Kinetic’s airport media arm Aviator takes off in India today

Kinetic, the WPP-owned lifestyle and environment agency, is launching its airport and in-flight media specialist, Aviator, in India on August 1, 2011. The strategic business unit is an important addition to the Aviator network, currently in existence across London, Singapore and New York, and brings the total number of multilingual media experts at Aviator to 48.

Aviator India will be headed by Anu Gera, Business Director at Kinetic India. The team will be based out of Mumbai and will have members in Bangalore and Delhi as well.

Aviator provides media solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of every client. Prior to any media plan being developed, Aviator’s in-house planning division is briefed and uses a combination of individual airport, industry data and proprietary Kinetic planning tools to provide invaluable insights into the target audience and markets.

01/08/11 Shanta Saikia/exchange4media.com

GR Gopinath’s intra-state aviation plan nixed

New Delhi: Low-cost aviation pioneer GR Gopinath’s dream of providing intra-state connectivity in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal may remain just that — a dream.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has turned down his proposal to begin charter services in these states, citing many loopholes in his application for importing two 72-seater ATR aircraft on wet lease.
Under wet lease, an airline hires not just an aircraft but pilots and crew.
Unless the Ministry of civil aviation overrules DGCA and grants permission to Gopinath, Deccan Charters’ plans will not takeoff.
Gopinath said DGCA had earlier given him approval to import aircraft on wet lease, but stopped the import mid-way in Dubai some time back, despite an assurance that the wet lease would be converted to dry lease (so that Indian pilots and crew can be used) within 3-6 months.
But DGCA officials said no permission was given to Gopinath to import aircraft, only a no-objection certificate was granted and that wet lease is anyway allowed only under very specific circumstances.
“A non-scheduled operator permit (NSOP) holder bringing an aircraft from overseas has happened only once in the last 15 years. This could lead to undesirable consequences such as foreign aircraft owners resorting to this device and freely operating within the country without mandatory security checks in foreign crew. There are more than 130 NSOPs and the short-staffed DGCA cannot check each and every instance.”
The regulator noted that Gopinath produced security clearance certificates for foreign pilots and engineers for charter operations which were more than one year old.
01/07/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

Air India on the brink of closure again

New Delhi: India’s national carrier Air India’s operations could come to a halt in a month if it fails to pay interest on its Rs 43,000-crore loans from banks and financial institutions. The airline’s total dues on March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 4,486 crore. Documents accessed by HT showed that AI defaulted on payment of service tax and interest on working capital from April 2011. The banks have since stopped lending to AI.
Worse, as the banks may freeze its accounts and start selling off its assets pledged for securing the loans, the airline has no option left other than a government bailout yet again.
"In the case of failure to honour domestic debt commitments, banks can initiate action for attachment of aircraft or inventory, depending on what has been put up as collateral,” confirmed MS Balakrishnan, former director of finance at the erstwhile Indian Airlines.
The banks said they would need a letter of comfort or sovereign guarantee from the government to resume lending to Air Inda. If AI does not make the minimum interest payments by July-end, the loans will turn into non-performing assets — loans that do not earn any interest.
01/07/11 Tushar Srivastava/Hindustan Times

Am aware of Air India's woes, solution soon: PM

New Delhi: Stating that he was aware of the woes of the state-run Air India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has asked the ministerial group overseeing the turnaround of debt-ridden national carrier to come out with their recommendations fast.
"I will request (Finance Minister) Pranab Mukherjee to take expeditious decisions in the (Air India turnaround) matter," Prime Minister Singh told a group of editors from the print media Wednesday.
Mukherjee heads the group of ministers (GoM) which is looking into the company's turnaround plan prepared by global consultancy firm Delliote and SBI Caps.
The plan envisages further equity inclusion, conversion of short-term loans into long-term debt and hiving-off the company's maintenance and ground-handling arms.
The prime minister's comments on the flag carrier come at a time the airline is facing severe cash crunch and is unable to pay employees' salaries and other dues to a host of agencies like oil companies and airport operators on time.
01/07/11 ExpressBuzz

