Oil PSUs hike ATF prices by 3.7%

New Delhi: State-owned oil companies today hiked jet fuel price by a steep 3.7%, the third increase in rates in a month.
The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, at Delhi was raised by Rs 2,312 per kilolitre (kl), or 3.7%, to Rs 64,622 per kl with effect from midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer said.
The increase comes on back of a 2% (Rs 1,195 per kl) hike effected from November 16.
ATF in Mumbai will cost Rs 65,650 per kl from tomorrow as against current rate of Rs 63,228.40 per kl, an increase of Rs 2,422 per kl.
30/11/11 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

Air India to give August incentive to employees

New Delhi/Mumbai: National carrier Air India on Wednesday said it will release the productivity-linked incentive (PLI) component of its employees' salary for August on December 5.
The PLI constitutes nearly 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the salary of nearly 40,000 employees of the airline.
The PLI was stopped since August due to financial constraints faced by the company.
Air India's general manager for finance HJ Mehtaji on Wednesday said in a letter to the employees, "It has been decided to release PLI payable in August 2011 on December 5."
"The delay was due to repayment of aircraft loans, interest on working capital to banks and other overdue vendor payments," he said.
A senior Air India official told that it was about time that the company paid up as employee morale was very low.
"Prices of everything are so high and in this environment functioning with only half or less than that of the salary is very difficult. This (news) should cheer up the employees whose morale is very low at the moment," the official told.
Earlier, one of the airlines' pilot unions had threatened to go on a strike if their interim settlements are not paid up.
01/12/11 IANS/IBN Live

Dial to charge airport development fee from Dec 1

New Delhi: Passengers who book flight tickets on or after December 1 for both international and domestic travel from Delhi till May 2013 will have to shell out extra money. The IGI airport management will start levying an Airport Development Fee (ADF) on each passenger who flies out of the IGI Airport to the tune of Rs 1,413 per international passenger and Rs 221 on each domestic passenger. Passengers who have already booked tickets for travel on or after December 1 will not be required to pay the ADF.
Tickets are also likely to get more expensive with fuel prices recording an average increase in of Rs 2,700 per kilolitre, effective from December 1. Airlines will incorporate this increase in ticket prices as well.
Some airlines, like Air India, had already started collecting ADF since the third week of November but sources say that this money will not be refunded.
DIAL had started collecting ADF from passengers since March 2009 but an order from the Delhi high court had stalled the exercise in June this year. The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) finally passed an order on November 16 that permitted DIAL to restart collection of ADF from December 1 for a period of 18 months.
01/12/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Restructuring plan could save Air India $200 million

Mumbai: Loss-making national carrier Air India says it is implementing a financial restructuring plan which will cut its loan interest payments by nearly $200 million a year.
India's central bank last week approved a move to extend the tenure of loans to the state-run airline by five years, with repayment now due after 15 years.
Air India's bankers have "given the nod" to the restructuring programme, the company said late Tuesday after a meeting of the airline's board.
"The company is in the process of implementing the financial restructuring plan, which would provide a saving of 10 billion rupees ($192 million) a year in interest costs," the company said in a statement.
Air India also said that it plans to sell and lease out excess aircraft after taking delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners into its fleet, with the aim of lowering debt that has ballooned to $9 billion.
30/11/11 AFP/Economic Times

Airbus has 'high hopes' for struggling Kingfisher

New York: Asked about recent financial difficulties at Airbus customer Kingfisher Airlines, Airbus sales chief John Leahy said the Indian airline was on an improved path.
"Kingfisher is one of our good customers. I have the highest regard for Vijay (Mallya, the airline's chairman). He has had some issues with the airline. He's bringing in a new management team now which I think is very important. He needs to keep his airplanes flying," Leahy said.
"I think he now understands that he has to drop some money losing routes and concentrate on the money making routes. You can't be all things to all people. We have high hopes that he'll get things sorted out. He needs to be more focused and he's now doing that."
Cash-strapped Kingfisher, controlled by liquor entrepreneur Vijay Mallya, has struggled to raise funds and cancelled hundreds of flights in November.
It delayed A380 orders indefinitely and industry sources said it was set to cancel two remaining orders for the A340, a four-engined aircraft that Airbus has meanwhile decided to stop making.
"There are no orders that are at risk in the production cycle. There are orders several years out that are not in the production cycle," Leahy said without elaborating.
Kingfisher has orders for five A350-800s, a variant of the future mid-sized A350 that Airbus has not yet started producing.
01/12/11 Reuters/IBN Live

