Airlines asked to list breakup of fares

Hyderabad: The civil aviation ministry has directed all carriers to disclose the total amount a passenger has to pay to the airline in a move to ensure greater transparency in airfares.
The directive comes as a relief for all air travelers as airlines will provide a complete break-up of the surcharges a passenger needs to pay in addition to the basic fare. Besides the basic fare, a passenger pays airport tax, fuel surcharge, passenger service fee (PSF) to the airline. Some airports also charge a user development fee (UDF) for availing the services at the airport.
The composite fare would ensure that no additional amount is charged by the airline over and above the airfare. The move by the ministry comes after several passengers and travel agents were up in arms for the misinformation about the airfare provided by the airlines to the passengers, said Vijay Mohan Raj, Chairman Communications, TAAI.
The travel agents under all the five associations namely Travel Agents Association of India, Travel Agents Federation of India, Indian Association of Tour Operators, Association of Inbound Tour Operators, IATA Agents Association of India had earlier raised objections on the airlines decision waive commission. Rs 33,000 crore comes from bookings made by the agents, said Vijay Mohan Raj.
01/05/09 Economic Times

Air Works’ ex-staffer may be arrested soon

Mumbai: A former employee with Air Works, the company that was responsible for maintaining Anil Ambani’s helicopter, could be apprehended by the police team investigating the sensational case involving an alleged bid to sabotage the ADAG group chairman’s chopper.
According to sources in the Mumbai Crime Branch. the suspect was also involved in similar incidents at Air Works earlier. A senior police official confirmed this development but refused to clarify whether the suspect has been questioned already. However, sources indicated the employee had been grilled and he may be arrested on Friday. Some sources say he may already have been arrested, possibly late on Thursday.
In the past year, around four incidents have occurred at the company involving tampering of aircraft, say investigators. Fire crackers were hurled once at the chopper of a well-known business tycoon, and in another case, stones were thrown at another chopper which Air Works was in charge of maintaining. Some employees were also nabbed by the company security while they were trying to damage the fire equipment in the hanger, police sources say. Though no police complaints were registered in these cases, the investigations have revealed that one person, who was suspended later, was behind all these incidents. The police say the main suspect was working in connivance with two other persons, who too were suspended from Air Works.
The Crime Branch believes the same person is behind the latest incident too, and are checking the phone records of the suspect. Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner (Crime), Mumbai Police, confirmed that there had been incidents involving showdown between Air Works management and its employees.
A K Sharma, Commissioner, Government Railway Police (GRP) , said, “Our investigations have revealed that management and employees had some disagreement and that some disgruntled elements may be involved in the incident.” The GRP is investigating the accidental death of Bharat Borge, the key witness in the chopper case. The police say the death could be a suicide, but are yet to book anyone for abetment to suicide.
Meanwhile, the crime branch on Thursday questioned 14 more people in the case. The crime branch had sent the pebbles for the test and are now waiting for the results which would indicate the origin of the pebbles.
01/05/09 Sachin Dave/Economic Times

AAI union calls off stir after HC intervention

New Delhi: Air passengers can rest easy for a while as the Airports Authority Employees Union deferred its strike after the Delhi high court on Thursday extended Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) deadline for them till July 31. Justice S Ravindra Bhat extended the deadline, which was going to expire on Thursday, to enable the employees to make ‘‘reasonable choices’’. The court’s direction came on a petition filed by Airport Authority Employees Union challenging an agreement under which they were being transferred to different zones in the country if they didn’t opt for VRS, nor were absorbed by DIAL or MIAL. Nearly 4,000 employees are likely to be affected by the transfers.
The union had contended that the transfers were not allowed under the Airport Authority of India Act. ‘‘Most employees of AAI were employed at the time the Act was in existence and the transfer clause did not exist for its ‘B’ and ‘C’ category employees,’’ the court noted, adding the interest of employees has to be protected.
The court also extended the tenure of the tripartite committee set up by the civil aviation ministry comprising employees representatives, Airport Authority and officials of the ministry till July 31. The committee has been asked to submit its report by June 15 to the government.
01/05/09 Times of India

