Feasibility study for airstrip, heliport in Gurvayur

Kochi: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has begun feasibility studies for setting up an airstrip and heliport in the pilgrim town of Guruvayur in Kerala's Thrissur district.
On Saturday, a technical team led by AAI general manager (Technical) R Rajasekharan arrived in Guruvayur and visited some sites where adequate open land was available. "We visited three sites Pavaratty, Pookkode and Kandanassery near Guruvayur where land is available for the airstrip. Now we have to collect their technical features like, wind direction, speed and obstructions," Rajasekharan told TOI.
The team also visited nearby Dwaraka Beach to see if it could hold a heliport. The Guruvayur Devaswom has about 12 acres of land and the proposal is to set up the heliport there.
"The idea is to promote high-class pilgrim tourism by launching heli-taxi services between Guruvayur and Kochi International Airport," said Thrisuur MP P C Chacko, who took the lead to persuade AAI for the study.
Chacko feels that the heliport can be set up without much delay, as it involves the construction of only a control tower and deployment of security infrastructure. It could even be built on public-private partnership model, he added.
31/10/10 T Ramavarman/Times of India

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Airlines relish rebound after two lean years

Paris: Commercial airlines in the United States, Europe and Asia are at last relishing a rebound in their financial fortunes, announcing profit spurts after two very lean years. The civil aviation sector in recent months has enjoyed a pronounced pick-up in both passenger and freight demand, with airlines welcoming the return of high-end travellers with deep pockets.
US carriers United, Continental, American Airlines and Delta Airlines earlier this month reported solid net earnings, followed this past week by upbeat announcements from airlines in Europe and Asia.
"Airlines are experiencing a growth in traffic volumes and -- most importantly -- a price context that is extremely favourable," said analyst Pierre Boucheny of Kepler Capital.
In the face of a brutal plunge in demand during the finance crisis, airlines undertook drastic capacity cuts and cost reduction initiatives.
Now, as demand firms, carriers have some margin to raise prices.
FBE Aerospace analyst Saj Ahmad nonetheless sounded a cautionary note.
"A recovery does indeed seem under way -- however we are a very long way off from previous profit margins and even further away from sustained profitability.
"With so many mergers in the pipeline, all the hard work could be undone as airlines work for synergies and amalgamation of their businesses -- so it's not over yet.
31/10/10 Agence France-Presse/Hindustan Times

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Rajasthan plane insurance case: CBI raids firm offices

Jaipur: The Jaipur branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Friday, raided six premises belonging to a brokerage firm named Reliable Brokerage Private Ltd in Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Mumbai. The raids followed the Rajasthan High Court orders in July to begin a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities committed while reinsuring a plane owned by the state government in 2007 and also denial of the insurance claim sought by the state.
Interestingly, the CBI teams found animal skins, including those of black buck, cheetal and python and horns of sambhar from the house of the firm's director Sachinanand Govind in Sirisi Road area.
The incident took place in April 2007 when the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje was on-broad a government plane which slipped on the runway while landing at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi. Although those in the aircraft, including Raje, had a narrow escape, the plane sustained major damages for which an insurance claim of over Rs 2 crore was sought by the state government from New India Assurance Company, which had insured the plane.
30/10/10 Times of India

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Kerala Celebrates 75th Anniversary of Civil Aviation

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is today celebrating its 75th anniversary of civil aviation service,started with a ‘royal touch’ on this day in 1935 when a plane of Tata Airlines flew in here with the patronage of late Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma, prince of erstwhile Travancore.
The DH.83 Fox Moth aircraft, owned by patriarch of the Tata house, late J R D Tata, landed at the small airport at Chaakka on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, with two passengers and a bundle of mail from Mumbai (then Bombay).
Recalling the momentous occasion, the present head of Travancore royal family, Uthradam Trunal Marthada Varma, said it was the far-sightedness of the popular prince that made the air-service a reality at a time when even road and rail connectivity were in its early stages of development in this part of the country.
It was his realisation that air travel was going to be a vital mode of transport in the future and a symbol of progress that prompted the prince to make a personal request to Tata to bring Thiruvananthapuram on aviation map,he said.
With that Travancore down south became one of the few Indian princely states of the pre-independence period to have civil aviation service, historians say.
A large number of dignitaries including the then Travancore Diwan Muhammand Habibulla, C P Ramaswamy Iyer, the city Municipal council president Venkita Krishna Iyer and members of the royal family were present to greet the plane.
Common people, many of whom were seeing an aircraft for the first time, thronged the area to catch a glimpse of the ‘machine bird’ braving downpour.When it hovered over the airport and touched down,they cheered and applauded the event.
Pilot Nevill Vintcent and the two passengers, Jamshed Navoroji, a Tata company official, and Kanchi Dwarakadas, a commercial agent of Travancore, were garlanded by the dignitaries, according to the city's chronicles. The event was also covered by newspapers in both Bombay and Kerala, most of which carried an Associated Press report wired from Bombay.
29/10/10 Lekshmi Gopalakrishnan/Outlook India

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Huge potential for use of helicopters in India: veteran pilot

New Delhi: With India having large parts of inaccessible hilly terrain, there is huge potential for development of helicopter services not only in the general aviation sector but also in various infrastructure projects underway in these areas, a veteran pilot today said.
"There is huge potential of the use of utility helicopters in the north-eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand region, which are mostly hilly and not easily accessible," Captain Patrick Fauchere, a veteran helicopter pilot with flying experience of over 20 years, said during a seminar organised here by Eurocopter.
Utility helicopters could be immensely useful in these states for carrying out various development projects especially in power and infrastructure sectors, he said, adding, it would help the development of areas inaccessible by other means of transport, thus saving time and money.
He said while a vast country like India has just 290 helicopters, in Europe, even a small country like Switzerland has more than 300 choppers.
28/10/10 PTI/MSN.com

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New regulator wants say in airfare, disputes

New Delhi: If the Ministry of Civil Aviation has its way, the proposed regulatory authority for the sector will act as an arbitrator in case of disputes over airfare. The airlines, however, will be free to decide on ticket pricing.
The new Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) draft would enable the regulator to function as an arbitrator in case there are disputes on fares between consumers and airlines. The rules would also make it compulsory for airlines to provide the regulator with information on the procedures followed to fix the fares and the number of buckets or seats alloted under various fare tags, among others. It is also contemplating asking the airlines to issue waitlisted tickets to ensure passengers are not offloaded.
A senior civil aviation ministry official said the proposed powers would be vested with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) — the autonomus body which is proposed to supersede the current regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. CAA will be funded by a Rs 12 surcharge on every ticket.
“We do not want to regulate fares, but we are considering a proposal by which the authority will act as an arbitrator in case of disputes. Going forward, the airlines would be asked to hire an ombudsman or the government would act as one,” said the official, who did not want to be identified.
At present, fares are not regulated by any agency and are decided by market demand. Fares in different price range are kept under different buckets, with the lowest selling first and the highest selling last.
26/10/10 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Air fares set to climb 10% this festive season

