Pilots boycott Calcutta-Silchar Air India flight

Calcutta: The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has boycotted the Calcutta-Silchar operation of Air-India as there was no test flight of the new A320 aircraft.
The pilots alleged that Air-India had violated the norms of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by introducing a new aircraft on a hilly terrain on Monday without conducting a test flight.
The A320 aircraft was introduced in the Northeast sector replacing Boeing planes.
“Before introducing a new aircraft to airfields surrounded by hilly terrain, tests are mandatory. The Standard Operating Procedures is prepared on the basis of that,” said a spokesperson of the ICPA (eastern region).
One of the key tests, according to pilots, is “proving flight operation”. This means, a test flight without passengers with only experienced pilots and experts on board.
With the pilots refusing to fly, the inaugural flight was operated by a senior official, who is a pilot.
Civil aviation ministry sources said the airline had conducted proving flight operation at Port Blair when the Airbus was introduced there in 2004.
05/09/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Jet Airways postpones $400 mn rights issue

New Delhi: The liquidity crunch in global markets following the crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage business has prompted Jet Airways to postpone its $ 400 million rights issue to finance the airline's aircraft acquisition by two or three months. The issue was scheduled for October.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Jet's Delhi-Toronto flight, Chairman Naresh Goyal said, "This does not mean that there is any lack of investor interest. We have decided to delay the issue because of US market conditions."
According to company sources, the rights issue would have required Goyal, who owns around 80 per cent of the airline, to raise roughly $ 320 million in his personal capacity.
This would have entailed raising loans from international institutions, which would have been difficult in current market conditions.
However, Goyal said Jet's fleet expansion would not be impacted by the postponement of the rights issue. The airline is adding 25 aircraft — both Boeings and Airbuses — to its fleet for international operations.
05/09/07 Business Standard

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Air Deccan's expensive slack season route

At Rs 8.75 per passenger km, Air Deccan's newly begun service connecting Jamshedpur with Kolkata is one of the most expensive items being served on its slack season menu. Not bad for a service that operates between two and five in the afternoon.
A one-way flight takes one hour and five minutes.
The fastest trains to and from Howrah take three. But 'daylight saving' trains, which run pretty much all through the night, might prove to be a better proposition for Tata Steel weekenders and vacationers.
An A/c two-tier sleeper for the 250-km rail journey costs only Rs 500 compared with Deccan's Rs 1,750.
With special Tata Nagar quotas on most trains, online reservations are not a problem. One strong point operating in Deccan's favour is that rail travel in that part of the country does not have a home-delivery advantage. Traversing the approach road to Howrah Bridge and getting across it can take up to an hour even at the stroke of midnight.
05/09/07 Sify

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Gear up to fly to new destinations, Patel tells airlines

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today asked airlines to gear up to fly to destinations other than the US, Britain or Singapore sectors.
"There are so many airlines who fly in and out of the country but none of the designated airlines from India is flying there (new destinations)," Patel told reporters at a function to mark Jet Airways's inaugural flight to Toronto.
This does not mean that airlines should give up their traditional routes, he pointed out.
To a question whether the five-year limit would be decreased to allow more airlines to operate on international routes, Patel said there was a guideline as of now and all airlines would have to adhere to it.
04/09/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Jet to 'cooperate' with Air India for market share

New Delhi: Jet Airways will "cooperate" with Air India to capture a larger share of international air traffic as it does with other global carriers, the company's chairman Naresh Goyal said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"Air India is doing a great job. It will be a very good airline," Goyal said as he announced the launch of his carrier's new five-flights-a-week service to Toronto via Brussels from Wednesday.
"If we cooperate with Air India, the new Air India, we definitely can get a 50 per cent market share. We look forward to cooperating with Air India," he added, as Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, listened with attention.
Air India has plans to become a large carrier with a dominant position in both the domestic and international segments after the merger with Indian Airlines that has the government's approval.
Goyal said Brussels will be the hub for his carrier in Europe and eventually proposed to serve at least 50 destinations either on its own or through partnerships with other carriers.
04/09/07 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