User development fee proposed at Madurai, Coimbatore, 9 other airports

New Delhi: Flying out from Madurai, Coimbatore and nine other cities is set to become costlier. The Airports Authority of India has sought Government's nod to impose user development fee (UDF) on passengers for the airports in these cities.
“We have proposed a levy of Rs 400 for every domestic passenger and Rs 750 for every international passenger flying out from these 11 airports. The proposal was sent to the Civil Aviation ministry on Tuesday,” a person in the know told Business Line.
UDF is a revenue enhancing measure to ensure economic viability of airport operations. Airport developers impose such fees after undertaking modernisation work.
Out of 11 airports, UDF for Ranchi and Raipur will be subject to completion of the modernisation work. Work here is likely to be completed by March next year. The Airports Authority of India has completed modernisation works in 26 airports, out of which UDF is being charged from passengers departing from nine airports.
The Authority is also working on a proposal for UDF in Chennai and Kolkata airports. These airports are also being modernised and are expected to be completed within the next few months. “The Authority will send proposal to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA),” he said. However, nothing has been finalised in terms of the amount to be levied at these two airports.
30/11/11 Business Line

AAI may put KF on cash-and-carry

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued a notice to Kinfisher Airlines for putting it on cash-and-carry from Thursday due to continued non-payment .
Kingfisher was earlier paying AAI once every fortnight but the state-run airport says that it has stopped paying from mid-October .
"Our dues are now over Rs 240 crore from Kingfisher and despite repeated reminders, the airline has not paid. We ourselves are facing a cash crunch with both Kingfisher and Air India not paying up. While nothing can be done about AI, we are left with no option but to put Kingfisher on cash-andcarry unless they make some payment," said an official. Sources also added that a cheque Kingfisher gave to Mumbai airport operators towards payment of airport charges has also bounced.
01/12/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Pilot told to take off turban at Milan airport

New Delhi: A Sikh senior commander with Jet Airways on Tuesday was asked to take off his turban during security check for his Flight 141 to Delhi from the Milan airport.
The incident happened just six months after the Italian government’s promise against continuation of such a practice.
“I was operating a flight back to Delhi from Milan, when I was asked to take off my turban at the airport during security check. I had already been screened through the metal detector, and there was no beep to suggest anything suspicious,” Captain Singh Dhupia, commander of the Jet Airways flight, said. “I requested the security official and tried to reason with him the importance of a turban to a Sikh, but they publicly humiliated me and made me remove turban... I had to give in to their demand.”
01/12/11 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

IBM opens first Airport Solutions Lab in India

New Delhi: IBM announced the launch of its Airport Solutions Lab in New Delhi. Co-located with IBM's Research and India Industry Solutions labs, the Airport Solutions Lab will be a center to showcase solutions for airports and airlines.
The Airport Solutions Lab will host technical and subject matter experts who will help customers witness and understand the various airport solutions. The lab will enable customers to have access to solutions on a wide range of areas such energy management, asset management, space management, airport operations management and security management, among others. As a regional hub, the lab will cater to airports across the entire Asia Pacific region.
Speaking on the occasion, Daniel O'Connell, Vice President, Distribution Sector, IBM Growth Markets said, "Airports are fast becoming multi-modal transportation hubs and it is important that airports embrace new technologies and infuse intelligence into their systems."
30/11/11 Times of India

Kingfisher may wind up flights from Nagpur

Nagpur: After cancelling flights from Nagpur to Hyderabad and Indore, Kingfisher Red has decided to wind up its operations from the city for the next few months, sources have said. The airline had announced suspension of its flights from November 8 to 19 from Nagpur.
Kingfisher Airlines, which is facing a huge financial crunch, scrapped several flights on various sectors across the nation. From Nagpur, it stopped taking bookings since November 8 and scrapped its daily Hyderabad and Indore flights for an indefinite period. Kingfisher Red operated its daily flight on Hyderabad-Nagpur sector at 6.15am and Nagpur-Hyderabad at 8.20pm till November 8, with its short-haul ATR turboprop aircraft.
A local Kingfisher Airlines official told TOI, "As of, now we have stopped bookings for both flights and for the next few days we will not operate any flights on these sectors. There are indications that airliner may wind up operations from city in the coming days. Details are expected to be announced in due course."
However, it still remains unclear if shutting the Nagpur services would be permanent or not.
01/12/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