Air hostesses spar midair over veg meal

New Delhi: On Thursday, passengers flying on Indian Airlines’ flight from Mumbai to Delhi witnessed a rare fight between two air hostesses — one of them from Air India flying as staff-on-duty to operate another flight from here — when she did not get the meal she wanted.
The spat in full public view — between the IC and AI air hostesses — happened on IC 166 soon after take off from Mumbai. Since domestic passengers don’t give their preferred meal choice at the time of booking, airlines carry an equal number of veg and non-veg meals. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and on flights out of Gujarat, the demand for veg meals is higher due to religious considerations.
‘‘Once the crew started serving meals on the flight, the AI air hostess told the IC air hostess that she has veg meals on Thursdays. But by then, the veg meals had run out. So, the IC air hostess politely offered to give her fruits, bread or salad instead as the former was getting very angry. When the lady still did not relent, the air hostess assured her that she would ensure she gets veg food on arrival in Delhi,’’ said sources.
But when nothing could soothe the AI air hostess, her IC counterpart also reportedly lost her cool after putting up with a deluge of taunts for nearly half an hour. And then the two women — ironically of the same airline since IA and AI have now been merged — had a slanging match for some time.
The incident highlights the deep distrust between IA and AI employees, which has made their merger a nightmare.
01/05/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Arvind Jadhav is new CMD of NACIL

New Delhi: Arvind Jadhav, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, has been appointed the chairman and managing director (CMD) of National Aviation Co. of India Ltd (Nacil), which runs the Air India branded airlines. The appointment has been approved by the Prime Minister’s Office late on Thursday evening, a senior government official told Mint. Jadhav’s candidature was suggested by a committee headed by cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar last week after the government decided to replace the incumbent CMD Raghu Menon. Jadhav is likely to take office on Monday.
01/05/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Police give clean chit to ADAG officials in Borge's death case

Mumbai: Railway police today gave clean chit to three officials of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) whose statements were recorded in connection with the death of Airworks technician Bharat Borge.
These officials had met Borge at Airworks hanger in Kalina on Monday, a day before he was found dead on railway tracks.
"We do not suspect the role of these officers in influencing Borge (or) leading to his death. They just casually met him and spoke to him," Prakash Sawant, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Government Railway Police, told PTI. Borge was the technician who found pebbles and gravels in the fuel tank of Industrialist Anil Ambani's helicopter.
"In fact, the trio had appreciated Borge after they came to know that he was the person to have discovered pebbles and gravels in the fuel tank of helicopter", the officer said.
The ADAG officials who were given clean chit are: security officer and former DGP, K K Kashyap, retired assistant commissioner of police Shailesh Kale and the company's aviation security officer and Retired Wing Commander Sawla.
01/05/09 Press Trust of India

Kingfisher plane nose gear collapses, passengers safe

New Delhi/Mumbai: The nose wheel gear of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.’s Mumbai-Vadodra flight with 46 passengers on board collapsed on Thursday afternoon at the Mumbai airport when the aircraft was being towed to the runway for take-off.
This is the second safety-related incident the airline has faced in a fortnight. On 19 April, 138 passengers aboard Kingfisher’s Kolkata-Hyderabad-Bangalore flight on an Airbus A320-232 aircraft had a narrow escape after the aircraft veered and skidded off the runway at Bengaluru International Airport due to rain and high winds.
“The Mumbai-Baroda (flight with) 46 passengers onboard (was) pushed back (by a tow truck) at 1634 hrs; at 1642 hrs the nose wheel tyre burst, all passengers (were) off loaded, (and there were) no casualties reported,” a Mumbai International Airport Ltd spokesman said in a text message.
This is the first incident of a nose wheel collapse in the country this year in an industry that is trying to keep afloat as it suffers massive losses. In 2008, the nose wheel of an Air India aircraft being prepared for a Mumbai-Dubai flight collapsed during a pre-flight inspection at the parking bay of the Mumbai airport.
“It appears that on pushback, the tow-bar pin sheared and the tow-bar tractor propelled forward and came in contact with the nose gear. Preliminary reports indicate damage to nose gear,” Kingfisher Airlines spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said, adding that all the passengers were accommodated in another flight.
30/04/09 Tarun Shukla and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

