be treated like this. I lost a daughter."
Indira Kalsi, 21, boarded the ill-fated Boeing 747 for a trip to India when a suitcase bomb exploded on board, plunging the plane into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland.
31/10/07 The Canadian Press

Aircraft aborts take off due to hydraulic failure

Vasco: Ninety-seven passengers onboard Sri Lankan Airlines flight 156 had a narrow escape as the pilot aborted the aircraft’s take-off on account of hydraulic failure. The incident occurred on October 27.
According to sources, the Sri Lankan Airlines flight had arrived at the Dabolim airport on October 27 and was scheduled to depart at around 8.30 a.m. A few minutes before the flight could take off the pilot reported hydraulic failure.
On receiving the emergency call, the Air Traffic Control immediately intimated all the agencies that swung into action immediately.
A heavy duty tractor was summoned and the aircraft with the 97 passengers and crew members, weighing about 64,500 kg, was towed to safety in co-ordination with the Indian Airlines staff.
The towing operation lasted for almost one and half hour. During this period some military flights were cancelled by the Navy.
31/10/07 Navhind Times

Unfit to fly in US but going strong in India

Mumbai: He has lost both his kidneys, lives on a transplanted one, is more than 60 years old and is now flying as a commander with a low-cost airline based in northern-India. Read On >>

An epileptic pilot could be flying you

Mumbai: Faced with an acute shortage of qualified pilots in the country, a low-cost airline based in north India has thrown caution to the winds and allowed two of its commanders to fly despite medical conditions that deem them unfit for the cockpit job. Read On >>

New aircraft to pose new challenges

Bangalore: The induction of highly sophisticated aircraft in future was bound to pose new challenges for the Aerospace Medicine Industry in terms of ensuring enhanced mental and physical fitness for pilots, according to Air Chief Marshal F H Major. Read On >>

Air India Cargo reveals leasing ambitions

Air India Cargo has revealed its plans to lease freighter aircraft in order to increase revenue by 10% by 2008 to 2009.
The wholly owned subsidiary of the National Aviation Company India (NACIL) was created following a merger of Air India and Indian Airlines and plans to lease converted cargo planes to India Post and the logistics firm, Gati. Along with India Post, Air India Cargo recently initiated a freighter service to the Northeast region of India.
"There is an immense opportunity to tap into the cargo leasing business in this country. We can increase our revenue from the cargo business to Rs 900 crore from Rs 800 crore in the next year. At present, there is some manpower related problems due to the merger of the two airlines but it will be sorted out," said an Air India official.
The company is currently in the process of converting six B737-200 passenger aircrafts into freighters and is in the process of acquiring B-737 and A-310 passenger aircrafts for further conversion purposes.
31/10/07 Alex Hawkes/ArabianBusiness.com, United Arab Emirates

Patna airport on recovery path

Patna: The Jayaprakash Narain International Airport of the city appears to be on a recovery path. It has witnessed a marked improvement in revenue collection in the current fiscal (2007-08) year.
Against a target of Rs 10 crore this fiscal, the airport has already ensured an earning of Rs 1.26 crore from advertisements alone. If one adds the likely earnings of the other non-traffic and traffic sources to it, the airport will in all likelihood not only meet its annual revenue target, but actually exceed it. Massive surge in advertisement revenue is one of the main reasons for this turnaround as in the previous two financial years, revenue collected from this source did not even touch Rs 5 lakh figure. And the result was for everyone to see when there was a gap of about Rs 3 crore and Rs 87 lakh between the income and expenditure in 2005-06 and 2006-07 respectively.
The list of positives does not end here, as the AAI is also exploring ways to earn more from its existing infrastructure. One such step is to provide space for opening aircraft fuel depot by one of the private petroleum companies, which in turn would pay rent for using the airport land.AAI has also received expression of interest from two private airlines which want to use the existing bays for parking of planes in night.
01/11/07 Sanjeev Kumar Verma/Times of india

Sri Sathya Sai Baba`s airport up for sale

Chennai: Sri Sathya Sai Airport in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, is up for sale.
The airport's owner, the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has invited bids for it and put the floor price at Rs 600 crore.
One big attraction of this airport is that it is only 70 km from Bangalore International Airport, coming up in Devanahalli. The vantage location will allow airlines to feed the southern sector, which currently has 30 major and minor airports.
The other is that, to sweeten the deal, the Trust is throwing in 2,000 acres of adjoining land.
The additional land could be used either for real estate development or for setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.
The airport is spread over 450 acres. Its runway is 2,230 metres long and currently being used mostly by chartered aircraft.
The buzz in the industry is that G R Gopinath, who pioneered low-cost flying in India with Air Deccan, has tied up with a Mumbai-based public figure to put in a bid. Gopinath, however, has denied reports.
It is being said that Dubai-based real estate developer Limitless LLC could also be in the fray.
31/10/07 S Kalyana Ramanathan/Business Standard

Airbus in talks with Air India to sell 12 A380s

New Delhi: Airbus on Tuesday disclosed it was in talks with Air India for selling 10 to 12 A380s, each of which has a list price of $320 million.
''In terms of orders placed for passenger aircraft last year and so far in 2007, we have bagged about 70% of them. Kingfisher had earlier ordered five A380s and it certainly won't be the last Indian carrier to do so. My first overseas trip to India is by purpose as it is the most important market,” Enders said.
The company, said Airbus (India) president Kiran Rao, has 350 firm orders for aircraft from Indian carriers, with over 65 being placed this year itself. ''Our target is to have a similar market share in the 1,100 new planes we project India would require in next two decades,” he said.
In return for huge orders, Airbus Industrie has set up a training service institute in Bangalore and entered into a partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which builds nearly half of the doors for A320 planes. It will train nearly 1,000 pilots a year at its training centre.
31/10/07 PTI/Times of India

Concern over lack of easy access to Devanahalli airport

Bangalore: Even as the international airport at Devanahalli is scheduled to be operational from March 30, 2008, various stakeholders have expressed concern over the lack of easy access to the airport at a round table on the “connectivity to the new airport” organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) here on Tuesday.
While the high-speed rail link between the city and the airport is yet to get government approval, the expressway is mired in legal wrangles and even the trumpet interchange on National Highway No. 7 near the airport will not be fully ready when the airport begins its operations, according to Principal Secretary to the Government (Infrastructure Development) V.P. Baligar. The interchange has to pass over NH 7 and the Chikkaballapur railway line.
The two loops — one from the airport towards the city and the other from Devanahalli side to the airport — will be ready.
The third, from the city in to the airport, was caught up in litigation and was cleared only last week.
With construction of the loop from the city towards the airport likely to be delayed for over a year, traffic from the city has to take a ‘U’ turn after the interchange and enter the airport through the loop from Devanahalli side, Mr. Baligar said. He said the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has agreed to run 40 low-floor high speed buses to the new airport from different parts of the city.
31/10/07 The Hindu

‘Is it wrong to be on time?’