Air India ups ante with promotional fares

New Delhi: Having received the government's backing to tide over its financial mess, Air India has stepped up efforts to enhance its market share and revenue by aggressive strategies.
The national carrier , which is currently running multiple promotional fares, has introduced new advance purchase schemes (apex fares) to woo more passengers. The seven days and 14 days apex fares in the Delhi- Mumbai (one way) sector are roughly cheaper by over Rs 600 and Rs 2,300, respectively.
On December 12, Air India's Delhi to Mumbai fare in the 6 to 9 am time slot is only Rs 100 more than low- cost airlines SpiceJet and Indigo. However, its fares are cheaper than GoAir and Jet Airways Konnect by over Rs 700 and Rs 2,000, respectively. Both these airlines are low-cost while AI is full- service. This means that a resurgent AI is taking on its rivals, including low cost airlines that have lower operating cost.
"The earlier you book, the cheaper you get. Fares are dynamic and it varies from sector to sector. But our fares are attractive," said an AI official.
Lately, the airline has accorded high priority to revenue enhancement and timely performance rather than concentrating only on cost-cutting measures. Marketing has been given a leg up to enhance the seat load factor to 75 per cent from below 70 per cent, now.
30/11/11 Lalatendu Mishra/Business Today

Delhi High Court reserves order on PIL seeking probe into Air India aircraft deal

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today reserved its judgement on a PIL seeking a direction to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to inquire into alleged purchase order of 111 aircraft costing a whopping Rs 67,000 crore to national carrier Air India.
"Judgement is reserved," a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said after hearing arguments on the PIL filed in 2010 seeking investigation into the aircraft purchase deal.
"More than prima facie materials are available for ordering criminal investigation into the deal which caused a huge loss to the exchequer," Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said.
Referring to the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the issue, he said the deal was a "recipe for disaster" as on one hand the aircraft were sought to be purchased and simultaneously, the national carrier proposed to get aircraft on lease basis.
This became "more glaring" in the backdrop that the most of the profit-making routes were given to private companies without getting anything in return, he said.
30/11/11 PTI/Economic Times

High taxes reason behind rising jet fuel: Vayalar Ravi

New Delhi: The government Wednesday informed parliament that the cash-strapped Indian airline sector is being troubled by rising air turbine fuel (ATF) prices caused by high sales tax and other levies.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha: "Various taxes imposed by government on ATF is one of the reasons of higher cost of domestic aviation fuel."
According to Ravi, Kolkata topped the charts for highest jet fuel prices at Rs.68,769.64 per kilo litre, followed by Chennai at Rs.61,687.17, Mumbai at Rs.60,733.64.
Domestic jet fuel is being sold at a much higher price than other Asian cities like Kuala Lumpur, where ATF is sold at Rs.41,009.33 per kilo litre, followed by Singapore at Rs.42,289.90 and Dubai at Rs.43,087.33.
On average, sales tax on jet fuel is in the range of 22 percent to 35 percent depending on various states.
30/11/11 IANS/Economic Times

Airlines cancel 267 of 1910 slotted winter flights: Govt

As many as 267 of over 1900 flights approved for this winter season have been cancelled, including 175 by Kingfisher Airlines , forcing aviation regulator DGCA to annul the slots alloted to the air carriers, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Kingfisher cancelled 175 out of 418 flights alloted to it for the Winter Schedule which came into operation on October 30, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said in reply to a question. The schedule is operational till March 31.
"All the slots for non-operational flights have been cancelled," he said, adding that the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airline is operating only 243 flights that were approved.
Out of a total of 1910 flights approved for this peak season, 1643 flights are actually operational.
No-frill carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo did not operate 33 and 32 flights which were approved, he said, adding that while Air India did not fly seven flights, Jet Airways and JetLite together did not operate 20 services.
30/11/11 PTI/moneycontrol.com