Rs 77 cr dues paid to AAI, claims Kingfisher

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines today said it has paid an amount of Rs 77 crore outstanding towards the Airports Authority of India and is in full compliance of agreed credit terms with the latter.
Reacting to reports that the a bank cheque of Rs 77 crore given to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by the airline had bounced, the airlines said it has not only paid AAI the amount of Rs 77 crore but is in full compliance of agreed credit terms whereby outstanding amounts at any given point are fully covered by a valid Bank Guarantee.
"In this case, while a cheque was issued to AAI, KFA decided to make a wire transfer and asked AAI to return the cheque. Inadvertently, AAI presented the cheque without any notification to KFA," Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) Chairman Vijay Mallya said in a statement.
01/05/09 Indopia

ATF prices cut by Rs 331 per kilolitre

New Delhi: After three consecutive hikes, state-run oil companies on Thursday reduced jet fuel or ATF prices marginally by about one per cent in tandem with international rates for the same.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum cut aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price by Rs 311 per kilolitre in Delhi to Rs 31,615 per kl with effect from midnight tonight, an IOC official said.
The three firms, which revised jet fuel rates every fortnight based on trends in international markets, had on April 16 increased ATF rates by about 6.7 per cent. This was on top of a steep 10 per cent hike effective April 1 and a marginal Rs 158 per kl increase in the previous fortnight.
In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, rates will drop from Rs 32,854.9 per kl to Rs 32,530 per kl.
The reduction in jet fuel prices announced today varied from airport to airport depending on local taxes and levies, and on average worked out to Rs 331 per kl.
The three hikes, which cumulatively worked out to 17.8 per cent, since March 16, had taken ATF rates in Delhi to Rs 31,926.24 per kl.
30/04/09 PTI/Economic Times

Screening begins with hiccups at BIA

Bangalore: Passenger screening at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) for swine flu commenced on Wednesday and a medical centre has been set up near the immigration centre of the airport.
Though the state health department had said screening would start from Wednesday morning onwards full-fledged screening of international passengers who alighted at the airport actually commenced only by evening as the team of doctors arrived at the airport by around 4 pm.
Until then about five international flights had arrived with a large number of passengers. Prior to the deployment of medical officers, two airports doctors were screening the international passengers. Sources told The New Indian Express that as passengers kept arriving in large volumes it was difficult for the doctors to screen them and that there could have been instances of random screening done until the team of state-appointed doctors arrived at the airport.
30/04/09 ExpressBuzz

Equity prop for AI in the air

New Delhi: The government may clear Air India’s proposal for fresh equity infusion but is unlikely to accept the state-run carrier’s request for a Rs 2,750-crore bailout package.
The increased equity will help Air India (AI) to leverage loans to buy planes. Top officials said a plea for a Rs 1,231-crore infusion, which could take its total equity to nearly Rs 1,400 crore, may be accepted.
The airline needs the equity funding to leverage loans for its Rs 44,000-crore fleet acquisition programme to buy some 111 aircraft.
In the current financial year, it needs to pay Rs 8,165.44 crore to pay for the new aircraft even as it faces an accumulated loss of over Rs 4,300 crore.
Air India’s equity after merger with Indian Airlines has been calculated at Rs 145 crore. The capital to borrowing ratio after taking on loans to complete its fleet acquisition works out to 1:169. Even after infusion of fresh equity, the ratio would only improve to 1:29.
According to officials, a fresh round of equity infusion may not be enough for Air India and the government may have to agree to issue fresh capital to the public to raise more funds later.
Many government officials are advising Air India to delay its plane buy so that the fleet expansion does not take place during the recession. The decision to raise equity may be based on such an advice.
Air India has argued that the government, as the owner of the national carrier, should provide a bailout as the cost of the merger. But this argument has found few takers in the government.
According to AI, the merger has meant shutting down offices, redeploying personnel and fleet and bringing in new software to integrate ticketing systems. If the government agrees to the soft loan package for AI, officials feel, it may prompt PSUs in other sectors to seek such bailouts.
30/04/09 Jayanta Roy Chowdhury/The Telegraph