Bangalore: Commenting on the delay in providing easy access to the airport, Bangalore International Airport Limited’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Brunner said: “Construction of the airport began in July 2005. All these years you knew that the airport work is going on. Suddenly you blame us as we are on time (in completing the work and beginning the operation). It is you who wanted to have the new international airport. I do not want to blame anybody (for the mess),” he said, speaking at a roundtable on Connectivity to the New International Airport. On BIAL taking over the trumpet interchange work from NHAI, Mr. Brunner said: “The National Highway Authority of India had selected a contractor who had never even built a bridge. We have taken the work, which was planned by NHAI three months back. Now it says that it wants to widen NH 7 and the project (designed by NHAI itself) not up to the standard.”
On the proposed high-speed rail link to the airport, Mr. Brunner said the BIAL Board has agreed to participate in the project with equity and the percentage of the equity was yet to be decided.
Reacting to demands by various quarters to retain the present HAL Airport as a domestic airport or continue its operation till BIAL becomes fully operational, Mr. Brunner said the proposal was not feasible.
31/10/07 The Hindu

Gr Noida could spoil Delhi airport`s party

Mumbai: If the traffic estimates made by the Uttar Pradesh government and submitted by the aviation ministry to the Union Cabinet are anything to go by, the proposed airport at Greater Noida will be as ambitious a project as Delhi airport, which is being modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the GMR group through Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
In fact, it is estimated that by 2026, over one-third of Delhi's total projected traffic (82.7 million) will be diverted to Greater Noida airport (28.4 million), and by 2036 when DIAL expects to handle nearly 100 million traffic, Greater Noida will attract 82.7 million passengers.
By 2036, Greater Noida airport expects to divert half of Delhi's traffic (49.8 million against 100 million). A substantial diversion of cargo is also expected.
These estimates, according to the note, have been derived considering the traffic diversion from Delhi due to better connectivity with the catchment area. The authorities expect direct and induced traffic due to the setting up of a new greenfield airport.
In addition, according to the proposal, "there will be potential increase in freight and passenger traffic due to the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata freight corridors being set up and the boom expected due to the development of a special economic zone (SEZ) and large mega power plants in the area".
31/10/07 Anjuli Bhargava, Business Standard

HAL to develop two new choppers

Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, India’s state-run aircraft maker, plans to design and manufacture two new helicopters in an effort to meet growing demand from India’s military.
The two models are a lighter and smaller craft than the company’s Dhruv advanced light helicopter and a heavier 10-tonne multi-role helicopter that can lift cargo and troops to high-altitude regions in the Himalayas and the North Eastern parts of the country.
HAL said that the 10-tonne helicopter, which will be similar to the MI-17 of the Russians, will be jointly developed with a yet to be identified foreign collaborator; it did not disclose details of the light helicopter.
“We presently have an observation helicopter in the three tonne class like the Chetak; Dhruv is in the six tonne class and we want one in a heavier class,” said Ashok K Baweja, chairman, HAL at a seminar on helicopter technology organized by the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industry (SIATI).
31/10/07 K Raghu/Livemint

Jet to connect more cities to Brussels

New Delhi: Jet Airways plans to fly to Brussels, its European hub, from five more cities — Calcutta, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amrtisar and Bangalore.
Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said, “Under the existing agreement, we operate 28 flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai to Brussels in a week. Once the bilateral aviation treaty between Belgium and India is reviewed, we can double the number to 56 and include more cities.”
Jet has launched flights to Toronto and New York via Brussels. In the US, there are also direct flights to Newark, which is in New Jersey, from Mumbai.
Goyal said Jet planned to fly to three more US cities from February. The flights are to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC.The airline recently announced flights to Shanghai from Mumbai. It is the only private carrier in India that has got permission to fly to the Gulf.Jet has also applied for permission to fly to Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
30/10/07 The telegraph

Workers building airport terminal face health hazards

New Delhi: A brand new terminal may be coming up at the international airport in the Indian capital to decongest growing air traffic but workers at the construction site are complaining of poor sanitation, long duty hours and, above all, deadly mosquitoes.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has hired more than 8,500 workers for the construction work by awarding a sub-tender to a well-known company, Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The authorities have constructed temporary residential colonies for 7,000 workers at the new airport site, but the labourers told IANS they were not being provided good food or proper sanitation facilities.
'We start work at eight in the morning and end up only after eight in the evening. Then we cover a distance of almost three kilometres, a rough and dangerous path, on foot to reach the makeshift rooms,' said Rambabu, a worker who has come from West Bengal's Malda district to work here.
The path they have to cross is the dug-up area around the existing airport. Heavy machinery - road rollers and cranes - and men work there continuously in shifts and no one is allowed to enter the site. Workers have been given fluorescent jackets and hard caps to prevent any untoward incidents.
'In each room, shared by at least 10-12 labourers, we have to struggle with mosquitoes. We have complained of this to our contractor and other officials concerned but no one is bothered. Fortunately, no one has fallen ill from mosquito-borne diseases,' Rambabu told IANS at the construction site.
31/10/07 Sahil Makkar/Earthtimes, UK

Deepika is the brand ambassador of Kingfisher

Mumbai: The beautiful model-turned-actor Deepika Padukone is the new brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines. The event was held Tuesday at Hilton Towers in Mumbai.
Wearing a sizzling red-hot dress, the colour of Kingfisher, Deepika went on stage with billionaire Dr Vijay Mallya. 21-year-old model-turned-actor Deepika is the daughter of former World badminton champion Prakash Padukone.
"Deepika is the symbol of youth and vibrancy. With her new movie with Shahrukh Khan due for release in one- and-a-half weeks, the Kingfisher Airlines brand will get more mileage," said a source.
31/10/07 Zee News

CBI raids top AAI officials

New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at six places in Delhi and Jodhpur against senior Airport Authority of India officials and two share brokers in connection with fraudulent investment of money of AAI employees in junk bonds and shares.
Searches were conducted after the CBI registered a case against AAI executive director M M Dey, general manager A A Khantani, deputy general manager S K Chaterjee, junior accounts officer M K Goshal and two stock brokers Prashant Bindal and Kamal of NSE for allegedly investing employees' money in junk shares.
31/10/07 Times of India

Wanted man in airport net

Calcutta: A Delhi-based property dealer wanted in connection with a cheating case was arrested at the airport on Tuesday morning. Karnal Singh, 42, had travelled to Cambodia from Delhi on May 2, said police.
“There was a lookout notice for Singh, so we intercepted him and handed him over to the police,” said an immigration officer. The notice was issued on May 6.
On Tuesday, Singh flew to Calcutta from Bangkok on an Air India flight. He said he had gone abroad on business and had planned to return to Delhi from Calcutta. He was later handed over to the police and placed under arrest.
31/10/07 The Telegraph

Career Aviation to conduct enrolment show at Kochi

Kochi: Bangalore-based Career Aviation, a leading aviation HR specialist firm, will soon conduct an awareness programme in Kochi for youths in Kerala to educate them about the tremendous growth potential of the aviation industry in the country and abroad. Read On >>

India's cockpit crisis

India's fast-growing airline industry is plagued by decaying infrastructure, frequent delays, and financial losses. Now add one more problem: a pilot shortage. Read On >>