New Delhi: All those who are planning air travel in the next four months might have to shell out more for their tickets as high demand caused by strong financial markets, festive season and good economic growth are expected to push up air fares.
"Only when the traffic is lower, do the airfares go down. It is that time of the year when in-bound tourism and personal travel increase. So, air tickets could get costlier by 5-10% between November and February," said Vimla Dorairaju, head, Mahindra Home Stays and Travel Services.
Traditionally, monsoon months of July-September are considered a lean period for air traffic. This is demonstrated by the fact that while September witnessed an 11% growth in traffic at 39.11 lakh domestic passengers compared to the same month last year, this was less than 40.38 lakh passengers in August. But with the festive season round the corner, demand for personal travel has increased substantially. In addition, strong financial markets will lead to more spending and, in turn, boost corporate travel, too.
26/10/10 Anindya Upadhyay/Times of India

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Flighty schedules, stranded fliers

Mumbai: With airlines shuffling flight schedules at the last hour and failing to inform on time, commuters complain of being left at the airlines' mercy
If you have a flight to catch, do not be surprised if the airline reschedules it at the eleventh hour and forgets to inform you.
As MiD DAY found out, passengers are increasingly missing flights due to last minute changes in take-offs that weren't communicated to them.
The president of Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), Sudhakar Reddy, told MiD DAY that they receive hundreds of complaints every day about reschedules that passengers are not properly informed about. "We receive hundreds of complaints everyday about sudden reschedules.
This is happening because of the total failure of the DGCA in collusion with the airlines. The civil aviation ministry has not taken into consideration the suggestion or complaints of passengers or consumer bodies...''
26/10/10 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

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Airlines’ fate depends on debt-restructuring plan

Mumbai: As Indian air carriers are awaiting a debt restructuring process ahead of their respective fund raising programmes, industry experts say, even a marginal relaxation like resetting the rate of interest and extending the moratorium period will be beneficial to the industry, saddled with a collective debt of over Rs 60,000 crore.
However, on the flip side, if the restructuring does not happen, the risk will continue to negatively impact the balance sheets of airline operators.
The RBI has asked banks to work out a special concessional package for the crisis-ridden aviation sector, in response to which the lenders said they will look into the problems on a case-to-case basis. Most large banks have an exposure to national carrier Air India with around Rs 40,000 crore debt (which includes Rs 18,000 towards working capital and Rs 20,000 crore extended for aircraft purchase), Kingfisher Airlines (Rs 6,000 crore) and Jet Airways (Rs 14,000 crore).
Ravi Nedungadi, CFO, UB Group told FE, “We are working with a consortium of banks to restructure our debt but as of now, I cannot divulge any details until a final decision is arrived at.” Vijay Mallya, UB Group chairman, that runs Kingfisher Airlines had recently told shareholders that in the restructuring process, there will be an interest rate reduction to an average of 11%.
26/10/10 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Bird-hits: Deadline to phase out shotguns, crackers extended

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry and security agencies have decided to push the deadline to phase out shotguns and firecrackers deployed to scare birds at airports across the country to November 1. Failing to meet the July deadline earlier, some of the airports, including the private ones like the Delhi airport, had asked for an extension, and were allowed to continue using firecrackers.
In a review conducted recently by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), it has been decided to ban firecrackers too and instead deploy alternate technologies at airport to shoo away birds. For this purpose, it has issued November as the new deadline as some of the airports had complained that they were not informed in time.
The issue of phasing out of firecrackers had assumed heightened importance after it was found that some of the firecrackers used at the Bangalore airport to scare birds, had escaped security check and found their way on board the Kingfisher Airlines's Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram flight.
26/10/10 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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New aviation regulator to have more autonomy

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is proposed to supersede the current regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), will be financially autonomous and funded by a Rs 12 surcharge on every air ticket.
The civil aviation ministry is almost through with finalising the proposals. Putting the proposed authority in place should take uop to 24 months, say officials.
“It has been decided to give more financial and human resource autonomy to the CAA so that it can function like an independent regulator,” said a senior ministry official, who did not want to be identified. “Funding it directly by public money will make it more accountable to the people.”
DGCA lacks such autonomy. It is funded by the government and recruitments are done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). An Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer heads it.
The head of the CAA will not necessarily be an IAS officer.
CAA is also likely to get autonomy in hiring, the official said.
25/10/10 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Measuring airline competition in India

How does the Competition Commission find out if domestic airlines are competing or colluding? Is it by the number of flights they operate or the fares they charge? After all, if they reduce the number of flights, the effect on costs and prices is the same as if they were to raise fares in collusion with each other. Output reduction may be the standard response to bad times but it is rarely done collusively.
However, whether that can be said for airlines is not altogether clear. India has far too few full-service airlines — and one of the three belongs to the Government.
Also, for some reason best known to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it is virtually impossible to find out the exact number of flights operated. The Competition Commission should ask for this data to be reported on a regular basis. It is, after all, output data of the kind that every other producer reports.
The domestic aviation industry is planning to operate 10,300 weekly flights this winter. Last year the airlines had filed requests to operate almost 11,000 weekly flights.
In the summer they had reduced domestic weekly departures by around 400 flights, or about 4 per cent. The 10,609 weekly departures from March-end this year were the lowest flown by the industry since 2007 (10,624). This despite the fact that as per the domestic passenger data released by DGCA between January-September this year, domestic airlines carried 373.20 lakh passengers, against 314.85 lakh passengers in the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 18.5 per cent.
25/10/10 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Low-cost carriers may fly high this results season

Mumbai: Analysts feel most airlines’ Q2 results may just fall short of the mark as less passengers took to the skies in September. There’s a saving grace though. Low-cost carriers are seen to report better EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margins on the back of operational efficiencies.
According to statistics made available last week by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation , India’s airline regulator, airlines carried a total of 3.91 million passengers in September, up 11.58% from the same month last year, but down when compared to 4 million in August and 4.1 million in July for this year.
Experts expect low-cost carrier SpiceJet to post a 30% uptick in sales to Rs 547 crore during the second quarter despite a smaller fleet size. They, however, differ on profit figures. An aviation analyst with a brokerage firm said the airline will post a net profit of Rs 40 crore. But Rashesh Shah, aviation analyst at ICICIdirect.com, said the airline will incur a loss of about Rs 70 crore. Unlisted low-fare carrier IndiGo surprised many when it announced its results for 2010 with a net profit of more than Rs 500 crore.
Other listed carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are expected to be in the red because of seasonal factors. Jet's revenue growth is likely to be 18% year-on-year, down by 9% over the first quarter of this year.
Kingfisher Airlines is expected to suffer a loss of Rs 250 crore. The airline will see a growth of 16.8% year-on-year in revenues, down 22% from its first quarter revenues with estimated sales of Rs 1,333 crore for the second quarter, according to Mr Shah.
25/10/10 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times

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Maoist whirr in chopper race

New Delhi: The counter-Naxalite drive often called Operation Green Hunt has resulted in a huge demand for helicopters that two global majors are vying to capture for the millions of dollars on offer.
The market for choppers has suddenly expanded with state and central police forces asking for more rotary-wing aircraft. There is a spurt in the demand because the Indian Air Force has told the Union home ministry it does not have enough to spare.
The Indian Air Force and the Indian Army are also in the middle of trials to buy hundreds of military helicopters. But global chopper-makers, Bell Textron and Eurocopter, are more enthused by the demand from the police forces because of the tardy process of military procurement.
Bell Textron is best known for the the UH-1 “Huey” – a legendary flying-machine that the US used in the war against the communist guerrillas (role models for the Naxalites) in Vietnam in the early 1970s – and was quicker off the blocks having sold its first helicopter in India nearly 53 years ago.
It has now sold more than 100 of different types of helicopters from its stable, increasingly to private and public sector companies. In 2009 alone, the company sold 22.
This week Eurocopter, part of the European aviation firm EADS, announced that it was setting up an Indian subsidiary. The company estimates that the Indian market will be worth nearly $ 140 million dollars in five years.
24/10/10 Sujan Dutta/The Telegraph