Over 3,500 passengers screened at Chennai airport

Chennai: About 3,500 people were screened for symptoms of swine flu at the international terminal in Chennai Airport since Wednesday evening. However no cases of the disease were detected, not even remote symptoms.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr S Elango - Director of Public Health said that the health department at the airport was working in coordination with the team of five doctors that had been deputed by the Ministry of Public Health.
“The AAI people have been asked to report to our doctors in case they hear of any passenger with even the smallest of symptoms of this flu. They will provide the trav el history of this passenger which will help us determine if he was in the epidemic affected region before his entry into India.
People with symptoms of N1 and H1 are to be sent for quarantine,” Dr Elango said.
A quarantine centre has been set up at the Communicable Diseases Hospital in Tondiarpet for bringing in all patients with the flu symptoms.
At the airport ten doctors and 20 paramedics were sent to do the screening with two doctors who will be available at any given point of time.
01/05/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

Summer rush: Waiting lists lengthen for trains, flights from Chandigarh

Chandigarh: If you are planning to go on vacation this summer, make sure you rush to the booking counter and get your train or flight tickets well in advance. A rise in passenger volume owing to the approaching summer holidays has led to the increasingly long waiting lists in train reservations from Chandigarh even in cases where bookings have been made a month in advance.
“I wanted to get a ticket booked for Mumbai, but there is none available before a month. I have to opt for a flight now, which would result in an unwanted increase in my vacation budget,” said Rupali Malhotra, a banker from Chandigarh.
Cashing in on the summer rush, low-budget carrier MDLR airlines will soon introduce flights to hill stations, while other airlines is also expected to follow suit. According to MDLR officials, flights to destinations like Dharamshala, Dehradun and Shimla will be introduced from May. Demand for the recently introduced Kingfisher Airlines flights from Chandigarh to Jammu and Srinagar have also picked up considerably.
“Flights from Chandigarh to Srinagar are getting booked faster than those to Jammu. For a 66-seater plane, occupancy usually hovers around 45, which has gone up in recent days. Chandigarh-Delhi evening flights are going full,” said Gurpreet Kaur, Kingfisher Supervisor (Reservations).
Similar trends in passenger response were confirmed by GoAir that recently began operations in Chandigarh, with flights to Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. Airline staff said flight occupancy for 174-seater planes flying to Delhi and Mumbai had gone up to an average of 150 passengers and is expected to go up further in the coming weeks.
01/04/09 Ritu Sarin/Express India

Lufthansa to close down four sales offices

New Delhi: The 11.1 per cent drop in global passenger demand last month has started showing its impact on the balance sheets of some airlines. German carrier Lufthansa on Thursday registered a 10.3 per cent decline in its global revenue during the first three months of 2009 against a year ago. The airline’s operating loss in the same period stood at euro 44 million.
Lufthansa has been taking various measures to keep it flying. As part of reorganisation of its sales offices, the carrier will shut down its offices in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad from next month.
The airline, which at present operated 54 flights per week from seven destinations in India, is still optimistic about its operations here. “We have been operating in India for 50 years. It is an essential core market. We are not going to change our current summer schedule because of the slowdown,” the airline said in an e-mailed response to Financial Chronicle.
However, the company blamed lower passenger and freight demands for the significant decline in margins. “The current crisis is putting a strain on our profits. But we are developing our core business through the expansion of passenger airline group and strengthening of our alliances and partnerships to emerge from the current financial climate stronger than ever, said Stephan Gemkow, chief financial officer for Lufthansa. The aviation industry has been struggling to survive in the recent scenario.
30/04/09 Parul Chhaparia/mydigitalfc.com