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Manchester-India flights may return

Air India is looking seriously at resuming direct flights to Manchester, it emerged today.
Mr KD Row, regional head of Air India for the UK and Ireland was speaking in Manchester as part of an Indian business delegation organised by inward investment agency MIDAS.
He said: "We were operating here, but withdrew for reasons of our own. We've commissioned a feasibility study.
"We've not set a deadline for this, but we already operate 10 flights a week out of Birmingham so we're looking at regional hubs. We have commissioned 120 new aircraft and as they enter our fleet, we can look at new routes."
The Indian delegation, which included representatives from software engineering giant Aztecsoft, business consultancy Hexaware, engineer HCL Technologies and the ICICI Bank, said they had been "highly impressed" with Manchester as a business location.
04/09/07 Chris Barry/Manchester Evening News, UK

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Jet is getting ready to fly to West Asia

New Delhi: Jet Airways (India) Ltd, has applied to the government for permission to fly West Asia routes from India, ahead of the year-end expiry of a monopoly that state-owned carriers Air India Ltd and Indian Airlines Ltd have been guaranteed on the lucrative sector, its chairman has said.
“We have applied to the civil aviation ministry to fly to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha and Kuwait and are hoping to get a favourable response as per the policy,” Naresh Goyal, who chairs the board of the Mumbai-based aviation firm, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Goyal’s continued focus on international expansion comes at a time when foreign carriers such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Etihad and British Airways Plc. are increasing the frequency of flights to and from India; they are being, matched in part by Air India. (On Tuesday, Jet announced new flights to Toronto from Delhi via Brussels.)
West Asian routes, despite intense price competition, have been a cash cow for India’s state-run airlines in the last three years, during which no other Indian carrier could fly there.
05/09/07 Tarun Shukla and Mehul Srivastava/Livemint

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Kingfisher plan to fly overseas under cloud

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines' plan to fly from Bangalore to San Francisco from April 2008 and thereafter to New York would be in jeopardy if there is no change in government policy on overseas flights by airlines.
Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya has said that he would use the rights of Air Deccan to fly overseas. But that may be easier said than done.
Under existing government policy, only airlines that have been flying domestically for more than five years are eligible to fly overseas.
"There is no provision to allow one carrier to use the other's rights if one just has a stake in the other," says a senior aviation ministry official. Only if an airline is fully bought over or merged can the rights be used interchangeably. The policy is that "traffic rights on international routes allotted to an airline being taken over will be transferred subject to its actual use."
It is important to note that the A340-500 aircraft that Kingfisher plans to use for the overseas flights, with 36 first class and 204 Kingfisher class seats, will be Kingfisher aircraft.
Moreover, the service that Kingfisher intends to provide is intrinsically linked to its brand and will be a premium business class product, with possibly a 'chef-on-board', quite in contrast to what Air Deccan might offer as and when it does fly overseas.
05/09/07 Anjuli Bhargava/Business Standard

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Airlines gear up for wing check

Mumbai: Airlines like Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Air India Express are gearing up for aircraft wing checks within the next ten days. The move follows the directive issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on September 1 to all airlines using the Boeing 737-700, 800 and 900 series of aircraft to compulsorily check their wings.
The directive came into force following a recent incident of China Airlines Boeing 737 catching fire in Japan. The fire was due to suspect malfunctions of hardware in a wing of the aircraft which is believed to have caused a fuel leak, leading to a major fire in the left engine soon after the plane landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
Later, the US department of transport’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directed all carriers to get the wings of these planes checked. India has also got this directive.
The check is basically to ensure that nuts inside the movable slat system on each wing do not fall off and possibly damage the fuel tank as it happened in the case of China Airlines (Slats are panels that extend from the front of the wing to help give an aircraft lift at lower speeds such as during landing and takeoff).
05/09/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Menzies to invest in two Indian airports