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Haunted hotels, stinking cabs: Pilots' woes

Chennai: Pilots have to outmanoeuvre not just the tricky weather in air, but deal with unfriendly terra firma as well. Their woes on landing at a different station are endless.
“Bad cabs and hotel rooms are a pilot’s biggest despair in any station. A prominent hotel in Chennai has these really hollow walls so much so that an expatriate pilot complained that he could literally hear people having sex in the next room which didn’t allow him to sleep. He finally had to complain and the hotel authorities had a tough time moving the party to another room,” a popular domestic airline source said.
In another incident, the hotel’s laundry misplaced a pilot’s uniform, including his shirt, trousers, underwear and socks, delaying him for an early morning flight. The pilot complained helplessly as he was carrying no spare clothes.
An Air India pilot said a particular hotel in Dubai was said to have ‘ghosts’ in some rooms as it was built on a land that used to house a hospital.
Kingfisher Airlines’ pilots put up at a prominent hotel in Nungambakkam recently complained that in the process of demolishing the illegal front portion of the hotel, they tossed and turned in their bed all night owing to the constant battering.
24/10/10 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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IBS to host global aviation conference in Dubai next week

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala-based travel and logistics software provider, IBS Software Services, is expecting to win more clients as passenger movements would be up by 7.5 per cent and cargo by 18.5 per cent this fiscal, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IBS is hosting a a global airline meet, the IBS International Airline Forum, in Dubai from Oct 25-28. Over 120 senior officials of more than 35 airlines all over the world are expected to participate.
'We have won most of our deals in the recent past beating competitors like Unisys, SITA, Amadeus and Saber. With regards to Air India we were beaten by others because of our costs and we are confident very soon we will have them too in the near future,' Mathews told the media here Friday.
IBS products are sought after in the cargo segment and in the airline operations, part of which include the crew management solutions and airport management systems.
Their client list of IBS now includes Cathay Pacific, Qantas, South African, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Sri Lankan, Malaysian Airlines, Jet Blue (USA) All Nippon Airways (Japan), besides Indian clients like Jet Airways and Kingfisher.
22/10/10 IANS/Sify.com

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Noise: IAF planes on radar

New Delhi: In the first ever move of its kind in India to mitigate noise pollution around an airport, the aviation ministry and DGCA have asked the defence ministry to avoid flying their old and extremely noisy military aircraft in and out of Delhi airport. At the same time realising the security requirements, the aviation authorities have suggested a practical alternate also by suggesting the movement of such aircraft be limited to runway 27 (that's closest to Dwarka side). Reason: Its approach path passes over the least number of residential colonies as compared to the final approach of other two runways and would hence disturb the least number of people.
Highly placed sources said this move is a direct fallout of residents living in colonies near IGI approaching the Delhi high court over the issue of noise from airport at night. The DGCA is already proposing to ban movement of noisy old aircraft that fall in chapter-II of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) like the Boeing 737-200 or the Russian IL-76 from IGI between 10pm and 6am from October 31. In India, Alliance Air and Blue Dart use the B 737-200 as cargo aircraft.
While ICAO Chapter-II rules apply to civil aircraft, residents have moved court against noise from movement of all kind of planes at night. Which means defence planes can't be excluded from the list of noise mitigation measures list being drawn up. That's why the aviation authorities have written to the defence ministry in the backdrop of the high court case.
22/10/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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I Am Ready for Change of Portfolio, Says Praful Patel

Nagpur: Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel tonight said he was ready for a change in his portfolio which he is holding since 2004.
"(Selection of Cabinet) is the prerogative of the Prime Minister but I am ready for change. In fact, I had requested the Prime Minister (for portfolio change) two years back but he insisted that I should continue with the current responsibility," the NCP leader told PTI here.
Patel, who is also President of All Indian Football Federation (AIFF), was here to inaugurate a soccer tournament. He had indicated yesterday at a function in New Delhi his desire to shift to another Ministry. His remarks came amid speculation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may undertake a reshuffle of his Council of Ministers soon.
21/10/10 Outlook India

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New aviation sector regulator in 2 years

New Delhi: India will have a more autonomous aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in two years, said Nasim Zaidi, who heads the current regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The aviation sector has seen substantial growth in recent years, leaving DGCA under pressure, particularly in the face of high attrition. Many employees have either retired or joined the better-paying private sector. Limited autonomy has made it tougher for DGCA to replace them quickly.
CAA will be have more autonomy. Faster decision-making will make it better-suited to regulate India’s aviation industry, Zaidi said on the sidelines of an air-traffic control conference on Thursday.
The change will be brought in through an Act of Parliament. “The time frame is 18 months to two years. It will need an Act to be passed,” Zaidi said. “There will be a person (to head CAA) who will combine at least two or three roles—chairman of the board, CEO (chief executive) and director general.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recommended to India a model on the lines of aviation regulators in the US and the UK.
21/10/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Indian aviation gear makers set for takeoff

New Delhi: Indian companies producing aviation products could go global post the visit of the US President, Mr Barack Obama.
This follows indications that India and the US could ink the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) during the Presidential visit. This would lead to mutual acceptance of each others aeronautical products and parts developed in either country.
“An executive agreement is likely to be signed during the visit which could open a host of business opportunities for Indian aviation companies,” official sources told Business Line. Mr Obama is expected to begin his visit in the first week of next month.
A team from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) was here in August for 15 days and visited facilities in Delhi and Bangalore to study certification procedures for engines, propellers and design of aircraft and components being produced here, sources said. The Indian authorities have already demonstrated to the FAA a life raft that can hold four people.
21/10/10 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Foreign airlines catch return flight to India

Foreign airlines that folded operations in India in the wake of the economic downturn are flying back to a market expected to grow at the fastest pace in the world in the next two decades.
While RAK Airways of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Austrian Airlines AG are restarting flights they closed down over the past two years, carriers such as AirAsia Bhd, Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines AG, EgyptAir, Etihad Airways PJSC, FlyDubai and Air Seychelles have either introduced services or plan to add new routes to India.
India’s domestic air traffic grew 14.87% and international air traffic 15.54% in fiscal 2010, according to the ministry of civil aviation. Several analysts at brokerages tracking airline stocks expect double-digit growth in passenger traffic this fiscal too.
RAK Airways is restarting operations to Kozhikode, as well as Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, by this month-end.
Austrian Airlines, acquired by Deutsche Lufthansa AG in September 2009, will relaunch services between Vienna and Mumbai on 1 November.
Beginning 31 October, Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines—all owned by the group—will fly 75 weekly flights from various Indian cities to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna, according to a statement by the Luftansa Group.
Swiss International will serve both its Indian routes, Delhi–Zurich and Mumbai–Zurich, with daily flights, up from six a week to Delhi and five a week to Mumbai currently.
Air Seychelles will start a direct flight to Chennai from November to meet the demand from Seychelles’ growing Indian community, says its website.
Cairo-based Egypt Air will add one more flight to its Mumbai route to make it five flights a week from 2 November, general manager (India) Ahmed Wasfy said. Etihad Airways of the UAE will add Bangalore as its eighth Indian destination from 1 January.
Other West Asian carriers such as Qatar Airways and the UAE’s Emirates Airlines, as well as Malaysia’s low-cost carrier AirAsia, also plan to expand operations in India.
22/10/10 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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IIT Madras kickstarts training for ATCs in English