Air India meeting leaves employees disgruntled

Mumbai: Employee unions say it is meaningless to discuss safety measures when the airline does not even have adequate funds to pay the staff their salaries.
What was meant to be a meeting to resolve the ongoing cold war between Air India management and its employees over issues plaguing the national carrier ended up in another dead end, with employee unions terming the marathon meeting "meaningless".
Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav invited top people from all the 14 unions of the national carrier to attend the meeting at Airline House in New Delhi on June 27 to discuss ways to bring the airline back on track.
One of the top union leaders, who participated in the meeting, said, "Initially, we were very happy, thinking that finally the CMD is taking our views in consideration for a revival of the airline, but his actual motive was something else.
"In the six-and-a-half-hour meeting, which started at 4 pm and ended at 10.30 pm, the CMD spoke at
length on different issues, including the salary and safety of employees.
"But his actual agenda was exposed when he stressed that the airline needed funds for paying an equity infusion of Rs 6,600 crore by July 2 or else it will have to be shut down.
"He also justified the non-payment of salaries by saying, 'the airline does not have any money so the delay in salaries is obvious. And if funds do not reach the airline in time, the employees might not get salary for the next three months'".
01/07/11 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

AI turnaround plan: Airline to transfer staff to AISATS from Friday

Mumbai: Air India will start the process of shifting more than a third of its employees to a ground-handling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services on Friday to reduce its staff strength to comply with conditions for a turnaround plan amid opposition from two different unions.
Some Air India employees at the Delhi Airport will move to the new entity from Friday, said a person with the direct knowledge of the matter. "By next week, people in Mumbai will also join the bandwagon," the person added.
Around 12,000 people will become part of the ground-handling joint venture, Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AISATS), if the national carrier manages to successfully carry out the massive transfer of employees.
"We are not sure about the number of employees who will be deputed," said an Air India spokesperson. The unprofitable airline, which looks to focus on its core functions after forming a separate team for ground-handling, is facing teething opposition from unions. AISATS, which looks to take over groundhandling from the airline's whollyowned arm Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), is already facing resistance.
AISATS, which came into existence by starting operations in Bangalore in 2008, has now spread its wings to Hyderabad and New Delhi. The joint venture together employs around 300 people at Bangalore and Hyderabad international airports. Air India's MD Arvind Jadhav had recently stated that the joint venture would draw its manpower from the national carrier's mammoth workforce.
01/07/11 Manisha Singhal & Manu Balachandran/Economic Times

Air India seeks to spin off some units

Mumbai: Air India Ltd, the debt-laden state-owned airline, plans to spin off its engineering and ground-handling units pending government clearance as part of its turnaround strategy, according to two executives of the carrier who asked not to be identified.

The airline wants the government to invest up to Rs. 500 crore in each of the new companies created. The move will reduce the number of employees in Air India from 28,500 to 7,000.

Consultants dismiss the plan as a temporary measure. Air India, created by the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, has seen its debt balloon and losses swell on account of an incomplete integration of the two, inefficiency and a bloated workforce. The airline had debt of Rs. 42,570 crore on its books as of 31 March and accumulated losses of Rs. 22,000 crore. It operates 470 flights to 101 destinations every day in India and abroad, with a total workforce of 28,500. By contrast, Jet Airways (India) Ltd has 12,976 employees and operates 585 flights a day to 107 destinations. The airline’s financial state is reflected in April and May salaries having been paid on 28 June, according to Air India executives. And it is yet to pay productivity-linked incentives amounting to about 70% of pay in some cases.
The government has committed to invest Rs. 5,000 crore as equity in the airline and has so far pumped in Rs. 2,000 crore. It will invest an additional Rs. 1,200 crore in 2011-12, and also lend the airline Rs. 1,800 crore.
“The financial recast and turnaround plan were presented before the finance ministry and the group of ministers on 22 June. The government will conduct the due diligence on the plan and approve it,” said one of the executives cited above. “Equity infusion and final recast approvals should be complete by 30 September. Therefore, we can kick-start the financial restructuring from 1 October.” This person said the new companies will be formed before 31 March next year and offer services to Air India and other airlines.
01/06/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

Distance between planes in flight reduced

Chennai: The distance between two airplanes in flight has been reduced from 80 nautical miles to 50 in the southern region owing to increasing traffic. This reduction will also help save fuel.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Friday introduced a Reduced Horizontal Separation (RHS) standard between aircraft on two major international routes crisscrossing the Bay of Bengal – Arabian Sea region following guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
According to AAI, the decision is following a requirement to enhance the utility of existing air space considering the increasing air traffic.
The new change in RHS will allow aircraft to fly in 50 nautical mile distance in the region against the previous 80 nautical mile minimum separation. The reduced separation will help to save at least 1.2 tonnes of fuel per flight and reduce 3.6 tonnes of carbon emissions.
01/07/11 Times of India