Silver jubilee of Army Aviation celebrated in Nashik

Nashik: It was a moment of pride as the mighty Dhruv, Lancer, Cheetah, and Chetak helicopters soared to the skies and dipped to play the roles of rescue, utility and combat missions to perfection. The aviators and the flying machines of the Army Aviation Corps, displayed thrilling manoeuvers to commemorate the silver jubilee of Army Aviation at a programme at their base at Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS) in Nashik on Friday.
The programme to mark the 25 glorious years of the elite corps of the Indian Army was presided over by Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh; Colonel Commandant of Army Aviation and GoC in C central Command, Lt General VK Ahluwalia; and Additional Director General of Army Aviation, Maj General PK Bharali.
The occasion also saw a gathering of the serving and veteran aviators of the core.
The demonstrations began with the Dhruv, Cheetah and Chetak flying in an arrowhead formation to welcome the guests. The paratroopers of the special forces of the 15 Independent Para Brigade were then paradropped from a height of 10,000 ft by a ALH Dhruv in a tactical battlefield area. Two armed Lancers then surged in for strafing of enemy locality and conducted a recce in low flying to provide information to the commander of the troops on ground.
30/11/11 Vaishali Balajiwale/Daily News & Analysis

Govt enhances security of three major airports

New Delhi: Government has enhanced the security of country's major airports- Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad- by sanctioning more than 250 additional CISF personnel for these facilities.
While 60 additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have been authorised for the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi, a contingent of 100 personnel has been approved for Mumbai International Airport.
Hyderabad airport will get 75 additional para-military troopers, Home Minister P Chidambaram told a reporters here today.
"The additional CISF posts have been created and sanctioned after a security audit of these airports demanded an increase in the number of security personnel," a senior CISF official said.
"The personnel will enhance the strength of the armed quick reaction teams (QRT) deployed for immediate action in case of a threat at airports," he said.
30/11/11 ZeeNews

GMR to charge development fee on Male airport

Bangalore: GMR Airports has said it would go head with a levy on air development fees in Male, Maldives, next year. GMR plans to levy an airport development fee of $25 beginning January 2012 on incoming tourist traffic.
The proposal has led to protests from the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tourist Operators and reported widely in the local media. A GMR spokesperson said: “The airport development fee is a charge approved by the government of the Maldives. As operators we implement the same in due course of time.”
GMR Airports and Malaysian Airports Holdings Berhad are jointly developing the Male airport with a concession for 25 years. The airport development is being dong through a special purpose vehicle, Ibrahim Nasir National Airport. Approximately 900 million tourists visit the island each year according to the Tourism Yearbook published by the Maldives government.
GMR is developing the airport at a total cost of $511 million with a debt component of $358 million that was arranged by the Singapore branch of Axis Bank. Repayment on the debt is expected to begin in 2015. ADF is part of the cost recovery on the investments by the joint venture partners.
30/11/11 mydigitalfc.com

Kingfisher fails to pay interest dues to lenders

Bangalore: Kingfisher Airlines, which was supposed to pay at least its interest dues to lenders by November 30, has failed to do so rendering the account a potential non-performing asset (NPA) for banks.
The 90-day limit to pay at least the interest dues ended by the close of banking hours on Wednesday.
An account becomes an NPA if interest is not paid for one quarter. With system-driven NPA recognition in place, the account will turn an NPA automatically on the 91{+s}{+t} day. According to an official of a public sector bank, which is among the lending consortium, “since the airline did not service its interest dues on Wednesday”, the account would now become a non-performing asset for the lender banks if the company does not clear its interest dues by December 31, when banks close their profit and loss account for the third quarter.
However, lender banks will not be impacted much if the company pays the entire overdue amount before the end of the third quarter. “Converting any account which has become an NPA is possible if the company pays up the entire overdue amount,” pointed out a top official of another lender bank.
30/11/11 Business Line