John Menzies said yesterday it could spend up to £35 million to fund an expansion in its aviation business into India and South Africa.
At its interim results presentation, the global logistics company announced it had won new licences for its aviation division in the "exciting new markets".
The finance director, Paul Dollman, said the company was expecting to make "pretty significant" investment at the two Indian and ten South African airports where it has been awarded contracts to move cargo and passenger luggage.
"In India we could be spending anywhere between £12m and £20m, in South Africa it could be ten to 15 [million pounds], it just depends on how many contacts we win, but we're pretty confident given our market position," he said.
"The other players there tend to be local players, we're the only one with global reach."
The investment will be used to build organically rather than acquiring other operators, with the benefits unlikely to be seen until 2008, Dollman said.
05/09/07 Scotsman, United Kingdom

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Air India may ramp up fleet to 200

New Delhi: National carrier Air India may substantially scale up its fleet size to nearly 200 aircraft by 2011. It is currently undertaking an internal exercise to assess demand for aircraft till 2011 and beyond, company chairman V Thulasidas told ET.
As part of this exercise, a fresh fleet expansion plan is being contemplated in order to cater to traffic growth.
“We are working on traffic projections beyond 2011,” Mr Thulasidas said. The two merged national carriers would have a combined fleet size of around 125 aircraft by 2011 after taking current orders (which are being executed) into account.
The old Air India and Indian Airlines had placed orders for 111 extra aircraft in 2005-06. These are in the process of being inducted into the fleet by 2011.
05/09/07 Economic Times

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Jet to launch cargo airline

Jet Airways is planning to launch a dedicated cargo airline and is in discussions with international players for a possible tie-up, Chairman Naresh Goyal said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“We will be announcing our plans for the cargo airline before the end of this year. We are in talks with several players. We will definitely launch a separate cargo airlines,” Goyal said.
Jet Airway, which announced its first flight between Delhi and Toronto via Brussels, also plans to connect several cities in Europe and the USA including Zurich, Milan and Dsseldorf, Los Angeles and San Fransico.
“We would be serving 50 points in Europe. We are also looking at Iran and Tel Aviv and examining the possibility of connecting Tel Aviv with the US. Besides, we plan to fly to Durban and Johannesburg in South Africa”, he said.
05/09/07 Gaurav Choudhury/Hindustan Times

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Low-cost airlines set to take off, says Airbus

Hong Kong: Asia's low-cost airlines are set for "explosive" growth and are likely to equal the market share of their counterparts in the US and Europe in two decades, according to Airbus.
Low-cost airlines have about 9 per cent of the Asian short-haul passenger traffic, compared with 31 per cent in North America and 26 per cent in Europe.
But Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy, speaking at the Asian Aerospace show in Hong Kong, said: "The low-cost model is set to explode in terms of growth in Asia.
"I'm sure that all three markets will be at about 40 per cent in 20 years."
Concerning India and China, Peter Negline, Tiger's chief financial officer, said yesterday: "The growth potential there is simply astonishing over the coming two decades and we're looking to participate in that whole-heartedly."
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Photo: Javed Parvesh, Senior Reporter,
Malayala Manorama, Kochi, India
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While Asia will catch up with America and Europe, the "minor twist" is that Asian low-cost airlines will mostly rely on wide-body aircraft rather than the single-aisle type favoured in Europe for shorter distances, according to Mr Leahy.
In spite of plans by Beijing to restrict the launch of new airlines, Mr Leahy said airport infrastructure and other shortages would still force China and India to get more passengers on to fewer flights: "What you're going to see is a push towards larger aircraft in China and India as congestion hits."
05/09/07 Raphael Minder/The Australian, Australia

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ARJ21 Attracts Visitors at HK Expo

Hong Kong: The cabin section of China's first self-designed regional aircraft ARJ21 attracted many visitors at the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress 2007 which opened on Monday.
China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the manufacturer of China's third generation fighter J10, brings models of its civil aviation products, including turbo-prop regional aircraft MA60 and regional aircraft ARJ21, ARJ21 cabin section and partial products for aero-engine subcontracting, to the 14th presentation of Asia Aerospace International Expo and Congress in Hong Kong.
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Photo: Javed Parvesh, Senior Reporter,
Malayala Manorama, Kochi, India
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Hu Wenming, AVIC I senior vice president, said, "AVIC I would like to become the world's top class manufacturer for regional aircraft and top class supplier for commercial aircraft."
Chen Guanjun, vice president of AVIC I's Department of Marketing and International Cooperation, said several customers from India, Thailand and other countries had shown great interest in their products on the opening day of the exhibition.
04/09/07 Xinhua/China Internet Information Center|, China