Pilots were 'in a panic situation' before crashing west of Boynton Beach

West Boynton: A muffled audio exchange, taped from a conversation with air traffic control, captures three pilots' desperate attempts to land their failing plane in the dark. Read On >>

Ministry urged not to downgrade Thiruvananthapuram airport

Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation Council which met here on Monday urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to withdraw the move to place the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport under the administrative control of the Regional Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, Chennai.
A resolution adopted by the council said the move was likely to affect the development of the airport. Moving the resolution, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said placing the airport under the Regional Executive Director, AAI, would be tantamount to downgrading its status. “After the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was under the direct control of AAI, along with Kolkata and Chennai. Shifting administrative control to Chennai is part of a conspiracy,” the Mayor said.
The resolution called on the government to restore the airport to its original status. It was adopted unanimously.
30/10/07 The Hindu

Accenture to look into integration of Kingfisher, Deccan

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said the company has mandated management consulting firm Accenture to study the possibility of integrating operations of the two airlines.
"We have appointed Accenture to advise on the integration of two airlines. We will take a future course of action after a report from it in the next six weeks," Mallya said on the sidelines of Fortune Global Forum here.
Earlier this year, Mallya's UB Group had acquired 26 per cent stake in low-cost carrier Deccan Aviation for Rs 550 crore. The Group has now scaled up its stake in the budget airline to 46 per cent by buying shares in an open offer.
On overseas operations, Mallya said Air Deccan has sought government approval to fly overseas from next year. The company is looking for a license to start flights to Middle East, South East Asia and the US, he said.
30/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

Kingfisher, Deccan to set up MRO facility in Bangalore

Mumbai: Air Deccan and Kingfisher would set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Bangalore, Air Deccan Managing Director GR Gopinath said here.
"Besides Air Deccan and Kingfisher aircraft, the MRO facility would take care of third-party maintenance work of the world," Gopinath said on Sunday night at the renaming Air Deccan to Simplifly Deccan here.
In the next 5-10 years, there would be at least 500 aircraft and 1,000 helicopters flying in India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said. Patel was the chief guest for the function.
"A whole array of aviation work is going to be created in India. Aviation would create 3 million jobs," he said.
UB Group Chairman and promoter of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya said low-fares of Simplifly Deccan would continue. Vijay Mallya owns 46 per cent in Deccan.
29/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

Fine on Jagson

New Delhi: The Delhi Consumer Commission has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Jagson Airlines for failing to inform passengers about a delayed flight six years ago.
Commission president Justice J.D. Kapoor ordered the private air carrier to pay the sum as damages to four members of a family who were left stranded at a Delhi airport, clueless that their flight had been delayed by over five hours.
The airline argued that the flight was rescheduled because of a snag beyond its control and that there was no “deficiency in service”.
29/10/07 PTI/The Telegraph

DIAL cries foul at IGI’s competitor

New Delhi: Alarmed at the swift pace at which the Union government is clearing the decks for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s proposed greenfield international airport at Jewar in Greater Noida. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) — the joint venture company modernising Delhi’s IGI Airport — has officially told the Civil Aviation Ministry that the move may put the entire expansion project at IGI “in jeopardy” as the two airports are just 68 kilometers away from each other.
DIAL has expressed “deep anxiety” over the possibility of losing out on significant air traffic in case a second airport comes up so close. The JV company has targeted 100 million passengers per year by 2026. DIAL has already committed investments worth Rs 30,000 crore to the project and has told the ministry that the new airport at Jewar could result in diversion of the air traffic from IGI airport.
The company has told the government that not only would this render the working of present Operation Management and Development Agreement (OMDA) which is “totally financially unviable”, the potential loss of revenues due to diversion of traffic would also adversely affect Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport authority holds a 26 per cent stake in the modernisation of the IGI airport.
30/10/07 Raghvendra Rao/Delhi Newsline

Jet Airways swings to profit in Sep`07 qtr

Jet Airways India swung to a profit for the quarter ended September 2007. The company on standalone basis posted a net profit of Rs 283.60 million, as compared with a loss of Rs 551.30 million in the corresponding quarter, last fiscal.
Net sales of the company rose 12.60% to Rs 18,185.50 million, as against Rs 16,150.40 million in the same quarter, a year ago.
Total income for the quarter rose 23.77% to Rs 22,541.70 million, as against Rs 18,212.30 million in the corresponding quarter, last year.
The earning per share of the company stood at Rs 3.28 for the quarter ended September 2007.
30/10/07 Myiris.com

Jet's inaugural New York-Delhi flight takes off

New York: Jet Airways' inaugural flight between New York and New Delhi with 150 passengers aboard took off Sunday from JFK airport after a brief religious ceremony at the departure lounge.
This is Jet's third daily service between India and North America.
"The new flight is an exciting opportunity for us as it opens up another part of America's East Coast," Deepak Oberoi, Jet's regional director (East Coast & South America), told DNA.
He added the flight would be convenient for passengers from areas including the eastern part of New York, upstate New York and Connecticut.
Gurvinder Singh, an upstate New York businessman, agreed. "I had booked a seat on the inaugural flight two months ago," he said.
The Brussels-Delhi leg of the inaugural flight Sunday had all 312 seats booked.
Jet had earlier launched flights between Newark (New Jersey) and Mumbai and between Toronto and Chennai.
29/10/07 Sify

Air India Express Flights from Lucknow to Dubai

Lucknow has become the 12th Indian station to have direct connectivity with Dubai, as Air Indian Express flights start to fly from the city. This is following the thrice weekly flights of Air India Express to Dubai, a part of the new winter schedule which is being introduced on the 28th of October 2007. Last week Jaipur had become the 11th Indian station for the Dubai routes.
The Lucknow flights will be thrice weekly departing on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving the following day. The flights out of Jaipur will be on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
29/10/07 The Statesman

Finnair’s one millionth passenger in Asian traffic

Finnair’s and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport’s one millionth passenger in Asian traffic arrived on Monday October 29 on flight AY074 from Tokyo to Helsinki. Tsutomu Tamura from Japan was greeted at the airport by Finnair SVP Corporate Communications Christer Haglund and Press and Information Director Irmeli Paavola from Finavia, the Finnish Civil Aviation Administration.
Finnair has focused on increasing its Asian traffic since 2000. In 2001 Finnair operated three long-haul aircraft to four Asian destinations with a total of 13 weekly flights.
- Now Finnair already has 10 long-haul aircraft in its fleet, ten is also the number of our Asian destinations and we have 59 weekly flights to these locations. Already over half of our revenue comes from Asian traffic,” says Mr Haglund.
30/10/07 Boarding.no, Norway

L&T bags Rs 5k-cr Mumbai airport revamp deal

Mumabi: Engineering and Construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the master contract for the redevelopment of the Mumbai airport, the largest airport hub in the country, sources close to the development said.
The contract is for the reconstruction of the domestic and international airport building as well as the air-side redevelopment of the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). This includes the runway and a new integrated cargo complex among others. The total value of the deal is estimated to be worth over Rs 5,000 crore and a formal agreement is expected to be signed later this week.
The project to redevelop the airport section by section, even as it continues operations, is slated to be among the most complex infrastructure projects undertaken in the world.
L&T is expected to carry out most of the work on its own, except for some technical contracts like baggage handling, electrical and certain mechanical work that maybe sub-contracted to domain experts.
30/10/07 Cuckoo Paul/Economic Times