ALPA Acts to Block U.S. Export-Import Bank's Air India Financing Deal

Washington: The Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA), has been granted permission to intervene in a lawsuit against the U.S. Export-Import Bank to block it from providing millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to guarantee financing for Air India to purchase a large number of aircraft--a move that could seriously harm the U.S. airline industry and risk U.S. airline jobs.
"At a time when every U.S. airline industry job counts, it is inexcusable that the U.S. Export-Import Bank would use U.S. taxpayer dollars to guarantee financing that could give a foreign airline a significant competitive advantage and risk U.S. jobs," said Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA's president.
On November 22, ALPA filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by Airlines 4 America (formerly known as the Air Transport Association) that asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enjoin the U.S. Export-Import Bank from making financial guarantees for Air India to purchase new aircraft until the Bank determines that the guarantees will not harm U.S. airlines and their employees.
ALPA asserts that the Bank has violated the statutory requirement that it carefully assess the impact of its financing practices on U.S. airline workers. In particular, ALPA is contesting the Bank's recently proposed financing guarantees for a purchase of Boeing aircraft by Air India.
30/11/11 Marketwatch.com

Chennai, Kolkata airports expansion delayed further

New Delhi: Chennai and Kolkata airport expansion projects will be delayed further. A Government flash report has admitted that these are among 40 projects hit by additional delays.
The report for the month of July says, “The additional delays are in the range of 1 to 21 months, in respect of projects relating to coal, steel, petroleum, power, railways, road transport and highways, shipping and ports, civil aviation and atomic energy sectors.”
The report was prepared by Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The report covers a total of 558 projects in the central sector costing Rs 150 crore and above.
Specifically on airport projects, the report said that the development of both the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal Phase-II and expansion of Anna International Airport are delayed by a further two months, according to the Airports Authority of India. The delay is due to a delay in the commissioning of technological works.
This project was initially planned to be completed by January, 2011. In June, it was revised to October, which has again been rescheduled. The overall delay is now 11 months.
30/11/11 Shshir Sinha/Business Line

Jet Airways may review LCC strategy to take on IndiGo

Jet Airways has been facing stiff competition from carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet and this is forcing India's largest private sector airline to effect a mid-course correction, reports Forbes India's Cuckoo Paul and CNBC-TV18's Payaswani Upadhyay.
Two weeks ago the top management of Jet Airways went into a huddle to review its low fare carrier strategy. The upshot of this meeting is that the airline will revive its low cost carrier strategy to take on competitors like Indigo, which enjoys nearly 18% of the market share.
So what's going to happen?
The airline will adopt a two-airline structure -- one full service carrier catering to the premium-end flyer, and one low cost carrier. This means its JetLite and JetKonnect brands will be extinguished, to make way for the new low cost carrier.
The management, sources say, has realised that its Konnect strategy does not make long-term business sense, and both Jet Konnect and JetLite have failed to become true low-cost carriers.
So,since Jet Airways and JetLite have different operational licenses, the new LCC will use the JetLite license.
30/11/11 moneycontrol.com

President's Plane Delayed for Technical Glitch

Kolkata: President Pratibha Patil's flight to Pune was delayed here Wednesday after the pilot detected a technical problem in the cockpit panel, with the nation's first citizen on board, officials said.
The pilot noticed the problem minutes before the take off for Pune at 10.20 a.m., according to an airport source.
The aircraft was taxied back to the tarmac and senior airport officials and Indian Air Force staff rushed and carried out thorough checking before giving the nod for it to fly, the source said.
Patil remained seated in the plane while it was undergoing checks.
30/11/11 IANS/Daijiworld.com

Air India flight makes 'Precautionary landing'

Kolkata: A Kolkata-Guwahati Air India flight with 119 passengers on board made 'precautionary landing' 17 minutes after its take off due to a technical snag here today, airport sources said.
The flight took off at 10 am from the NSC Bose airport here, but came back at 10.17 am following a technical problem, sources said.
30/11/11 PTI/Economic Times

AI courier facility for ITBP troops in border areas

New Delhi: The government has reserved a chunk of Air India seats every week to ferry ITBP troops deployed for border guarding duties along the icy frontiers with China.
105 seats have been reserved for the personnel in an Air India plane that will take them every Saturday from Delhi to Leh and bring an equal number back, a senior Indo-Tibetan Border Police official said on Wednesday. It will carry ITBP personnel and officials along with their equipment.
The decision has been taken by the Home Ministry in consultation with the Civil Aviation Ministry in order to minimise the hardships faced the troops while travelling for their deployment areas along the frontiers and while coming back from there during their leave period.
30/11/11 PTI/ZeeNews