Chennai: Realising that ATCs were finding it difficult to understand the English accents of foreign pilots of varied nationalities, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) launched an English language proficiency course for aeronautical use.
The course, developed by linguists from the Humanities and Social Sciences department of IIT Madras following a request from AAI, is aimed at training and assessing conversational skills and language proficiency of ATCs and aeronautical station operators across the country. The first batch undergoing training will largely comprise ATCs from the south, but also include one from each of the other regions.
The programme comes in the wake of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)'s insistence that air traffic controllers and pilots should clear minimum proficiency requirement standards set by the organisation as a number of air mishaps were being traced to language barriers across the world. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has now declared that all existing air traffic controllers are deemed to be at Level four and that they should be assessed once in two years until they reach Level six which is the highest. The assessment should be completed by March 2011.
"..Faculty from IIT Madras will train the personnel, test voice communication skills, and give certificates. The two-day course will be conducted in batches for a month continuously," said AAI regional executive director for southern region D Devaraj. Stress would be on ensuring that ATCs communicate clearly without much trace of a local accent.
21/10/10 Times of India

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Around the world in just Rs 1 lakh

Mumbai: The recent findings of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the corruption charges heaped on Manoj Malviya, one of the top aviation officials reveal how the bureaucrat used his clout to get freebies around the globe, courtesy the airlines he was supposed to watch over.
The CBI booked Malviya, additional commissioner (security), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), in May earlier this year for misuse of power.
The babu allegedly flew to top-notch tourist spots around the world with his wife and three kids and stayed in five-star hotels (see box) paying virtually nothing.
MiD DAY, with exclusive access to the CBI documents, found that Malviya's trips were supposedly for security checks of airlines, part of his job.
But he was on an official leave when he travelled on the 40 tickets, for him and his family, which would normally cost around Rs 71 lakh.
The aviation watchdog, though, paid not more than a lakh and a few thousands as tax on the tickets. The rest of the amount was waived off.
Add to that the leisure stay that the Malviyas paid zilch for. The family's average stay on every jaunt was five to seven days.
Malviya visited US, UK, Spain, Dubai, Canada, among others, on business class tickets without paying a single penny to the airlines, on the sheer strength of his position.
20/10/10 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

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Eurocopter Inaugurates India Subsidiary

Eurocopter today inaugurated its new Indian subsidiary, which has been given the goals of expanding the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer’s commercial presence in this highly-promising marketplace, reinforcing its support and services network throughout the country, and further developing the company’s four-decade relationship with Indian industry.
Eurocopter India Pvt. Ltd. is the 25th subsidiary established worldwide by Eurocopter and the 10th in Asia – underscoring the group’s commitment of being close to its customers and contributing to the helicopter sector’s evolution in key markets.
The new subsidiary is headquartered in New Delhi and has an existing facility in Bangalore for the management of industrial activity. An engineering centre will be created in Bangalore next year, along with the opening of a new commercial office in Mumbai. Eurocopter India’s current headcount of 30 employees is expected to grow significantly during the coming years as the company evolves its commercial, industrial and services/support presence in the country.
20/10/10 RotorNews

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India’s helicopter market grows 20% annually

New Delhi: India’s helicopter market has been growing 20 percent annually amid rapid growth in demand for offshore and luxury transportation in Asia’s third-largest economy, said Eurocopter India CEO Marie-Agnès Veve on Wednesday.
Eurocopter, which is eyeing to grab half of India’s civilian market by 2015, is expecting to sell 20 civilian helicopters worth $134.7 million in India this year, said Veve on the sidelines of an event to mark the formation of the Indian unit of the European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Company (EADS).
“The Indian helicopter industry has great potential for expansion, given the country’s expanding economy, its size and challenging terrain, as well as the industrial potential,” said Veve.
The helicopter manufacturer, which seeks to benefit from the rising wealth in Asia’s third-largest economy, is planning to set up an engineering center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore next year, along with the opening of a new commercial office in Mumbai, another important business city of India.
The total revenues of European company, which is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer, in Asia grew by 58 percent in 2009 to $1.25 billion — 20 percent of the group’s total.
The EADS’s third-largest unit by sales — after top-ranked Airbus SAS, the world’s biggest maker of commercial aircraft, and the defense and security division, which makes missiles, combat planes and military electronics — plans to set up repair facilities across India with government-owned Pawan Hans Helicopter and Hindustan Aeronautics.
20/10/10 Walid Mazi/Arab News

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Domestic passenger air traffic grows 18% in 2010

Mumbai: The ongoing boom in the economy is finding reflection in the air-traffic passenger data — the January-September period saw 58 lakh more people took to the skies as compared to last year. Air passenger traffic grew 18.5 per cent to 373.2 lakh, from 314.9 lakh in Jan-Sept 2009. The total domestic
passengers carried by scheduled airlines in the third quarter of the year was 119.8 lakh, compared with 118.5 lakh between January and March, as per figures released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday.
The total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled airlines in the second quarter, between April and June — the peak holiday season — was 134.8 lakh.
Jet Airways continued with its domination of the domestic market cornering nearly 27 per cent of the domestic market share for the quarter ending September followed by Kingfisher (19.9 per cent) and Air India with 18.1 per cent. Low-cost carrier Indigo had a market share of 16.5 per cent while competitor Spice Jet had 12.8 per cent. In the July-September period, Jet Airways and JetLite together flew 32.2 lakh passengers, while Kingfisher carried 23.9 lakh and Air India 21.7 lakh. Among the purely no-frill airlines, IndiGo flew the highest number at 19.8 lakh, SpiceJet 15.3 lakh and GoAir 6.8 lakh. The total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled airlines in September were 39.1 lakhs.
19/10/10 Hindustan Times

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Festive push: Air traffic up 11.6% in September

New Delhi: The festive season has started with a bang for the domestic airline industry with last month seeing 39.1 lakh people taking to the skies, which is 11.6% higher than last September. Passenger traffic has grown 18.5% in January-September , 2010, to 373.2 lakh.
Both the industry and government now hope that well-run airlines will be able to fly out of red. "If this trend (of growth) continues, almost all airlines will become profitable in near future," aviation minister Praful Patel said. The growth in passenger traffic has also come as a huge relief to airport operators as modernisation plans worth several crores were beginning to face cash crunch during the slowdown.
While Naresh Goyal's Jet-JetLite combine led the market with 26.9% share, Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher was second at 19.8%. National carrier Air India (domestic ) managed to widen its gap with leading LCC (low-cost carrier) IndiGo that was threatening to become number three two months back.
20/10/10 Times of India

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Holiday spirit fails to lift aviation sector, traffic falls 11%