Delhi airport gears up for winter fog

New Delhi: With the winter season closing in, Delhi airport authorities have made arrangements for keeping passengers informed about any flight delays due to foggy conditions, as most domestic airlines are not prepared to fly in low visibility.
'We are extensively working on two strategies - first to provide all information regarding flight delays, departures and arrivals to the passengers via media and through personal calls or SMSs,' Andrew Harrison, chief operating officer of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said Monday.
'Secondly, we are hiring 60 ground staff officials, who will collect the information from the airlines related to flight timings and will pass it on to the passengers in advance...,' Harrison told reporters.
The official said temporary structures were being built inside the airport premises, which could accommodate nearly 400-500 passengers waiting for their flights.
When asked about those airlines not equipped with the CAT-III instrument that enables planes to land and take off despite visibility as low as 50 metres, Harrison said: 'We have called a meeting with all airlines representatives next week and the matter will discussed thoroughly.'
29/10/07 IANS/Earthtimes, UK

Lankan airlines to promote Golf tourism in a big way

Coimbatore: Golf, one of the richest sports, has been identified as the perfect bridge to promote sports tourism between India and Sri Lanka, by the Sri Lankan airlines.
The airlines, which had made its impact on the passenger traffic in india, is now making foray into the sports arena in a big way, by ferrying golfers, Chandana de Silva, head of corporate communications, Srilankan Airlines, told.
Chandana, here as part of the launch of Srilankan Airlines direct flight from Colombo to coimbatore, said modalities have already been worked out and the package would be made known by next month. The company has identified Delhi, Bangalore and Coimbatore for attracting international golfers, he said, adding that it was yet to be worked out whether the tour would be for weekend or weekdays, considering the season. The company is also looking at tapping the good infrastructure Coimbatore is having for motorsports.
29/10/07 Zee News

SpiceJet Implements CyberSource's Decision Manager

SpiceJet has implemented an automated risk management solution from CyberSource to help minimise online fraud. CyberSource Ltd, a provider of electronic payment and risk management solutions, is providing SpiceJet with its Decision Manager solution.
The implementation of Decision Manager will enable SpiceJet to automatically screen transactions for fraud, reducing the burden of manual intervention on the airline. Decision Manager examines each transaction, and determines whether the online order should be accepted, reviewed or rejected.
Partha Sarathi Basu, chief financial officer, SpiceJet, said, "CyberSource Decision Manager is highly customisable and can easily be updated to suit our business. The solution fits well into the company's overall e-business strategy as it enables us to control fraud without additional resources required to manually screen transactions. This is an ideal strategy for a low cost business model."
29/10/07 EFYTimes

SC upholds AI's decision to cut number of cabin crew

New Delhi: Air India has overcome the legal hurdle to slash the number of its cabin crew on board as the apex court has dismissed a petition filed by Air India Cabin Crew Association challenging the national carrier's decision. Read On >>

Student pilot in Saturday's crash hoped to fly in India

A trainee co-piloting a single-engine plane that crashed west of Boynton Beach (Florida, US) Saturday night was a young student from India who came here with the goal of one day flying commercial airliners back home. Read On >>

Witness intimidation a serious problem, Air India inquiry hears

The inability of police to solve violent crimes against witnesses like the 1998 assassination of Tara Singh Hayer instils fear in whole communities, the Air India inquiry heard Monday.
Two security experts told inquiry Commissioner John Major that law enforcement agencies have not taken threats levelled against potential witnesses seriously enough.
Former police officer Mark Lalonde, a senior manager of Canpro Pacific Services, said the lack of conviction for the murder of Hayer and the 1985 beating of Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, who was then an outspoken Sikh moderate, illustrate the problem police face.
"The perpetrators are known within the community. I don't think either of those cases may ever come to trial and one of the reasons - it's not because of a lack of effort by the police - it's the fear and suspicion from the community of retaliation. They have to live in this community and there is a price for coming forward," Lalonde told the Ottawa inquiry into the June 1985 bombing that killed 329 people.
Hayer had agreed to be a witness in the Air India case when he was gunned down in his Surrey garage. A special RCMP task force continues to investigate the file.
Both Lalonde and criminologist Yvon Dandurand testified that police need to prosecute lesser threats made against witnesses to build public confidence - particularly in ethnic communities.
CanWest News Service recently revealed that several witnesses in the Air India case faced threats, attacks on their homes and intimidation, but none of the cases was ever prosecuted.
Dandurand, who teaches at University College of the Fraser Valley, said it is often difficult to lay charges in threatening cases because there is no independent proof besides the statement of the witness to police.
Both Dandurand and Lalonde said the witness protection program - the final option for security of witnesses in high-profile cases - needs an overhaul and may not be the most effective tool in getting witnesses in terrorism.
And they testified that Canada should consider setting up a separate agency - independent of the police - to administer the program.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass earlier told CanWest News Service the hearings are an important tool in the ongoing Air India probe.
But Dandurand said the measure "could add to the already existing feelings of vulnerability and insecurity of members of vulnerable groups."
Also Monday, Major ruled on a series of applications by the World Sikh Organization to expand its intervener standing at the inquiry, have several witnesses called and be able to cross-examine some of those testifying.
29/10/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/Vancouver Sun/Canada.com, Canada

Indian airport projects likely to be hit: IATA

Latest air transport industry forecast released by International Air Transport Association (IATA) contains some warning signals for India. In its recent airfreight volume forecast for 2011, the premier global body says that the enormous anticipated expansion in India that has fuelled record aircraft orders could be cut short by insufficient airport and air traffic management capacity.
This mismatch between demand and capacity seems to be a local phenomenon, for Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general & CEO, notes, “Parts of the world are effectively managing infrastructure development to anticipate and meet demand – particularly the Middle East and China.”
However, there is good news for India. With 8.3% AAGR, India occupies second slot of the seven Asian countries that feature top ten freight markets. The others are: China (10.8%), India (8.3%), Republic of Korea (8.2%), Vietnam (7.5%), Sri Lanka (6.8%), Pakistan (6.7%) and Malaysia (6.2%).
The Middle East, which is exhibiting rapid developments right now, will see the second highest growth at 5%. The fastest growing Middle Eastern markets are expected to be Qatar (6.9%) and Saudi Arabia (6.2%), the agency said.
According to the forecast, global air transport industry is expected to handle 36 million tonnes of international freight – 7.5 million tonnes more than in 2006.
29/10/07 Agencies/Economic Times

Jet likely to set up MRO facility in Chennai

Chennai: Jet Airways is examining the possibility of locating its aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations and flight training academy in Chennai, Chairman Naresh Goyal said on Sunday.
Goyal said Jet Airways was keen on setting up aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in the south.
"We are looking at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad to set up an MRO facility. However, Chennai will be a priority location for this operation as well as for setting up a flight training academy," he said.
He was addressing a function on the launch of Jet's Chennai-Toronto flight, which will go through Brussels. Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram flagged off the inaugural flight.
Jet Airways is in discussions with a some international players like Lufthansa on the MRO facility and it expects to finalise plans in the next few weeks.
29/10/07 Business Standard

"Indians order vegetarian meals, Chinese carry their own teacups".