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India, China airports struggle to meet air travel boom

Hong Kong: China and India's air infrastructure is creaking under the soaring demand for air travel and huge investment is needed to satisfy the boom, officials said Tuesday.
Both countries are enjoying an unprecedented aviation boom, with China's air traffic expected to double every five years and India seeing an increase of 29 percent in the number of flights taken from its airports this year.
But the growth is exposing a lack of airports and inadequate facilities, forcing them to invest rapidly to prevent stunting their economic booms, officials from both countries told the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress here.
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Photo: Javed Parvesh, Senior Reporter,
Malayala Manorama, Kochi, India
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India is struggling to provide the necessary infrastructure to match its booming demand for air travel, and needs to spend 9.6 billion dollars over the next five years improving airports across the country, said K. Ramalingam, regional executive director for the Civil Airports Authority of India.
Ramalingam said he expected 100 million people to travel by plane this year in India, compared to just 43 million in 2003-2004. As a result, the government was working on expanding existing airports, but also developing an improved network of non-urban airports.
04/09/07 AFP

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Kingfisher signs with OnAir for in-flight internet & mobile services

India’s Kingfisher Airlines has signed with OnAir for in-flight Internet and mobile phone communications services for its planned long-haul international operations.
OnAir announced this morning at Asian Aerospace in Hong Kong that the in-flight communications services will start to be introduced by Kingfisher in 2008, and that by 2009 passengers will be able to use the Internet while in-flight, as well as send and receive emails and make and receive calls on their own mobile devices.
The services will initially be offered on five Airbus A330s and five Airbus A340-500s. OnAir says the airline plans to eventually have the system on all its long-range aircraft. The carrier also has Airbus A350s and A380s on order.
Kingfisher is the first Indian carrier to sign with OnAir, which is a joint venture between Airbus and SITA. Its services are based on an onboard server connected to ground through Inmarsat’s broadband satellite infrastructure, SwiftBroadband.
05/09/07 Nicholas Ionides/Flightglobal.com/Flight International

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Man held for carrying LTTE books

A Kuala Lumpur-bound traveller was arrested Monday night at Chennai airport for carrying books published by the banned Sri Lankan militant group the LTTE.
Sources at the airport said, Suresh of Mannargudi was about to board a Jet Airways flight when emigration authorities found books and stickers related to the separatist group. The sources added, the Q-branch of the police was alerted immediately. An initial investigation revealed the man was a supporter of the Tigers.
05/09/07 Ceylon Daily News, Sri Lanka

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MIAPL signs pact with Moveo for mobility solutions

Bangalore: Mumbai International Airports Pvt Ltd has signed a definitive MoU with Moveo Systems, a Bangalore-based start-up developing interactive mobile solutions, to enhance passenger and operations experiences.
The MoU is for development and deployment of Moveo's mobility solutions for enhancing passenger and operations experiences at the Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Moveo's mobility framework would enable passengers and CSIA team members to access a host of services across the entire airport ecosystem and would be integrated across multiple back-end applications, a Moveo release said.
04/09/07 Sify

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Passenger facilities increased in Begumpet airport: AAI

Hyderabad: Director Begumpet Airport (Airports Authority of India) R K Singla has said more amenities were created at the airport to cater to the needs of the increasing passenger traffic at the airport.
Participating at an interactive meeting with the members of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) here today, he said the domestic passenger traffic during 2006-07 was 46,66,526 and the International passenger traffic was 12,05,721 during the same period.
Mr Singla said the Begumpet airport was handling 731 domestic flights and 93 international flights per week and major infrastructure had been provided at the airport and added four more parking bays to the existing nine parking bays at the airport.
The Director said the Begumpet airport was sixth largest airport in the country with highest security arrangements and 24 hour health facilities for the passengers.
04/09/07 UNI/NewKerala.com