Air China expands India operations

Mumbai: Air China, which operates on the Delhi and Bangalore routes, is set to expand its services to India with a Beijing-Mumbai flight from September. The airline will be the first among the three Chinese airlines operating in India to touchdown at the Mumbai airport.
The only direct airlink between Mumbai and China is Air India's tri-weekly flights to Shanghai. Jet Airways had launched flights from Mumbai to San Francisco via Shanghai a few years ago, but the service was suspended following losses. Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal had recently said the airline was looking to introduce flights to Shanghai and Beijing as part of its expansion plans.
Sources familiar with Air China's plan said it hopes to tap the growing business and leisure traffic on the route. The Mumbai-Beijing flight will stop over at Chengdu. The airline will be using a narrow body airbus A319 aircraft with a two-class layout. An airbus A319, can be fitted with 122-145 seats depending on the class configuration.
“Currently most people flying to Beijing fly via Delhi or transit from Bangkok or Hong Kong. China has emerged as a key venue for trade fairs and exhibitions. Also, a large number of Indian traders and importers travel to China. Leisure travel to China has also picked up,” said Iqbal Mulla, treasurer of Travel Agents Association of India.
01/07/11 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Animals at Nagpur airport raise alarm

Nagpur: A visit to the Nagpur International Airport has exposed the apathy of concerned authorities in addressing the issue that could put hundreds of lives at risk. Headlines Today visited Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport after a deer was crushed by an Air India aircraft on the runway as it was taking off for Delhi recently.
Outside, statues of wild deers stand tall, welcoming passengers to Nagpur's International Airport. Inside the aiport, real life animals come a bit too close for comfort. A cat lounges with passengers in the waiting area and on the runway, they come dangerously close.
Headlines Today cameras capture a langur freewheeling across the runway, even as a commercial passenger flight approaches. Another langur is perched on the ATC signal tower.
At a busy runway, scattered with langurs and planes in equal measure, a disaster is waiting to happen. Not just langurs, the Nagpur airport is frequented by wild boars, barking deers, nilghai's and stray dogs as well.
Three accidents have taken place on the runway in the last few days, triggering fear among pilots and passengers, who've spotted these animals inside the airport on a regular basis.
"This airport is a big zoo. You can see deers, boars etc. It's an international jungle," says Baba Dawre, an eyewitness.
Aviation Expert Captain S.S. Panesar said, "It can break aircraft. It can kill people. Aircraft can catch fire. Fortunately, no big mishap has happened. But pilots have been rejecting take off."
The airport officials are aware of the problem and have called in forest officials to capture the wild animals.
30/06/11 Manish Awasthi/India Today

Juhu chopper operators want ATCs to improve coordination

Six months after helicopter operations were shifted to Juhu from Mumbai’s CSIA, chopper operators have approached the Mumbai ATC to improve coordination between the two ATCs and reduce delays. Operators say that despite helicopter corridors over Mumbai airspace, pilots at times end up waiting for an hour or two at Juhu airport or at the Mahalaxmi racecourse helipad, before clearance comes from Mumbai ATC.
“Transfer of corporate directors and senior business executives from helicopters to private jets parked at Mumbai is currently hampered. Limited operation of corporate helicopters at Santacruz airport should be allowed for better connectivity,” said Captain Uday Gelli, president of the Western Region Rotary Wings Society of India. “Operations out of Mahalakshmi helipad need to be streamlined for quick clearances for departures from the helipad. There have been instances when business heads using their helicopters had to wait for long periods to get clearance from Mumbai ATC,” he said.
A Mumbai ATC official who was present at a coordination meeting with Juhu operators, both ATCs, and the DGCA earlier this week, said operators had made “certain demands, which cannot be met.”
01/07/11 Ranjani Raghavan/Indian Express