New Delhi: Following the holiday season, domestic air traffic declined by almost 11 per cent in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter, as per latest official data. According to data released by air safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), domestic air traffic this year has risen over 19 per cent between January and August compared with the same period last year. Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways, along with its no-frills subsidiary, continues to maintain the lead, closely followed by the Kingfisher-combine and state-owned Air India.
Total domestic passengers carried by scheduled Indian airlines in the third quarter was 119.83 lakh, compared with 118.53 lakh between January and March. During the holiday season, April-June, the number rose to 134.77 lakh. In the third quarter, Jet Airways and JetLite together flew 32.19 lakh passengers commanding a 26.9 per cent market share, while Kingfisher and Kingfisher Red carried 23.85 lakh (19.9 per cent) and Air India (Domestic) 21.69 lakh (18.1 per cent). No frills carrier IndiGo maintained its lead among the low-cost airlines, carrying the highest number of passengers at 19.82 lakh, followed by SpiceJet’s 15.34 lakh and GoAir’s 6.82 lakh.
In terms of seat factor (or percentage of seats filled per flight)during the lean month of September, Kingfisher topped the chart with 85.9 per cent, followed by IndiGo at 72.3 per cent. The lowest seat factor was 66.7 per cent for Air India (Domestic).
20/10/10 Indian Express

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Air Service Agreement between India and Iraq Modified

Civil Aviation consultations were held between India and Iraq on 18-19 October 2010 to discuss matters relating to operation of air services between their respective territories. The Indian delegation was led by Mr Prashant Sukul, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Iraqi side was led by Mr Ali.K.Ibrahim Director Air Traffic Services.
Now both sides can designate multiple airlines for operations between the countries. Earlier there was provision for only one airline from each side. The designated airlines of each side shall be entitled to operate upto a total of 12 frequencies per week in each direction, with any type of aircraft not exceeding the capacity of 250 seats. Earlier entitlements were restricted to 2 services per week.
The designated airlines of India are now entitled to operate to Baghdad, Basrah, Al Najaf and one more point to be specified later. Reciprocally the designated airlines of Iraq can operate to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and one more point to be specified later. Earlier only one point of call was available for each side.
Since the existing Air Services Agreement (ASA) was signed in 1955, the two sides agreed that it needs to be updated and modernised. Therefore the two sides exchanged their respective draft texts of Air Services Agreement to be finalised at a later stage. Pending finalisation of a new ASA it was agreed that the existing agreement shall be modified to incorporate therein new Articles on Safety, Aviation Security and Cooperative Marketing Arrangements (code share).
19/10/10 PRESS RELEASE/Press Information Bureau

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Aero Sport Activities in Himachal Pradesh Back on Track

The temporary ban on all aero sports including para gliding enforced by the Himachal Pradesh state government has been revoked on 15th October. The ban was imposed for security measures during the duration of Commonwealth Games, as the state of Himachal Pradesh is very close to Delhi.
The removal of the ban has brought cheer back to aero sports enthusiast as well as tour operators, as aero sports forms an integral part of tourism in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh. The ban on all aero sport activities in the state was enforced from 1st October in consultation with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and was to be kept till 20th October, but has now been reduced.
Aero sports in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Goa are very popular. Apart from being an attraction amongst domestic tourist, these activities also attract foreign tourist due to low cost as compared to other foreign countries. About 85 foreign tourists from countries such as USA, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada and Britain, who are mainly interested in para gliding were waiting for the ban to be lifted.
17/10/10 Rang 7

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India test flies medium altitude, long endurance Rustom UAV

Rustom, the Medium altitude long endurance Unmanned Arial Vehicle being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment, a DRDO lab specializing in UAVs and flight control systems, was successfully flown in its maiden flight. The aircraft was flown in a manner exactly as planned, up to a height of 3000 ft. and remained airborne for 30 minutes and completed all mission requirements. It taxied, took off and landed (among the most challenging maneuvers for a UAV), using a runway at an air field owned by Taneja Aerospace, Bangalore, like a normal aircraft with the ground based pilot in full control monitoring every maneuver of the aircraft and auto mode remaining on.
Ruston with a designed endurance of 12-15 hour, 25000 ft. altitude and 75 kg pay load is forerunner to the more advanced Rustom H and UCAV. The data link for this aircraft has been developed by DEAL, another DRDO laboratory and the airframe has been built by Zephyr Aerospace, Coimbatore.
16/10/10 Frontier India

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Indo-Soviet plane deal worries UK

New Delhi: Britain had made strong representations to the Government of India regarding India’s proposed deal with the Soviet Union for the purpose of freighter planes and helicopters. It is gathered that Britain had sought an assurance from India that the Russian pilots who will come to India to train Indian crews will have no access to the 85 Canberra Bombers supplied by Britain to the IAF, which are equipped with patented secret equipment.
17/10/10 Deccan Chronicle

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Now, switch on your cell after landing

New Delhi: Air travellers can now switch on their mobile phones the moment their aircraft lands at any Indian airport and exits the active runway. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) on Friday night issued a directive to airlines, asking them to announce the lifting of restriction on mobiles post-landing and allow passengers to do so latest by next Wednesday.
The rule on landing has been changed mainly due to demand from passenger groups. A substantial chunk of passengers have to coordinate with those who have been waiting to receive them at airports, whether it's their drivers, relatives or cabbies.
However, the ban on use of mobile phones at take off time will remain and passengers will have to switch the cells off when the crew announces. The order says passengers will not be allowed to use their mobiles only when low visibility conditions prevail at the airport they have landed at, which could include most north Indian cities in winter for 20-30 days. These restrictions remain as mobile phone signals could interfere with the cockpit's communication with ATC and have safety implications.
16/10/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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For JRD Tata mosquitoes did the job in absence of alarm clock

Chennai: JRD Tata, who zealously believed in the value of time, once forgot his alarm clock but mosquitoes made his job easy to keep the doyen of Indian Civil Aviation's pioneering flight on course on this day 68 years back. "I forgot to bring an alarm clock to wake me up to continue the flight to Madras (now Chennai) but the mosquitoes made the job easy," Tata, a stickler for punctuality, had said.
October 15 is considered the birth anniversary of the country's Civil Aviation sector since it was on this day in 1932 when 28-year-old Tata had flown his aircraft from Karachi to Madras as a connecting flight service to London–Karachi segment operated by erstwhile Imperial Airways via Basra and Cairo.
The Tata flight marked the commencement of commercial internal air transport in the Indian subcontinent.
The House of Tatas or Tata Sons Limited began Karachi–Ahmedabad-Bombay-Bellary-Madras mail services on October 15, 1932 carrying mail bags which had left London a week before.
The service was operated by deHavilland Puss moth VT-AND aircraft flown by Tata from Karachi to Bombay and piloted by Neville Vincent from Bombay to Madras. The service arrived at Madras on October 17 after a stop over at Bellary the previous night.
On another occasion, Tata while alighting from a flight at Croydon Airport (the erstwhile name of Heathrow Airport of London) quipped, "Boys set your watch right. It is 08-00 AM now".
That was on June 8, 1948 when the company turned out to be an international airliner by operating a flight from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva. This was the beginning of Air India International, a future carrier of the Indian tricolour.
15/10/10 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

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Light business jets take aviation to a new high