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Nagpur Flying Club to take off again

Nagpur: The state government has informed the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court that it would soon be getting two flight engines that were sent for overhauling to Bangalore to restart the Nagpur Flying Club. Read On >>

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Air India accused of flying ‘outdated’ aircraft

Kozhikode: Accusing Air India, operating international flights from Karipur Airport here, of flying `outdated' aircraft, the Kerala Pravasi Association today demanded a detailed probe into the matter.
"Aircraft as old as 30 years, condemned in other places, are being used by Air India here, which should be stopped as it poses a danger to the passengers", Association office bearers told a press conference here.
Claiming that Karipur airport had been recording very high revenue ever since it attained international status recently, they said that the services provided to passengers were extremely poor, as many Air India Express flights were frequently cancelled or postponed, citing `technical snags'.
The Association, scheduled to hold its state meet in Thiruvananthapuram next month, would chalk out the future course of action to put pressure on the authorities concerned to do away with the outdated aircraft, they said.
04/09/07 Sify

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Asian Aviation to Grow More Influential: Cathay Pacific

The Asia aviation sector will continue to grow in influence in the coming years, Cathay Pacific Airways Chief Executive Tony Tyler said Monday.
Speaking at the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress 2007 which opened Monday, Tyler said, spurred by fast-rising demand in burgeoning markets such as the Chinese mainland and India, the Asia aviation sector will continue to grow in influence in the coming years.
Asia's carriers are "the best carriers in the world", Tyler said, "but we are also on the way to becoming the biggest airlines in the world. The reason this is happening, apart from growth in the region generally, is the enormous growth in India and China. This is happening fast and it will continue to drive the increasingly important influence of Asian aviation."
Tyler outlined Cathay Pacific's strategy, including the integration of Dragonair with its extensive Chinese mainland network and the equity relationship the airline now enjoys with Air China, for developing twin hubs in Hong Kong and Beijing. "Hubbing is what it's all about and Cathay Pacific is now truly a network carrier with over 50 percent of our passengers making connections through Hong Kong," Tyler said.
Tyler also pointed to three key challenges Asian carriers will face: the growing environmental debate, airspace congestion and ever-increasing competition.
04/09/07 Xinhua News Agency/China Internet Information Center|, China

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Bay Area Man Sentenced For Airline Scam

San Francisco: A Bay Area travel agent will spend the next three years in state prison after judge in San Francisco sentenced former fairfield city council candidate, Iqbal Randhawa, in a travel scam. Randhawa failed to deliver 90-thousand dollars worth of airline tickets sold to travelers heading to India and other international destinations.
Iqbal Randhawa walked to a San Francisco courtroom awaiting to hear his fate along with his wife Qurdev.
Iqbal is well known in the bay area's East Indian community and lured primarily members of his own community with promises of travel bargains.
"It was a case where people's lives were affected. It wasn't simply the stealing of money. People had weddings planned in India. They were going to visit ailing relatives. They had saved money and vacation time and suddenly they get to the airport and there are no tickets", said prosecutor Max Peltz.
After the sentencing, we asked Iqbal if he had anything to say to his victims and his community. he had nothing to say.
04/09/07 Michael Finney/abc7news.com, US

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Cargo movement more through air than rail or ship

New Delhi: Fuelled by a surging economy, cargo growth in aviation sector in the last three years has surpassed traditionally preferred railways and shipping medium for goods transportation and is set to snap their share of freight traffic, according to Assocham.
With advent of dedicated cargo aircrafts at international and domestic routes, the fast growing goods traffic transported by air is expected to entice away the share of railways and shipping if immediate reforms are not put in place to boost traffic flow in the latter. This were part of the results that emerged from the Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) Study on ‘Changing Pattern of Cargo Traffic in India’ for FY 2000-07.
04/09/07 Livemint

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