Board a flight for Kazakhstan and you'll notice a few things you won't see on other flights. The compartments will be full of boxes and large suitcases, and a number of drunk passengers will keep asking the flight attendants for more drinks.
"Passengers from Korea to Kazakhstan have some unique characteristics," says a flight attendant. "They buy a lot of clothes and living necessities from Korea and they like drinking liquor."
Here, flight attendants describe the special qualities of flights to various cities around the world.
The atmosphere on flights to Las Vegas can be quite academic because of the number of international conferences and seminars held there.
The atmosphere on flights to Hong Kong and Singapore can be similar to those to Las Vegas. That's because finance workers use those routes to travel to the international financial hubs.
Flights from Seoul to the U.S. before and after vacations are like a school bus, say flight attendants. These routes are fully booked by children studying in the U.S. and their parents.
Some flights on Korean airlines tend to attract large groups of foreigners. In particular, Indian and Chinese passengers who transit at Incheon International Airport often board Korean airlines to reach San Francisco and Australia and New Zealand.
Flight attendants say each nationality has its own distinct characteristics. For example, Indians tend to order vegetarian meals on-board, and Chinese carry their own individual teacups.
29/10/07 Chosun Ilbo, South Korea

Indian student pilot, Swedish flight instructor die in Florida crash

Boynton Beach, FL: A plane crash in a gated golf community in suburban Boynton Beach that killed two men and critically injured a third Saturday night left authorities scrambling Sunday to notify families across the globe. Read On >>

Silk Air looking at more Indian destinations

Coimbatore: Silk Air, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, would focus the secondary cities of India to start its services soon, so that both tourism and business prospects could be improved, a top company official has said.
Since major cities and metros in the country having already reached a saturation level, it would be fruitful to tap fast growing cities, David Lim, Silkair's Vice-President, Commercial, told reporters last night at the Coimbatore Airport.
Lim, here to launch the first direct service between Singapore and Coimbatore, said that depending on the success the service would be increased to five a week from the present thrice a week.
George Abraham, a member of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, part of the delegation brought by Silkair, said that they would meet captains of industry in the city, a leading manufacturing hub of the country, for possible tie-up.
29/10/07 Zee News

Ministry wants end to PSU oilcos' ATF monopoly

New Delhi: The aviation turbine fuel (ATF) market, till now the monopoly of public sector oil companies, could soon witness competition as the ministry of civil aviation has urged the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop common fuel infrastructure at airports and enable private oil retailers, such as Reliance and Essar, to enter the fray. The ministry has said throughput charge should not be the basis for awarding contracts to oil companies for supplying the fuel.
The move is intended to stop the trend of public sector oil companies, such as IOC, quoting a higher throughput charge to bag the contract and then passing on the extra burden to airlines. AAI awards fuel supply contracts to companies that promise the maximum throughput charge to it.
Airlines feel competition in ATF supply would lead to lower prices. They have been pushing for oil supply infrastructure to be converted into a common carrier so more players can enter this business. The civil aviation ministry is also supportive of this move as it could lead to some moderation in ATF prices in India, which are among the highest in the world.
“We have asked AAI to help us rationalise the fuel price in the country and bring it to international levels,” an official in the ministry of civil aviation said.
29/10/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Jet may start cargo airline

Chennai: Jet Airways is thinking of starting a cargo airline next year, the company’s Chairman, Mr Naresh Goyal, told journalists here on Sunday. He noted that with India’s cross-border trade growing, there was a need for air cargo services. He mentioned in particular the growing trade links with China.
Jet is also thinking of setting up a maintenance-repair-overhaul centre. Three cities are under consideration for locating the MRO centre — Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, Mr Goyal said. Chennai is the more likely choice than the other two cities. In addition to the MRO, Jet would also set up an academy for training pilots and crew, Mr Goyal said.
Mr Goyal was here in connection with the launch of the Chennai-Brussels-Newark and Chennai-Brussels-Toronto flights.
For these routes, Jet will use a new Airbus 330-200 aircraft, which will carry passengers in 2-class layout.
28/10/07 Business Line

No need for Noida airport, DIAL tells government

New Delhi: Responding to a cabinet proposal to build a new airport in Jewar, Noida, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the joint venture that operates Delhi airport, has told the ministry of civil aviation that the expanded capacity of the modernised airport will take care of the entire traffic requirement in the 150-km catchment area around Delhi for the next 20 years. Jewar is 68 km from Delhi airport.
DIAL executives have pointed out that globally, a second airport in such close proximity comes up only when the first one is saturated. Otherwise, a second airport leads to two weak airports as well as huge additional costs in infrastructure development.
Delhi airport is being developed to cater to 100 million passengers a year against a current traffic flow of around 20 million passengers.
The airport is being developed at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore. The traffic and cargo forecast was drawn up for a 150-km catchment area when the bids were placed.
The government owns 26 per cent in DIAL through the Airports Authority of India, with Hyderabad-based GMR holding 50.1 per cent.
29/10/07 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

Tiger Airways launches first service to India

Singapore: Budget carrier Tiger Airways launched its first flight to India and a fifth service to southern China from its Singapore base on Sunday.
The Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger broadened its international network with the flight to the southern Indian city of Chennai and the new service to Xiamen.
"These new routes are a significant opportunity for Tiger Airways to bring affordable travel to Asia's fast growing markets of India and China," said chief executive officer Tony Davis.
The Xiamen service seals the carrier's "position as the largest international low fare airline to serve China," Davis said.
Tiger Airways is the only budget airline to offer services across the "whole of Asia-Pacific, encompassing China, South-East Asia, India and Australia," he added.
29/10/07 DPA/Newindpress

BA to fly A380 on India route soon

New Delhi: After domestic carrier Kingfisher Airlines booked 10 of the world’s biggest flying machine to operate in the domestic and international circuit, British Airways plans to fly the superjumbo to India to tap this booming market. British Airways general manager Asia-Pacific Robert Baird told ET: “We have confirmed orders of the A380. We have had a phenomenal growth in traffic from India and a big aircraft like A380 will help us meet the increasing demand and deliver better service in this volume market.”
In the past two years, British Airways services to India have grown by a staggering 50% and has increased its daily flights to 43 from 19. India is the third-largest market for the airline after the US and Australia and its is also looking for newer routes. The airlines has booked 12 A380s which are expected to be delivered by 2012.
With an aim to provide world-class services to its passengers, British Airways has asked Indian authorities to allocate fresh space to set up new lounges.
29/10/07 Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times