New Delhi: India’s business jet market is seeing a spurt in sales, led by demand for entry-level ‘light jets’ that can be purchased for Rs.16 crore, or just Rs.4 crore more than a luxury car brand such as Bugatti Veyron.
The demand signals an increasing number of smaller companies and high networth individuals can now afford to buy private jets or rent them for business or leisure trips, say experts.
India has the largest fleet of business jets in Asia at 122, up from 26 in 2005. Another 125 business jets are on order, of which at least 40 are light jets—smaller-cabin jets that can fly four-six people and are light in weight, according to the consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
This month, Mumbai-based Invision Air Pvt. Ltd will induct India’s first light jet, Embraer Phenom 100. The chartered carrier has ordered 19 more jets that it will add to its fleet gradually, said Jayant Nadkarni, a director at Invision Air.
In November, Bangalore-based Aviators (India) Pvt. Ltd, a 17-year-old chartered carrier, is expecting delivery of a Phenom 100 light aircraft.
Brazilian aircraft maker Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica SA (Embraer) has sold 170 Phenom jets. Another 380 are on order, including 40 in India, said Alex Glock, vice-president, marketing and sales, Embraer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
Cessna Aircraft Co.’s Mustang is its main rival, but Honda Aircraft Co. and the Mitsubishi group also have plans to enter the market. Cessna has developed a Mustang variant for India to meet the strict guidelines of the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said Santosh Deshpande, executive vice-president, Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd, which sells Cessna aircraft in the country.
15/10/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Airlines flying towards infrastructure airpocket

Bangalore: Air travel demand has picked up beyond everyone’s expectations and airlines are gearing to fly high on it but inadequate aviation infrastructure could play the spoilsport.
And this is giving the local industry a sense of dejá vu.
A similar situation had played out for the domestic air carriers between 2005 and 2007, when demand had soared while creation of runways, parking bays, airport terminals and others such facilities had pathetically lagged behind.
Ankur Bhatia, executive director of travel conglomerate Bird Group, said unless the pace of infrastructure development catches up with the swift rate of growth in demand, airlines will not be able to tap the full potential of the growth.
“We are not really there (in terms of infrastructure) to take full advantage of the growth in the air travel. This could mute the growth of the (airline) companies like in the past (2005-2007) and could come in the way of their expansion plan,” he said.
Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer of SpiceJet Ltd, believes airlines would especially feel constraint on the Mumbai route, where there was no scope for further expansion due to insufficient infrastructure.
13/10/10 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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I-T ad shows Italian planes as Indian

New Delhi: The Income Tax department has been releasing half-page advertisements in national newspapers showing Saina Nehwal celebrating victory against the backdrop of a fighter formation. The nine-fighter formation is shown releasing tri-colour plumes. "Income tax: commitment for a secure India," the caption next to Shera reads. At the bottom of the ad it says, "Enhancing India's Glory -- Creating A Success Story."
For all the patriotism oozing out of the ad, the blunder is huge. The fighter formation, covering most of the advertisement and shown releasing tri-colour plumes, is not an Indian military formation. It is the Italian military's aerobatics team. And the fighters are Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, not India's HJT-16 Kiran Mark 2 aircraft.
Actually, the differences are very easy to tell for those who know these things. The Indian Air Force's Surya Kiran aerobatics team's aircraft are painted overwhelmingly in red, and when they emit the tri-colour plumes, the saffron comes from the extreme right fighter/s. But in the advertisement, the saffron plumes are from the extreme left fighters, meaning the tri-colour is inverted.
13/10/10 Times of India

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Aviation Cos. challenge against enquiry by CCI rejected

New Delhi: The Delhi High court has dismissed petitions filed by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) and Interglobe Aviation Limited challenging Competition Commission of India (CCI) jurisdiction in adjudication of a case transferred to it by erstwhile Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTP Commission).
The MRTP commission had in February last year ordered an investigation into reports of alleged unfair trade practices being adopted by the airline operators including the petitioners. The commission had on the basis of the reports that airline operators increased air fares and withdrew the promotional fares as a result of which additional costs were imposed on the consumer and competition in the industry was reduced, ordered a preliminary investigation into the matter by the Director General (Investigation & Registration).
The government in August 2009 repealed the MRTP act and the matter was transferred to the CCI.
The petitioners moved to the High Court contending that the CCI had no jurisdiction to deal with the case. Senior counsel NK Kaul and Amit Kapur appearing for the petitioners citing the provisions of competition act submitted that the matter had to be transferred to Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT).
13/10/10 Abhijit Pandey/Law et al. news

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Charter aircraft biz soars in B-towns

Mumbai: For several decades, a majority of the country's charter aircraft were owned and parked in Delhi, and some in Mumbai. Now suddenly, over the last three years, the airfields of Imphal, Chandigarh, Vadodara, Chennai, Lucknow, Davangere, Puducherry, Patiala, Sagar and others have become home to birds like the Cessna Caravan, Beechcraft King Air C90, Learjet and Bombardier Global Express.
The decentralization of the charter aircraft fleet has meant different things to different people. For the residents of Imphal, for instance, it's been a definite answer to a very tricky question: How long does it take to travel from Imphal to Aizawl? "It used to take ten hours — if the weather gods were indulgent that is. Otherwise it could take 12, 15, even 20 hours," says Roshni Kumar, talking about rains, landslides and other factors typical of road travel in the northeast.
Then in 2008, North East Shuttles Ltd, a private charter company, began operations with its six-seater Cessna Caravan between these two towns. The Mizoram government subsidized the flight, and now for Rs 2,875 one can board the aircraft from Aizawl at 11am daily and be in Imphal a flat 40 minutes later, come rain or sunshine.
12/10/10 Manju V/Times of India

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Airfares to shopping destinations soar

Mumbai: Despite a month left for the festival, flights to shopping and leisure destinations such as Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand are full, and fares have shot up between Rs 8,000 and Rs 14,000 across four airlines: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India and Singapore Airlines.
A Mumbai-Dubai return ticket, normally available for Rs 16,000, is selling for Rs 24,000. Of these, Singapore is the most expensive destination on the Diwali week, with fares having almost doubled.
It’s all about high demand, said travel agents. “Laxmi Puja is on November 5. People are leaving for vacations the next day and schools re-open only after November 15,” said Anup Kanuga, owner Bhatija Travels.
Tour managers said the demand to these destinations peak during Diwali because people flock there to shop.
11/10/10 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

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Heli Taxi services launched in Kerala

Kochi: Cochin International Airport ltd (CIAL), the airport company, today launched a Heli Taxi service which can be utilised for transporting pilgrims and tourists to various destinations.
CIAL Managing Director Dr C.G. Krishnadas Nair and director M. A. Yusuff Ali flaged off the first flight here this morning.
The HeliTaxi belongs to Bangalore Bharath Airways Private Limited, and has over 20 years of experience in Helicopter operation.
It has also obtained permission from Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa, for operating this service to Nilakkal (Foothills of Sabarimala) with an intention to carry pilgrims and to Saramkuttiyal (near Sannidhanam) for emergency purposes like causality evacuation and movement connected with security requirements.
The Helicopter, American made Bell-407, can carry 5 passengers and two Pilots. The expected flying time from Cochin to Nilakkal is 30 minutes.
09/10/10 PTI/The Hindu

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Embraer enthused at aircraft market for Tier-II cities