China, Japan Clash With EU Over Aviation CO2 Curbs at Summit

European Union plans to impose curbs on carbon-dioxide emissions by international airlines as of 2012 drew fire from countries including China, Venezuela and Japan, marking a new stumbling block at the climate summit this week.
The EU measure is against international civil aviation rules, Su Wei, China's lead envoy, said in an interview during the United Nations talks in Durban, South Africa. Japan called the European law unacceptable, echoing concerns voiced this year by the United States, India and Russia, and highlighting the challenge of forging a global framework to cut greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
“You can't take unilateral measures to solve a multilateral issue,” Su Wei told reporters. “It has some impact on the discussions here in Durban.”
The criticism boosts pressure on the 27-nation bloc, which wants to lead the worldwide fight against climate change, to scale down its ambitions and emphasizes the divide between EU aims and policies that governments outside Europe may be able to accept to keep the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Exceeding that ceiling will cause more intense heat waves, floods and storms, a United Nations scientific panel on climate change has said.
30/11/11 Bloomberg/Businessweek

Surat-Hyderabad flight next on cards

Surat: As the diamond city gears up to embrace air connectivity to Hyderabad, the two major business sectors of the city - textiles and diamonds - are upbeat. A regular flight connecting the IT capital to Surat would go a long way in increasing trade volumes in both textiles and diamonds.
Textile market of the city is highly connected with textile market of Hyderabad and Surat brand saris are a rage in that southern market. At present, out of Rs 110 crore daily textile sales of the city nearly 10 per cent is sold in Hyderabad and nearly 23 per cent is sold and supplied in South Indian market. In other words, textile trade with Hyderabad is about Rs 300 crore per month.
Devkishan Manghani, president of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) said, " We want SpiceJet not to stop at Hyderabad but link this flight to Chennai on one side and Bangalore on other side. Our federation will meet the airline people when they are here and make a presentation on the issue."
Similarly, diamond barons of the city too have a very good client base at Hyderabad.
30/11/11 Himansshu Bhatt/Times of India

Malawi girl caught smuggling cocaine at KIA

Police at Malawi’s main Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) have arrested a 23-year-old woman coming from India was on Wednesday after she was picked out for screening and found with cocaine.
According to spokesperson Sergeant Peter Botha, the KIA police spokesman , the woman Annie Maria Masangano of Ntenje village in Traditional Authority Likoswe in Chiradzulu district, had stuffed the cocaine in television screens.
Sergeant Botha said Masangano had flown into KIA from India on Ethiopian Airways via Addis Ababa.
30/11/11 Nyasa Times

Aviation ministry to look into proposal for dedicated bus shuttle at Mumbai airport

Passengers at the Mumbai airport continue to be stranded in the absence of adequate public transport and the constant refusal by auto and taxi drivers. The dearth of pre-paid taxis adds to the passengers’ woes. Despite being the financial capital of the country, Mumbai is the only major city in the world without a dedicated bus shuttle to the airport even as Bangalore and Hyderabad successfully run such a service. Now to find a solution to this issue, the aviation ministry has agreed to look into the proposal.
Experts on transportation point out that it should be immediately started.
Surprisingly, even the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) is enthusiastic about the project, it’s only the BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking), having monopoly in Mumbai’s public bus transport, which is apprehensive about staring the service.
30/11/11 Moneylife

Taxi war may put flyers in a spot

Mumbai: Black-and-yellow taxi unions are opposing the prepaid service, to be tentatively launched on December 1, by tourist cab companies at the domestic airport. This may cause inconvenience to flyers from Thursday, authorities anticipate.
Priyadarshini and Forshe cabs, both tourist taxi firms, are set to launch their prepaid service and this is being strongly opposed by the black-and-yellow taxi unions, which are threatening a "law and order" situation. Susiieben Shah, who runs the Priyadarshini taxi service for women, said it was a "path-breaking initiative" wherein tourist taxis would, for the first time, function like prepaid cabs.
01/12/11 Somit Sen/Times of India