Passengers using Karippur airport form front

Doha: Representatives of passengers using Karippur airport in the Indian State of Kerala have formed a “broader front”, comprising of many Doha-based expatriate forums representing people from areas north of Thrissur district.
This came about at a meeting of the users of Karippur airport, convened by Indian Muslim Cultural Centre (IMCC) at Qatar Malayali Samajam on Saturday.
The new front is named Calicut Gulf Air Passengers Action Committee (Gapac).
The first meeting of the “broader front” will be held on Kerala State formation day on November 1, said the organisers.
President of Indian Cultural and Arts Society (Incas) K K Usman has been elected chairman of Gapac.
Fareed Thikkodi (Thanima) and M Usman were elected convenor and vice-chairman respectively. Faisal Nallalam, Nissar Toufeeq, Ahmed Pathirippatta, Shanavaz, Jaleel, M K Areef, Abdulrahman Purackad, and Anil Kumar are other members.
The chairman said they would co-ordinate with similar forums in other GCC states.
At the meeting on Saturday, a number of passengers spoke of bad experiences at the airport.
29/10/07 Gulf Times, Qatar

Dabolim should have bigger passenger terminus: Shantaram

Margao: The Rajya Sabha MP from Goa, Mr Shantaram Naik today demanded that Dabolim airport should have a bigger integrated passenger terminus than the one planned.
The planned terminus can cater to not more than 1,000 passengers per day, he added.
Mr Naik said in a statement that the daily traffic at the airport was around 4,000 passengers, Dabolim should have a passenger terminus to cater to at least 3,000 passengers, if on account of constraint of land availability, a bigger terminus cannot be constructed.
The MP said that he has been consistently arguing in the Mopa committee that the Indian Navy has to produce the title documents of the land occupied by them at Dabolim including the land transferred by them to the Airport Authority of India.
28/10/07 Navhind Times

Calcutta runway closed for repair

Calcutta: The primary runway of Calcutta airport will remain closed during the day till October 31. Flights will take off from and land on the secondary runway during the period.
“The main runway is being closed down between 10.30am and 5.30pm since Saturday for preventive maintenance work,” said a senior airport official. According to airport sources, frequent damage to the runway surface has necessitated the maintenance work.
While the minimum visibility required for a flight to take off from or touch down on the primary runway is 350 metres, the corresponding figure for the secondary runway is 3,000 metres. Jumbo aircraft find it difficult to take off from the secondary runway, which at 2,399 metres is significantly shorter than the main runway (3,627 metres).
On Sunday, the Calcutta-London Air India flight was to take off around 1pm. “But since it is a large plane and the visibility had dropped below 3,000 metres, the repair work had to be stopped to allow the flight take off,” stated the official.
“The primary runway surface is peeling off regularly. Since the runway was operational throughout the day, we could not carry out the maintenance work earlier,” added an official.
Earlier, the runway had been closed down for an hour for patchwork but that proved inadequate.
29/10/07 The Telegraph

Emirates expands Mumbai link

Dubai: Starting today, Emirates will introduce an additional daily flight to Mumbai, offering passengers a second morning departure to India's commercial hub and boosting the weekly service to 28 flights per week.
The Dubai-based airline has been steadily building up its presence in India owing to escalating demand for air travel triggered by the country's burgeoning economy. Earlier this year, Emirates enhanced its present 19-flights-per-week Mumbai service with the launch of two additional frequencies, taking the weekly total to 21 flights.
The airline also commenced a double-daily service to Chennai, and added three additional flights each to Kochi and Hyderabad.
Emirates flight EK506, an Airbus A330 aircraft offering 12 first, 42 business and 183 economy class seats, and 17 tonnes of cargo capacity per week per direction, will depart Dubai at 9:30am daily, touching down at Mumbai at 1:45pm hours.
The return flight, EK507, will take off from Mumbai at 3:15pm and arrive in Dubai at 5pm.
28/10/07 Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

AAI finds fault with MIAL signboards at airport site

Mumbai: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has objected to the signboards put up on the airport land by Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), a joint venture company that operates Mumbai airport. According to AAI, the signboards suggest that the land jointly belongs to MIAL and AAI. AAI said the land is leased and therefore MIAL does not have the ownership.
MIAL, which is in the middle of rebuilding Mumbai airport, has put up scores of signboards on different parts of the land that reads: ‘This land belongs to Airport Authority of India / Mumbai International Airport Private. Trespassers will be prosecuted.’
The innocuous wordings could have serious implications, say AAI sources. The claim of ownership can be critical as far as the purpose for which land can be used, since the owner of the land has the right to develop the land the way he wants it. But land on lease can be utilised only as per the agreement signed between the lessee and the lessor, and in this case land leased to MIAL can be used only for airport development.
In its 2006 agreement with MIAL, AAI had leased the land for 30 years. What may have perturbed AAI is the possibility that any claim of ownership of land can result into it being used for purposes other than airport development.
29/10/07 M Padmakshan/Econoimic Times

Bajpe airport now handles 15 domestic services

Mangalore: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Sunday started handling three more daily domestic flight services at Bajpe airport here. In the international sector, the flight between Mangalore and Dubai was increased from five to seven. In all, four flight services were launched on Sunday.
With these, the Kingfisher Airlines has connected Mangalore with all major cities in the west coast region. Mangalore has now got air-connectivity with Mumbai, Goa, Kozhikode, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram, apart from Bangalore, in the domestic sector. Kingfisher Airlines introduced flight services between Mangalore and Mumbai and Mangalore and Kochi on Sunday.
Air India Express introduced Kozhikode(Calicut)-Mangalore (domestic) and Mangalore-Dubai (international) service also on Sunday. This is a single flight which takes off from Kozhikode and reaches Dubai via Mangalore. On its return journey to Kozhikode, it again touches Mangalore.
29/10/07 The Hindu/Bellevision

German fleet welcomes Assam brew on board

Calcutta: A Tea Board official said Lufthansa, the second largest airline in Europe, had decided to include “Assam Tea” on the list of beverages to be served on all its flights.
It will be the first time that tea produced in that part of the world will be served on international flights. The delicate flavours of Darjeeling and Nilgiri teas had so far been preferred over strong Assam liquor,
“Assam orthodox tea will be served along with Darjeeling and Nilgiri teas. Discussions in this regard are on. We are expecting to introduce these brands on the German airline very soon,” the director of tea promotion in the Tea Board, Anandita Rai, told The Telegraph.
A Lufthansa official based in Delhi confirmed the development. “We are delighted to have Assam Tea on our menu,” the official said over phone from Delhi.
The decision was prompted by the fact that “Indian tea is very popular with passengers all over the world,” she added.
28/10/07 Pullock Dutta in Guwahati & Sanjay Mandal in Culcutta/The Telegraph

Cooch Behar airport hope brightens

Cooch Behar: A 48-seater ATR-42 aircraft of Air Deccan landed at Cooch Behar Airport yesterday increasing speculations about the resumption of air service from the airport soon. The aircraft had taken off from Dum Dum with 17 crew members and officials of Air Deccan including the Base Captain, Dum Dum, Mr NC Haldar and two pilots ~ Mr Jose M Pinilla and Mr Sergio Carrasco.
Although no one could say for certain when air service would resume from the airport, Mr Haldar said a detailed report would be submitted to the AAI authorities about yesterday's flight. He expressed hope that air service between Cooch Behar and Kolkata may start from next month. According to the Air Deccan personnel, the runway was good enough for operations. During trial they took off from the airport and landed again successfully. Finally, they flew back to Kolkata around noon.
28/10/07 The Statesman