New Delhi: Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer is betting big on the growing aviation markets in the smaller cities of India. One of the world's largest aerospace companies and a leader in the category of commercial jets with up to 120 seats, it feels their aircraft will get the benefit of this growth.
"Many major routes like Delhi-Trivandrum are not connected through a direct flight because all the airlines operate big aircraft on this route, difficult to fill. Now, with our small aircraft, the airlines can operate direct services and make enough on such routes," said Alex Glock, the company's vice-president (marketing & sales), commercial aviation.
"We have met all the airlines in the country and all of them invariably agree to our analysis. We see a great opportunity here, as the smaller cities are to see a lot of growth. We plan to sell 50 aircraft over the next 10 years in the country," Glock said. Of 44 million air passengers in 2009, as many as 27 million were from Tier-II and III cities. The growth projections in number of passengers for smaller cities during 2009-15 is 14 per cent annually.
In terms of connectivity, Tier-II and III cities lag. Average daily frequencies to Tier-I cities are 18 but the connectivity to smaller cities is only 2.5.
08/10/10 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Airlines oppose Ghial proposal to increase passenger levies

Indian air carriers have opposed an increase in passenger levies proposed by the Hyderabad airport operator, saying it risked stifling air traffic growth and hurting an aviation recovery that is still nascent, amid concern that other airports would follow suit and raise charges.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, or Ghial, has sought to increase the user development fee from Rs340 to Rs500 per departing domestic passenger and from Rs907 to Rs2,825 per departing international passenger.
The airport regulator, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Aera), has suggested a smaller increase to Rs420 and Rs1,656, respectively, and had sought the views of stakeholders such as airlines and airport operators at a consultation in Hyderabad on 29 September.
Around 70% of those who attended the meeting opposed the proposed increase while 30% favoured the move, according to the minutes of the meeting posted on the regulator’s website.
07/10/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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70 percent of air passengers want self-service while on a journey

The most comprehensive global survey ever undertaken of passenger use of air transport self-service technology has found popular demand is now reaching out into non-traditional areas of self-service as airline passengers demonstrate their increasing ease with online, kiosk and mobile phone channels.
While online booking and check-in are nearing their full potential, there is now a clear demand from the travelling public for self-service on other steps of the passenger journey including automated security checks, which are now acceptable to 70 percent of respondents compared to 58 percent in last year's survey.
Similarly, the demand for automatic boarding gates is now at 70 percent compared to 57 percent last year.
Two-thirds of survey respondents would use kiosks for other purposes including booking/changing a flight; purchasing additional services (e.g. baggage fees, meals), printing bag tags; self-transfer; claiming delayed baggage.
In addition, there has been dramatic year-on-year growth in the percentage of passengers using airline websites to book hotels, up from 21 percent in 2009, to 38 percent in this year's survey; car rental, 19 percent to 35 percent.
07/10/10 Business Wire India/Sify.com

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India's first Super Hercules plane takes to the skies

Washington: The first of six C-130J Super Hercules for India took to the skies for its maiden flight on Monday, its manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced today.
"The aircraft will now complete a series of company and customer flight tests prior to delivery in December. The second and third aircraft are due to fly within the next few weeks," the American manufacturer said in a statement.
India has placed order for six of C-130J Hercules, which are said to be the most advanced airlifter ever built.
The C-130J combines the latest in aerospace technology with a proven, rugged airframe design, resulting in an aircraft that gives an operator more capability with greater operational efficiency.
Being provided by the US government under a multi-billion package, it includes training of aircrew and maintenance technicians, spares, ground support and test equipment, servicing carts, forklifts, loading vehicles, cargo pallets, and a team of technical specialists who will be based in India during a three year initial support period.
06/10/10 Press Trust of India/NDTV.com

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Cochin Airport Seeking MRO Partner

Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) is gearing up to launch its MRO facility by January, and is in talks with Indian and U.S. carriers about joint venture plans, sources say.
CIAL Managing Director C.G. Krishnadas Nair tells The DAILY the construction of hangars has now entered the final phase. “Once the MRO becomes operational, we want to emerge as a role model for non-Metro airports. We are hopeful of finding a right partner to run the MRO activities. We are offering up to 50% equity to either a finance partner, business partner or a technology partner,” Nair adds.
Through the MRO facility, CIAL hopes to bring back business that is now going out of India for want of a facility, generate employment and offer relative services at optimum cost.
Airport Director A.C.K. Nair says the agency to run the MRO facility along with CIAL will be finalized soon. “The link taxiway is getting ready. We are now exploring the possibility with Air India and private airline firms to use the facility once it’s ready. The potential is huge and we are hopeful of getting an agency who can explore the potential fully,” Nair says.
06/10/10 Anantha Krishnan M/Aviation Week

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Citibank launches credit card for frequent flyers

New Delhi: Citibank today launched a new credit card that will give frequent flyers the chance to earn mileage points when they fly on more than 50 domestic and international airlines.
Till now, air travellers could only accumulate mileage points by flying on a single airline.
"The Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card differentiates itself by offering frequent flyers a 'universal' mileage platform that enables them the unique freedom and flexibility to earn miles on their travel on over 50 domestic and international airlines," Citibank said in a statement.
The key benefit of the credit card is that it frees customers from having to choose one airline loyalty programme over another. "The feature-rich card offers a superior earn rate of 10 PremierMiles per Rs 100 on all airline spends and a preferential interest rate," it added. With an annual fee of Rs 5,000, card members will receive a first-year activation bonus of 5,000 PremierMiles.
04/10/10 PTI/Economic Times

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India takes first steps towards own regional aircraft

Bangalore: India’s very own Regional Transport Aircraft, or RTA, is taking shape. This is notwithstanding the criticism heaped on the indigenous small passenger aircraft programmes like Saras and Hansa.
An RTA is said to be more suitable for a place like India where within a radius of 300-400 km of a big city you have another one.
The Rs 3,000-4,000 crore project was set-in motion a month earlier by the Defense Research and Development Organisation. National Aeronautics Limited is the nodal agency for the design of the aircraft. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is expected to produce it.
The project is expected to give a shot in the arm to the aviation sector in the country. RTA is more suitable to reach places within a 500-km radius. The aircraft would have a range of 600 km to 800 km. HAL and the NAL have not decided on many aspects of the aircraft such as work share, funding and even whether the aircraft will have a turbo-prop or turbo jet engine. NAL had held discussions with Pratt & Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (US) for an engine.
Quest Global, the outsourced manufacturing company, is now in the design team for RTA. It hopes to be involved in the manufacturing too.
“It is the point-to-point connecting ability of RTAs that could make it popular today, and could hold sway in future too,” said Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & Co-founder of Quest Global. The hub-and-spoke model is not favoured by many who do not want to get on or off aircrafts to reach their destination.
About 400 of these regional jets are expected to be manufactured. Of these, 200 will go to the armed forces.
The CSIR-funded project draws from the experience derived from developing the Saras and the Hansa.
But, is there a market big enough for the aircraft to spend that much money? “There is a market for it in India. The next phase of growth in the aviation industry would be tier-II and tier-III cities,” said Amber Dubey, director, KPMG. The RTA would also cater to the needs of different sectors such as tourism, SEZs, ports, and cargo hubs. Such places may not have the critical mass to justify a B-737 or A-320. With a runway requirement of around 900m, the RTA can help revive many of the old unused airstrips in the country,” added Dubey.
04/10/10 Praveen Bose/Business Standard

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Construction of Boeing’s MRO depot in Nagpur set to begin