Airport job racket cracked, 5 held

Chennai: The suburban police have arrested five persons in connection with an airport job racket. The case was brought to the notice of suburban police commissioner S R Jangid on March 30.
About 25 youth had filed a complaint alleging that they had been assured of Central government jobs with the Airports Authority of India. In a complaint filed by Ezhumalai, the representative of the victims, he said that he was working with the municipal corporation in the area for the last 20 years and had got in touch with Manibharati alias KG Laxmiswami through a common friend who told him that the latter had helped him get a government job for his wife and could help his boys also.
He said that he knew one Gautam Singh who worked with the AAI in a senior post. He could help them get jobs for his sons and nephews, of course for a consideration. He wanted the boys to pay Rs 1,50,000 each plus a total Rs 1 lakh commission for securing jobs for them. “About 25 of them came forward for the job and coughed up close to Rs 30 lakh. I had had many interactions with Manibharati who also went to the extent of ‘alloting’ them jobs at the airport. Some were given trolly pushing duties while others were assigned computer operations, etc.”
Manibharati also furnished purportedly written by the general manager of AAI on the AAI letterhead congratulating these men on their jobs and called them for a medical examination. On reaching Chennai, they realised it was fake and also that there was no Gautam Singh at the AAI.
01/05/09 ExpressBuzz

Mumbai airport workers can be transferred: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a lawsuit by over 1,600 Mumbai airport workers seeking a stay on their transfer outside the metropolis to small airports following takeover of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport by the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).
A bench of Justices B.N. Aggrawal and G.S. Singhvi dismissed the petition after hearing various parties, including the Airports Authority of India (AAI), MIAL and Mumbai airport workers.
01/05/09 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

Bahrain's Gulf Air walks away from Jet lease deal

Manama: Bahrain's state-owned carrier Gulf Air said it has walked away from a deal to lease four Boeing 777 aircraft from India's Jet Airways , citing economic conditions.
Loss-making Gulf Air said on Thursday it had an option to lease the aircraft after an existing six-month contract expires, but has decided not to go ahead. "After careful analysis of various commercial and other business considerations, Gulf Air has decided not to pursue the dry-lease option for the foreseeable future," the company said.
Dry leases are contracts where airlines lease planes without staff.
Gulf Air said in February it had agreed to lease four Boeing 777s as part of its efforts to replace its fleet.
The existing six-month contract is a wet lease agreement, which typically includes staff. A Gulf Air spokeswoman said the airline had received the fourth plane under that deal on Thursday.
30/04/09 Reuters

Qatar Airways suspends flights to Nagpur

Doha: Qatar Airways, which has been operating a direct flight between Nagpur and Doha for the last two years, has decided to suspend the flight from May 15 due to poor load factor from the Indian city’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.
Qatar Airways will be the second airline to suspend its international operations from Nagpur after India’s state-run carrier Air India, which suspended its Hyderabad-Nagpur-Bangkok flight an year ago.
Qatar Airways launched its twice-weekly flights to Nagpur in September 2007. Initially, the flight received a tremendous response from passengers as it was the only flight with connections to cities like London, Washington, New York and Paris from Nagpur. However, for the last few months the global economic slowdown and the poor load factor due to rising air fares had badly affected operations of the flight, sources added.
A senior official of the airline said on condition of anonymity, “The flight was being operated with very poor load factor for the last few months. The airline has incurred losses in hundreds of thousands and is planning to withdraw the Nagpur-Doha flights permanently.”
01/05/09 Victor Ikoli/The Peninsula, Qatar