Smile and shine

Mumbai: With the airline industry expecting a growth rate of 25 percent rate per annum, analysts predict a 7,000-8,000 plus requirement for cabin crew (air hostesses and flight pursers) in the next three years. Read On >>

Drug haul at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A Canadian was arrested with pure Afghan heroin worth Rs12 crore on Sunday at the Delhi airport.
The seizure by the DRI, reconfirms fears that India is a major global hub for smuggling out heroin produced in Afghanistan.
Josye M Vargas, a bartender in Canada, was to board a Cathay Pacific flight from Delhi to Vancouver at 7.30 am when the DRI officials nabbed him.
DRI officials said both his briefcases had false cavities and they had concealed nearly twelve kilograms of high quality Afghan heroin.
29/10/07 Aditya Kaul/Daily News & Analysis

Morning flight from Bangalore to Mangalore

Mangalore: Come December, people from Bangalore can rise early and have their cup of coffee or tea in Mangalore.
Similarly, air travellers from Mangalore can have breakfast at Bangalore. And, they can conveniently also have dinner at their respective homes.
A private airliner, which is already operating between Mangalore and Bangalore twice a day, has planned to advance its morning schedule in December, according to sources at Bajpe airport here.
Its morning flight is expected to leave Bangalore at 6 a.m. and arrive in Mangalore at 6.50 a.m. On its return journey, the flight will leave Mangalore at 7.05 a.m. and reach Bangalore at 8 a.m., sources said. At present, the first flight from Bangalore to Mangalore arrives at 9.20 a.m. and departs to Bangalore at 9.35 a.m.
28/10/07 The Hindu/Mangalorean.com

Department of Posts plan to expand air cargo service

New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of its maiden air cargo service to the North-Eastern States a couple of months ago, the Department of Posts (DoP) has now approached the Planning Commission seeking funds for acquiring or leasing at least five more airplanes to expand its freighter service to other sectors.
Senior DoP officials have approached the Planning Commission as well as the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology seeking necessary funds and permission to expand the air cargo service to other States.
Stating that the Planning Commission has given in-principle approval to the plan, the official said the DoP wants immediate sanctioning of funds to add at least one more plane for the cargo service soon, while the remaining four freighter aircraft could be added to the fleet in a phased manner so that the mail and parcel delivery system in the country could be made more efficient.
On August 29 this year the DoP had launched its air cargo service to the North-East by leasing a Boeing 737-200 from Air India.
28/10/07 Sandeep Joshi/The Hindu

Anti-Terrorist Drill at Patna Airport Shocks Many

Patna: State's top officials in Patna on Saturday, took the entire law and order machinery by surprise when they conducted a mock anti-terrorist drill at Patna's Jai Prakash International Airport to review the emergency preparedness in the event of an actual such incident.
The exercise that was kept top secret from even some top police officials began at around 11:45 pm when authorities were informed that a plane at the airport tarmac had been hijacked by some criminals demanding the release of one of their comrades from the jail.
Within minutes, armed commandos swooped on the airport with sharpshooters strategically placed to deal with the terrorists. Language experts were also called in to interpret the 'terrorists' demands.
Chief Secretary Afzal Amanullah, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kundan Krishnan, Special Branch, and the Investigation Bureau officials were present at the airport to monitor the entire drill.
27/10/07 Patna Daily

Govt seeks legal view on GMR's funding for Delhi Airport

New Delhi: Questioning the advance that GMR Group is seeking from commercial developers for space at the Delhi Airport, the government has sought legal opinion on the funding structure for the Rs 9,000 crore modernisation plan.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has approached the Law Ministry on the Rs 50 crore per acre sought by GMR-led Delhi International Airport Private Ltd (DIAL) for 45 acre of commercial space as 8-10 per cent lease rental, a move aimed at raising Rs 2,250 crore.
When contacted, ministry sources confirmed the move while indicating reservation on the quantum of advance that could come in the way of higher rental.
The issue, if not cleared at the earliest could impact the financial closure of the project targeted to be completed ahead of Commonwealth Games in 2010.
When contacted, a spokesperson for GMR said it has asked for clearance of the master plan as also the funding structure which is as per Operation, Management and Development Agreement, a deal document signed between Airports Authority of India (AAI) and GMR for the project that would scale up the airport's capacity to handle 35 million passengers a year.
28/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

Plan your dream vaction in advance to get bargains

New Delhi: With year-end vacations round the corner, airlines are vying with each other to launch special packages and promotional fares, particularly seeing the new demand for offbeat destinations.
These new or off-beat destinations include places such as Europe, Germany, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand and even China where tourists are planning their year-end holidays.
Says Rajji Rai, secretary general, Travel Agent Association of India (TAAI): “Air travel has increased by 18 to 20% in the past year. We expect at least the same rise this time, particularly in next three months.
But off-beat is where the interesting action lies. People are coming to us looking for something different, from Innsbruck in Austria to Auckland in New Zealand. Advance bookings have already started. We hope to make as much in next three months as we do in the rest of the year.”
Another reason why people are opting for these off-beat destinations is attractive packages. A five-night-six days trip to Austria will cost you Rs 60,000 per person, while the same package to Germany will cost you Rs 65,000 per person.
A five-night package to Europe and South Africa will cost anything between Rs 80,000 and Rs 85,000. For China, the cost per person will be Rs 50,000.
28/10/07 Raja Awasthi & Dheeraj Tiwari/Economic Times

Sikhs welcome TSA turban rule change

Washington: The modification in the rules regarding security made by the Transportation Security Administration to correct the policy of indiscriminate screening of Sikhs' turbans at American airports has been largely welcomed by the US Sikhs.
The TSA announced an adjustment of its screening policies for headwear which included Turbans. Now, the airport screeners will no longer 'pat down' Sikhs wearing turbans and they will have the choice to go through alternative security measures.
Alternatives may include walking through a machine that detects explosive chemicals. Or Sikhs could agree to pat down their own turbans, and then have their hands swabbed with a cloth that is tested for chemical residue.
27/10/07 Daljit Singh/World Sikh News, US

Metro link between old, new airports

Mumbai: A Metro rail link is being planned between the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport at Panvel and the old domestic and international terminals for the benefit of air passengers and commuters.
MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said the new link, planned by Cidco and his agency, would run along the second line of the Metro’s Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route. "There will be a new link from Mankhurd to Navi Mumbai. The distance from Mankhurd to Navi Mumbai airport is estimated to be 20 km," said Gaikwad.
MMRDA officials said the extra 20 km from Mankhurd to Panvel would be planned as a separate project and the survey for it might be done by RITES. These will be combined at a later stage.
This is being done as planning for the Metro’s Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd line is almost complete, said officials.
A small link has already been planned from Santa Cruz airport to Bandra-Kurla Complex to meet the Metro line. This will allow passengers to alight at the terminal and go directly to the Panvel airport.
The officials stated that while the financial details were yet to worked out, the extra bill could run up to Rs 1,200 crore-Rs 1,500 crore.
28/10/07 Ashley D’Mello/Times of India