Nagpur: Work for the construction of the Boeing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot in Nagpur’s MIHAN (Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur) SEZ area is expected to start within two months.
“Finally, Air India and Boeing have got down to designing the MRO. The work for its construction is most likely to start in the next one or two months,” managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the nodal agency developing MIHAN, R C Sinha, told The Indian Express. Boeing had announced, amid much fanfare in Nagpur about four years ago, that the Rs 500-crore project would set up the MRO as part of India’s deal for purchase of a fleet of aircraft from the aviation giant. The project, envisaged to bring many ancillaries and business opportunities to Nagpur, however, made little headway, leading to media speculation that Boeing was dragging its feet or was planning to pull out of Nagpur. Boeing (India) Chairman Dinesh Keskar, however, had, all through, been refuting the reports and reaffirming his company’s commitment to set up the project at Nagpur. Sources, however, always maintained that uncertainty about handing over of the Nagpur airport to MADC and public spats between Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had made Boeing nervous about Nagpur as venue.
02/10/10 Vivek Deshpande/Indian Express

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Air Works Sets Up Bengaluru Stocking Center

New Delhi: India’s sole private MRO—Air Works India Engineering—an authorized Honeywell Service Center for Honeywell, has set up a $10 million stocking location for the company at Bengaluru International Airport.
The inventory will enable Honeywell to ship parts within 24 hours of the order and enable Air Works to supply the company with products including, fuel pumps, navigation and guidance unit modules for our integrated avionics systems.
Air Works is India’s only European Aviation Safety Agency-certified MRO, approved to work on ATR 42/72, Airbus A320, and Boeing 737 aircraft. It also is an Authorized Service Center for Rockwell Collins, Gulfstream, Bombardier, Agusta Westland, Bell Helicopter, and Superjet International.
The company will now get the capability to service and support Falcon 2000, Falcon 900, Falcon F7X, Gulfstream GIV, GV, G450, and G550 aircraft with Honeywell products.
Air Works has a 25,000-sq.-ft. shelving area, in addition to a small engine and APU storage facility. Air Works’ current business of around $20 million annually is expected to grow, with business aircraft in India growing at around 10% per year.
01/10/10 Neelam Mathews/Aviation Week

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DIPP backs foreign carriers' stake in Indian airlines

New Delhi: The chances of getting a slice of action in India's aviation sector brightened with the country’s foreign rulemaker saying it is not averse to global players picking up stake in local airlines.
“Why should we come in the way?” said an official with the (DIPP), saying the onus rests with the civil aviation ministry to take the issue forward. “Big airlines are making losses and need equity, while there are no investors,” he said, adding is waiting for the civil aviation ministry to give a signal.
The government has, so far, been unable to come up with a coherent policy, despite a broad consensus in the industry on the issue. Civil aviation minister had said the government was not prepared to allow foreign airlines at this stage, although he has been in favour of such a move. He had said there was not much action on the issue at DIPP. “It is now for the group of ministers on aviation to take a call on the policy,” said Mr Patel, when told about DIPP’s position on the issue.
The current policy allows foreign direct investment of up to 49% in Indian airline firms, but bars foreign carriers from buying stake. With the most suitable foreign investors being kept out, no local airline has managed to rope in strategic partners.
02/10/10 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Airbus bets on India, China

Bangalore: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie has forecast that Indian airlines are likely to place orders for a substantial number of planes. Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, said Indian airline companies were likely to order 638 single-aisle aircraft, 287 twin-aisle aircraft, 68 “very large” passenger craft, and 39 cargo aircraft during next two decades. “The value of orders is expected to be about $138 billion,” Mr. Enders said. Referring to the demand for new aircraft, Mr. Enders said, “India and China are the two main centres in the world.”
Mr. Enders said the Airbus' engineering centre in Bangalore had established ties with 25 suppliers. Apart from engineering companies, IT companies were also associated with the company, he said.
Kiran Rao, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Airbus India, said Airbus' share of the 508 aircraft ordered by Indian airline companies was nearly 70 per cent between 2005 and 2009. Mr. Rao said Airbus had a 19 per cent stake in the global market for civilian aircraft in 1995, the remaining 81 per cent being with Boeing. “We have steadily caught up with Boeing, having a market share of 54 per cent in 2009,” he said.
02/10/10 The Hindu

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Goa expects 15 pc rise in chartered tourist traffic

The Goa tourism industry feels discontinuation of the five-year multiple entry visa for the tourists will also hamper the arrival of visitors this season. "Multiple entry visa system has been discontinued since last year. It was proving to be very convenient for the visitors often coming to India," De Souza said.
He said that the citizens of five countries including Japan, Finland, Luxemburg, New Zealand and Singapore are given visas on arrival on Indian international airports.
02/10/10 IBN Live

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India invites foreign investment in aviation sector

Montreal: India has invited Canadian and other global companies to participate in its booming aviation sector, which has investment opportunities worth USD 150 billion.
"Though India has achieved a lot of progress in this area in a short span of time, still we have a long way to go. Scope for working together is immense as USD 150 billion worth of investment opportunities are available," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said at a meeting of top aviation players here yesterday.
He said both the Indian aviation industry and its foreign partners could grow hand in hand to become "partners in progress" in the spectacular growth story of the country's civil aviation sector.
Highlighting several growth indicators of the sector, Patel stressed that global best practices must be adopted so that the country may be equipped to handle this kind of high growth and massive expansion.
30/09/10 PTI/Times of India

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Online travel companies attract renewed interest from investors

As airlines continue to report higher passenger numbers, online travel firms are seeing renewed interest from investors. At least three Indian online travel firms—IxiGO.com, Yatra.com, and Cleartrip.com—are in the process of securing investment through initial public offers (IPOs), private equity or venture capital funding.
The renewed interest in online travel firms, that went through a rough patch when a global economic slowdown hit the travel industry, is being driven largely by the successful listing of Indian online travel firm MakeMyTrip Ltd, that runs Makemytrip.com, on Nasdaq in August, and whose stock soared to three times its IPO price of $14 each.
“The entire profile of online travel firms has risen with Makemytrip’s listing and 20% passenger growth fuelled by overall economic growth,” said Dhruv Shringi, chief executive officer and co-founder of Yatra.com.
“We have been contacted by a few financial and strategic investors in the last few weeks for our growth capital needs,” said Aloke Bajpai, founder and chief executive officer of iXiGO.com, an online travel meta-search company that is looking to raise between $7 million (Rs.31.4 crore) and $10 million for new product development, brand building and expansion into new markets.
01/10/10 P.R. Sanjai & Shraddha Nair/Live Mint

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Aircraft fuel emissions causing deaths in India: Study

Boston: Aircraft flying above North America and Europe are emitting pollutants that are poisoning the air in India and China, and resulting in deaths of thousands of people in these Asian nations, a new study has said.
The study led by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says airplanes flying at a cruise altitude of around 35,000 feet emit pollutants that contribute to about 8,000 deaths per year globally.
Due to high speed winds that flow east, air pollution caused by planes flying over North America and Europe is adversely impacting air quality in India and China, it said.
Nearly 3500 people -- almost half of the global number -- die in India and China due to this air pollution. Air travel is heaviest above North America and Europe.
\"Even though the amount of fuel burned by aircraft over India and China accounts for only 10 per cent of the estimated total amount of fuel burned by aircraft across the globe, the two countries incur nearly half - about 3,500 – of the annual deaths related to aircraft cruise emissions,\" the study said.
The research provides the first estimate of premature deaths attributable to aircraft emissions at cruise altitudes.
30/09/10 ExpressIndia

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