Flying high with non-food biofuel

Mumbai: A couple of days earlier, KLM Royal Dutch became the first airline in the world to operate a commercial flight, carrying 171 passengers, on bio-kerosene produced from used cooking fuel oil.
Boeing was also closely involved in making this possible. KLM said it would be operating at least 200 flights to Paris on bio-kerosene in September.
KLM has highlighted a new trend. Aviation biofuels have been used in test flights by many airlines, seeking alternatives to fossil fuels in a bid to reduce costs. The aim is to halve emissions by 2050, compared to 2005 levels. The airlines include Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, JAL, Aeromexico, TAROM, Continental Airlines and Boeing.
The European aviation industry plans to achieve its goal by targeting two million tonnes of bio-kerosene use per year by 2020, and the International Air Transport Association is aiming for a six per cent mix of biofuels by 2020. Closer home, Kingfisher Airlines last year entered into a three-year agreement with Anna University, Chennai, for a research collaboration programme to explore alternative energy sources. The two sides are expected to work closely to develop biofuel for use in aircraft and ground vehicles used at airports.
Conventional jet fuel is made from kerosene (also called paraffin), which comes from crude oil and various other chemicals. Bio-kerosene is kerosene derived from biomass (living matter). It typically refers to organic material such as plants or animal fat, including agricultural and municipal waste products, but excluding food products. Biodiesel can be made from animal fats, including tallow, lard, poultry fat and fish oil. Bioethanol is made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. It is widely used in the US and in Brazil.
Biofuel development in India centres primarily around jatropha plant seeds. Jatropha oil has been used in India for several decades as biodiesel and can be used directly after extraction (without refining) in diesel generators and engines. According to the International Energy Agency, biofuels have the potential to meet at least a quarter of world demand for transportation fuel by 2050. The Indian government identified 400,000 square km (98 million acres) where jatropha can be grown.
01/07/11 Leslie D'Monte & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Oil companies likely to cut ATF cost by Rs 350/kl

State-run oil marketing companies are likely to cut aviation turbine fuel(ATF) cost by around Rs 350 per kilolitre, say oil ministry sources. There could be another sharp ATF price cut on July 16 if oil remains at the same level. Oil marketing companies like Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil revise ATF price every fortnight depending on the global crude oil prices.
Currently ATF is being sold at over Rs 51,000 a kilolitre in Mumbai and Delhi which is nearly 70% higher then what the commodity costs in Malaysia or any Middle East and Gulf regions.
Airlines like Jet Airways , Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet along with other carriers are collectively lobbying to get a uniform sales tax structure pan India Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Rajasthan are the only states which pay 4% tax on the commodity. Currently, Delhi pays around 20% tax on ATF, Mumbai pays 24%. Sales tax on ATF varies from 4% to as high as 34% in various states.
Meanwhile, after announcing the Q4 results of FY11, airlines had said their profits had dented over 20% due to the spiraling fuel cost and airlines could not pass on the burden to end-consumers in the form of higher fares.
“If the trend continues, we will have to pass on the burden to our customers but it will be done gradually,” Sudheer Raghavan, Jet’s chief commercial officer had said in the earnings call in May.
30/06/11 moneycontrol.com

India seeks more code-sharing to boost travel to Canada

Toronto: With no Canadian airline flying to India even as two Indian carriers touch Canada, Indian civil aviation authorities have demanded enhanced code-sharing by the Canadian national carrier Air Canada with Indian carriers to boost air travel between the two countries.
Indian civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi, who held talks with his Canadian counterparts and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officials in Montreal, said Thursday that since no Canadian carrier is operating to India, "it is thus important that the code-sharing for the Canadian carrier is enhanced.
"This would help the civilian passengers and will also help promote business. This will make seamless connectivity for passengers, allowing code-sharing on third country carriers, theoretically even through airlines such as Lufthansa."
A statement by the Indian high commission after the talks in Ottawa and Montreal (where the International Civil Organization is based), said India and Canada held "an extremely cordial and intensive discussion to enhance air connectivity between the two countries.
"This included unlimited air services for cargo; substantive liberalization of code-sharing relations between airlines; rationalization of code-sharing and inter-modal transport arrangements and simplification of clauses relating to tariff and fare structure."
01/07/11 IANS/Deccan Herald

Global air passenger traffic up 7 percent in May

New Delhi: The global airlines association on Thursday reported an increase of 6.8 percent in international passenger traffic for May this year, compared to the like period of 2010.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the positive passenger growth in May has helped in reducing pressure on profits in the high fuel prices environment, but freight segment has continued to be in a slump, with a downfall of 4 percent.
"This (passenger traffic) is 4 percent higher than the beginning of the year, whereas freight traffic has showed a drop of 4 percent against the post-recession peak of the re-stocking cycle in May 2010," IATA said in a statement.
The statement said that India's domestic demand was robust at 13.8 percent in May as compared to previous-year levels with a capacity expansion 19.9 percent.
30/06/11 IANS/Economic Times