Coolest cargo flies Emirates

Emirates six-flights-a-week service to Ahmedabad, effective on Monday, heralds the introduction of Emirates SkyCargo’s Cool Chain Solutions to the state’s pharmaceutical industry.
From Ahmedabad, Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo arm of the Dubai-based airline will offer over 110 tonnes of capacity per week per direction, together with its specially-designed temperature-controlled air cargo containers that maintain stable interior temperatures throughout the journey. Featuring active temperature control systems that range from -20°C to +20°C, Emirates SkyCargo’s containers keep product temperature stable despite fluctuations in ambient temperatures.
Home to over 3000 pharmaceutical industrial units, and investing over US1.6 billion in the industry, Gujarat contributes 28 per cent to the production and export basket of India’s pharmaceutical sector.
As a result of a global network spanning 94 gateways in 60 countries and a seamless transportation chain using the latest technologies in air cargo containers, life-saving medicines from Ahmedabad will make their way to pharmacies in the Middle East, Europe, United States of America, Far East, and Africa.
27/10/07 Malta Independent Online, Malta

End AI, Indian monopoly, allow more foreign carriers from Kozhikode: JD(S)

Kozhikode: The Civil Aviation Ministry should allow more private airlines to operate to foreign destinations from the Karipur international airport here to end the 'monopoly' of Air India and Indian, MP and Janata Dal(S) Kerala unit President, M P Veerendrakumar said on Saturday.
"A severe injustice continues to be perpetrated on the hapless people of North Kerala. It is only just and fair that their demand for a larger bouquet of private services to foreign destinations be met," he said in a letter to Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel.
Stating that the 'monopoly' enjoyed by Air India and Indian had resulted in tardy services, the JD(S) leader said the recent permission to private operators to fly from Coimbatore to destinations abroad "has compounded the unrest".
While Coimbatore attracted only 1,033 international passengers in March 2007, Calicut had 78,343 passengers during the period. "It is even more shocking that though Calicut attracts more passengers than even Calcutta and Ahmedabad, no private airline is allowed to operate to foreign destinations from Karipur," Veerendrakumar said.
27/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

Air India withdraws four flights from Sunday

Kochi: Indian (Air India's domestic service arm) announced that it had withdrawn four of its flights with effect from Sunday.
The flights are: IC 466 Kochi-Delhi; IC 465 Delhi-Kochi; ic575 Chennai-Kochi-GOA-Kuwait and IC 576 Kuwait-Goa-Kochi-Chnnai flights, the airlines said in a press release here.
No reason has been attributed by the company for withdrawing the flights.
27/10/07 PTI/Newindpress

Navy should not make Goa Govt beg for Dabolim land: Naik

Panaji: Indian Navy should not make state government and Airport Authority of India go with a begging bowl before them for land to expand Dabolim airport in south Goa district, a Congress MP said here.
"The land actually belongs to the Government of Goa and the Indian Navy has not produced any deed of transfer of it when it was taken over during Goa liberation in 1961," Rajya Sabha member Shantaram Naik, who is member of state committee looking into feasibility of new airport in Goa, said on Saturday.
With serious doubts being raised on proposed international airport at Mopa in north Goa, the state government is following up their plans of Dabolim airport expansion which can accommodate more traffic.
After an intense agitation opposing Mopa airport in the state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a committee headed by state Chief Minister to decide on the issue.
27/10/07 PTI/The Hindu

Coimbatore Airport to get a new look

Coimbatore: The Airport Authority of India has given its approval for modification and expansion of the Coimbatore Airport terminal buildings at an outlay of Rs. 78 crore. The project, to be implemented in two years, will give the airport a new look and a host of new facilities.
Airport Director K. Hemalatha confirmed the approval and said the project would include installation of two new aerobridges, elevators/escalators and a conveyor belt to carry baggage. At present the airport does not have an aerobridge and passengers have to walk through the tarmac/apron and climb the passenger step ladder (PSL) vehicle to get onto the flight. Aerobridges take the passengers straight into the flight from the terminal building. Aerobridges will also help reduce human or vehicle movement on the tarmac.
Efforts are on to get feeder conveyors that will feed the luggage onto the conveyor directly after weighing it. Customs counters will be fully refurbished and there will be adequate space for new facilities such as customs duty paid shop and foreign exchange counters.
28/10/07 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

Air India Dubai-Jaipur Flights From Sunday

The Air India Express will begin its flights to Dubai from here Sunday, making Jaipur the 11th Indian city for the airline to have direct flights to the Gulf.
The flights will be on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The airliner will also commence its flights from Lucknow to Dubai on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, making it the 12th city to have flights to the Gulf.
The flights from these two cities have been included in the airline's new winter schedule effective Oct 28, an official release said Saturday.
With the introduction of the new flights, Air India Express will now operate 46 flights a week to Dubai from 12 Indian destinations - Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Trichy, Amritsar, Nagpur, New Delhi, Jaipur and Lucknow.
27/10/07 NEWSPost India

B.C. taking Air India defendant to court for millions owed

Vancouver: The B.C. government is going to court to try to recover the millions it lent Ripudaman Singh Malik to pay for the legal team that won him an acquittal in his Air India bombing trial, the Vancouver Sun has learned.
The Attorney General's office quietly filed its case on Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court against Malik, his wife Raminder, two relatives and two family companies.
The suit alleges Malik has violated the security agreement he signed with the B.C. government to borrow $6.4 million to pay his lawyers when he was on trial for two June 23, 1985 bombings that killed 331.
The suit has been filed against several family properties, according to Land Title records obtained by the Sun, preventing them from being sold or mortgaged.
The properties include the family's home, the warehouse in which their Papillon clothing company is based and the Executive Inn in Harrison Hot Springs that one of their companies owns.
In the fall of 2003, Ripudaman Malik signed an agreement with the B.C. government to borrow money for his legal defence in the Air India terrorism case, using some of his properties and businesses as collateral.
Mortgages totaling $1.6 million were registered by the attorney general against Malik's interest in the family home, the hotel and the warehouse, as well as against shares in some of the companies.
The province seeks to recover the money plus interest from March 26, 2005, until a ruling in the case, even if it means selling the properties.
The lawsuit demands that the government get its money from the proceeds of any sale before other mortgages registered by friends and relatives are paid, claiming: "these mortgages were made with intent to delay, hinder or defraud the petitioner of its just and lawful remedies and are void."
Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted of all charges in the unprecedented bombing case on March 16, 2005.
Also named as a defendant in the government's lawsuit is Malik's older brother Gurdip, a Californian businessman who tried to sue Malik for money he provided to the Air India legal defence team, as well as a Surrey businessman, Balbir Singh Bajwa, who is a relative of one of Malik's daughters-in-law and also lent him money during his trial. Both men hold mortgages on some of the Malik properties.
27/10/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/ Vancouver Sun/Canada.com, Canada